Suicide Risk Assessment and Intervention for a Diverse Population
Presented by: Joyce Moore (Chu), PhD, Bruce Bongar, PhD, Peter Goldblum, PhD, and Christopher Weaver, PhD
10 Hours / 10 CEs
On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training
This on-demand professional training program on Suicide Risk Assessment and Intervention for a Diverse Population is presented by Bruce Bonger, PhD, ABPP; Joyce Chu, PhD; Peter Goldblum, PhD, MPH and Christoper Weaver, PhD.
Though almost all mental health professionals encounter suicide risk within their practices, formal training on suicide risk assessment and intervention is sparse. This program focuses on the current gold standards for practice in suicide management. A usable framework and accessible guidelines ensure that participants are able to competently manage suicide risk in their practice, incorporating the latest standards in suicide science. Program content includes skills in conceptualizing dynamic versus static suicide risk factors, legal and ethical considerations, documentation, and other considerations.
While most health and behavioral health professionals have been trained to manage suicide with similar strategies and guidelines regardless of cultural identity or background, studies have long shown that suicide looks and develops differently in LGBTQ and ethnic minority groups. Through this training, participants will also learn how to incorporate cultural considerations and manage suicide in culturally diverse populations. This program provides a foundational understanding of how suicide differs across cultural groups and covers advances in the culturally competent assessment and management of suicide.
Participants learn state-of-science theoretical, measurement, and applied research as practical approaches to assist clinicians in accounting for cultural influences on suicide risk among diverse populations. The program utilizes a didactic presentation infused with clinical discussion and case practice.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:
- 1 Describe six key steps of suicide risk assessment and management
- 2 Describe clinical inquiry about suicidal ideation, behaviors, and risk to individual client needs
- 3 Describe dynamic versus static risk factors
- 4 Describe important clinical and legal documentation considerations involved in suicide risk management
- 5 Describe the latest research on cultural differences in suicide, and culturally competent assessment and prevention of suicide among ethnic minority and LGBTQ populations
- 6 Describe predominant barriers to training and practice in culturally competent suicide assessment and practice
- 7 Describe a guiding framework and assessment tools/approaches that advance culturally competent suicide practice with diverse populations
- 8 Describe a suicide risk case conceptualization and intervention plan
Presented By
Joyce Chu, PhD, Professor at Palo Alto University
Dr. Joyce Chu is an Associate Professor at Palo Alto University. She earned her B.A. and M.A. in psychology at Stanford University, her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Michigan, and did a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Chu co-leads the Multicultural Suicide and Ethnic Minority Mental Health Research Groups at PAU, and is also Director of the Diversity and Community Mental Health (DCMH) emphasis which trains future psychologists to work with underserved populations in the public mental health sector.
Presented By
Bruce Bongar, Ph.D., ABPP, Calvin Distinguished Professor of Psychology Palo Alto University
Dr. Bruce Bongar, Ph.D., ABPP, FAPM, received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California and served his internship in clinical community psychology with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. For over 25 years, Dr. Bongar maintained a small practice specializing in psychotherapy, consultation and supervision in working with the difficult and life-threatening patient. Past clinical appointments include service as a senior clinical psychologist with the Division of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and work as a clinical/community mental health psychologist on the psychiatric emergency team of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. Dr. Bongar is past president of the Section on Clinical Crises and Emergencies of the Division of Clinical Psychology of the American Psychological Association, a diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology, a fellow of the Divisions of Clinical Psychology (Div 12), Psychology and the Law (Div 41), and Psychotherapy (Div 29) of the American Psychological Association, a fellow of the American Psychological Society and of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine, and a chartered psychologist of the British Psychological Society. Dr. Bongar has also been a winner of the Edwin Shneidman Award from the American Association of Suicidology for outstanding early career contributions to suicide research, and the Louis I. Dublin award for lifetime achievement in research on suicidology. In 2008, he was awarded the Florence Halpern award by the Division of Clinical Psychology of the American Psychological Association for distinguished contributions to the practice of clinical psychology. Since 2001, he has also become interested in the psychology of mass casualty events and suicide terrorism. From 2002-2005, he was the founding director of the National Center on Psychology of Terrorism. His research and published work reflects his long-standing interest in the wide-ranging complexities of therapeutic interventions with difficult patients in general, and in suicide and life-threatening behaviors in particular.
Presented By
Peter Goldblum, PhD, MPH, Professor of Psychology at Palo Alto University
Dr. Peter Goldblum, Ph.D., MPH, Co-Director of CLEAR, is professor of psychology at Palo Alto University. He received his Ph.D. from Pacific Graduate School of Psychology (now PAU), his MPH from UC, Berkeley School of Public Health, his MA in Psychology an Teaching from Teachers College-Coumbia, and his BA from the University of Texas, Austin.
Presented By
Christopher M. Weaver, PhD, Director of the Forensic Psychology Emphasis at Palo Alto University
Dr. Christopher Weaver is an Associate Professor at Palo Alto University, and Director of PAU’s Forensic Psychology Program. Dr. Weaver received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Louisville, and has held research and clinical positions (pre- and postdoctoral) at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University. He has published in the areas of psychopathy and violence risk assessment, and more recently in the areas of substance abuse and psychological trauma. His publications also include co-authored books in law & mental health and psychopathology. Dr. Weaver’s current research focuses on the role that trauma and substance use play in criminal offending, the assessment of dissimulation in PTSD assessment. He is also conducting a funded training and research program designed to increase police officer effectiveness in working with people with mental illness.
Training Outline
Key topics covered in this training include:
-
Suicide Risk Assessment, and Intervention for a Diverse Population
-
Current gold standards for practice in suicide management
-Framework
-Guidelines
-Practice Participants -
How to incorporate cultural considerations and manage suicide in diverse populations
–Management
–Strategies
–Guidelines
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.