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CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

THIS PROGRAM HAS BEEN APPROVED FOR CEUs.  
All attendees requiring CEUs must sign in each day.  Certificates are available at the end of each day.  Note, Survivor rate does not include CEUs.  Attendees will receive a total of 13 hours for the conference, 6.5 hour per day.  

SCHEDULE OVERVIEW - For detailed descriptions of each session scroll down

Wednesday: October 23 - Pre-Conference 
Arizona Trainer Regional Networking Conference  
A separate registration is required for the Pre-Conference.  
This Trainer Conference will be held on the Pre-Conference day for the Arizona Suicide Prevention Coalition’s annual statewide HOPE Conference. 

The Trainer Conference will be open to any and all active ASIST and safeTALK trainers (in Arizona and beyond).  This annual conference is offered each year as a way to respond to the needs expressed by Arizona trainers in the AZSPC Trainer Network Survey (last administered in 2017 and regularly administered every 2-3 years).  Bringing trainers together for skill-building, networking, and collaboration opportunities has kept our Arizona trainer network grounded in support and has helped with sustainability of trainers statewide.
Thursday: October 24  - HOPE Conference

8:00 - 8:30 AM            Registration & Breakfast Sponsored by Magellan Health
8:30 - 8:45 AM             Nikki Kontz, LMSW, AZSPC Board President - Welcome
8:45 - 9:00 AM             Kelli Williams - State of the State
9:00 - 10:30 AM           Bart Andrews, Ph.D. - The Future of Suicide Prevention
10:30 - 10:45 AM          Break Sponsored by Recovery Innovations
10:45 -12:00 PM           James Greenblatt, MD - Suicide Prevention Redefined: A Biologic Model
12:00 - 1:00 PM             Lunch Sponsored by Mercy Care
1:15 - 2:45 PM               Breakout Sessions
  • Bart Andrews, Ph.D. - Social Media & Suicide Prevention
  • Brianna Banks, Ph.D.- RELATE: An Interpersonal Approach to Safety Planning
  • Lolan Lauvao, MS ​ - A Community Approach To Suicide Prevention
                                              
2:45 - 3:00 pm             Break Sponsored by Crisis Response Network
3:00 -4:30 pm              Breakout Sessions
  • Kelli Williams, Yesmina Luchsinger  & Heather Brown- Improving Access to Behavioral Health in Schools
  • Kathryn VanBoskirk, LCSW - Radical Resilience and Leadership
  • Paula McCall, Ph.D. - Suicide Risk Assessment of Children and Adolescents: Critical Information for Providers and Parents
                                              
Friday: October 25  - HOPE Conference
              
8:00 - 8:30 AM            Registration & Breakfast Sponsored by EMPACT & Teen Lifeline
8:30 - 9:45 AM             Carla Stumpf Patton, EdD, LMHC, NCC, QS, FT, CCTP  - Empowering the Survivor Voice: Sharing your Story
                                         Safely and Strategically
9:45 - 10:45 AM            Kelli Williams; Deb Dominick, LCSW; & Blake Chaffee, Ph.D.  - Be Connected: How Arizonans are Preventing Veteran Suicides
10:45 - 11:00 AM          Break Sponsored by Partners in Recovery
11:00 - 12:00 PM          William Beverly, Ph.D., LMFT, CCHP - Borderline Personality Disorder: New Insights & Hope for Recovery
12:00 - 1:00 PM             Lunch Sponsored by Crisis Preparation & Recovery  AND Arizona Complete Health
1:15 - 2:45 PM               Breakout Sessions
  • William Beverly, Ph.D., LMFT, CCHP - Suicide Prevention and Serious Mental Illness: Beyond Routing Care
  • Edward L. James, III, MSW, ACSW, LMSW, MPM - Cultural and Suicide Risk: Meet the Black Community
  • Russell Toomey, Ph.D. - Sexual and Gender Minority Disparities in Suicide Behavior: Pathways to Resilience
  • Carla Stumpf Patton, EdD, LMHC, NCC, QS, FT, CCTP - Finding Your Grief Rhythm: A Journey Toward Healing ​
                                      
2:45 - 3:00 pm             Break Sponsored by Terros Health
3:00 -4:30 pm              Breakout Sessions
  • Evette Richardson, BS, LMSW - Building Resiliency in Queer Youth Through Advocacy
  • Mike Wold, MS, MBA - Veteran Suicide: Causes and Prevention - A 360 Degree View
  • M.T. Webb, LMSW, Chaplain Chris Melvin, Herman Grewal and Maria Gastelum - Ethical Dilemmas of Needs: The Link between Suicide, Substance Abuse, and the Stigma of Being 'Needy'

Session Descriptions



Thursday: October 24  - HOPE Conference

8:45 - 9:00 AM             Kelli Williams - State of the State
As the Arizona state Suicide Prevention Specialist for Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), Kelli will provide a brief overview of the current status at the state level for suicide prevention efforts.

9:00 - 10:30 AM           Bart Andrews, Ph.D. - The Future of Suicide Prevention
Weren’t we all promised flying cars by now? What does that have to do with suicide prevention. Well, the truth is everything.  Our predictions of what the future will be like and how the future unfolds are two different things.  There have been promises of artificial intelligence and big data algorithms leading to huge gains in suicide prevention, it hasn’t happened. We were told we could screen for implicit thoughts of suicide and identify folks whether they were able to tell us about their thoughts or not… hasn’t happened.  What we do want is a future for suicide prevention that doesn’t look like the past.  So, let's take a look at where suicide prevention is going and what we can do to not only prevent suicides but help people find lives filled with meaning and purpose.

10:45 -12:00 PM           James Greenblatt, MD - Suicide Prevention Redefined: A Biologic Model
Suicide is a public health issue of critical importance, one which merits our best, most focused efforts regarding treatment and prevention. Considerable resources have been allocated towards the elucidation of psychosocial risk factors for suicide; relatively few, however, have been devoted to exploring the clinical implications of biologic risk factors, and reigning treatment paradigms do not consistently incorporate stratagems to address malnutrition, biochemical imbalances, or metabolic dysfunction – all of which research has correlated with suicidal and self-injurious behavior.  

This lecture will introduce a biologic framework for suicide prevention, one in which the concept of suicidality as the result of underlying nutritional, genetic, and psychosocial risk factors is explored. Scientific research supporting significant associations between malnutrition, essential fatty acid deficiencies, low cholesterol, psychotropic medications, and suicidality will be objectively reviewed. Studies illustrating the benefits of nutritional augmentation to mitigate risk factors will be presented; evidence-based interventions will be described; and a treatment approach centered upon objective biologic measurement and a concept of biochemical individuality will be elucidated. 

Despite the potentially fatal consequences of depression, there is an increasing body of literature questioning the efficacy of antidepressants, especially amongst the adolescent population. Alarmingly, antidepressants may increase the risk of suicidal ideations in children and adolescents. Evidence-based interventions to enhance the efficacy and minimize the side effects of antidepressants will be described.

Clinical trials have clearly established the relationship between malnutrition and suicidal behaviors. Lithium deficiencies have been linked by numerous studies to aggression and suicidality, as have deficiencies of cholesterol and essential fatty acids. In fact, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation has been shown to decrease symptoms of depression and decrease suicidal thinking by 45%! Nutrients and their overlooked influence on mental health will be discussed in detail.

Recent research has uncovered that sleep disturbances in young adults predict suicidal ideation independent of depression and substance use. Treatment of sleep disturbances is non-stigmatizing and may represent a key component of a therapeutic model to improve mood.

Effectively addressing a phenomenon as complex and multifactorial as suicide necessarily requires a treatment and prevention approach equally as multifactorial, and which targets potential susceptibilities from the external and psychosocial to the intrinsic and biologic. A biologic framework, in tandem with existing psychosocial and psychodynamic paradigms, offers us a highly comprehensive model for suicide prevention…and at-risk individuals the very best chance for hope, healing, and recovery.

1:15 - 2:45 PM - Breakout Sessions
  • Bart Andrews, Ph.D. - Social Media & Suicide Prevention
    Ok, you have all heard it: Social media is causing the suicide rate in youth to go up, up, up.  You have also heard that bullying causes suicide. What if I told you none of these things are true? What if I told you both things are true but not in the way you would ever imagine? The truth is that suicide is an in-determinant, complex and emergent phenomenon. That means we must think about it differently than we do cancer or smoking.  Social media plays an increasingly larger role in our lives, especially the lives of our youth.  So let's get down to brass tacks and talk about what the research is telling us, what it isn’t telling us and how we can mitigate the real risks and leverage the benefits of this technology that is not going away.

  • Brianna Banks, Ph.D. - RELATE: An Interpersonal Approach to Safety Planning
    Let's start with the basics. Working with suicidal clients can be hard. One of the things that doesn't make it any easier is how little training providers receive do to this work. The little training we do typically receive isn't based in what the most cutting edge research tells us about why people die by suicide. So, that's why we're here. After several years' of collaboration among grant partners across Tennessee, we've developed the RELATE Model: An Interpersonal Approach to Suicide Care. Rooted in the evidence-based interpersonal theory of suicide (Joiner, 2005) and our own evaluation outcomes, this model was designed to provide clinicians and our clients with the very "best-in-science" knowledge and tools to reduce suicide to zero.

    Historically, when we have thought about treating suicidal clients, the conversation has mostly focused on risk factors. While risk factors are important to how we think about our clients and the care we provide, the research tells us that there are over 3,800 risk factors for suicide, with little evidence about which specific risk factors "matter" most. This was the case until Thomas Joiner, a suicidologist out of Florida State University, developed the Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. Based on years of extensive research, the ITS proposes three (yes, just three) core factors that can be used to realistically predict serious (i.e., highly lethal) suicide attempts and death. These factors include: thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capability. Thomas' research suggests that only when all three of these factors are present is a person at serious risk for suicide. The RELATE Model was developed with specific attention to these three core factors. Within this model, specific interventions are embedded throughout that were designed to target and provide support for these factors.

    In this presentation, attendees will learn specifically about the RELATE Safety Plan, an intervention designed to target suicide risk factors directly related to the core factors of the ITS. Attendees will receive a comprehensive review of the ITS, examples of how its core factors manifest in persons at risk for suicide, and strategies for how to collaboratively develop strategies for maintaining safety and help-seeking behaviors with persons at risk. 
    ​
  • Lolan Lauvao, MS - A Community Approach To Suicide Prevention
    Workshop will provide details on the development and implementation of the Suicide Prevention Convening for the American Indian Community. Presenters will describe the process and design along with presenting the model and community feedback. This session will also provide insight on approaches to suicide prevention through culture and take a look on how the Phoenix Indian Center & the Urban Indian Coalition of Arizona utilizes this preventive means in the Urban Indian Community.
                                             
3:00 -4:30 pm - Breakout Sessions
  • Kelli Williams, Yesmina Luchsinger & Heather Brown - Improving Access to Behavioral Health in Schools
    Youth in Arizona spend most of their days inside of Arizona classrooms and our educators are on the front lines of the suicide prevention within our state. The development and implementation of both campus wide and classroom level suicide prevention and mental health support strategies can be overwhelming and complex. Successful implementation of campus and classroom level support systems require access to basic understanding of adolescent mental health needs, systems to effectively identify students that need support, and a framework to connect them to assistance. This session will demonstrate the impact of campus climate in suicide prevention.

    This workshop will specifically address educators and provide them with practical tools and strategies for student suicide prevention. Presentation will include best practices for creating a safe campus culture and climate, establishing safety nets of campus support, and youth suicide warning signs. Practical classroom procedures and a connection to more comprehensive suicide trainings and resources will be highlighted as a component of Arizona Project AWARE. Arizona Project AWARE is a federally funded grant initiative that aims to provide educators and anyone that works with school-aged youth, training to increase awareness of mental health challenges, skills to identify youth that are struggling, and connections to community resources.

    Hear about what is happening in Maricopa County to provide school districts and youth-serving organizations with the tools to be better equipped to address emerging mental health concerns and suicide ideation among youth.  Mercy Care will provide an overview of their youth suicide prevention training initiative and updates on implementation outcomes.

  • Kathryn VanBoskirk, LCSW - Radical Resilience and Leadership
    Kathryn VanBoskirk has been a member of the AZ State Suicide Prevention Training Committee for a number of years. This has given her a clear picture of the challenges that service providers across the state face. As someone with lived experience she also has keen interest in the excellent functioning of all agencies in our communities. She is an accomplished trainer with 30+ years in providing training and facilitating group exercises.  The goal of the Radical Resilience and Leadership training is to understand that leading others to build their personal and organizational resilience capabilities requires that they need to first build their own resilience skills.

  • Paula McCall, Ph.D. - Suicide Risk Assessment of Children and Adolescents: Critical Information for Providers and Parents  
    This workshop will provide an extensive overview of critical factors and approaches in conducting suicide risk assessments of children and adolescents, whether formally completed by mental health providers and schools or informally by family members.  Effective communication techniques will be covered, as well as critical areas to assess. Immediate critical warning signs also will be discussed, as well as next steps in obtaining further support.                                        
                                              
Friday: October 25  - HOPE Conference
               
8:30 - 9:45 AM             Carla Stumpf Patton, EdD, LMHC, NCC, QS, FT, CCTP  - Empowering the Survivor Voice: Sharing your Story 
                                         Safely and Strategically
After a personal loss such as suicide, bereaved survivors will often have a need to process and share their personal story- sometimes with those around them, as well as in public settings. This is one example of how loss survivors can use the power of narrative expression about their lived experiences to promote healing, to honor the life of their loved one, as well as for messaging with the goal to educate the public on the topic of suicide. This keynote session will discuss some personal and professional lived experiences of the presenter, as well as suggestions and guidelines for best practices when sharing one’s story in a safe and strategic manner.

9:45 - 10:45 AM            Kelli Williams; Deb Dominick, LCSW; & Blake Chaffee, Ph.D. - Be Connected: How Arizonans are Preventing Veteran Suicides
This panel discussion would bring together 3-5 members of the interdisciplinary Be Connected team, including a representative from the VA, a veteran service organization, the Arizona Coalition for Military Families, and the crisis line. The panel will be moderated by Kelli Williams, also a member of Be Connected and the State Suicide Prevention Specialist.

11:00 - 12:00 PM          William Beverly, Ph.D., LMFT, CCHP - Borderline Personality Disorder: New Insights & Hope for Recovery
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a diagnosis that has historically been difficult to understand, and even more difficult to treat successfully. The core symptoms associated with it are severe emotional instability, unstable relationships, chronic feelings of emptiness, and self-destructive behavior, including suicide attempts and non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). This widely misunderstood diagnosis is often viewed as a life sentence of suffering, with a poor prognosis for recovery. But new insights into the disorder, leading to new, more effective treatments, have made the prognosis for someone with BPD much more promising. With appropriate supports and early intervention, a majority of people with BPD can successfully learn to regulate their overwhelming emotions, stop self-destructive behavior, and experience health growth and change. This session looks at this research on recovery and BPD, with implications for health care professionals as well as those who have a family member our loved one struggling with BPD, offering insight and hope for recovery.

1:15 - 2:45 PM - Breakout Sessions
  • William Beverly, Ph.D., LMFT, CCHP - Suicide Prevention and Serious Mental Illness: Beyond Routing Care
    Suicidal thoughts, behavior, and fatal attempts occur at a far greater rate among individuals diagnosed as seriously mentally ill (SMI) than in the general population. The general consensus in the literature is that 10% of people with schizophrenia will eventually lose their life to suicide, and that a substantially greater number of people with this diagnosis will attempt to end their lives. Although treatment as usual with the SMI population is often limited to psychiatric medication and case management, there is a growing body of research that demonstrates the effectiveness of strength-based, existential-humanistic approaches, including the importance of the quality of the helping relationship. This presentation examines the risk factors for suicide in this population, as well as how a client-centered, humanistic approach can be of value in suicide prevention with patients with an SMI diagnosis.​
  • Edward James, III, MSW, ACSW, LMSW, MPM  - Cultural and Suicide Risk: Meet the Black Community
    There is a national conversation concerning suicide among the black male community, which is unfortunately taking place behind closed cultural doors. There is clear evidence that cultural stigma and generational perspectives silence the conversation. This interactive workshop will address issues of increased suicide risk, particularly among black males. The workshop will, in addition, encourage a beginning dialogue of how the risk factors of social determinants and the protective factors of the faith-based community and family influence the conversation. Cultural, racial and ethnic considerations drive and influence the discussion of suicide. These are perhaps some challenging questions, which must be addressed: What are the common and acceptable words, expressions, and gestures regarding suicide among the black male community? How can the suicide prevention community be more culturally sensitive which may enhance the conversation? This workshop is intended for a wide experienced audience of professionals in the field of suicide prevention, survivors and supporters. The workshop wants to enhance the awareness of suicide among the black male population, explore some potential interventions and create some action steps.​
  • Russell Toomey, Ph.D. - Sexual and Gender Minority Disparities in Suicide Behavior: Pathways to Resilience
    Nearly 25 years of research has documented that sexual minority adolescents are more likely to engage in suicide behavior compared to their heterosexual peers. More recent studies have documented a similar disparity between gender minority and cisgender adolescents. Dr. Toomey will describe his recent research, funded by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, that describes disparities by sexual and gender minority subgroups (i.e., not treating sexual and gender minority groups as monolithic), including intersections with other key sociodemographic characterizes that are known to be risk factors for suicidal behaviors. Additionally, he will describe findings from his recent national study, in collaboration with the Search Institute, that focus on how universal risk and resilience factors differ in their relationships with suicidal behaviors by sexual and gender minority status. His presentation will detail the importance of understanding minority-specific risk and resilience processes.
    ​
  • Carla Stumpf Patton, EdD, LMHC, NCC, QS, FT, CCTP - Finding Your Grief Rhythm: A Journey Toward Healing After the death of a loved one, it can seem as if time stands still and the pain of loss will never end. In response to grief, survivors often feel unprepared by being left with the unfamiliar, and often fearful task of coping with loss. Grief can bring with it, a rhythm or pattern of emotions which twist and turn, wax and wane, and ebb and flow, where the bereaved attempt to find ways to make it through each day in spite of the physical absence of their loved one.This session will discuss the rhythms associated with grieving, regulating emotions, and how to integrate loss while navigating the healing process.
3:00 -4:30 pm - Breakout Sessions
  • Evette Richardson, BS, LMSW - Building Resiliency in Queer Youth Through Advocacy
    This workshop will focus on providing psychoeducation around risk factors queer youth face that contribute to their increased risk for suicide as well as review practical advocacy skills that can be implemented to promote inclusion and resiliency. Attendees will participate in several empathy building activities to further develop understanding that can inform their advocacy practices.
    ​
  • Mike Wold, MS, MBA- Veteran Suicide: Causes and Prevention - A 360 Degree View 
    This session will provide the audience with information on the high incidence of veteran suicides including its causes, impacts and prevention. It will also provide views on veteran suicide from the perspectives of a military chaplain, a veteran counselor and a veteran. 

  • M.T. Webb, LMSW - Ethical Dilemmas of Needs: The Link between Suicide, Substance Abuse, and the Stigma of Being 'Needy'
    This ethics workshop addresses the problematic history of the negative stigma associated with suicide which carries over to the negative stigma associated with drug addicts and the term "needy."; The seminar starts with a game of "Fact or Fiction" introducing the mindset of more critical Stoics, and Epicureans during the early Greek thought era showing how some of those mindsets are still influential AND harmful today.

Thank you to our conference sponsors: