Kognito Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Training

This website is available to cadets and faculty/staff through the VMI Portal. (Login and enter "suicide" in search box.  Suicide Prevention Training link will be the first item listed.)

An interactive role-play simulation for faculty and staff and cadets that builds awareness, knowledge, and skills about mental health and suicide prevention, and prepares users to lead real-life conversations with students that build resilience, strengthen relationships and connect them with support.

Learning Goals and Objectives:

• Increase knowledge and awareness about mental health and suicide
• Identify warning signs of psychological distress, including verbal, behavioral, and situational clues
• Lead conversations with students to discuss concerns, build resilience and increase connectedness
• Assess the need for referral, motivate the student to seek help, and make a warm hand-off to support
• Understand the school’s specific process for student referral and counseling services
• Faculty and staff are provided with an overview of Kognito during training throughout the year and at new faculty & Staff orientations.  They are encouraged to access the online resource through the CCC webpage.

At-Risk for Faculty / Staff:  Users are introduced to their virtual coach and learn about psychological distress, how it impacts college students and what they can do when they are concerned about a student.

At-Risk for Cadets:  Users are introduced to their virtual coach and learn about psychological distress, how it impacts, college students, and what a peer can do when they’re concerned about a friend.

Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR):  

QPR (Question, Persuade, and Refer) Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention is designed to teach lay and professional "gatekeepers" the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to respond. 

Learning Goals and Objectives:

• How to Question, Persuade and Refer someone who may be suicidal
• How to get help for yourself or learn more about preventing suicide
• The common causes of suicidal behavior
• The warning signs of suicide
• How to get help for someone in crisis

If you are interested in QPR training, please contact cadetcounseling@vmi.edu to receive an access code and password.