Title: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: An Introduction

Presenters: John P. Duggan, EdD and James Wright

Description: Effective as of July 16, 2022, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is the national network of local crisis centers that will provide confidential emotional support to individuals experiencing a suicidal crisis or emotional distress. The 998 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a national network of over 200 local crisis centers to include services in one’s local community and resources that meet national standards and best practices (The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, 2022). This CE provides professional counselors with an overview of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Dr. John Duggan from the Center for Counseling Practice, Policy, and Research at the American Counseling Association, interviews James Wright, LPC, Chief of Crisis Center Operations at the SAMSHA Office of the Assistant Secretary, to discuss the 988 Lifeline.

Title: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Counseling Educators and Counseling Students

Presenters: Gregg Elliott, PhD and Janessa Henninger, PhD

Description: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Counselor Educators and Counseling Students (Elliott & Henninger, 2022) address counselor educators in training student counselors for effective suicide interventions. This Continuing Professional Development resource provides counselors with a rationale to recognize and understand the pedagogical challenges, opportunities, and practices on educating student counselors for working with clients at risk of suicide, explain the multicultural, ethical, and legal issues and implications to teaching about and working with clients at risk of suicide, and describe the roles of counselor practitioners and educators in training and educating student counselors and the community at large.

Title: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Cultural Considerations for LGBTQ+ Youth

Presenters: John P. Duggan, EdD and Preston Mitchum, ESQ, LLM

Description: Cultural Considerations for LGBTQ+ Youth covers current cultural considerations for LGBTQ+ youth that relate to risk factors that are putting this community at a higher risk of suicide, as well as key protective factors that help to reduce suicide risk and improve the quality of life for LGBTQ+ youth. Included in this course is a special interview with Preston D. Mitchum, Esq., LLM., Director of Advocacy & Government Affairs at the Trevor Project. He reviews key findings from their 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, which includes results from responses provided by 34,000 LGBTQ youth (ages 13-24) across the United States. Also included in this course is Chapter One from the ACA Book, Group Counseling with LGBTQI Persons by Kristopher M. Goodrich and Melissa Luke, which covers the various identities within the diverse LGBTQI community and historical and societal considerations. Learners can find the 2014 ACA Code of Ethics here: https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/ethics#2014code

Title: Assessment and Intervention with Suicidal Clients

Presenters: Victor Yalom, PhD and John Sommers-Flannagan, PhD

Description: John Sommers-Flanagan, PhD, explains and demonstrates his collaborative and research-based approach via an in-depth introduction to issues of suicide. Sommers-Flanagan teaches clinicians how to recognize and address the eight dimensions of suicidality, gain clarity around potential risk, and help professional counselors lay the groundwork for effective intervention.

Title: Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide: School Engage

Authors: Kelly Wester, PhD, LPC, NCC; Carrie Morris, PhD; Emu Aragon, MS, LPCMHSP, NCC; and Christine McAllister

Description: Approximately 40,000 adolescents attempt suicide every year in the United States (Wester et al., 2024). Given the high prevalence of suicidal behavior among adolescents, including differences in suicidal behavior among racial/ethnic groups, and the need for clarity around the understanding of adolescent perceptions of social support or engagement from others at school, this study explores the relationship between high school student engagement, Interpersonal-Psychological Theory of Suicide (IPTS), and suicidal behavior to provide guidance for counseling professionals to target prevention and intervention efforts to increase effectiveness (Wester et al.). Specifically, Wester et al. stated that this study would allow school counselors to examine the risk factors for suicidal behavior within specific identity groups in a high school setting.

Title: Law & Ethics: Suicide & Threats of Harm to Self

Presenters: Anne Marie “Nancy” Wheeler, JD and Aprille Woodson, PhD, JD, LPC, NCC

Description: Suicide and threats of harm to self are stressful issues in any counseling practice. This continuing education (CE) is based on Chapter 9, Suicide and Threats of Harm to Self, of the ACA book The Counselor and the Law: A Guide to Legal and Ethical Practice (8th ed.). Some of the ethical and legal issues relevant to threats of suicide and harm are explored and practical strategies are offered. Counselors who register for this CE will: (1) know counselors’ ethical and legal obligations when there is a possibility of a client’s suicide attempt, (2) explain and understand foreseeability of harm and duty to warn, and (3) describe the circumstances where it may be necessary to breach confidentiality.

Title: School Counselors and Student Suicide

Description: Suicide deaths are the second leading cause of death among youth ages 10-14 and the eighth leading cause of death among elementary children ages 5-11 (Haugen et al., 2023). Considering the prevalence of suicide, it is not uncommon for school counselors to encounter a student death by suicide at some point in their work. However, Haugen et al. stated to date, there are only three studies that exclusively examined school counselors’ experiences with a student death by suicide. Counselors who register for this Continuing Professional Development will have access to findings that provide a novel contribution to the school counseling literature as the first qualitative study to offer an in-depth examination of U.S. school counselors’ experiences after student death by suicide (Haugen et al., 2023).

Title: Simple Steps: A Comprehensive Model of Suicide Assessment

Presenters: Jason M. McGlothlin, PhD and Betsy J. Page, EdD

Description: Based on a study of more than 12,000 callers to a suicide prevention hotline, the goal of this session is to take the mystique out of conceptualizing suicidality and to present an evidenced-based, comprehensive model of suicide assessment. Issues of working with a diverse clientele, clinical supervision, documentation, and treatment planning will be highlighted in the context of comprehensive suicide assessment.

Title: Suicide Among Men and Women: Practices and Implications

Presenters: Gregg Elliott, PhD and Pamela Cassellius, EdD

Description: Men account for about 75% of the deaths by suicide in the United States each year (Elliott & Cassellius, 2023). Nevertheless, while men die by suicide more often than women do, women report thoughts of suicide more often than men do. This is known as the ´gender paradox.’ As with anything related to suicide, the reasons for the gender paradox are complex, explained Elliott and Casselllius. Upon completion of this continuing education, counselors will (1) understand suicide in men and women, (2) know best counseling practices for assessing, managing, and preventing suicide among men and women, and (3) discuss implications for counselor education, supervision, and research. Registrants will also learn about differences in how trans individuals present with suicidal ideation compared to their identified genders and the increase in suicide for the male and female population aged 10 to 14.

Title: Suicide Among People with Disabilities: Practices and Implications

Presenters: John Sommers-Flannagan, PhD and Kanbi Knippling

Description: There is limited data on suicide among people with disabilities. Yet, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2023) states that a survey in 2021 highlighted adults with disabilities were three times more likely to report suicidal ideation in the past month than adults without disabilities. This Continuing Professional Development is presented by Dr. John Sommers-Flannagan, author of Suicide Assessment and Treatment Planning: A Strengths-Based Approach (2021) and numerous other academic publications, and Kanbi Knippling, Ph.D. Candidate and ACA Student Member with a disability.