Suicidal Clients and Self-Harm Behaviors: Clinical Strategies to Confidently Address Two of the Most Daunting (and Potentially Lethal) Scenarios You'll Work With

CPD

Handouts

Faculty

Meagan N. Houston, PhD, SAP Related seminars and products

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Meagan N. Houston, Ph.D., SAP, has specialized in providing suicide treatment in a wide variety of settings and populations for over a decade. She has experience in high-risk settings where the application of suicide prevention, assessment, and intervention occurs daily. Dr. Houston treats clients who present with a variety of psychological and behavioral disorders – which lend themselves to acute and chronic suicidality. She emphasizes the use of empirically-based approaches when conducting suicide risk assessments. She has also provided her expertise in the area of treating suicidal clients and self-harm behaviors, as the published author of Treating Suicidal Clients and Self-Harm Behaviors: Assessments, Worksheets & Guides for Interventions and Long-Term Care (PESI, 2017).

Dr. Houston is employed full time with the Houston Police Department Psychological Services Division, and maintains a part-time private practice in Houston, Texas. She has also worked in the federal prison system. In addition, Dr. Houston has provided psychological, psychoeducational, and chemical dependency programs at private practices and college counseling centers. She has also provided geropsychological services to nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities.

 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Meagan Houston maintains a private practice and has employment relationships with the Veterans Evaluation Services and the Department of Transportation. She receives a speaking honorarium, book royalties, and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Meagan Houston is a member of the Association of Black Psychologists and the Texas Psychological Association.

Objectives

1. Establish how a risk management strategy that accounts for both acute and chronic risk factors can help clinicians to identify clients at increased risk of suicide completion.
2. Discriminate between suicide behavior and self-harm behavior and articulate how this informs the clinicians therapeutic approach.
3. Explore how counter-transference can interfere in the treatment of social patients and learn how clinicians can manage emotion through awareness and self-restraint.
4. Incorporate coping strategies into treatment plans for Non-Suicidal Self Injury that help clients manage triggering situations without engaging in self-harm.
5. Communicate how to differentiate between morbid ideation and suicidal ideation, and establish how this information informs clinical approach.
6. Articulate how social media, technology, and “tele-therapy” impact the clinician’s role in treating suicidal ideation, intent or plan.

Outline

Clients at Risk:

Co-Occurring Disorders and Special Populations

• Depressive disorders
• Anxiety disorders
• Trauma and stressor related disorders
• Substance-related and addictive disorders
• Risks in special population groups
  • adolescents, veterans, LGBTQ, and the elderly

• Non-Suicidal Self Injury (NSSI)
• The latest research on what drives self-harming behavior
• Is self-harm an attention-seeking behavior?
• Does self-harm lead to suicide?
  • The question of intent
  • Maladaptive coping mechanisms and avoidance
• Clinical screening approach for NSSI

• 10 essential components of a thorough risk assessment
• Chronic and acute risk factors
• Distinguishing morbid ideation vs. suicidal ideation
• Imminent/chronic suicide risk
• Self-care and consultation
• Formal assessment tools for suicide

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy
• Teach clients techniques to increase awareness of impulsive behavior
• Communication and expressing avoided emotions
• Replacement behaviors
• Research limitations and treatment risks of psychotherapeutic approaches

• Strategies to manage countertransference
• Integrate the four key elements of crisis intervention into treatment
• Strategies from CBT and DBT
• Psychopharmacological intervention and management
• Long-term care concerns and strategies
• Tele-therapy & Social media
  • APA Guidelines
  • Texting – should you?
  • What to do when the suicidal client contacts you by phone/social media?
• Research limitations and treatment risks of psychotherapeutic approaches

• Ethical, legal implications and case studies
• Confidentiality and minor clients
• Informed consent and state-specific laws
• Voluntary vs. involuntary commitment
• When and how to use law enforcement

Please Note: PESI is not affiliated or associated with Marsha M. Linehan, PhD, ABPP, or her organizations.

Target Audience

• Social Workers
• Psychologists
• Counselors
• Teachers
• School Administrators
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Case Managers
• Addiction Counselors
• Therapists
• Nurses
• Other Mental Health Professionals