BACP's reaction to yesterday's National Suicide Prevention Alliance conference

The National Suicide Prevention Alliance, a cross-sector coalition of organisations in England of which BACP is a steering group member, held their 2015 suicide prevention conference in London yesterday.

The NSPA is committed to reducing the number of suicides nationwide and improving the support those affected by suicide receive by aiding the implementation of the national suicide prevention strategy.

The conference, which featured a speech from the Minister of State for Care Services & Support, Norman Lamb, hosted a series of workshops and talks with an aim of supporting local and national authorities in establishing a plan of action on suicide prevention in conjunction with the national strategy.

BACP Chair, Dr Andrew Reeves, who attended and spoke at the conference, said:

"Traditionally our culture does not talk easily about death and dying, and there seems to be additionally even greater shame surrounding suicide. However, these attitudes are beginning to change as mental health is better understood and talked about.

"The imperative now has to be for mental health professionals to be willing to ask about and explore suicide, although there is still insufficient training for people to know how best to do this. We know that counselling can be helpful to people who are suicidal so there is a great imperative on counsellors to be able to ask questions about suicidal thoughts and be willing to explore them open, honestly and respectfully."

Notes to editors

BACP is a professional body and a registered charity that sets standards for therapeutic practice and provides information for therapists, clients of therapy, and the public. We have over 40,000 members, working within a range of settings, including the NHS, schools and universities, workplaces and private practice, as well as third sector environments including voluntary, community and pastoral settings.

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