Peers support peers
While ASPYR encompasses elements of other suicide prevention models, two unique cornerstones of the program are its emphasis on resilience and promotion of peer support. The strength-based, youth-directed approach includes creating a youth-directed safety plan, enlisting peers as support and reducing access to lethal means.
Regarding the youth safety plan, Dr. Kriechman explained that, rather than being prescribed and instructed in expert-selected and expert-driven coping skills, youth are offered a menu of options that most speak to their strengths, values, experience, and preferences. Young people also select a peer who, if they wish, accompanies them to sessions, and supports and coaches them at home.
“Peers are often more influential than parents, siblings, family members, and adults regarding youth behavior,” Dr. Kriechman said. “Most often, it is a peer that a youth-at-risk turns to for support, counsel, role models, and understanding. Youth who wish to offer their peers support can quickly be trained to provide early identification of youth at risk, motivational support to seek help, and a ‘warm hand-off’ to community resources.”
In addition, a Youth Advisory Council established as part of the program draws from young people across New Mexico to participate in state and national conferences, and conduct outreach efforts to peers.
ASPYR Youth council member Serenity Gomez, a senior at the Public Academy for Performing Arts in Albuquerque, became interested in ASPYR after volunteering for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in 2016. As a youth council member, Ms. Gomez said she helps create projects to raise suicide awareness, whether through posters, stickers, social media, poetry, or songs.
“My experience as a youth council member has really opened my eyes and has made me more motivated to help others,” she said in an interview. “It has also showed me that talking about suicide doesn’t always have to be a slideshow of facts. You can reach people through music, poetry, storytelling, and so much more. Many people are afraid to talk about suicide because it’s such a scary idea, but if we all talk about it and bring more awareness, then we can find the support everyone needs. In ASPYR, specifically, I hope to reach youth and help all youth learn to support each other.”
Since ASPYR launched in 2017, the program has provided both onsite and online trainings to hundreds of New Mexicans, and has helped rural and frontier communities start working on collaborative approaches to promoting youth safety and resilience, Dr. Kriechman said. Following community consultations, numerous rural communities have since formed systems of care to identify, support, and treat youth at risk. In addition to the youth council, an Advisory Community Council has also been established that welcomes any New Mexico resident interested in working on the mission of preventing youth suicide.
For example, the program shifts from “no-suicide contracts” to safety planning, focusing on reasons for living rather than reasons for dying, and shifting from prescribing coping skills to strengthening preexisting coping skills in young people.
“An ultimate hope for ASPYR is emphasizing that recovery from any of life’s challenges is far more than symptom reduction or agency collaboration,” Dr. Kriechman said. “It is the understanding that a life of value and meaning, the instillation of hope and support for the unique strengths, competencies, skills, and understandings of each individual, is honored, respected, and supported.”