Free webinar – Engaging and Supporting Families in Supporting Suicide Prevention

When

03/05/2018    
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Event Type

There are many ways family members and loved ones help individuals struggling with suicidal behavior. This webinar will focus on how organizations who are implementing suicide prevention programs can meaningfully engage and include families whose loved ones are in suicidal crisis or have attempted suicide in their work, and their crucial role in suicide prevention. This will be part of SAMHSA’s larger effort focusing on engaging and supporting families with suicidal loved ones.

While family members should not be expected to assume the role of 24-hour monitors for their loved ones (except in rare circumstances), they often are in the role of first responders and safety nets as designated by plans post hospital discharge. However, they are often not prepared by their providers on how best to respond their loved nor on how to effectively manage their own distress in times of such high emotionality. Mental health professionals who work and treat suicidal patients are taught skills and strategies to be more effective in suicide prevention. Similarly, family members also need skills and strategies both for post attempt communication and also as a tool for prevention and early intervention.

This webinar will focus on the importance of engaging families and loved ones in different phases of suicide prevention, highlighting current research in family engagement and finally sharing one example of family programming geared toward parents of suicidal teens and young adults. Participants will gain insight and awareness into challenges, opportunities and outcomes around family engagement with suicidal individuals.

Presenters:

Richard McKeon PhD, MPH – Chief for the Suicide Prevention Branch in the Center for Mental Health Services, of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Perry D. Hoffman, PhD – President and co-founder of the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder.

Alan E. Fruzzetti, PhD – Director of the Boys DBT Program and Director of Training in Family Services for three East Programs at McLean Hospital, and Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School (appointment pending).

Ken Norton, LICSW – Executive Director of the NH’s chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI NH).

Rajeev Ramchand, PhD – Senior Behavioral Scientist with RAND Corporation.

Closed captioning is available by request with advance notice. To request closed captioning for this webinar, please email Chelsea Pepi by Thursday, March 1, 2018, 2 p.m. ET at cpepi@edc.org.

Learn more and register here: https://go.edc.org/engagingfamilies

This webinar is sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, and the National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder