Youth Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention: Effectively Engaging Caregivers

Sarah Solis, LCSW

Training Description

This training will focus on effectively engaging caregivers of system involved youth (SIY) in the suicide prevention safety planning process. Attendees will review current United States youth suicide risk statistics, discuss research concerning caregiver experience when presented with their child’s suicide risk acuity, and identify ways to support the caregiver in collaborating with their child in the safety planning process. Attendees will practice the use of Motivational Interviewing strategies (open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summaries) to elicit caregiver understanding of their child’s suicidality, increase provider understanding of their system involved youth’s risks and resiliency factors, and consolidate motivation to safety plan. The training will include strategies for speaking with caregivers about means safety.

Learning Objectives

Attendees will:

• Identify at least 1 barrier to engaging caregivers of System Involved Youth (SIY) in discussions around suicidality.
• Identify 1 Motivational Interviewing (MI) skill which can be utilized to engage caregivers in discussions around suicidality.
• Acquire practice establishing a safety plan with a caregiver and system involved youth.

Agenda

9:00-9:15am  Introductions, objectives

9:15-10:00am  Caregiver experience of suicidality

· Defense mechanisms

· Fear

· Overwhelm

10:00-10:45am  Risk factors

· Young Adult risk factors

· Youth specific risk factors

· Community risk factors

10:45-11:00am  Break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

11:00-11:30am  Protective factors

· Review of protective factors

· Breakout discussion of factors

11:30am-12pm  Suicide severity and action steps

· Breakdown of suicide risk, low, moderate, high risk

· Action steps for each level of risk

12:00-12:30pm  Lunch Break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

12:30-1:30pm  MI skills to support caregiver engagement

· Open ended questions

· Affirmations

· Reflections

· Summaries

1:30-1:45pm  Break (CE hours will not be offered for this time)

1:45-2:45pm  Breakout rooms to practice use of OARS/safety planning

2:45-3:00pm  Wrap-up

Meet Our Trainer

Director of Seeds of Change Consulting, Sarah Solis LCSW, has 20 years of experience providing care to clients impacted by trauma. She is currently employed as a Clinical Case Manager at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sarah has worked in corrections, community mental health outpatient and day treatment programs, and community-based services for children and families. Sarah has experience providing direct service, clinical supervision, and worked as a program manager for many years. Sarah teaches Motivational Interviewing to social work graduate students at the University of the Pacific. The majority of Sarah’s experience has been working with underserved and marginalized populations. Cultural humility and responsiveness is an important element in her work. She participates in regular cultural humility work groups and facilitates trainings to address oppressive practices in clinical settings. Sarah has been training for 15 years and completed the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) training program in 2017. She remains an active member.

This course meets the qualifications for (5) 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.