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Course Description

This online distance learning course consists of recorded videos lessons and accompanying reading materials. It provides an overview of suicide prevention for clinical settings. The course content covers suicide related statistics; risk factors, myths, and warning signs; working with vulnerable populations; intersections between mental illness and suicide; effective evidence based treatments; conducting a suicide risk assessment; using the crisis intervention model; and creating a safety plan with a client. Continuing Education Credit is available for this course; please refer to the Continuing Education Information section below for more details on the types of CE credits being offered.

What You'll Learn

After completing this training, participants will be able to:

  • Identify suicide risk and protective factors. Name specific considerations for working with vulnerable groups, including youth.

  • Conduct a suicide risk assessment using the crisis intervention model. Build a safety plan with a client who is experiencing thoughts of suicide.

  • Name evidence based treatment options for suicidal ideation. Identify strategies for supporting survivors of suicide.

Instructors

Clara Bergen, PhD (she/her)

Dr. Clara Bergen is Special Projects Manager at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services. Didi Hirsch is home to the nation’s first and largest Suicide Prevention Center, which serves more than 175,000 individuals annually. Under the supervision of the COO, Dr. Bergen works with teams across the agency to implement and assess new initiatives. Dr. Bergen previously worked at City University of London School of Health Sciences, as a postdoctoral fellow in the Division of Health Services Research and Management. There, she was involved in grant-funded projects aimed at improving the quality of care provided for those recovering from a suicide attempt and/or experiencing a suicidal crisis. Dr. Bergen has authored peer-reviewed articles on a range of subjects including addressing treatment hesitancy in psychosocial assessments for suicidal ideation, and promoting young people’s sense of agency in youth crisis mental health encounters.

Rebecca Zeitlin, LMFT (she/her)

Rebecca Zeitlin, LMFT, is the Crisis Line Director of the Suicide Prevention Center at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services. Rebecca provides direct supervision of Assistant Program Directors, Program Coordinators, Shift Supervisors and Crisis Line Counselors and oversees the daily operations of the Suicide Crisis Line, including call-taking for the 988 Lifeline in Southern California. Since 2007, Rebecca has also worked as a Volunteer Suicide Prevention Counselor, Shift Supervisor, Program Coordinator and Assistant Program Director at the Suicide Prevention Center. Rebecca is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and facilitates Survivors of Suicide Attempts support groups along with seeing individual clients. Being part of the Suicide Crisis Line for over 10 years, Rebecca is now a Master Trainer in ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) and plays a large role in providing training for new Volunteer Crisis Counselors at the Suicide Prevention Center.

Sandri Kramer, BA (she/her)

Sandri Kramer, a founding member of the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Network (LASPN), has over 25 years of experience in suicide prevention/intervention and crisis center work. Now, as Didi Hirsch’s Director of Community Relations, she focuses on Program Development, Community Partnerships, and Public Awareness/Training. After many years of grassroots work with law enforcement partners, overseeing the launch of LAPD’s 911 call diversion project is one of her proudest achievements. She is also currently working on expanding SPC’s role in emergency management as a core center of the national Disaster Distress Helpline, strengthening and expanding the center’s collaborative partnerships with numerous law enforcement agencies, and the implementation and growth of the 988 Crisis Lifeline. She serves on numerous coalitions and task forces, including as vice-president on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors (NASCOD), as a member of the Board of the Emergency Network Los Angeles (ENLA), as an original member of the LA Mayor’s Challenge Team on Suicide Prevention for Service Members, Veterans, and their Families, as a lead trainer for CopLine, and as a member of LA’s Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) Community Partnership Council.

Instructional Designer

Alycia (Ace) Mann (they/them)

Ace is an eLearning Instructional Designer and helped to project manage and create the 21 modules of this course. Beginning in academia, Ace helped create curricula for university students during their time as a molecular virologist. As a published scientist, their move into Instructional Design was seamless with nearly a decade of experience in the realm of creating instructional content. Using their experience as a queer, human rights activist in British Columbia, Canada and their lived experience losing a sibling to suicide, Ace took on this project with their whole heart. After seeing the ripple effect that a person’s loss could have on a community, this project felt like an opportunity to create a ripple effect of good; the potential impact for the mental health community and the people who would benefit from this content was the driving force behind Ace’s passion. Acting as the project manager and lead instructional designer, they were able to guide the project through the process to become the beautiful, engaging, and meaningful modules they are. Ace is currently finishing up a degree in clinical and counselling psychology and plans to work towards a Ph.D. in the near future. They are interested in syndemics and social structure and, in particular, the vast inequities faced by equity-deserving people who are disproportionately affected by mental and physical epidemics caused by societal systems of oppression.

Continuing Education Information

  • Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services is approved as a continuing education award sponsor by the following accrediting organizations:

  • This course meets the qualifications for 6 hours of continuing education credit for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs as required by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (CAMFT Provider #125787). Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services is approved by the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists to sponsor continuing education for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and/or LEPs. Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services maintains responsibility for this program/course and its content.

  • Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

  • California Board of Registered Nursing, provider #CEP14799 for 6 contact hours.

Continuing Education Credit is only issued to individuals who complete the course content in its entirety and successfully pass a post-test. There is no partial credit. Continuing Education Award certificates are dated upon completion of the course evaluation, and are available for download from the system. Please note that certificate dates and times are in UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).
There is no commercial support for this continuing education course. Courses are coordinated by the Training Director: Giselle Collins, PhD. If you have any questions, concerns or grievances regarding this seminar or our continuing education program, please contact Giselle Collins at [email protected].