Suicide was declared a public health crisis by the U.S. Surgeon General in 1999 and again in 2020. However, suicide rates have continued to climb over the past two decades by a staggering 35% overall. There are important changes occurring in the national dialog reflective of culture change- but the shedding of stigma must go further to a deepening of mental health literacy. There are several science-informed, evidence-based strategies to reduce suicide risk, both through the public health approach for an entire population, as well as clinical interventions for patient care. As the science of suicide and prevention has been growing rapidly over the past two decades, these prevention strategies and targeted ways to better identify risk must be translated and disseminated for greatest impact.
In this presentation called “Clinical Strategies for Preventing Suicide” by AFSP Chief Medical Officer Dr. Christine Moutier, participants will learn about the current science, trends in the culture surrounding mental health, and the most current recommendations for assessing suicide risk and applying steps to identify risk and care for patients at risk for suicide. Safety planning, lethal means counseling, communication, and evidence-based treatments will be discussed. The data related to medications will be presented to address the role of medications in suicide preventive care.
From the time of registration, you have six months to access the coursework.
Upon completion of this training, professionals will be able to do the following:
Learning Objectives
- Develop an understanding of suicide and the public health approach to suicide prevention, including national trends in U.S. such as: broad education and advocacy from stakeholders including loss survivors, attempt survivors, clinicians as advocates and educators
- Describe the principles of prevention-oriented suicide risk assessment and current evidence-based suicide specific clinical interventions, including: Safety Planning, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and suicide specific psychopharmacology
Christine Moutier, MD
Christine Moutier, MD, serves as chief medical officer for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and has testified before the U.S. Congress, presented to the White House, and at the National Academy of Sciences. She co-anchored CNN’s Emmy Award winning Finding Hope suicide prevention town hall with Anderson Cooper, and has appeared as an expert in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time magazine, The Economist, The Atlantic, the BBC, CNN, NBC and other print and television outlets.
Since earning her medical degree and training in psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, Moutier has been a practicing psychiatrist, professor of psychiatry, a dean in the UCSD School of Medicine, and medical director of the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit at the VA Medical Center in La Jolla, treating diverse patient populations from Asian refugees to veterans to corporate and academic leaders. She also served as co-investigator for the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression study (STAR*D), a large National Institute of Mental Health trial on the treatment of refractory depression.
Dr. Moutier began her work in suicide prevention many years ago after losing physician colleagues to suicide. In addition to advocating for institutional shifts in policies and procedures which normalize help seeking for mental health concerns at individual and institutional levels, Dr. Moutier has been instrumental in highlighting the role of licensing boards in framing questions to focus on competence rather than illness. She is similarly working with other fields such as nursing, veterinary medicine, law enforcement, construction and the entertainment industry to allow all individuals to proactively manage their mental health optimally.
Moutier has authored articles and book chapters for publications such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, Academic Medicine, the American Journal of Psychiatry, the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, and Academic Psychiatry. She has a clinical suicide prevention handbook planned for release in early 2021.
You can follow Dr. Moutier on Twitter at @cmoutierMD.
1 CE hour
Counselors: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. This course qualifies for 1 non-contact hours.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by 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-0048. Approval renewal date: 1/31/2023
Marriage and Family Therapists: Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations. You can check with your board to determine if this course would be accepted by your licensing board.
Social Workers: Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, 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. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2021 – 05/02/2024. Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credit.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC 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-0435. Approval renewal date: 2/28/2023
Psychologists: Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0128. Effective 8/31/2021 – 8/31/2024
Art Therapists: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists #CAT-0093. 7/21/2021 – 7/31/2024
Addiction Professionals: Telehealth Certification Institute is an approved provider of continuing education by NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals, provider #193104, effective 02/09/2022. Full attendance is required; no partial credit will be awarded for partial attendance.
Other Professionals: This activity qualifies for 60 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.
This is a non-interactive, self-study course.
To receive your certificate of completion you must complete the course in its entirety.
To complete an Online Self Study Course, one must register, log in, select the My Courses option from the menu items, click the Course Title, complete all of the modules, complete and pass the post-test(s), and complete the course evaluation.
Psychologists and other professionals seeking CE credit through our approval with the American Psychological Association are asked but not required to complete the course evaluation before obtaining their certificate of completion, however passing a post-test for online self-study courses, and submitting one's attendance for live on-site and live webinars is required.
You can download or print your certificate of completion by logging into your account, navigating to the course by selecting the My Courses option from the menu items, clicking the Course Title, scrolling to the Certificate of Completion section, and clicking on the Certificate of Completion link to either download it or print it.
Directions for completing a course can be found by clicking here.
This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.
Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation. The courses may include required reading.
