Mental Health Summit Covers Suicide Prevention
Terrance “TJ” Lafromboise was one of the speakers who offered hope during the 988 Tribal Mental Health Summit held in Poplar last week.
“If you can provide hope, you can possibly save a life,” Lafromboise said regarding a suicide prevention message.
Lafromboise, who is originally from the Blackfeet Reservation, has been delivering positive addresses to tribal members, including those in Canada, since earning his masters degree in social work in 2021. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Montana School of Social Work, where he integrates indigenous knowledge, trauma-informed practice and land-based teachings into the classroom.
“Creating safety is one of the main things we can do,” Lafromboise explained. “Connection is correction.”
He said that many problems such as addiction, suicides and domestic violence stem from a particular place. “Our message is to let it go,” he said. Letting it go means to talk about the secrets that everybody knows. Examples include that everybody knows someone who committed suicide. “The story matters,” Lafromboise said.
Montana always ranks as one of the top five states as far as suicide rate per capita. Being such a large state with few mental health providers is one of the state’s challenges. He is glad that the program held in Poplar attracted 125-150 in-person participants and about 2,500 viewers through social media. He said such events creates the capacity to change problems.
“If you create opportunity, they will come,” Lafromboise said. “We have the opportunity to build, but we have to build it in a healthy, correct way.”
He said groups most at risk for suicide appear to be veterans, Native Americans and middle aged white males. “Hopelessness is the number one cause of suicide,” he said. “As communities in Montana, we can build bridges of communication.”
Other presenters during the twoday summit included Jackie Gittins of 988 Voices of Hope and Amanda White Crane and Mia Klock of Volunteers of America Western Washington.
