Skip to main content
Not Found
Digital Recording

Suicide Assessment and Intervention: Assess Suicidal Ideation and Effectively Intervene in Crisis Situations with Confidence, Composure and Sensitivity


Average Rating:
   13
Speaker:
Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD
Duration:
6 Hours 23 Minutes
Format:
Audio and Video
Copyright:
Feb 02, 2024
Product Code:
POS053755
Media Type:
Digital Recording
Access:
Never expires.


Description

Losing a client to suicide is your worst nightmare. And there inevitably comes a time when the suicidal client is more than just an intangible dread. When an actual person, suffering and sitting in your office, reveals they are having suicidal thoughts. Many clinicians are left feeling unprepared, frightened, and unsure what to do next. The weight of keeping someone alive can steer you in the direction of avoidance. Desperate and alone, suicidal clients can find themselves passed from one therapist to the next. And that’s not care.

Don’t let fear push you away.

This training will transform how you view and work with suicidal clients and give you the clinical tools you need to save lives.

Full of thought-provoking lecture, engaging case studies, and guided instruction on a host of powerful clinical applications, this training will provide you with the tools you need to:

  • Assess for suicidal risk and identify implicit and explicit expressions of suicidal thought.
  • Formulate a game plan for crises when suicide is imminent.
  • Intervene in suicidal despair with proactive approaches derived from the evidence-based efficacy of CBT and DBT.
  • Effectively use targeted language with suicidal clients that will help you avoid stigma and successfully communicate your compassion.
  • Provide innovative grief support resources that connect clients and clinicians with other survivors of suicide and suicide loss.

Leave this training feeling confident and capable to work with suicidal clients and guide them out of the darkness and back into the light!

CPD

Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationships

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.



CPD

This online program is worth 6.5 hours CPD.



Handouts

Speaker

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD's Profile

Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD Related seminars and products


Sally Spencer-Thomas, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist and inspirational international speaker. Dr. Spencer-Thomas was moved to work in suicide prevention after her younger brother, a Denver entrepreneur, died of suicide after a difficult battle with bipolar condition.

Dr. Spencer-Thomas has been an invited speaker at the White House on the topics of mental health and suicide prevention and has held leadership positions for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, the American Association for Suicidology, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. She has won multiple awards for her leadership including the 2014 Survivor of the Year from the American Association of Suicidology, the 2014 Invisible Disabilities Association Impact Honors Award, the 2012 Alumni Master Scholar from the University of Denver, the 2015 Farbarow Award from the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the 2016 Career Achievement Alumni Award from the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology.

She has a Doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Denver, a Masters in non-profit management from Regis University, and a bachelor’s in psychology and studio art with a minor in economics from Bowdoin College. She has written four books on mental health and violence prevention.


Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Sally Spencer Thomas maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Sally Spencer Thomas is the president of United Suicide Survivors International and is a member of the executive board for the American Association of Suicidology. She is co-chair of the Workplace Special Interest Group for the International Association of Suicide Prevention and is a member of the Suicide Prevention Lifeline.


Additional Info

Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)

Access never expires for this product.

For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com


Questions?

Visit our FAQ page at www.pesi.com/faq or contact us at www.pesi.com/info


Objectives

  1. Assess individuals at risk of suicide with a clinical approach that identifies both explicit and implicit expressions of suicidal thought.
  2. Determine key indicators of imminent suicide and develop a strategy for determining when and how to hospitalize clients.
  3. Formulate a CBT and DBT oriented case conceptualization that addresses how to effectively work with specific populations including veterans and the elderly.
  4. Employ a collaborative safety approach to help clients survive a suicidal crisis.
  5. Develop communication strategies that convey compassion and support and strengthen the therapeutic alliance.
  6. Design a multi-systemic approach that reduces access to lethal means and incorporates the suicidal person’s social connections into their safety plan.

Outline

Suicide: Who, When, How and Where

  • Addiction recovery
  • Trauma-informed care
  • Populations with multiple risk factors
  • Suicide attempt survivors – learning from their experience
  • Upstream clinical practices: reaching people before the point of crisis

Elicit Key Information from Suicidal Clients: Assessment and Level of Risk

  • Implicit and explicit expressions of suicidal thoughts
  • Communicating caring: Language to impart compassion and avoid stigma
  • Suicide risk assessment
    • SAFE-T
    • PATH WARM
    • Ideation, plan, means, intent
    • Level of risk

Formulate Treatment Plans that Help Clients Regulate Emotions and Make Them Feel Valued and Connected

  • Collaborative safety planning (or “Why Suicide Contracting is Dead”)
  • Proactive approaches to decrease the likelihood of suicidal despair
  • Multi-system approaches – support systems
  • Evidence-based treatments:
    • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
      • Cognitive restructuring strategies
      • Emotional regulation exercises
      • Behavioural Activation
    • Dialectical Behaviour Therapy
      • How to organize a skills training group
      • Tips for phone coaching
  • Relapse prevention plans
  • Documentation
  • Reduce access to lethal means
  • Working with specific populations: veterans, the elderly

Confidently Handle Crisis Situations

  • Conduct a behavioural chain analysis
  • Validating reasons for suicide
  • Identify reasons for living
  • Use distress tolerance and CBT skills to manage a crisis
  • When and how to hospitalize

Suicide Grief Support and Innovative Suicide-Specific Care

  • Implement Suicide Grief Support
    • Understand the unique nature of suicide grief
    • Peer-based support: Connect clients to other survivors of loss​
  • Other innovative suicide-specific care
    • Collaborative online tools and applications
  • Clinicians with lived experience
  • Post-traumatic growth and suicide

Target Audience

  • Social Workers
  • Psychologists
  • Psychiatrists
  • Counsellors
  • Marriage and Family Therapists
  • Case Managers
  • Addiction Counsellors
  • Therapists
  • Nurses
  • Other Mental Health Professionals
  • School-Based Counselors
  • School-Based Psychologists
  • School-Based Social Workers
  • School Administrators

Reviews

5
4
3
2
1

Overall:      5

Total Reviews: 13

Comments

Denise T

"She is very knowledgable and I enjoyed learning from her."

Aaron F

"Fantastic course given by a very knowledgeable presenter."

Jeffrey H

"A great and engaging speaker with a lot of knowledge, experience and resources for the subject. "

Sierra D

"This was a great presentation, and I learned a great amount that will be very useful in my work!"

Charys H

"Great course, and a very engaging speaker!"

Mary T

"I really enjoyed this training. It was lovely to have humor in a suicide seminar, and I'm so glad I found out about mantherapy.org. I appreciate Sally's sharing of her personal stories, and her lively, engaging presentation. I learned far more than I expected to, and I expect the hugely useful homework to inspire personal improvements in my clinical practice, and in advocating for social justice. Thank you!"

Julie K

"Presenter was wonderful. Would love to see more... very accessible. "

Pamela W

"Excellent coverage of topic"

Jennifer D

"I have attended many seminars and CEU presentations. This was by far the most helpful. I work with Veterans and part of my job is working on the crisis line. This webinar was more helpful and informative than any training I have received. Thank-you!"

Tami G

"Great Training -- Thank You !!"

Satisfaction Guarantee
Your satisfaction is our goal and our guarantee. Concerns should be addressed to info@pesi.co.uk or call 01235847393.

Please wait ...

Back to Top