6 Hours / 6 CEs

On Demand | Self-Paced Professional Training

This on-demand professional training program on ASAP: Safety Assessment and Planning is presented by Kelly A. Watt, PhD in partnership with Protect International Risk and Safety Services.

Although victim safety planning is a critical management strategy for all violence risk assessments, it is often not given the attention it deserves or requires. During the program, you learn about best practices and challenging issues related to safety assessment and planning and how to administer the Aid to Safety Assessment and Planning Guideline (ASAP), an SPJ for victim safety planning.

Learning Objectives

  • 1 Describe best practices and challenging issues related to safety planning.
  • 2 Describe special issues related to safety planning (e.g., lethality assessment and fear management).
  • 3 Describe administration at the Aid to Safety Assessment and Planning Guideline (ASAP).

  • Intended Audience

    This training is intended for professionals who conduct violence risk assessments and develop victim safety plans, with expertise in structured professional judgment, risk management, and safety planning. It is particularly relevant for those specializing in forensic psychology, clinical psychology, social work, or related disciplines, and who are responsible for assessing violence risk and ensuring victim safety.


    Examples of Relevant Professionals:
    • Mental Health Professionals
    • Forensic Psychologists
    • Clinical Psychologists
    • Social Workers
    • Victim Services Specialists
    • Risk Managers
    • Safety Planners
    • Case Managers
    • Threat Assessment Specialists

  • Experience Level

    This training is appropriate for licensed and pre-licensed mental health professionals at various stages of experience with violence risk assessment and victim safety planning.

    • Beginner: Participants new to safety planning or violence risk assessment will gain foundational knowledge of best practices, challenging issues, and the basics of administering the Aid to Safety Assessment and Planning Guideline (ASAP).

    • Intermediate: Participants with some experience in safety planning or risk assessment will deepen their understanding of complex issues such as lethality assessment and fear management, and refine their skills in applying the ASAP guideline.

    • Advanced: Participants with extensive experience in violence risk assessment and safety planning will enhance their expertise by engaging with nuanced case examples, advanced applications of the ASAP, and current research on best practices and emerging challenges.

  • Practice Setting

    They practice in multidisciplinary, security-conscious clinical and forensic environments where structured professional judgment is used to assess violence risk and create victim-centered safety plans. Work involves direct evaluations, interagency coordination, documentation for legal/organizational decisions, and applying tools such as the Aid to Safety Assessment and Planning Guideline (ASAP).


    Examples of Practice Settings:
    • Forensic hospitals and secure psychiatric units
    • Community mental health clinics and crisis response centers
    • Correctional facilities, jails, and probation/parole services
    • Courts, forensic evaluation services, and pretrial units
    • Victim services agencies and domestic violence shelters
    • Healthcare systems and emergency departments
    • University and workplace threat assessment/management teams
    • Law enforcement threat units and fusion centers

Presented By

Kelly A. Watt, PhD Threat Assessment Specialist at Protect International

Dr. Kelly A. Watt obtained her BA in psychology at Simon Fraser and her MA and PhD in psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She worked as a Psychology Fellow at Vancouver Coastal Health between 2008 and 2010. She currently works as Threat Assessment Specialist at Protect International and a Workplace Consultant at Competence Center Bergen. She is a member of the Mental Health, Law, and Policy Institute at Simon Fraser University. Her expertise is in the field of clinical- community-forensic psychology, with a special focus on violence risk assessment and management, victim safety planning, coordinated community responses, and threat assessment teams. She has co-authored more than 75 articles, chapters, reports, and presentations and is the co-author of manuals for risk assessment and safety planning, including the Risk for Sexual Violence Protocol (RSVP), and the Aid to Safety Assessment and Planning (ASAP). She is currently the editor of Intelligence, the newsletter of the Canadian, American, European, and Asia Pacific associations of threat assessment professionals. She also currently serves the chair of special interest group for the Canadian Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. She has provided over 120 invited presentations and workshops for mental health, law enforcement corrections, security, victim services, social services, human resources, occupational health and safety, and legal professionals in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

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Kelly A. Watt, PhD
We are proud to partner with

Protect International Risk and Safety Services

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. 

  1. American Psychological Association (APA): Approved sponsor of continuing education for psychologists.

  2. Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB): Approved continuing education provider (ACE program, Provider #1480), 11/22/2023–11/22/2026.

  3. Canadian Psychological Association (CPA): Approved to sponsor continuing education for psychologists.

  4. 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.