Suicide and Youth: Understanding, Safety Planning and Decreasing Future Suicidal Ideation with System Involved Youth

Pamela Parkinson, Ph.D., LCSW

Training Description

Come to this training on understanding suicidal ideation with system involved youth. This is going to be a training within the context of family because we need the larger team to keep system involved youth safe. We are going to talk about why youth might choose suicide, things to look for, how we talk about it, and ways to keep system involved youth safe! However, once youth are safe, our focus will shift to how do we keep them alive and having a future outlook that does not include seeing suicide as a viable option for managing their pain. Additionally, we are going to be learning about the pandemic as it relates to suicide.

Learning Objectives

· Participants will be able to identify at least 2 ways to explore suicidal ideation (SI) with system involved youth.

· Participants will be able to identify at least 2 ways that the pandemic continues to have an impact on suicide.

· Participants will be able to identify at least 3 strategies for keeping system involved youth safe in the moment.

Agenda

9:30-9:45AM  Sign In, introductions, and Zoom features

9:45-10:00AM  Suicide myths including an overview of the issue.

10:00-10:30AM  Identifying 3 human core instincts and understanding the importance of balance between autonomy and attachment.

10:30-10:45AM  Brainstorming of attachment ruptures in system-involved youth.

10:45-11:15AM  Group work on identifying the problem. How do we talk about it?

11:15-11:30AM  Break (CE hours will not be issued for this time)

11:30AM-12:00PM  Review of risk factors and protective factors!

12:00-12:30PM  Culture and Suicidality. What does it mean?

12:30-1:00PM  Lunch (CE hours will not be issued for this time)

1:00-1:30PM  The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. Understanding how this works!

1:30-1:45PM  Group work: Debriefing and consolidating the concepts of the Interpersonal  Theory of Suicide.

1:45-2:00PM  Immediate Safety. Strategies to prevent suicide now!

2:00-2:30PM  Diagnosing the pain! Reviewing the core of PITH (Pain in the Heart Healing theory) and its relationship to the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide.

2:30-2:45PM  Break (CE hours will not be issued for this time)

2:45-3:15PM  PITH and healing: Going deeper than coping skills can handle when pain is this big. Healing the pain instead of pushing it down for it to come up 

again in the future.

3:15-3:30PM  Group work: Debriefing PITH, deep healing, and the importance of empathy for caregivers as a way of preventing future attempts.

3:30-4:15PM  Sample facilitative questions to start to allow family members to talk about the pain. SIY case presentation to apply the learning. Identifying 

Protective Factors, Risk factors, Capability, and the youth’s core areas of pain.

4:15-4:30PM  Check-out and ADJOURNMENT

Meet Our Trainer

Pamela Parkinson, Ph.D., LCSW, is a clinical psychologist and clinical social worker, whose specialty area is working with youth and their families. Dr. Parkinson has spent most of her career working with system involved youth in our Continuum of Care (foster care, juvenile justice, mental health and the kids struggling in our school systems). She is a certified PCOMS evidence-based practice trainer. Pamela currently works as a child/family consultant to CBO’s in the Bay Area and has worked in level 14 residential, NPS, hospitals, and a variety of community-based settings including outpatient clinics, schools, diversion, kinship, etc.

This course meets the qualifications for (6) BBS CE hours for LCSWs, LMFTs, LPCCs, and LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.