Suicide in Schools: Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention

ISCA Workshop

Suicide in Schools: Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention

Friday - October 6, 2017

Dr. Jonathan Singer

Powerpoint Presentation

Printable Registration Form

Full Brochure

All paid attendees will receive a copy of Dr. Jonathan Singer's book Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner's Guide to Multi-level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention.

Workshop Description:
The program will include a 15-minute break in the morning session, lunch break, and a 15-minute break in the afternoon session. Participants are encouraged to ask questions and make comments during the presentation.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth 0 – 24 years. Schools are an ideal location to identify and respond to suicide risk. Because of the tension between the school’s educational mission and the socio-emotional demands of addressing suicide risk, school counselors often find themselves addressing suicidal crises without clear institutional guidance and support. The purpose of this workshop is to provide an overview of school-based prevention, assessment, intervention and postvention.

In the first half of the day we will discuss a multisystemic framework for understanding a suicidal crisis; the role of the school and school personnel in identifying and responding to student suicide risk; identifying suicide risk factors, protective factors, warning signs, and resilience; and the steps in developing a school crisis response plan with a specific focus on the special situation of a suicidal crisis. We will review law suits involving school districts where youth died by suicide. We will end the first half reviewing current suicide prevention programs and discussing the state of the evidence.

The second half of the day will review suicide assessment and intervention in a suicidal crisis. We will discuss the purpose and use of a screening tool, risk assessment tool, safety planning tool, and a suicide risk monitoring tool. We will review techniques for eliciting suicidal ideation and intent. Because youth suicidal crises always involve parents / guardians, we will discuss counseling techniques from Attachment-Based Family Therapy (the only family therapy designed to reduce suicidal ideation in youth), and how to respond to parents after telling them that you assessed their child for suicide risk. We will end the day by reviewing postvention.  How to respond in the first 24 hours, and the days and months after a suicide death. The workshop will include information about adolescent development, technology and social media, the science of suicide, and suicide prevention resources.

1.       Overview of multisystemic suicide prevention

2.       Recognizing and responding to suicide risk in school

a.       Creating a school crisis response plan
b.      Knowing legal precedent
3.       Prevention programs

LUNCH

4.       Assessment and intervention in a suicidal crisis
a.       Screening
b.      Risk assessment
c.       Safety planning
d.      Monitoring
e.      Attachment-Based Family Therapy
5.       Responding to a suicide death
a.       First 24-hours
b.      First week
c.       First couple of months

Presenter Bio:
Dr. Jonathan Singer is a licensed clinical social worker and associate professor of social work at Loyola University Chicago. For the past 20 years, Dr. Singer has been a community mental health clinician, educator and researcher, much of that time providing crisis services to suicidal youth in schools. Dr. Singer is trained in Eye Movement Desensitizing and Reprocessing (EMDR), Solution-Focused Therapy, and Attachment-Based Family Therapy (ABFT) for depressed and suicidal youth. Dr. Singer's clinical and research interests focus on interventions for suicidal and cyberbullied youth; service access and service utilization; and use of technology in education and clinical practice. Dr. Singer has given over 100 regional, national and international presentations to the U.S. Military, community mental health agencies, school districts, and national professional organizations on topics ranging from youth suicide and cyberbullying to ethics, social media, and adolescent development. He is the author of 50 publications, including the 2015 Routledge text, Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner's Guide to Multi-level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention. He is a founding member of the online suicide prevention social media (#SPSM) community, an elected Board member of the American Association of Suicidology, and a board member of the international organization Human Services Information Technology Applications. He is the committee chair for two national social work organizations and the founder and host of the award winning Social Work Podcast (www.socialworkpodcast.com). His article about the language of suicide won the 2016 National Association of Social Worker award for best magazine article. He lives in Evanston, IL with his wife and three children and can be found on Twitter as @socworkpodcast.

Workshop Schedule:

Cancellation Policy. Registrations, cancelled before seven days prior to the workshop, can be refunded minus a $20 administration fee. No refunds can be made seven days prior to the workshop. Workshops may be cancelled or rescheduled due to inadequate registration or other circumstances beyond our control. If ISCA cancels a workshop due to inadequate registration, you will receive a full refund. ISCA is not responsible for any loss or damage as a result of substitution, alteration, or cancellation of an event. ISCA shall assume no liability whatsoever in the event that a workshop is cancelled, rescheduled or postponed due to fortuitous event, Act of God, unforeseen occurrences or any other event that renders performance of this conference impracticable, illegal or impossible. For purposes of this clause, a fortuitous event shall include, but not be limited to: war, fire, labor strike, extreme weather or other emergency. ISCA will make every effort to offer a substitution event in the case ISCA cancels because of a fortuitous event or Act of God.