Capacity-building workshops

Suicide touches people from all walks of life. Our lived experience of suicide is just one part of who we are. Roses in the Ocean engages the whole person and facilitates opportunities to harness your diverse skill sets and expertise.

In order to leverage your skills, capabilities, expertise and lived experience, we first must ensure that you are ready to be involved, are safe and supported, trained in appropriate messaging and language, and possess current and accurate knowledge of suicide and suicide prevention.

At Roses in the Ocean we recognise that individuals have unique capabilities and different abilities to get involved in volunteer work. Our volunteers are offered the opportunity to engage at different levels in our Lived Experience Collective from ‘dip your toe in’ opportunities like helping out at a local community awareness event or completing a survey through to in-depth, skilled and representative involvement in policy and program development, advocacy and peer-to-peer support initiatives.

Customised training

In addition to the suite of offerings, Roses in the Ocean customise workshops and programs to meet specific needs within communities, service providers and organisations. Lived experience enhances programs by bringing greater meaning, connection and understanding to generic content and effects attitudinal change far more effectively.

All Roses in the Ocean programs are designed and developed by professional Facilitators who also have a personal lived experience of suicide. Roses in the Ocean Facilitators draw on their professional expertise to deliver a range of training programs and workshops which are informed and enhanced by their personal story of suicide and that of the members of our own Lived Experience Collective.

We also draw upon the the growing base of lived experience knowledge internationally to enhance training outcomes.  We believe delivering evidence-based training programs in combination with sharing the personal insights of suicide, increases the impact and depth of understanding achieved. This is a unique and powerful offering for Suicide Prevention Networks, Corporate and community groups, and Frontline Service Providers, and provides great opportunity for innovative collaboration amongst proactive suicide prevention organisations.

The stigma, prejudice and discrimination associated with suicide can prevent people from reaching out for help when they need it the most and hinders systemic responses to suicide. Research evidence from the field of psychology suggests that a key strategy to overcome prejudice is through direct contact with people who represent the stigmatised ‘other’. Extended to suicide prevention, it is likely that exposure to individuals with lived experience of suicide helps to reduce stigma and to build understanding that suicide can touch the life of anyone in the community.