Clinical Approaches to Suicide Prevention for School Mental Health Professionals

Assessing youth at risk for suicide in the school setting is often very complex and labor intensive. Once a youth has been determined to be at increased risk for suicide, school policies and protocols often leave school counselors, social workers, and psychologists feeling unable to provide much-needed help. This course is composed of three classes to help assist with this process: Collecting Valid Data, Risk Assessment, and Safety Planning.

The first two classes describe the assessment process, including how to get reliable and valid data from youth. The last class reviews a brief, empirically-based intervention that can be conducted in schools to help empower youth to care for themselves during times of crises.

Presenter: Matthew Wintersteen, Ph.D; Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior Director of Research, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University; Executive Board, Prevent Suicide PA, Philadelphia, PA

Curriculum Length: 1 hour credit

Curriculum Requirements:

1. Completion of all three courses, including pre- and post- tests:
   1. Collecting Valid Data
   2. Risk Assessment
   3. Safety Planning
2. Completion of evaluation

Course Evaluation: You will be prompted with a link to an online survey at the end of the course.