New training, support programs for veteran mental health in ND
Efforts aim to reduce veteran suicide by encouraging community engagement, open conversations
By Isak Dinesen - WDAY

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.

FARGO — Several efforts are ongoing in eastern North Dakota, looking to help prevent veteran suicide, not just at the Veterans Administration.

They’re aimed at anyone looking to have a larger presence in veteran’s lives.

“One suicide is too many, and then when you look at 6,000 it really is heartbreaking,” Elsie Motter, a clinical counseling and behavioral health director at the University of Jamestown, said.

That’s about how many veterans die by suicide every year nationwide, according to the University of Jamestown.

They’ve just launched a new partnership with the governor’s challenge, part of the university’s efforts to help prevent veteran suicide.

“It can be very difficult to have conversations about, ‘Are you feeling suicidal?’ and even going a step further, when you’re asking about their ability, the means that they have,” Motter said.

The training is aimed at professionals who work directly with veterans, but you don’t need to be licensed to help veterans with their emotions.

“A lot of military members are very Type A personalities, I would say: ‘I’ve got this, I can handle everything.’ but sometimes they can’t, and that’s when it becomes a closeted secret of saying ‘I need help, but I’m not going to go and reach for help,’” said Tim Kuhn, the executive director for Heroes Compass.

Heroes Compass is a nonprofit that encourages smaller conversations and acts of kindness with the veterans in people’s lives.

Even if they may not be feeling their best, showing you care about them can go a long way.

“You’re trying to prevent that from happening in the first place, so how you can do that is say ‘Thanks for your support,’ ‘Thanks for your service,’ things of that nature. That does help, but how are you thanking them for your service? Are you thanking them by a phone call, a text message, checking in on them?” Kuhn said.

Whether big or small, it’s all for showing care to the ones who put their lives on the line.

“They’re the first ones to volunteer and we need to do our part as a community to help them when they’re here back home,” Motter said.

The training program in Jamestown has been completed by more than 100 people, and there will be another session in December.

Several local agencies are also available to help anyone going through a mental health crisis, such as emergency medical technicians from Sanford Ambulance.

Their training focuses on situations, since their patients can vary in severity. They have a list of questions they ask people who call 911, so they know how to react.

Staff say it’s all about being active in the conversation and offering insight wherever they can.

“We want to be sensitive, we want to pause, we want to listen, let that person feel heard, but at the same time, in today’s world, with all of the different types of violence going on, we also have to stay very alert,” Kathy Lonski, an improvement advisor with Sanford Ambulance, said.

Sanford ambulance has responded to nearly 2,500 mental health-related calls in 2024.


Reach WDAY reporter Isak Dinesen at idinesen @wday.com.