Mental Health QPR: Question, Persuade, Refer

About this event

Mental Health QPR: Question, Persuade, Refer

What do you do when you notice that someone you work with just doesn’t seem like themselves?

In an industry built around long hours, high-pressure environments, constant travel, and demanding schedules, knowing how to recognize when someone may be struggling — and knowing what to do next — can make a meaningful difference.

Join Trisha Hayes LCSW, MSW Practicum Coordinator. from Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) for a two-hour QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) suicide-prevention training designed to give participants practical tools for recognizing warning signs, starting a direct conversation, and helping connect someone to appropriate support.

During this interactive session, participants will learn how to:

• Recognize signs that someone may be experiencing a crisis or struggling with their mental health

• Ask direct, compassionate questions when something doesn’t seem right

• Listen without judgment and create space for an honest conversation

• Encourage someone to seek help and connect them with professional and crisis resources

• Build confidence in responding when you’re concerned about a colleague, friend, family member, or someone in your crew

QPR is not therapy or clinical training. It is a practical approach to helping people feel more prepared to notice, ask, listen, and help when someone may be at risk.

This special session is part of ECCHO Live Workshop Career Essentials Lab , a pre-workshop experience offered by ECCHO Live in collaboration with Middle Tennessee State University. It is open to anyone who wants to build these skills and be better prepared to support the people around them.

Free to Attend

Registration Required

Tuesday, November 10, 2026 | 1:30 –3:30 PM

Rock Nashville — Studio 2

Meet the Facilitator

Trish Hayes, LCSW is a full-time faculty member at Middle Tennessee State University. She serves as the MSW Practicum Coordinator in the Department of Social Work and began in this position in August 2025. Also, as an independent practitioner, she provides supervision for social workers pursuing advanced licensure across the state of Tennessee.

Prior to her appointment to the MTSU faculty team, she served as a social worker in the Metro-Nashville Public Defender Office working exclusively in the juvenile division. Beginning that position in 1990, Ms. Hayes has over 35 years of experience navigating the juvenile justice system and advocating on behalf of youth. Working with defense attorneys, she spent her time developing alternatives to incarceration, advocating for youth within the education and mental health systems, and helping youth navigate through the state child welfare and juvenile justice systems. She worked with youth whose cases were managed in the juvenile court and with you that risk of “transfer” to criminal court for prosecution. She frequently testified in juvenile court hearings and less frequently in criminal court cases on behalf of justice involved youth.

Ms. Hayes served as an adjunct professor at MTSU beginning in 2008 until 2025 and at the University of Tennessee beginning in 2017 until 2025. In 2018 she served as a consultant to the Middle District Federal Public Defender office where she developed and implemented an internship program for students in area university social work programs. She continued working with this office until 2021 when they managed the internship program independently. Ms. Hayes currently serves on the Board of Directors for NASW (National Association of Social Workers)TN Chapter and is the chair of the Middle Branch.

Ms. Hayes received her BSW from Western Kentucky University in 1984 and her MSSW from the University of Louisville in 1987. She is licensed in the state of Tennessee as a Clinical Social Worker.