Time Space Compassion - supporting people experiencing suicidal crisis: introductory guide

4. Creating hope

Supporting people affected by suicide and suicidal crisis is emotionally challenging work, and we know that the people who do this also need Time Space Compassion in order to do it well.

People providing support described the importance of taking time to understand how their environment influences their ability to offer Time Space Compassion. Four common ways people and organisations generate opportunities to offer Time Space Compassion include:

H

How we connect

The quality of connection and relationships with others – those we support, work alongside and link to in other places

O

Ourselves

Finding our own Time Space Compassion to stop, reflect, learn and recover

P

Practice

Consistently paying attention to and taking steps to sustain and increase our impact for people in crisis

E

Everyday actions

Having good processes, forms, working habits, systems and policy that actively support us to work this way

These were also described as areas where people saw most potential for action – at both individual and collective levels.

Key resources

The National Wellbeing Hub offers information, resources and support for people working in health and social care in Scotland. Resources and tools for peer support, supervision and learning can be found in a range of places, including NES for registered healthcare practitioners, IRISS and Social Work Scotland for people working in social work and social care and Scottish Recovery Network for people working with and in peer support.

Supporting a Mentally Healthy Workplace aims to help employers of any size to support their workers’ mental health, providing links to sources of free guidance and support.