Foster Care Training

This workshop is geared toward mental health professionals or anyone that would be in a position to work with a child at risk for suicide. The workshop uses a combination of teaching methods including didactic work, lecture, and discussion. The workshop will encourage participates to explore their own feelings towards suicide and suicidal youth. It will address common myths and perceptions about suicide and suicidal behavior in children and adolescents. The workshop will cover suicide statistics, trauma, and suicide theory with an emphasis on Thomas Joiners model: The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. Risk factors, warning signs and protective factors will be discussed. Participants will learn how to understand the combination of risk factors, warning signs and protective factors that can increase suicide risk. Participants will learn methods of suicide risk assessment and will be introduced to screening tools that aid in determining suicide risk. Emphasis will be placed on how to ask about suicidal thoughts and behaviors, how to talk about suicide and how to conduct a risk assessment. Questions for risk assessment will be handed out during the workshop for participants to take home. Safety planning will be introduced using Stanley & Browns Safety Planning Template. Safety planning is a Best Practice tool that should be used with all suicidal children and adolescents. Safety Planning with young children should include the family or caregivers. Safety Planning Apps will be introduced and discussed. Included in all Safety Plans must be a discussion with clients, families and caregivers regarding access to the lethal means for suicide. These conversations can be difficult for mental health providers to have. Reducing access to lethal means is one way a provider can reduce the chance for a lethal outcome when a person is suicidal. During this workshop time will be spent on how to have this conversation and how to help families, clients and caregivers to understand the necessity of limiting access. The goal of this workshop is to increase therapist comfort in discussing suicide with children, adolescents and their parents or other caregivers. To be able to better assess the suicide risk that a child or adolescent may have.