CenterPointe applauds update to National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Starting Saturday, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline will be updating its number.

People can now call or text 988 to be connected with a crisis counselor, like those at Boys Town.  

Here in Lincoln, CenterPointe is the closest associated crisis response center and will be helping to take calls and connect callers with the counselors at Boys Town. 

The crisis team alone had more than 900 face-to-face contacts last year, according to Crisis Response Program Director Amber Dirks. 

“I think this is really important cause looking at last year, when we think about the pandemic, there was a huge influx of mental health crisis that people experienced, as well as substance-related crisis that people experienced,“ she said. 

Dirks said the goal for the new number is to make it easier for those in crisis to get the help they need.  

“There’s multiple different hot lines — we have our own crisis response hot line as well that people can call — but this is an easy way for people to remember it, and I think kind of like 911, it’s easy access, but I think, again, that it also decreases that stigma,” she said. 

When someone calls the hotline, they will be connected with a crisis counselor who will help them asses their situation and get the help they need. 

“They’re gonna try to help people problem solve, find ways to cope with what’s going on, try to verify safety on those calls,” Dirks said. “At that point, if they’re not able to, they’re going to see if they would be willing to meet with the crisis response team, and then they can initiate crisis response from there.”