Suicide Intervention Skills Training

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.

Handouts

Speaker

Paul Brasler, LCSW, CAIMHP Related seminars and products

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Paul Brasler, LCSW, CAIMHP, became a licensed clinical social worker in 2002. Paul is the coordinator for the Chesterfield County (Virginia) Employee Behavioral Health Program, through which he and his team provide clinical services to first responders and human services personnel. He has extensive experience working with people in crisis and people living with substance use disorders, including adolescent residential treatment, community mental health settings, hospital emergency departments, juvenile drug court, and private practice.

Paul has been a national presenter (through PESI) since 2016, and he has presented classes across the country on mental health emergencies, high-risk clients, resiliency, and a certification course for clinicians working with people with substance use disorders. He has written three books: The Clinician’s Guide to Suicide Management, PESI Publishing, 2025; The Clinician’s Guide to Substance Use Disorder, PESI Publishing, 2022; and High-Risk Clients, PESI Publishing, 2019. Paul lives in Richmond, Virginia, with his beautiful wife, three sons, cowardly dog, and two dwarf rabbits who are quietly plotting to destroy the world.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Paul Brasler maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with Chesterfield County. He receives a speaking honorarium, recording, and book royalties from Psychotherapy Networker and PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Paul Brasler has no relevant non-financial relationships.

Additional Info

Access never expires for this product.

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

Objectives

1. Evaluate the myths, language, and stigma surrounding suicide to inform clinical treatment interventions.
2. Analyze risk and protective factors associated with suicide to enhance treatment outcomes.
3. Use screening and assessment tools to guide clinical decision-making.
4. Utilize collaborative safety planning and crisis interventions, including CAMS, to reduce suicidal behaviors.
5. Choose dialectical behavior therapy strategies to treat suicidality.
6. Examine ethical and legal considerations, including informed consent and a client’s right to self-determination, to reduce liability in clinical care.

Outline

Suicide Defined

• Language and the Stigma of Suicide
• Myths of Suicide
• Theoretical Basis of Suicide

Professional Self-Care

• Establish Safe Practices
• The Importance of Informed Consent to Treatment
• Dealing with the Death of a Patient by Suicide
• Patients Who Conceal Their Suicidal Ideation

Suicide Risk Factors

Protective Factors Against Suicide

Suicide Ideation to Action

• Suicide Warning Signs
• Suicide Ideation to Action Theories
• Suicide Intent (Planning) and Methods
• Means Safety
• Suicide Attempts
• Non-Suicidal Self-Injury

Suicide Screening and Assessment

• Suicide Screening Tools
• Suicide Assessment

Disposition

• Psychiatric Hospitalization
• Why No Harm Contracts are an Incredibly Bad Idea
• Safety Planning
• Collaborative Assessment for Management of Suicidality (CAMS)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapies

• Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Suicide Prevention
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy
• Psychopharmacology of Suicide Treatment

Special Populations

• Suicide Assessment and Interventions for Children and Adolescents
• Suicide and Active-Duty Military Personnel, Veterans, and First Responders
• Suicide and Older Adults

Ethical and Legal Issues

• A Client’s Right to Self-Determination Versus Our Legal Responsibilities
• Managing Liability
• Risks, Limitations & Further Research

Target Audience

• Mental health Counsellors
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Clinical Social Workers
• Substance Use Treatment Providers
• Case Managers
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Pharmacists
• Medical Physicians
• Physician Assistants
• Nurse Practitioners
• Registered Nurses (general, education, ambulatory care, psychiatric, critical care, community/public health, management/administration)
• Probation/Parole Officers
• Judges
• Police Officers
• Paramedics and Other First Responders
• Clergy
• Chaplains
• Military Religious Affairs
• Teachers
• School Administrators (Primary, Secondary, and University)
• Concerned Parents