The Endurance Approach
Everyone has a role to play in preventing suicide.
Before you begin supporting others, you need to ensure you are supporting yourself.
To be able to notice distress, have difficult conversations and guide someone towards help, you need to protect your own wellbeing. Caring for yourself is not selfish or separate from suicide prevention. It helps you stay steady, know your limits and respond with compassion when situations feel difficult or distressing.
The Endurance Approach has three stages: Train, Sustain, and Recover.
These can help you support yourself before, during and after supporting someone else.
Build your confidence before you need it. Understanding suicide prevention, knowing where to signpost, and recognising your own needs and boundaries can make it easier to respond safely and calmly.
- Use this Toolkit, trusted resources, books or podcasts to keep learning.
- Complete quality-assured suicide prevention training where possible.
- Know the support and signposting routes available in your sports setting.
- Understand your own boundaries and share knowledge with others so support is not carried by one person alone.
Organisations can support this by investing in quality-assured suicide prevention training, lived experience speakers, practical workshops, and clear guidance for staff and volunteers.
Supporting others is not just about one moment. To keep showing up well over time, build habits that protect your wellbeing and reduce the risk of burnout.
- Check in regularly with your own support system.
- Listen and respond to your own warning signs of stress or overload.
- Keep clear boundaries around your role and know when to pass concerns on.
- Use supervision, peer support, talking therapy or employee support services where available.
Organisations can support this by providing Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs), access to professional supervision, regular wellbeing check-ins from managers, and peer support networks.
If you have supported someone in distress, take time afterwards to pause, reflect and recover. It is normal for the conversation to stay with you, and it is important not to carry it alone.
- Take a moment to notice how you are feeling.
- Debrief with the appropriate person, while respecting confidentiality.
- Do something grounding or restorative, such as movement, rest, time outdoors or something creative.
- Speak to a trusted person, access peer support or professional support if the situation stays with you.
- Remind yourself that your role is to notice, listen and connect someone to support, not to fix everything alone.
To speak to someone about your experience, you can use services such as the Papyrus Debrief Service.
Organisations can support this by ensuring staff and volunteers have access to timely debriefs, professional supervision, counselling or employee support services, peer support networks, and clear procedures for responding to and recovering from distressing incidents.
