Suicide and Youth: Understanding, Assessing, Safety Planning and Decreasing Future Suicidal Ideation

Pamela Parkinson, Ph.D., LCSW 

Training Description

Come to this training on understanding suicidal ideation with kids. This is going to be a training within the context of family because we need the larger team to keep kids safe. We are going to talk about why kids might choose suicide, things to look for, how we talk about it, ways to assess and how to keep kids safe! However, once kids 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 and suicide. 

Learning Objectives

• Describe and understand what suicidal ideation represents and how to explore and assess it.
• Learn about the pandemic’s impact on suicide.
• Identify what signs look like, some strategies for keeping kids safe in the moment.
• Apply our understanding of what SI means to ways that we can work with a family system in an effort to decrease the chances that this SI will continue to feel like an option in the future.

Agenda

9:30am-10:00am: Sign In, introductions, and Zoom features

10:00am-10:15am: Suicide myths including an overview of the issue

10:15am-10:45am: The impact of the pandemic on suicidality

10:45am-11:00am: Brainstorming of attachment ruptures in youth in our Continuum of Care

11:00am-11:15am: Group work on Assessing the problem: how do we talk about it?

11:15am-11:30am: Break (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

11:30am-12:00pm: Review of risk factors and protective factors!

12:00pm-12:30: Culture and Suicidality: what does it mean?

12:30pm-12:45:  The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide: understanding how this works!

12:45pm-1:15pm: Lunch (CEUs will not be issued for this time)

1:15pm-1:45pm: Group work: Debriefing and consolidating the concepts of the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide

1:45pm-2:30pm: Immediate Safety: Strategies and interventions to prevent suicide now!

2:30pm-3:00pm: Why do they want to kill themselves and who do they turn to?

3:00pm-3:30pm: Diagnosing the pain!

3:30pm-3:45: 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

3:45pm-4:00pm: Group work: Debriefing PITH, deep healing, and the importance of empathy for caregivers as a way of preventing future attempts

4:00pm-4:15pm: Facilitative questions to start to allow family members to talk about the pain that can lead to suicide ideation/attempts/completions

4:15pm-4:30pm: Check-out

4:30pm: ADJOURNMENT

Meet Our Trainer

PAMELA PARKINSON, PHD, LCSW, is a clinical psychologist and clinical social worker, whose specialty area is working with youth and their families who are being served by our continuums of care.  Dr. Parkinson’s emphasis is on the importance of family engagement and the healing of traumatic attachment ruptures.  Pamela is also a certified PCOMS evidence-based practice trainer.  She currently works as a child/family consultant to CBO’s in the Bay Area and Pamela 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 CEUs for LCSWs and MFTs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences & is provided by Fred Finch Youth Center, CAMFT Provider #045295.