Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk

ASSESSING AND MANAGING SUICIDE RISK:

CORE COMPETENCIES FOR MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND CRISIS CENTER WORKERS

WHEN:May 12, 2011

WHERE: CLARKS SUMMIT STATE HOSPITAL

CLARKS SUMMIT, LACKAWANNA COUNTYAssessing and Managing Suicide Risk:

Core Competencies for Mental Health Professionals

This one-day workshop focuses on competencies that are core to assessing and managing suicide risk and is a collaboration of the American Association of Suicidology and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center.

Suicidal behavior is a major cause of death and disability in the United States. Over 30,000 people die by suicide each year, the equivalent of one major airliner filled with passengers crashing every two days. Hundreds of thousands of people are treated in hospital emergency departments each year following a suicide attempt.

A significant proportion of people who die by suicide have had recent contact with a mental health professional. However, many providers are inadequately trained to assess, treat, and manage suicidal patients or clients.

Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk was designed to address that training gap. It teaches essential core competencies that meet the needs of an entire spectrum of mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed counselors, social workers, and employee assistance professionals.

Workshop Objectives

Participants will gain knowledge in the following core competencies:

Managing one’s own reactions to suicide
Reconciling the difference and potential conflict between a clinician’s goal to prevent suicide and a client’s goal to eliminate psychological pain through suicide
Maintaining a collaborative, non-adversarial stance
Eliciting suicide ideation, behavior, and plans
Making a clinical judgment of the risk that a client will attempt or complete suicide
Collaboratively developing an emergency plan
Developing a written treatment and services plan that addresses a client’s immediate, acute, and continuing suicide ideation and risk for suicide
Developing policies and procedures for following clients closely
Implementing the principles of crisis management

Workshop Components

Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk includes:

6 ½ hours of training, comprised of an engaging mix of lecture and exercises
A 110-page participant manual, including an extensive bibliography and other valuable resources
A video presentation in eight segments, highlighting the competencies taught
Journaling throughout the day
Ample time for discussion

Workshop Schedule

8:30 – 8:45 / Introduction and overview of the course
8:45 – 10:30 / Attitudes and approach
10:30 – 10:45 / Break
10:45 – 11:05 / Understanding suicide
11:05 – 12:15 / Eliciting suicide ideation, behavior and plans
12:15 – 1:15 / LUNCH
1:15 – 2:15 / Formulation of risk
2:15 – 3:00 / Treatment planning
3:00 – 3:15 / BREAK
3:15 – 3:45 / Treatment planning (continued)
3:45 – 4:15 / Management of care
4:15 – 4:30 / Documentation
4:30 – 4:45 / Legal and regulatory issues

About the trainer, Maureen Underwood, LCSW, CGP

Maureen is a licensed clinical social worker and certified group psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience in mental health and crisis intervention. With a practice specialty in suicide, grief, trauma, and crisis resolution for children and families, she has developed numerous programs and published extensively on these and other related topics. From 1985 to 2000, she was the coordinator of the New Jersey Adolescent Suicide Prevention Project. In this role, she initiated collaborative relationships between mental health and educational systems statewide, providing in-service training, consultation on policy development, and assistance in the implementation of procedures for school-based crisis management. She has been providing clinical training in suicide assessment for emergency room mental health screeners for the past seven years and has coauthored a book chapter on the assessment of suicide risk in out-patient settings and the LIFELINES School-Based Youth Suicide Response Program. She is also the author of the National Association of Social Work's policy statement on adolescent suicide and serves on the New Jersey Governor's Council on Youth Suicide Prevention.

Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR) is a program of the SPRC Training Institute.

AMSR was produced by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) and the American Association of Suicidology (AAS). Funding to develop the curriculum was provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Continuing Education Credits

This program has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). The Suicide Prevention Resource Center is authorized to award 6.5 NBCC clock hours and 6.5 NASW CE contact hours.

The American Association of Suicidology (AAS) is approved by the American Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. AAS maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Participants may receive 6.5 hours of APA CE credit.

No partial credit will be given for partial attendance

$35.00 CONFERENCE FEE - Includes tuition, lunch, morning and afternoon breaks, conference materials, and continuing education certificate. The registration fee does not include overnight accommodations.

LOCATION: Clarks Summit State Hospital

1451 Hillside Drive

Clarks Summit, PA 18411

Refund and Cancellation Policy:

If you are unable to attend the conference, you are welcome to send a substitute in your place. Please call the Pennsylvania Behavioral Health and Aging Coalition at 717-541-4219 or email with the name and address of your substitute. Registration fees are refunded upon written request via fax, e-mail or regular mail received 3 business days prior to the event, minus a $15 processing fee. No refund will be issued for cancellations received less than 3 business days before the event. Late requests for refunds due to a family emergency only will be considered on a case-by-case basis. No-shows will be billed.

REGISTRATION FORM

Online registration is available at

Registrations will be accepted until Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

PLEASE COMPLETE ALL INFORMATION REQUESTED BELOW: (Please print)

Name: / Degree:
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SPECIAL REQUESTS:Vegetarian LunchRequire Special Assistance (ADA)

Type of Credit Desired: APA CEU LSW NBCC

□ Enclosed is a check for the total amount of $______.

Please make checks payable to: PA Behavioral Health & Aging Coalition

□Credit card payments will be accepted via online registration only at

Mail or Fax Registration to:

Pennsylvania Behavioral Health and Aging Coalition

525 South 29th Street

Harrisburg, PA 17104

717-541-4219 (Phone)

717-541-4217 (Fax)

Credit card payments can only be processed via online registration at

Registrations will be accepted until Tuesday, April 26, 2011.

Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk