TWENTY years ago, North Belfast man Philip McTaggart was a hard working builder whose sole purpose in life was to provide for his family.
That all changed in 2003 when his 17 year-old son, also Philip, known as Pip, took his own life. Traumatised and grief-stricken after this heart-breaking loss, Philip battled with guilt as he tried to understand what had led to his son’s death, but no answers were easily forthcoming.
Whilst seeking help and guidance, he soon realised that suicide was a taboo subject that many people shied away from.
Philip founded PIPS (Public Initiative for the Prevention of Suicide and Self-harm) in 2003, a few short weeks after his son’s death, and further helped establish Lighthouse Suicide Prevention in North Belfast.
Having completed a ‘Train the Trainer’ course at Kingston College in Dublin and a ‘Personal and Business Life Coach’ course and with an advanced diploma in CBT, he then set about creating awareness in the local community about the causes and repercussions of suicide and mental health.
Today, Philip continues to promote positive mental health through his own mind skills training, coaching and wellbeing. Over time, he also travelled across Ireland and to London, Boston, Chicago and Paris to highlight the issues of suicide and to promote positive mental health, encouraging people to break down the barriers and stigma which stop people from seeking help.
Philip is dedicated to helping save lives by preventing suicides. It is his vocation to encourage people of all ages to seek help and talk about how they feel.
"I want to share my experience and the training I have built up over the years because I genuinely believe we can help make the community a safer and better place to live," he said.
"Suicide is preventable. As a society, we have a responsibility to ensure that young people, adults, teachers, parents and carers alike within our community, have the opportunity to discuss the subject of mental health in an open, frank and honest way.
"We want to inspire, motivate and educate people with our positive message. "Mindskills Training was developed out of a desire to help those suffering with their mental health or with the impact of suicide.
"I not only focus on suicide prevention but on promoting positive mental health, regular acupuncture, mindfulness, visualisation and other remedies.
"I truly believe that to help someone, you have to understand what the issue is and what the signs are.
"My message to anyone out there who is struggling is don’t become a statistic. There are many people out there who are willing to listen, talk to you and help and support you through difficult times."
Mindskills offers training in the area of mental health and suicide prevention across a range of sectors – Community, Corporate and Education.
If you are part of a community group, organisation or business and you would like training in the field, please get in touch with Philip at Mind Skills Training.
Tel: 07732 350 325
