Self-Care for Threat Assessment and Management Professionals

Presented by: Brianne Layden, PhD

3 Hours / 3 CEs

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

The on-demand professional training program on Self-Care for Threat Assessment and Management Professionals is presented by Brianne Layden, PhD in partnership with Protect International Risk and Safety Services.

More attention needs to be paid to how you cope with the content of the threat assessments you carry out, the impact that interviewees or collaterals may have on you, or even the stress associated with the setting in which you work.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:

1 Describe the potential impact of conducting threat assessments on professionals.
2 Describe an overview of tools and best-practice guidelines related to self-care.
3 Describe individual, relational, and organizational warning signs related to problems with self-care.
4 Describe possible solutions to assist professionals and organizations with improving their self-care practices.

Intended Audience

This training is intended for clinicians and allied mental health professionals who conduct threat assessments and are seeking effective strategies to manage the personal and professional challenges of evaluating potential threats. The program emphasizes ethical decision-making, maintaining professional composure, and supporting well-being while working with high-risk or forensic populations.
Examples of Relevant Professionals:
- Mental health professionals (psychologists, counselors, social workers)
- Clinicians involved in threat assessment processes
- School-based mental health staff on threat assessment teams
- Allied professionals such as psychiatric nurses and case managers
- Professionals supporting or consulting on threat assessment and management
Experience Level
This training is appropriate for licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals at various stages of experience with threat assessments and self-care in high-risk settings.
- Beginner: Participants new to threat assessments or self-care practices will gain foundational knowledge about the impact of these evaluations, basic self-care tools, and recognition of early warning signs of stress.
- Intermediate: Participants with some experience in threat assessments will deepen their understanding of the emotional and ethical complexities involved, refine their use of best-practice self-care strategies, and learn to identify and address relational and organizational challenges to well-being.
Practice Setting

Professionals working in high-risk, forensic, educational, healthcare, community, corporate, or governmental environments where behavioral threat assessments are conducted, with regular exposure to distressing content, challenging interviews/collaterals, and setting-related stressors. The training reinforces ethical decision-making, composure, and well-being in these contexts and is appropriate for licensed and pre-licensed clinicians across experience levels.

Examples of Practice Settings:
- Hospital and outpatient behavioral health clinics
- Forensic hospitals, correctional facilities, and probation/parole contexts
- School districts and university campuses (threat assessment teams)
- Community mental health agencies and mobile crisis units
- Law enforcement behavioral threat assessment units and fusion centers
- Corporate/enterprise security and workplace violence prevention programs
- Government agencies, courts, and public safety departments
- Telehealth and consultation practices supporting high-risk cases

Presented By

Brianne Layden, PhD Threat Assessment Specialist at Protect International Risk and Safety Services Inc.

Dr. Brianne Layden obtained BA, MA, and PhD degrees in psychology at Simon Fraser University. She is a clinical and forensic psychologist specializing in the assessment and management of risk for violence toward the self and others. She works as a Threat Assessment Specialist at Protect International Risk and Safety Services Inc., is a contract psychologist with Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission of British Columbia, is an Adjunct Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University, and is the associate editor of Intelligence, an e-newsletter that keeps professionals up to date about recent advances in threat assessment around the globe. She also serves as a Member-at-Large for the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services. Her expertise involves the assessment and management of self-directed violence and personality disorders, particularly borderline personality disorder, and intersecting risks (e.g., general and self-directed violence). She has provided training workshops and invited presentations for forensic mental health, law enforcement, corrections, security, victim services and higher education, and has co-authored over 50 articles and conference presentations. She is currently in the process of developing structured professional judgment tools for the assessment and management of self-directed violence.

View More Programs from this Presenter

Training Outline

Key topics covered in this training include:

Introduction to Threat Assessments
Personal and Professional Impact
Maintaining Professional Composure
Ethical Decision-Making in Threat Assessments
Practical Strategies for Clinicians

We are proud to partner with

Protect International Risk and Safety Services

We are proud to partner with Protect International Risk and Safety Services for this training. Protect International's threat assessment professionals are internationally recognized experts that have developed some of the world's most widely used and best-validated threat assessment tools. Protect International provides services and products related to violence risk assessment and management, also known as threat assessment and management. Protect International services and products include threat assessment training and support, case assessment and management, legal consultation, policy review and development, and program evaluation and research; along with threat assessment manuals, worksheets, licenses, and software applications for those tools.

Learn More About Our Partner

CE Sponsorship Information

Palo Alto University, Continuing & Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by, recognized by, or maintains sponsorship provider status with the following boards and agencies. We maintain responsibility for all content in our CE/CPD programs. For more information, visit here.

American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.
Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.
National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC): Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP No. 7190).

Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT), SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0356 and the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0073. Palo Alto University, Continuing and Professional Studies (CONCEPT) has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6811. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. CONCEPT Professional Training, #1480, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. CONCEPT Professional Training maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 11/22/23-11/22/26. Social workers completing this course receive (clinical or social work ethics) continuing education credits.