Suicide Series, Part 2: Prevention, Intervention & Community Care

Danica Williams, MSW, CSWA
November 28, 2025

Move from awareness to action. How we can all contribute to suicide prevention.

This is part 2 in my three-part series on suicide. Read Part 1 here.

Once we understand what puts someone at risk for suicide, the next step is learning what helps keep us safe and how we can respond to keep others safe. Prevention is not just about crisis moments but also fostering a community and culture of care, connection, and accessibility. Everyone has a role to play, from checking in with a friend to supporting broader mental health initiatives in our communities.

Protective Factors

While risk factors increase vulnerability, protective factors help to act as a buffer against experiencing suicidal thoughts or engaging in self-harm or suicidal behaviors. The Suicide Prevention Resource Center defines Protective factors as “characteristics that make it less likely that individuals will consider, attempt, or die by suicide” (https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/suicide-prevention). The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention offers the following as examples of protective factors:

Access to mental health care, and being proactive about mental health
Feeling connected to family and community support
Problem-solving and coping skills
Limited access to lethal means
Cultural and religious beliefs that encourage connecting and help-seeking, discourage suicidal behavior, or create a strong sense of purpose or self-esteem

https://afsp.org/risk-factors-protective-factors-and-warning-signs/#risk-factors

Fostering these protective factors—both individually and within communities—is an essential part of prevention.

Brief Interventions

Brief, evidence-based interventions can provide immediate support for individuals in crisis.

Safety Planning Intervention (SPI): A collaborative process between a person and a clinician that identifies personalized coping strategies and supports to use during a crisis.
Lethal Means Counseling (LMC): Involves working with individuals and families on the importance of and on how to safely reduce or remove access to lethal means at home.
Crisis Response Planning (CRP): Focused on understanding an individual’s unique thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and various risk factors that increase their vulnerability to suicide when they encounter stressors or triggers. CRP involves developing an individualized, written plan, including strategies, reminders, and tools, to safely and effectively navigate moments of crisis.

Each of these interventions centers on collaboration, safety, and empowerment (https://afsp.org/therapies/).

Long-Term Therapeutic Approaches

Longer-term treatment options address underlying issues and help individuals build skills for lasting change:

Collaborative Management and Assessment of Suicidality (CAMS): Helps individuals identify and work through “suicidal drivers” in their lives. Suicidal drivers refer to the problems an individual faces that make them consider suicide (https://afsp.org/therapies/).
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy-Suicide Prevention (CBT-SP): Focuses on helping individuals change unhelpful automatic thought patterns and develop new coping strategies. In CBT-SP, suicidal behavior is treated as the central issue to address, rather than being seen solely as a symptom of an underlying mental health condition (https://afsp.org/therapies/).
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Supports emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and building a “life worth living”.DBT emphasizes understanding and integrating conflicting thoughts and feelings, which reduces impulsive reactions and supports healthier responses in emotionally intense situations (https://afsp.org/therapies/).
Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT): Helps teens and their families strengthen communication and emotional connection. ABFT addresses how difficulties in family attachment can contribute to depression and intense emotional reactions, and supports the development of healthier coping strategies for managing stress and reducing suicidal behavior (https://afsp.org/therapies/).
Prolonged Grief Therapy (PGT): Supports the natural healing process, guiding people toward reconnecting with life and finding meaning again. It has also been shown to be helpful for those grieving a death by suicide (https://afsp.org/therapies/).

Medication, alongside therapy, can also be part of an effective treatment plan. Medication should be discussed thoughtfully with a qualified provider (https://afsp.org/therapies/).

Community and Macro-Level Interventions

Suicide prevention is not only an individual concern, but also a public health priority.

Community and school-based initiatives such as peer support programs and campaigns centered on raising awareness also strengthen prevention efforts. Integrating suicide prevention into primary health care settings helps to ensure earlier support and ongoing connection to care (https://www.paho.org/en/topics/suicide-prevention).

In June 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the LIVE LIFE initiative, which outlined four key interventions to help prevent suicide globally:

Limiting access to the means of suicide
Working with media for responsible reporting
Fostering socio-emotional life skills in adolescents
Early identification, assessment, management, and follow-up for anyone impacted by suicidal thoughts and behaviors (https://www.paho.org/en/topics/suicide-prevention).

Similar to the WHO’s outlined initiatives, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) emphasizes that expanding access to mental health care, strengthening crisis response systems, and reducing stigma around seeking help are key evidence-based strategies for suicide prevention (https://www.paho.org/en/topics/suicide-prevention). These approaches focus on creating supportive environments where individuals can reach out for help without fear of judgment, ensuring that timely and effective care is available for those in distress.

Supporting Yourself and Others

If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal ideation, please remember: you do not have to go through this alone.

Learn practical tips, grounding, and self-care techniques through resources like Mind UK or Fireweed Collective’s Crisis Toolkit.
Explore mobile apps designed to support mental health and suicide prevention through the American Psychological Association (APA).
Reference this PDF titled Self-Care Strategies for Resilience by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)

When supporting others, The 5 Steps Can Help Someone Who is Suicidal from #BeThe1To is an incredibly useful reference and is supported by evidence in the field of suicide prevention. Visit their website for more details, but the steps are outlined as follows:

Ask – Asking “Are you thinking about suicide?” in a direct and unbiased way communicates that you’re open to speaking about suicide. Research has shown that asking does not increase the risk of suicide or suicidal thoughts, but rather that acknowledging and talking about suicide may reduce suicidal ideation.
Be there – This could mean being physically present for someone, speaking with them on the phone when you can, or any other way that shows support for the person at risk.
Keep them safe – This includes asking a series of questions to find out a few things to establish immediate safety, including reducing access to lethal means.
Help them connect – Help establish a safety net for crisis lines, loved ones, or professional support.
Follow-up – Sending a text, call, or message to see how they are doing can make a meaningful difference.

Suicide prevention is ultimately about connection — reminding each other that we do not need to suffer or hold so much pain alone. Whether through conversation, community efforts, or policy changes, every act of care makes a difference. Together, we can build a world where reaching out for help is met with understanding, and where hope has room to take root.

If you are in crisis or need immediate support, please contact one of the following free, confidential, and 24/7 resources: