Transcription
LivingExperience &Zero SuicideJess Stohlmann-Rainey
IntroductionI am Jess (she/her) and I love to talk about suicide! I am a mad, queer,feminist, suicide attempt survivor and care worker, and am the Director ofProgram Development at Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners (who provides thestatewide crisis and peer lines, RAINN hotline, Colorado Lifeline, and others). Iam located in so-called Denver [land stolen from the Arapaho, Cheyenne, Núuagha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Sioux)]. I have spent my career creatingpathways to intersectional, justice-based, emotional support for marginalizedcommunities, and believe mutual aid, disability justice, abolitionist, and otherliberation ideologies are integral to solve the problems that lead to suicide. Mywork has been featured in in USA Today, PEOPLE magazine, Mad in America,Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Centers, Postvention in Action:The International Handbook of Suicide Bereavement, Crisis, Death Studies, andThe Suicide Prevention Resource Center. I collaborate on a videocast calledSuicide ‘n’ Stuff with Dese’Rae Stage from Live Through This. I hold the LivedExperience seat on Colorado’s Suicide Prevention Commission, and was thewinner of the 2019 American Association of Suicidology Transforming LivedExperience Award, and the 2019 Cookie Gant and Bill Compton LGBTQIALeadership Award for Excellence in Promoting Diversity and Inclusion Award.Living Experience & Zero Suicide2
Agenda Types of Lived/Living Experience Defining Meaningful Involvement Preparing for Involvement Implementation & Evaluation Common Pitfalls Comments, Questions, ConcernsLiving Experience & Zero Suicide3
Types ofLived/LivingExperienceWho Are We Talking About?
Types of Lived /LivingExperienceSuicide LossSurvivorCurrently ReceivingServicesFriends/Family ofSuicide AttemptSurvivorSuicide AttemptSurvivorExperiencingOngoing SuicidalThoughts/BehaviorWorker withPsychiatric SurvivorLiving Experience & Zero SuicidePeer WorkerLived/LivingExperience5
DefiningMeaningfulInvolvementWhat will people with livedexperience do?
Characteristics of Meaningful InvolvementPaid LaborTreated as ExpertsBoundaries areRespectedAcknowledgeInclusive of DiversePowerPerspectivesProcess forPower to DriveRepairing HarmDecision MakingRules ofEngagement areCo-CreatedRepresentation atMoving FromAll Levels ofPaternalism toOrganizationAutonomyLiving Experience & Zero SuicideLived Experience isa Credential7
Roles for People with Lived /Living ExperienceProgramBoard ofAdvisory BoardEvaluatorsDirectorsMembersResearch TeamMembersLiving Experience & Zero SuicidePeer WorkersCommunityOutreach8
Roles for People with Lived /Living ExperienceAny Role or Positionwithin YourHealthcare SystemLiving Experience & Zero Suicide9
Preparing forInvolvementCreating a Safe-Enough Cultureand Planning for Critique
Preparing Your OrganizationPlan forInvolvementSupport &Train StaffDisclosureUse SharedIdentifyLanguageOmbudsmanLiving Experience & Zero SuicideIncentivize Self-Create Orientation& TrainingDesign Formal &Informal FeedbackCreate Clear GoalsMechanisms11
Implementation& EvaluationTry, Reflect, Try Again
An Iterative ProcessPilot the plan forCreate plan witha designatedkey stakeholdersPlanincluding peoplewith lived/livingexperienceLiving Experience & Zero SuicidePilotamount of time,including dataand feedbackcollectionEvaluateCreate a formalMake changes toprocess foryour plan, policy,inviting feedbackAdjustprocess, etc.and analyzingbased onoutcomesfeedback.13
CommonPitfallsPerspectives and Practices ThatCause Problems
People with Lived /Living ExperienceCan Be Harmed When We Are DishonestLack AccountabilityAbout PowerProcessesOnly Select PeopleWho Agree with UsLiving Experience & Zero SuicideFragilize ThemTokenize ThemInvolve Them inCoercion15
Practices to ResistPeer Workers Reportingto Clinical StaffOne PersonRepresenting AllLived/Living ExperienceClinical FragilityLiving Experience & Zero SuicideSegregating Lived/LivingExperience InitiativesResistance to CritiquePerfectionismCo-Optation16
Peer support is a culture of healing. Aspeople practice new ways of “being”through even the most difficult times,possibilities for breaking old patterns andcreating new opportunities are endless.Crisis then just becomes another word forredefining our experience and ourselves sothat instead of needing to be locked up, wecan begin to break free.Sheri Mead, Intentional Peer SupportLiving Experience & Zero Suicide17
Living Experience & Zero Suicide 15. Practices to Resist Peer Workers Reporting to Clinical Staff One Person Representing All Lived/Living Experience Segregating Lived/Living Experience Initiatives Perfectionism Clinical Fragility Resistance to Critique Co-Optation Living
