Suicide Assessment, Management, and Prevention

20 Hours | 20 CEs

This on-demand professional training program on Suicide Assessment, Management, and Prevention is presented by Robert J. Cramer, PhD.

Drawing on competency and skill-based learning modalities, this program targets multidisciplinary health professionals who work in suicide assessment, management, and prevention. The competencies are derived from contemporary theory, research, and expert guidelines concerning suicide prevention. This program utilizes a variety of learning strategies including, but not limited to, journal article readings, guided lectures, self-Assessment and self-reflection tools, and case examples for the participant to practice competencies.

Mental health and public health efforts in suicide prevention have moved toward mastery of specific competencies. A body of medical and psychological literature (e.g., American Association of Suicidology, 2010; Hung, Binder, Fordwood, Hall, Cramer, & McNiel, 2012; Joiner, 2005; Kleespies, Hough, & Romeo, 2009; Liebling-Boccio & Jennings, 2013; Rudd, Cuckrowicz, & Bryan, 2008; Sullivan & Bongar, 2009) has articulated specific suicide-related competencies, streamlined into a framework of the following 10 specific competencies:

1. Recognizing attitudes and reactions toward suicide when with a client
2. Developing and maintaining a collaborative, empathic stand toward the client
3. Eliciting evidence-based risk and protective factors
4. Focusing on the current plan and intent of suicidal ideation
5. Determining chronic and imminent risk levels
6. Collaboratively enacting an evidence-based treatment plan
7. Involving appropriate social support
8. Documenting risk, plan, and clinical reasoning
9. Knowing the law concerning suicide
10. Engaging in debriefing and self-care

Participants learn about suicide prevention knowledge, improve suicide prevention-related attitudes, enhanced self-perceived competency, and improved objectively-rated performance (Cramer, Bryson, Eichorst, Keyes, & Ridge, in press; Cramer, Bryson, Stroud, & Ridge, in press). 

This program also addresses three primary additions in order to enhance the potential impact: (1) evidence-based public health approaches to suicide prevention are covered as an additional general core competency, (2) a sample high-risk setting (i.e., corrections) is addressed in terms of the identification of setting-specific competencies that may augment the general core competencies, and (3) a sample high-risk population (i.e., lesbian, gay, and bisexual [LGB] persons) is addressed to provide the learner an example of population-specific tailoring of some general core competencies.