Be sure to check out the new updated Jeff Yalden Foundation Site: www.JeffYaldenFoundation.com
Mental Health Awareness & Suicide Prevention
One Person. One Community At A Time.
The Jeff Yalden Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to
suicide prevention and mental health awareness.
Mission Statement: The Jeff Yalden Foundation’s mission is to prevent suicide, improve community mental health, and shatter the stigma of mental health by initiating a positive movement to speak up and reach out.
You can ORDER Jeff’s best-selling book, TEEN SUICIDE: The “Why” Behind America’s Teen Suicide Epidemic
For more information and to order the book, please CLICK THE BUTTON
To advocate for mental health awareness and to teach suicide prevention to help anyone who is struggling so that they know it is ok to ask for help. To be a resource for school communities in their struggle with mental health on campus and to teach long lasting prevention and how to prevent a suicide from happening within their communities.
Who Hires Jeff?
Benefit from more than Two Decades of Experience.
Benefit from THE MAN that Deals with Teen Suicide Every Day!
When one Indiana community lost 9 teens in one year, including 4 teens in six weeks all to suicide, who did they call? Jeff Yalden answers the toughest questions parents, teens, and educators are asking. Jeff’s theory goes beyond the text book definitions of mental health and teen depression.
A Suicide Contagion in Woodstock, Ontario, Canada the Canadian Mental Health Association called this small city, “A city in crisis!”, who’d they call? Within days, Jeff Yalden was there spending five days in Woodstock talking to teens, families, and the community.
Many middle schools and high schools, colleges and universities are starting to make Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Training mandatory. Jeff brings a heartfelt message delivered with humor and truth intertwined with real-life stories that touch the heart and change lives.
Our youth today want real life talk and someone that understands them and what they are going through. For this reason, many school communities reach out to Jeff because not only does Jeff get it, but Jeff lives it and knows how to talk to teens on their level, but also in a professional and trusting manner. Jeff gets our young people to open up their hearts and drop their ego.
Jeff literally goes into school communities and saves lives every time.
Here is what you get:
Two Full Days of Programs – School Assemblies, Workshops, Small Groups, Individual Coaching, Leading “Trusted Friends”, Teaching how to advocate for oneself, Teacher Training, Student Training, Parent/Community Presentation, and INSPIRATION.
- The Signs To Look Out For
- What To Say and “How” To Say It
- How You Can Help Your Students & Staff
- Signs and Symptoms of Teen Depression and Suicide
- Jeff’s Theory on Today’s Suicide Epidemic
- How to Reduce Anxiety and Stress in Every Day Life
- The Effect of Social Media and Cell Phones amongst our Teens/Youth
- And so much more!
He makes sense and gives you information you’ve never thought could be causing teens wanting to end the pain. For more information on Jeff working with your school community check out, The Green School Program that Jeff offers now.
Suicide Prevention:
Training School Staff & Student Leaders
Developed by Jeff Yalden this training is a Gatekeeper Training Program for teachers, staff, and students. The experientially based training is designed to enhance knowledge, awareness, and skills concerning teen and youth suicide.
Specifically, this training aims to increase knowledge about suicide statistics, risk and protective factors, warning signs, and referral resources; to increase empathic listening skills, communication skills, and the ability to ask individuals if they are thinking about suicide; and to increase self-awareness concerning the potential emotional reactions gatekeepers may experience when interacting with students in crisis.
This Training by Jeff Yalden is highly interactive, with gatekeepers participating in multiple exercises throughout the training to increase both their skills and awareness concerning the emotional intensity of responding to suicidal students.
The two-and half hour training culminates with a role play, in which gatekeepers are given the opportunity to practice the skills they are taught during the course of the training.
Training in School Communities
Changing the school climate and school culture is a lot easier than you think.
As many states are making suicide prevention training mandatory it’s not enough. We have a responsibility to do more and to bring this issue of Mental Health to the forefront and Jeff helps you do just that.
First, Jeff comes in and speaks about Suicide Prevention and Teen Mental Health. Then, Jeff will train your school staff to be “Trusted Adults.” Not every teacher or staff members wants this responsibility, but those that want to be “Trusted Adults” will go through an extra hour of training and will receive a sticker and a poster for their classroom door entering the classroom and a poster for their classroom. They will also be given a green bandana representing who they are as well.
The same bandana the teachers or staff will have are also the same bandanas the students leaders who go through the training will receive representing they’re “Trusted Friends.”
Before any of the Training, Jeff likes to do a school assembly for all staff and students. This builds the respect and trust and sets the tone for Jeff being on campus.
Understand, not all our students are dealing with mental illness. Therefore, Jeff carefully makes this clear and delivers a message, “About Life” rather than just a message about Mental Health.
Before moving forward with this day, Jeff and the school administration and counselors will make sure they’re on the same page with what the school needs, their theme, what needs further addressing, etc.
The whole assembly covers many of issues that each of our students are dealing with such as:
- Not being afraid to ask for help
- Self-Value
- Attitude
- Choices
- Kindness
- Bullying
- Self-Care
- Purpose
- Happiness
- Creating a Plan of Success
After the assembly or assemblies, we move into the Trainings:
Becoming a “Trusted Adult”
Not all our teachers are capable of being that trusted adult outside of their classroom, but many of our teachers want that responsibility but don’t know how to be that trusted adult. No worries.
Jeff comes and trains the teachers on suicide prevention and teaches them how to be approachable and what to do when a student comes forward.
All teachers interested in being a “Trusted Adult” will receive a sticker and a poster for them to display. The sticker is a bright green sticker that is clearly visible when the students walk in the classroom. The poster is bright green poster that is clearly displayed in the classroom. The sticker and poster are reminders that the teacher is a “Trusted Teacher” and that the student can come to them with a problem or in need of a trusted adult knowing that they will have the student’s best interest at heart.
This training is for teachers and staff personnel.
Training is 2 hours – 3 hours
Becoming a “Trusted Friend”
Our students are the Gatekeepers when it comes to saving a teens life. They know of their friends who need help. They know who might be struggling.
Teaching our students about their responsibilities and how important their role in their friends lives is vital to our school culture and climate.
Jeff will train your student leaders or students – roughly 20 out of every 100 students to be a “Trusted Friends” on campus.
These students will receive a Green Bandana to wear on their backpacks that represent themselves as a supporter of Teen Mental Health and a Trusted Friend where they will listen, validate feelings, and offer hope, encouragement, and support.
These “Trusted Friends” will learn how to persuade and refer the student to get help, but the “Trusted Friend” will know the responsibility to report the conversation to counselors, parents, and/or school personnel. A “Trusted Friend” will understand the “Red Flags” and will know not to leave a “Friend” alone and how to follow-up after the situation is reported to the proper authorities.
These students will go through a 2 hour in-depth, interactive, training and will receive a packet of information, a card to have phone numbers and contact information, a green bandana, and Jeff will continue to send training and informative videos to Green Schools.
These students will also be “School Culture Advocates” learning how to be a positive support influence during the school day with signs and displaying positivity and kindness to all.
The Life Coach on Campus
After these trainings, Jeff sticks around a day to work with counselors and students.
This day Jeff is all around campus meeting one on one with students or with student groups talking about the responsibility we have being our best advocates for healthy living and creating a plan of action.
During change of classes you’ll find Jeff and the “Trusted Friends” in the hallways with signs offering encouragement and inspiration to one another.
Jeff teaches the tone that needs to be displayed to show students there is help and as a school community we are willing and waiting to offer help and support.
Contact us for more information and to answer your questions.
