Hope Squad brings suicide awareness to BYUH community
To be a friend, not a therapist—that is the main purpose of Hope Squad, a school-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program founded by Elder Gregory Hudnall. It was started on campus together with Michael Schaumann, a senior majoring in psychology from Colorado, an intern and a team leader for Hope Squad. Hudnall and Schaumann said students can learn to recognize warning signs, offer support and break the stigma surrounding mental health through meaningful connections. “Hope Squad trains students to be the eyes and ears of the school,” said Hudnall.
Hudnall said the Hope Squad is a model he created in 2004 to help prevent suicides from happening at a Utah high school. Since then, he said there has not been a single death by suicide for over 20 years. It was established in a Utah school district, where he was the associate superintendent. He said Hope Squad is not only for schools, but they also military bases, corporations and even for senior citizens. “But this is the first time that we are modeling it for a university [like BYU-Hawaii],” he continued.
Hudnall said universities tend to be very fragmented due to students having different majors and levels of classes. “They spend all of their time in certain parts of the campus and they get pulled away from the interaction and start to interact with a smaller group versus a larger group throughout the day. So, it becomes a challenge for us,” he explained. Hudnall said the diversity BYUH has comes with a challenge in tackling mental health due to the different cultural backgrounds of the students. “However, because of that, members of the Hope Squad are learning a little bit more on mental health and understanding [each perspectives],” he continued. Pimwara Hootini, a senior majoring in political science from Thailand and one of the hosts of Ke Alaka’i: The Podcast, said she had not heard of Hope Squad before she did the podcast. “I think it is another great approach to help the community to be aware of mental health,” Hootini said.
“One of the things Hope Squad is doing is connecting with each club president through Terry Moeai who oversees all the clubs here in BYUH,” Hudnall said. He explained by meeting with club presidents, it narrows down to a smaller group instead of working with 3,000 people at the same time. “There’s more chances the names that have been nominated to serve as part of the Hope Squad within that club [whom] the students know,” Hudnall added. After getting nominations by members from the different campus clubs, he said they sent out emails from their department to the nominees explaining the initiative and the nominees can choose whether or not they want to be part of it.
Schaumann said suicide affects everyone, no matter what age or what status they have in life. “Hope Squad teaches that everyone needs support and care. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you came from,” he said. Through Hope Squad, Hudnall said they are training life savers to know what to watch out for, how to be a friend and most importantly, to know what to do and how to help an individual who is struggling. “I think the power of it is we're really learning how to put our phones aside and how to become friends again. No one wants to be a project, but everybody wants to be cared for,” he emphasized. Hootini said she learned from talking with them to not run faster than she has strength. “It’s okay if I can’t go all in with helping a friend because I’m prioritizing my mental health,” she said. Hootini added it is also important to let the person you are helping know about your mental health state. “So they do not assume negative things about you or your friendship,” she shared.
Schaumann said, “Asking the appropriate questions and how to navigate an effective and efficient communication or conversation with the person who might be experiencing thoughts about suicide is one of the things we are learning here in Hope Squad.” Hudnall added a lot of people who are struggling do not want to die, they just want the pain to stop, but they just do not know how. “Whether that's emotional, spiritual, physical - the more we can recognize it in those individuals and start having those discussions with them. It's amazing what we can do then to become that support and QPR says it best question, persuade, refer, ” Hudnall explained.
Part of the training in Hope Squad, Hudnall explained the life savers’ assignment is to introduce themselves to five people per week. “It presents an opportunity for them to be able to help and be a lifesaver to someone,” he said. He said by doing role-playing every week as part of training, they get to practice what they might say. “Because talking about suicide, talking about depression, mental health issues can be very overwhelming, can be very challenging. So the life savers assignment is to go out and sit with someone they do not know and introduce themselves,” he said. Schaumann said one of the things they have been doing in their trainings is to listen to someone else’s life story for 60 seconds without interrupting. “It was hard because you want to naturally input your two cents and fix whatever’s going on,” Schaumann explained. But he said that it is okay to listen and focus on what is being said.
“We cannot avoid [death by] suicide,” Hudnall said, “but because of Hope Squad, it enables the individuals to talk about it,” he continued. Hudnall said it is a challenge for each individual to take care of their mental health, but the more the Hope Squad can know about it, the more they can be able to intervene. “We do not train Hope Squad members to be therapists or counselors, but we are training them to be friends with others again,” Hudnall said. He said Hope Squad’s aim is to reduce the stigma of mental health and going to counseling centers. “Everybody hurts at different times, and it's okay to talk about it, and it's okay to ask for help,” said Hudnall. He said one of the challenges a school faces like BYUH in implementing a mental health program is the stigma of not being able to talk about it. When there is a suicide, he said, people can be afraid to talk about it because they are "afraid that if we talk about it, it's going to cause someone to take their life again,” he shared. He said if individuals do not know where to turn to or talk to, they would not be able to understand what they are going through.
Schaumann said he first heard about the Hope Squad from a friend who is taking the class for an internship. Schaumann said he wanted to be part of the Hope Squad, an on-campus class and internship opportunity here at BYUH led by Elder Hudnall, because he thought it was interesting and it revolved around his major. “Each of us in the team has a position we dedicate our talent to, and my main role as a team leader is to make sure everything is done, not only in individual parts but as a whole group as well,” he explained. He said by being part of the Hope Squad, it allowed him to understand mental health better. “It did not change, but it definitely improved on how to approach it, especially in asking questions to other people,” he said. Hope Squad led him to know how to better take care of himself so he can help others better, he added.
We cannot avoid [death by] suicide, but because of Hope Squad, it enables the individuals to talk about it.
“The Church has many resources on mental health, so if you don’t know where to start, you can start there,” Schaumann said. He said through church resources, each individual can have a great opportunity to reach out to other people and become an advocate for mental health. “By praying a little bit more and having the Spirit, opportunities can come your way to advocate for those people who are struggling,” he added. Hudnall also said it takes two-to-three years to change the culture of a school. Yet, he said he hopes students will support the activities the Hope Squad will sponsor. “Just like what Dr. [Eric] Orr did with the psychology department during his annual walk with the counseling center every September, we do hope more people would get involved [with us] so they [can be better] educated and understand what they can do individually and what they can do as a group,” Hudnall continued.
Hootini said it is important for her to know BYUH has another mental health resource like the Hope Squad, especially as a college student and a mother. “There’s a team that understands and is willing to listen to my problems, I know where to go if I ever need help,” she said.