As the name suggests, peer support is the foundation upon which our nonprofit is based. Peer Initiative consults with schools to bring our innovative teen suicide prevention program into high schools statewide. The backbone of the suicide prevention program is the peer support team. The PST is a select group of high school leaders who receive training from the McNeese State Psychology Department and the Kay Dore Counseling Clinic. Peer leaders are taught empathy, listening skills, non-judgmental support, suicide awareness, and basic peer session techniques. While these sessions occur in-person at our Sam Houston High School location, the sessions are available statewide via Zoom. Each school which implements the Peer Initiative teen suicide prevention program must have a partnership with a licensed mental health professional. 

While the peer leaders are crucial in identifying students at risk of death by suicide, there must be a mental health professional the peer leaders can refer these at-risk students to. Peer Initiative has statewide partnerships that can assist with connecting your school with a mental health professional if such a relationship does not already exist. Please contact us to request additional information regarding the teen suicide prevention program, and how to bring it to your school.