Suicide Intervention in Kids and Teens

Credit

Program Information

All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners.  For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.

Speaker

Leslie W. Baker, MFT, NCC, RPT-S Related seminars and products

Ruby Hill Marriage and Family Counseling CTR INC

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Leslie W. Baker, MFT, NCC, RPT-S, has over 27 years of experience as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a National Board-Certified Counselor and a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor. She is the CEO/executive director of the Therapy2Thrive® Ruby Hill Marriage & Family Counseling Center in Pleasanton, CA, which provides counseling services to the community. Leslie is a Certified Gottman Therapist and integrates play therapy with all ages.

She is co-owner of Academy for Play Therapy Training, Inc.™, a training program for mental health professionals providing workshops and supervision for clinicians seeking to become registered play therapists. Leslie is a trained Suicide Bereavement Clinician and has volunteered for the past seven years with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in San Francisco Bay Area as a keynote speaker at the Survivors Day conferences in the Tri-Valley Area.

She is also a speaker for the Annual Suicide Prevention Conference for the Tri-Valley NAMI and Family Resource Center in CA. Leslie is the author of Healing Feelings: A Healing Story for Children Coping with a Grownup's Mental Illness and is author of Therapy in the Digital Age as a guest in Integrating Technology into Modern Therapies: A Clinician’s Guide to Developments and Interventions, edited by Dr. Jessica Stone. Leslie is an experienced local, national and international speaker on topics including suicide assessment and prevention, technology in therapy, play therapy, trauma and Gottman couples therapy.

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Leslie Baker maintains a private practice and has an employment relationship with the University of Phoenix. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Leslie Baker is a member of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, the International Association of Play Therapy, and the World of Sandtray Professionals Associations.

Additional Info

Program Information

You will have access for 90 days after the program for review. For live CE credit, you must watch the live webcast in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. Please note that this requirement may vary by credit type. Please see detailed credit information for specific requirements for each credit type.

Please note: There will be a 70-minute lunch and two 15-minute breaks; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Lunch and break times will be announced by the speaker and at their discretion. A more detailed schedule is available upon request.

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Objectives

1. Apply two tools to cope with countertransference when working with suicidal youth in play therapy.
2. Identify at least three risk factors, protective factors, and warning signs of suicidal thoughts/ideation or suicidal behaviors in young clients.
3. Utilize screening assessment tools for youth coping with suicidal thoughts/ideation or suicidal behaviors.
4. Integrate Prescriptive Play Therapy Theory, The Four Therapeutic Powers, and 20 Core Agents of Change in the development of Play Therapy treatment goals.
5. Utilize three play-based strategies for working with youth with suicidal ideation and/or suicidal behaviors in play therapy.
6. Apply two parenting prevention opportunities for parents/caregivers of youth coping with suicidal thoughts/ideation or suicidal behaviors in play therapy.

Outline

Ethics & Laws that Impact Therapy with Suicidal Youth

• Core concepts in ethics and suicide
• Ethics and AI
• Best practices when caring for children and teens at risk
• Legal considerations every clinician needs to know & relationship of AI to suicide

Managing Transference & Countertransference

• Spotting countertransference when it shows in the therapy room
• Skills to manage countertransference
• What “Jar your issues?” – hands-on activity

Risk Assessment for Children and Teens

• Identify warning signs, risk factors, and protective factors
• Protective factors and how to leverage them to strengths for safety
• AI companions, social media, and gaming and their risks for children and teens
• Play therapy in action: “puzzling” warning activity
• Clinical skills to reduce stigma, foster compassion, and engage parents in real talk

Assessment Tools and Practice for Suicidal Ideation in Youth

• Utilize The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale and its training model
• Brief protocol for assessment and treatment of suicidality in youth
• Role-play using the C-SSRS in real-world scenarios

Clinical Skills to Communicate with Caregivers

• Help caregivers evaluate risk and manage suicidal thoughts & behaviors
• Address fears, concerns, and common questions about suicidal ideation & behaviors
• Hospitalization, aftercare, and reducing risk through community support
• Prevention resources for parents and caregivers

Safety Planning Tools for Teens and Children

• Select and introduce mobile apps useful in play therapy
• Use a five-step evaluation and triage plan with the SAMHSA app
• Safety Plan App Intervention – A Mobile App
• Play therapy interventions for safety planning

Suicide Prevention and Play-Based Interventions for Teens and Children

• The Stop & Calm Intervention
• The Thought Change-up-Intervention
• The Three Circles of Hope Collage
• The Garden of Hope exercise
• The Handy Tree exercise
• Prevention tools for parents and caregivers

Target Audience

• Counselors
• Social Workers
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Psychologists
• Addiction Counselors
• Case Managers
• Psychiatrists
• Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners
• Other Mental Health Professionals