The foundation for this training is first of all a shift from Suicide Prevention to Suicide Attention. Created by Camilla Monroe and Irina Ungureanu, this training integrates principles and skills of the Compassionate Inquiry Approach, developed by Dr. Gabor Maté and Sat Dharam Kaur N.D.

This is a comprehensive, experiential training for therapists, health professionals and people that work in education/medical/personal development professions, who are looking for tools to recognize and support those in their communities experiencing suicidal distress. 

The primary focus is to develop insight into how to respond to the needs of clients in crisis, while maintaining a therapeutic relationship deeply rooted in compassion and care.

This training is designed to promote confidence in holding space for clients in suicidal distress as well as to provide effective therapeutic interventions that support the client’s healing and growth.

Compassionate Inquiry Suicide Attention Training

About the Approach

Dr. Gabor Maté often maintains ‘Where there is tension it needs attention’. This perspective is the essence of Compassionate Inquiry. This approach seeks to understand and explore the function and context of thoughts and form a relationship to them. Valuable insights are lost when suicidal ideation is approached with a desire to distract away from or ‘stop’ the thoughts, as they often carry great insights into areas of life where clients need more support or resources as well as uncovering unmet needs.

What you’ll get out of this program:

  • An understanding of the nervous system: a polyvagal perspective
  • A biopsychosocial model of looking at suicide
  • Tools to work with complex presentations: identifying risk factors
  • Clarity around the cognitive distortions that drive suicidal ideation
  • Practises to identify and work with your own triggers around suicide
  • Self-regulation skills for clients and therapists: Finding Safety in the Present Moment
  • An introduction to parts-based approaches for promoting wholeness and integration
  • Skills to assist people in finding compassion for and befriending their suicidal thoughts
  • Pathways to addressing shame, fostering growth, and creating a meaningful and life-affirming experience
  • Resources to enhance resilience and manage suicidal states
  • An approach to help suicidal people reconnect with their true self.
  • Skills to navigate therapeutic boundaries when working with suicidal clients
  • Tools to co-create a resource-based safety plan with your client

Who is this program for?

  • Anyone above the age of 18
  • All Participants already enrolled in the CI Professional Training
  • Graduated and certified CI Practitioners
  • Individuals in Health Care and Education settings who are interested in developing understanding and compassion towards this important topic
  • Mental Health and other professionals, seeking to develop their skills working with suicidal clients

Because of the depth of self-reflection required, as well as the possibly triggering nature of the material, the CI Suicide Attention training is not suitable for:

  • Individuals in active addiction to substances
  • Individuals with severe mental illness
  • Individuals experiencing active suicidal ideation

Course Structure

  • The Compassionate Inquiry® Suicide Attention Training consists of 25 hours of live facilitated sessions (10 weekly modules of 2.5 hours each), extensive handouts of the slides presented after each session, and recordings of the sessions that can be accessed for unlimited time after the completion of the training.
  • The Compassionate Inquiry Suicide Attention training offers a certificate of completion at the end, based on live attendance at 7 out of 10 facilitated sessions.
  • Each session includes both didactic material and interactive, experiential exercises in a group. You will meet each week to deepen your exploration of the module themes, practice skills together, and have space for personal reflections.
  • There will be a further 12 hours of practice and peer connection across the training, working in groups of three. Each triad is 1.5 hours in duration, and you meet 8 times during the training. 

Course Fees

The cost of the CI Suicide Attention Training is $1200.00 CAD per participant, for the training, which includes 10 sessions. There are also payment plans available for this program: 2 payments of $625 CAD each or 3 payments of $420 CAD each. Follow the link below, if you wish to apply.

Registrations for the March 2025 Cohort are open!

The Cohort starts on March 18, 2025. 11:00am ET  1:30pm ET.

Registrations for the March 2025 Cohort are open!

The Cohort starts on March 18, 2025. 11:00am ET  1:30pm ET.

A limited number of subsidies are available for the Suicide Attention Training

Please only apply for a subsidy if you:

  1. Would be unable to attend the program otherwise, due to financial constraint
  2. Are committed and capable of attending the program you are applying for
  3. Can pay the discounted rate for the course by the required date, February 9, 2025
  4. Subsidies are not transferable from one course to another, or from one person to another

Subsidy applications are due by midnight ET on January 9, 2025. You will be notified if you have been chosen to receive a subsidy by January 25, 2025. Final registration and payment of the subsidy are February 9, 2025. Please email billing@compassionateinquiry.com for application form.

Meet the Creators and Facilitators:

Irina Ungureanu is a trauma-informed therapist with a background in transpersonal psychology and performative arts, a PhD in interculturalism and specializing in her private practice in support for suicidal distress. Based in Bucharest, Romania, she is a public speaker, trainer and lecturer on personal development, societal trauma and therapeutic modalities, focusing on group processes and suicide prevention.
From 2021-2022 Irina and Camilla Monroe facilitated the Suicide Attention space – monthly meetings of support within the CI training, and coordinated the Suicide Prevention and Support Team within CI for anyone in the training experiencing suicidal distress. Irina and Camilla created the Suicide Attention Training as an outcome of this work. Irina is a certified Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner.

Camilla Monroe is a trauma-informed psychotherapist based in Cork City, Ireland. Camilla became a psychotherapist inspired by her own trauma recovery journey and is very focused on the mind- body connection in her work. Alongside her private practise, Camilla worked as a therapist and clinical assessor for a suicide prevention charity in Ireland, supporting clients experiencing self-harm and suicidal ideation. Camilla started her CI journey in May 2020. Since that time, Camilla and her colleague Irina Ungureanu have been seeking ways to integrate Gabor Mate’s Compassionate Inquiry approach into a treatment lens that shifts the focus from suicide prevention to suicide attention to support both those experiencing suicidal distress and those working with it. Camilla Monroe is a certified Compassionate Inquiry Practitioner. 

““Rather than making it a problem, see it as a treasure to be explored, as something that is here to teach you if you are willing to learn.”

Dr. Gabor Maté (CI Pillar No.7)

Cancellation Policy

This is an experiential program with a limited number (50 participants per Cohort) of spaces available.

Since a space is reserved for you when you register and pay, there are no refunds available for this course 14 days prior to the start date, and thereafter. No exceptions. If you request a refund 15 or more days before the start date, it will be granted, minus a $250 CAD admin fee. (To convert to your local currency, click here)

For all queries regarding billing and payments, please reach out to billing@compassionateinquiry.com

For additional information on course content and structure, please reach out to us at suicideattention@compassionateinquiry.com and your email will be answered within 72-hours, during the Office working days, Monday to Friday (EST Time Zone). We appreciate your patience!

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