On Wednesday, we had about 3,000 people register for the ACA-sponsored webinar, “Treating & Preventing Suicide.” That was a fantastic turn out and I owe a BIG THANKS to Zachary Taylor of PESI for skillfully moderating the event and to Victoria Kress (Distinguished Professor from Youngstown State University) for sharing her insights about suicide assessment, prevention, and non-suicidal self-injury. Questions and comments from participants were excellent; it would have been great to have more than only one hour.

During the webinar we promised I would post additional suicide and NSSI resources on my blog. Other events have conspired (as they will) to delay this posting to this particular moment in time. Because we’re posting this content after the event, I’m aware that we may not efficiently get this out to everyone who was online and interested. Consequently, if you get this post and you know someone who’s not following this blog, but who might want this information, please feel free to forward or share.

The following content is from Victoria:

An article on self-harm published in Psychotherapy Networker:

https://www.psychotherapynetworker.org/blog/details/1313/treating-self-harm

Vicki also co-authored the following two publications:

Kress, V. E., & Hoffman, R. M. (2008) Non-suicidal self-injury and motivational interviewing: Enhancing readiness for change. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 30, 311-329.

Stargell, N. A., et al., (2017-2018). Student non-suicidal self-injury: A protocol for school counselors. Professional School Counseling, 21, 37-46. Click here for the pdf.

Vicki also shared this document on suicide assessment:

My top resources include:

Sommers-Flanagan, J. (2018). Conversations about suicide: Strategies for detecting and assessing suicide risk. Journal of Health Service Psychology, 44, 33-45.

Sommers-Flanagan, J. (2018). Suicide assessment and intervention with suicidal clients [Video]. 7.5 hour training video for mental health professionals (produced by V. Yalom). Mill Valley, CA: Psychotherapy.net — https://www.psychotherapy.net/video/suicidal-clients-series

Sommers-Flanagan, J. (2019). Suicide assessment for clinicians: A strength-based model. ContinuingEdCourses.net

Sommers-Flanagan, J. (2019). Suicide interventions and treatment planning for clinicians: A strength-based model. ContinuingEdCourses.net

Because Rita and I just turned in our ACA book manuscript (coming in Feb), I’ve got a huge list of suicide-related citations. Below, I’m listing a few highlights related to our discussion on Wednesday. Books and articles about the top evidence-based approaches have an asterisk (*).

Ahuja, A., Webster, C., Gibson, N., Brewer, A., Toledo, S., & Russell, S. (2015). Bullying and suicide: The mental health crisis of LGBTQ youth and how you can help. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 19(2), 125-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2015.1007417

Binkley, E. E., & Liebert, T. W. (2015). Prepracticum counseling students’ perceived preparedness for suicide response. Counselor Education & Supervision, 54(2), 98-108.

Bryan, C. J., Bryan, A. O., & Baker, J. C. (2020). Associations among state‐level physical distancing measures and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among U.S. adults during the early COVID‐19 pandemic. Suicide and Life Threatening Behavior, e12653, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1111/sltb.12653

*Bryan, C. J., & Rudd, M. D. (2018). Brief cognitive-behavioral therapy for suicidal prevention. Guilford Press.

Cureton, J. L., & Clemens, E. V. (2015). Affective constellations for countertransference awareness following a client’s suicide attempt. Journal of Counseling & Development, 93(3), 352-360. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcad.12033

Erbacher, T. A., Singer, J. B., & Poland, S. (2015). Suicide in the schools: A practitioner’s guide to multi-level prevention, assessment, intervention, and postvention. Routledge.

Finn, S. E., Handler, L., & Fischer, C. T. (2012). Collaborative/therapeutic assessment: A casebook and guide. Wiley.

Freedenthal, S. (2018). Helping the suicidal person: Tips and techniques for professionals. Routledge.

Granello, D. H. (2010a). A suicide crisis intervention model with 25 practical strategies for implementation. Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 32(3), 218-235. https://doi.org/10.17744/mehc.32.3.n6371355496t4704

Granello, D. H. (2010b). The process of suicide risk assessment: Twelve core principles. Journal of Counseling & Development, 88(3), 363-371. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1556-6678.2010.tb00034.x

Healy, D. (2009). Are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors a risk factor for adolescent suicide? The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry/La Revue Canadienne De Psychiatrie, 54(2), 69-71. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370905400201

Hedegaard, H., Curtin, S.C., & Warner, M. (2020). Increase in suicide mortality in the United States, 1999–2018. NCHS Data Brief, 362. National Center for Health Statistics.

*Jobes, D. A. (2016). Managing suicidal risk: A collaborative approach (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

*Joiner, T. (2005). Why people die by suicide. Harvard University Press.

Large, M. M., & Kapur, N. (2018). Psychiatric hospitalisation and the risk of suicide. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 212(5), 269-273. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2018.22

Large, M. M., & Ryan, C. J. (2014). Suicide risk categorisation of psychiatric inpatients: What it might mean and why it is of no use. Australasian Psychiatry, 22(4), 390-392. https://doi.org/10.1177/1039856214537128

*Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive behavioral therapy of borderline personality disorder. Guilford Press.

*Linehan, M. (2015). DBT® skills training manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Maris, R. W. (2019). Suicidology: A comprehensive biopsychosocial perspective. Guilford Press.

*Stanley, B. & Brown, G. K (2012). Safety planning intervention: A brief intervention to mitigate suicide risk. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 19(2), 256–264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2011.01.001

Wenzel, A., Brown, G. K., & Beck, A. T. (2009) Cognitive therapy for suicidal patients: Scientific and clinical applications. American Psychological Association.