Registration location - Student Center
ASIST Two Day Pre-Conference
Monday, May 19, 2008 (Day One)
9:00am - 5:00pm
Cynthia Hodge and Dr. Timothy Brown, Living Works
ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) is designed for all caregivers. The training helps develop skills for “suicide first aid” similar to “CPR” skills for physical first aid. This is a two-day intensive, interactive and practice-dominated course helping caregivers recognize risk and learn how to intervene to prevent the immediate risk of suicide.
The presenters are Timothy Brown, D.A. and Cynthia Hodge, M.A. Timothy has taught music for 20 years and has been a volunteer on crisis hotlines. He serves as the Youth and Young Adult Coordinator for the United Church of Christ Coalition for LGBT concerns. Cynthia is a former program manager for Colorado’s Office of Suicide Prevention and has a 20 year career focusing on mental health and crisis response.
NOTE: Attendees must attend BOTH days (all day) of the training. Lunch will be served on both days.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 (Day Two)
| 9:00am - 5::00pm | Developing a Comprehensive Action Plan for Preventing College Student Suicide |
Counseling staff are pressed to meet increased demand for services, but it is not the responsibility of counseling staff alone to address student mental health problems and suicidal behavior. This workshop provides a blueprint for establishing a comprehensive, campus-wide approach to preventing suicide and promoting mental wellness. Methods for gaining support for suicide prevention efforts from a diverse group of campus stakeholders are presented along with an overview of how to use a mental health task force to drive a strategic planning process. Participants analyze suicide risk on campus and develop goals and select strategies for possible application. A combination of team work and large group discussion will be utilized. Workshop is designed for teams of administrators, staff, faculty, and clinicians, although individual participants are also welcome.
Laurie Davidson coordinates campus programs at the Suicide Prevention Resource Center at Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), where she is a senior project director. Previously, Ms. Davidson managed projects at EDC’s Center for College Health and Safety involving alcohol and other drug prevention, mental health promotion, and violence prevention. She was an associate director of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention and directed a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded college alcohol prevention initiative. She has an M.A. in Counseling and worked for eight years as a clinician in community settings.
| 9:00am - 5:00pm | ASIST Two Day Pre Conference Training - Day Two |
| 9:00am - 5:00pm | Strategic Planning in Suicide Prevention (SPSP) |
Participants will understand the recommendations of The National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, as well as examples of evidence-based practices and how they may be replicated or adapted for their communities. Also the importance of creating a logic model as a component of an overall framework for evaluation and will be able to create a vision and construct an action plan for implementing suicide prevention activities.
| 9:00am - 12:00pm | Suicide 101 |
This workshop is designed to present an overview of an advanced introduction to suicidology for anyone who is interested to learn the basics of the field. We will convey theoretical, empirical, and epidemiologic frameworks for the practice of suicidology. The workshop will discuss contemporary approaches to suicide prevention, intervention, and post-vention. The workshop will be interactive and discussion oriented.
| 9:00am - 12:00pm | Suicide Prevention in the LGBT Communities |
Research findings have pointed to disproportionately high rates of suicidal behavior among LGBT adolescents and young adults. Participants will learn how these suicide attempts in this population have been linked to a variety of factors including gender nonconformity, lack of support, family problems and others. Participants will hear the need for increasing public and professional understanding in these areas and guidance in the development of suicide prevention interventions for LGBT individuals across the lifespan.
| 9:00am - 12:00pm | Suicide Prevention, Art & Action Part I: The Mask Project |
This is an experiential, creative, and fun art activity which seeks to provide an artistic outlet for grief, depression, hope and healing and to assist in suicide prevention education by allowing participants to safely communicate their feelings and experiences by their use of creating, designing and decorating a face mask. In addition, participants will be given an opportunity to name and write a brief description of their masks. Participants will be encouraged to share their masks and descriptions with others in the workshop.
| 9:00am - 12:00pm | Understanding, Responding to and Treating Self Injury |
When is cutting a sign of suicide and when is it not? This workshop will review the historical perspective and current research about the increasing number of people who are exhibiting self-injurious behavior. The presentation will discuss some of the misconceptions about the behavior and clarify the distinction between the overlap of self-injury and suicidal behavior. A review of effective treatment options will be explained as well as how to respond when the behavior is first discovered. Participants will be provided with hands on examples of techniques to use to help people stop self-injury. The presentation will focus strongly on teens since they are engaging in self-injury at a drastically increasing rate.
| 1:00pm - 4:00pm | Suicide Prevention, Art & Action Part II: The Stencil |
What do five shades of green paint, 150 stencils and hundreds of blank posters have to do with suicide prevention and social action? Come and find out. Participants will learn the basics of design and then begin to create hundreds of original posters designed to engage communities in the dialogue about suicide prevention. Together the group will create works of art that are individual expressions in response to social marketing messages such as “Take Time: Be a Friend” and “Depression is Treatable” among others. Collectively these posters will make a statement that will shift attitudes and knowledge. Come participate in this unique approach to suicide prevention and learn about the outcomes of this participatory method social action and suicide prevention.
| 1:00pm - 4:00pm | The Suicidal Avenger |
A low frequency but high profile event that workplaces, school, and campuses across the nation have to deal with is the Suicidal Avenger. Avenger Violence is a type of violence where the perpetrator believes violence is the only possible recourse for a perceived injustice. This workshop will analyze recent Avenger cases, provide information on what behaviors to look for, and discuss interruption techniques and risk management strategies.
| 1:00pm - 4:00pm | QPR Training for Law Enforcement and Emergency Service Professionals |
It is estimated that between 200 and 450 police officers kill themselves each year, compared to 150 lives lost in the line of duty. This workshop will focus on preventing suicide among first responder professionals. Dr. Quinnett, a past consultant to more than 30 Northwest law enforcement organizations, will teach a new version of the QPR Gatekeeper Training for Suicide Prevention Program for the first responder organizations and discuss how to integrate training into the workplace.
| 1:00pm - 4:00pm | Education for Medical Professionals About Depression and Suicide Risk |
This workshop would include an overview of myths and facts about suicide, with a focus on depression and suicide in males, and on research findings about the effectiveness of efforts to educate medical professionals to recognize and treat depression in their patients. Also featured will be information about an AFSP initiative aimed at educating primary care through live interactive webcasts on the topic of evaluating and managing major depression. Participants will also explore the implications of the black box warning on antidepressant medications.
| 1:00pm - 4:00pm | Resiliency in the Workplace: Best Practices in Mental Health |
Best practices in the workplace address the mental health needs of a business and provide increased profitability at minimal expense. Resiliency is a community, as well as a personal, quality and is a core component of mental wellness. Failure to address mental health in the workplace results in increased cost to business through decreased productivity, and loss of employees through short term or total disability or through suicide