In Session: Practicing Clinical Skills to Prevent Suicide in Young Adults

Course overview

In 2020, about 46,000 Americans died by suicide. In that same year, there were an additional 1,200,000 attempts that did not result in a fatality. Individuals of all ages are impacted by suicide. Young adults between 18 and 24 years old account for 10.8% of all suicides in the U.S., and suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for this age group (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020). Given these staggering figures, the likelihood is high that you, as a behavioral health professional, will encounter individuals at risk for suicide. It is imperative that you understand how to identify individuals at risk for suicide and that, once identified, you know what interventions can help prevent additional suicides. This course will provide you with an opportunity to apply your existing knowledge of suicide prevention to assess and intervene with an at-risk adult. By interacting with this individual in a simulated therapy session, you will see how your selection of responses impacts their level of risk and their outcome. Supervisory input will also help guide you through this simulation exercise. If you have not participated in in-depth training on suicide assessment and prevention, we recommend that you review our other courses on this topic first. After learning about evidence-based approaches for assessing and responding to suicide risk, you can then use this simulation to reinforce your knowledge. The goal of this course is to provide addictions, behavioral health counseling, marriage and family therapy, psychology, and social work professionals in health and human services settings with an opportunity to apply your existing knowledge to address suicide risk in young adults.