Jay Winstead, LCSW
Clinical Trainer & Zero Suicide Initiative Coordinator at Mental Health Partners
- Graduated from Colorado State University
- Mental Health Partners Team Member for 10 years
- ASIST, SafeTALK, QPR
Prior to joining MHP’s training team, I served as a clinician on MHP’s crisis team for 8 years. At this point in my career, I feel training is a way to help more people than I could help as a clinician working with one individual at a time. For me, it’s also an avenue of personal growth. Any experienced teacher or trainer knows your students can teach you as much or more than you teach them. If you go in to each class being open to a dialogue with the participants, you’ll learn!
I especially like presenting ASIST because of its emphasis on storytelling and deep listening. I think a lot of people instinctively understand the power of engaged, compassionate listening, and they understand how transformative and healing it can be when we get to tell our story to someone who really hears us and doesn’t feel compelled to jump in and try to “fix” our problem right away or tell us what to do.
In my free time, you can find me meditating, reading, traveling, hiking, hanging out with friends, or cooking.