David Galvan: How (Not) to Talk About Suicide in the Church

The church doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to dealing with suicide in a healthy, helpful way. We talk with David Galvan, Director of Education for a Lifetime, about how Christians can learn to talk openly about suicide and mental illness without fear or shame.

David has been teaching, training, and facilitating conversations with students about healthy relationships since 2010. He has been on 24 high school campuses in El Paso County and has personally spoken to over 20,000 students. For the past four years, he has been meeting with students and faith communities about suicide prevention and suicide awareness with the goals of reducing the stigma around mental health and encouraging students to know they are needed, loved, and valued.

He is part of the El Paso County Youth Suicide Prevention Workgroup and sits on their steering committee. David is a certified trainer in Youth Mental Health First Aid and Adverse Childhood Experiences. He is dedicated to the mission of Education for a Lifetime that every student should have healthy, non-violent relationships, and have access to help and hope to live purposefully.

You can connect with David on Facebook or through email (dgalvan@eflonline.org)

Books/resources mentioned:

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