Stan Collins, NREMT (he/his)
Stan Collins has worked in the field of suicide prevention for over 20 years since losing a friend to suicide in high school. Currently he is working as a consultant, focusing on technical assistance in creation and implementation of suicide prevention curricula and strategies.
Stan has been instrumental in assisting communities and counties in the development and roll out of strategic plans to address suicide prevention. Through this work, he has developed media engagement strategies to provide guidance on promoting reporting recommendations and guided organizations working to address suicide to ensure they are promoting positive and effective communication. In addition, he has participated in numerous interviews on the topic, as well as assisting county behavioral health agencies in responding to high profile suicide deaths.
Stan is a member of the American Association of Suicidology’s Communication team, and recently presented a plenary presentation at the AAS annual conference on the impacts of positive messaging for suicide prevention.
2021 Presentation
Youth Powered Suicide Prevention
How we message about suicide and suicide prevention impacts lives, especially when it comes to youth. This workshop explores the power of the youth voice in creating messages for suicide prevention.
Presentation Summary:
How we communicate about suicide and prevention shapes our views, opinions and behaviors. During the presentation attendees will learn how to safely and effectively communicate to support suicide prevention. Attendees will explore criteria to evaluate and create messages that not only “do no harm” but more importantly focus on hope, support, and prevention in order to help people find their reasons for living. The presentation will offer strategies for elevating the voices of youth and peers by bringing their wisdom, knowledge and power to messaging efforts. In addition, attendees will be introduced to the Directing Change Program and Film Contest where youth create 60-second films on suicide prevention and mental health.