2021 Conference – All Videos

Bart Andrews, PhD, Chair, Missouri Suicide Prevention Network Let the Pieces Fit: Looking at Suicide through a Belonging Lens

Dr. Perlis is the Director of the Center for Quantitative Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Associate Chief for Research in the Department of Psychiatry. He is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Associate Editor (Neuroscience) at JAMA’s new open-access journal, JAMA Network – Open. He graduated from Brown University, Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health, and completed his residency, chief residency, and clinical/research fellowship at MGH before joining the faculty. Dr. Perlis’s research is focused on identifying predictors of treatment response in brain diseases, and using these biomarkers to develop novel treatments.

Brandon J. Johnson is a tireless advocate for positive mental health and suicide prevention services for youth and adults across the country and within the local community of Baltimore, MD. Brandon earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Morgan State University in 2008 and a Master of Health Science Degree from Johns Hopkins University in 2012. He has provided guidance to states, tribes, and healthcare systems on suicide prevention initiatives. Outside of his career, Brandon works with youth as a part of the Royalty Youth Ministry of Morning Star Baptist Church in Woodlawn, MD.

Patrick Watson has served as the Superintendent of Bloomfield Hills School District since January 2020. Prior to joining Bloomfield Hills, he spent 25 years in the West Bloomfield School District as a coach, teacher, athletic director, assistant principal, and principal. Over the last six years Mr. Watson has been heavily involved with Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention in schools. He earned his bachelors, masters and specialist degrees from Eastern Michigan University.

Good Postvention IS Prevention This session will highlight the importance of responding quickly and effectively to a school-related completed suicide. Doing so will lessen the risk that youth vulnerable to suicide will attempt in the aftermath. Come learn facts, theory, and effective ways to respond in a school setting.

BeNice: More than a Catch Phrase The BeNice organization is represented by a dynamic group of students throughout the state of Michigan aggressively devoted to suicide awareness and prevention and mental health promotion and education. The acronym NICE (Notice, Invite, Challenge, and Empower) was created by a devoted group of ladies who looked to change the way mental health was discussed in school communities. And they are doing just that with BeNice. Established eleven years ago on the west side of the state, BeNice has long been a presence there with chapters in over 130 middle and high schools. Now it is moving east. Last winter ten schools in metro Detroit were invited to inaugurate their own BeNice charters. Come learn what they are up to in this student-led panel session and how they are making a difference in their schools.

Cultural Competence: An Approach to Supporting the Social-Emotional Needs of Culturally Diverse Students This interactive professional learning experience will provide participants with an opportunity to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills necessary to support the social-emotional needs of students from diverse backgrounds (i.e. race, ethnicity, gender, language, sexual orientation, religion, SES, etc.). Areas of focus will include: 1. Self-Reflection and Awareness; 2. Knowing Your Students’ Culture; and 3. Creating a Culturally Responsive Learning Environment that supports the social-emotional needs of diverse learners.

Addressing Suicidality for LGBTQ-identified Individuals This session will provide attendees with a brief introduction to LGBTQ identities, disparity, and suicide risk factors, as well as opportunities for intervention from various helping professionals, including clinicians. Information on LGBTQ-identified individuals’ needs at a variety of life stages will be included, from youth to elders.

The Two People You Can Help: Yourself, and Someone Else Ellen focuses on normalizing suicide prevention in our own lives to make us more helpful and effective when someone else needs us to intervene on their behalf, using the steps of the My SAFETY Plan as a guide.

Supporting LGBTQ Students at School This session will explore how schools can become more LGBTQ (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender/ Questioning) friendly. We will discuss current terminology for the LGBTQ community, explore how gender roles / heteronormativity impact students, and explore gender / sexuality as a vast spectrum of identities. We will look at how schools can accommodate name changes and pronoun usage, support the development of GSA clubs at the secondary level, and be sure the health curriculum is inclusive. Hear from a senior in high school of their journey through high school with supports in place.

Building a Resilience Strategy: Dharma Rx This session will provide teachers and school staff with practical strategies to use with students in the school setting to promote mental wellness, resilience, calming, and coping. Participants will also learn how teaching, especially during a pandemic, may impact the mental health of school staff and provide self-care tips to help boost resilience.

The Relentless Tour: An Anti-Bullying Initiative In this presentation, Anthony Ianni talks about his life story of growing up with autism and dealing with bullying, and overcoming the challenges of both. He also explains how your actions can affect those around you more than you know.

COVID and Suicide in the Latinx Community This workshop will cover the unique challenges the Latinx Community faces during COVID-19 and what supports can be provided during a global pandemic. This workshop will also provide Latinx cultural awareness, that can support you in doing suicide prevention in the Latinx Community.

Marquita Felder, MSW From Engagement to Transition: A Culturally Sensitive Approach to Treating African Americans and Minority Groups in Mental Health

Leaving No Margins: The BHS Student Equity Council As our country has been reckoning with the impact of centuries of systemic racism over the last several months, Bloomfield Hills high school students decided that they wanted to fight racism not only within their communities, but also within their school. Students led the Board of Education to adopt a Resolution to Eradicate Racism, and meet weekly with administrators on strategies to dismantle racism within the school system. We will spend some time sharing who the Student Equity Council is, when and how we meet, what we have accomplished, and what we hope to accomplish.

Happiness, Gratitude and School Connectedness Join us to learn how creating a school climate invested in happiness, gratitude, empathy and resilience can positively impact both school connectedness and mental health.

The Role of Trauma in Children’s Mental Health This breakout session will go in depth about the underlying issues of suicidal behavior and help the audience to understand what trauma is, what it may look like for parents and professionals, and how it affects children biologically, behaviorally and emotionally. In addition, considerations during COVID-19 will be explored and how trauma affects people differently when considering age, culture and the individual.

The Importance of Connection with a Suicidal Patient No matter which therapeutic modality we might use, we will not successfully help a suicidal patient if we don’t build a strong connection with them from the start. This session will focus on ways to build that connection in order to gain the patient’s trust, hear their whole story, and help them find themselves again.

Fear, Panic and Anxiety Dr. Imam Salie discusses fear, panic and anxiety as leading causes to mental health problems, and antidotes to these poisons from an Islamic perspective.

Dr. Walker is a licensed psychologist and award-winning Professor of psychology. She has published more than 60 scientific papers on psychological risk and resilience and African American mental health and been cited in or appeared on Good Morning America, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and the Houston Chronicle. Her recently released book is The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health.

Shelby Rowe was the 2016 Chickasaw Nation Dynamic Woman of the Year. A public health professional, crisis intervention expert, and suicide attempt survivor, Ms. Rowe has been a leader in the suicide prevention movement at the local, state and national level since 2007. Ms. Rowe is a former member of the board of directors for the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors and United Suicide Survivors International. She currently serves on the American Indian/Alaska Native Task Force and the Care Transitions Advisory Group for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, the Clinical Advisory Board for Crisis Text Line, and is the co-chair for the Lived Experience Committee for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. In 2019, she co-founded the Indigenous Peoples’ Committee for the American Association of Suicidology, and in 2020, she was added as a faculty member for the Zero Suicide Institute. Ms. Rowe holds a B.A. in Sociology and Philosophy, and an M.B.A.

Dr. Brian Ahmedani received his PhD and MSW degrees from Michigan State University. He is a fully licensed clinical and macro masters-level social worker in the state of Michigan. Dr. Ahmedani also completed a NIH/NIDA-funded fellowship in Drug Dependence Epidemiology. He joined the Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research at HFHS in 2010 and was appointed director in 2018. His research interests are in the area of health services and interventions for individuals with mental health and substance use conditions, with particular expertise in suicide prevention. He is Project Director for several large federally funded projects on suicide prevention, including a study evaluating implementation of the Zero Suicide Model across multiple health systems. Dr. Ahmedani has been appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan Suicide Prevention Commission and was elected chairperson by the commissioners. The Commission will work with state departments and agencies and nonprofit organizations to research the causes and possible underlying factors of suicide in Michigan. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Nancy Buyle has her Master’s Degree from Oakland University in Counseling. She has been working for the Macomb Intermediate School District since August 2000 as their School Safety/Student Assistance Consultant. Nancy is the Chair of the Macomb County Suicide Prevention Coalition. She is trained in Critical Incident Stress Management and is an Advanced Certified Trauma Practitioner through the National Institute of Trauma and Loss in Children (TLC). She is also a therapist in private practice.

Dr. Ivey-Stephenson sits on the CDC’s Suicide Prevention Team as a senior scientist and subject matter expert. She also currently serves as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Public Health Service. While at CDC, she has worked as an Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) Officer in the Injury Center and as an Interdisciplinary Behavioral Scientist in the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, Division of State and Local Readiness. Prior to working at CDC she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Ivey-Stephenson completed her post-doctoral work at Emory University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; received her Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of Michigan; and her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from Spelman College.

Thomas Joiner grew up in Georgia and went to college at Princeton. His work is on the psychology, neurobiology, and treatment of suicidal behavior and related conditions. Author of over 500 peer-reviewed publications, and author or editor of 17 books, Dr. Joiner has made many appearances on radio and television, in print, and in documentaries. He is a consultant to NASA’s Human Research Program, and is co-Director of the DoD-funded Military Suicide Research Consortium. He runs a part-time clinical and consulting practice and lives in Tallahassee, Florida.

Dr. Foreman is a Licensed Psychologist serving Veterans as the Deputy Director of the Veterans Crisis Line’s Innovations Hub. She is an Executive Committee member for the Board of the American Association of Suicidology, and has served VA as the 2017 Acting Director of Technology and Innovation for the Office of Suicide Prevention. She is a member of the team that launched OurDataHelps.org, a recognized innovation in data donation for ground breaking suicide research. She is known for her work at the intersection of technology, social media, and mental health, with nationally recognized implementations of innovations in the use of technology and mood tracking. Her dream is to use her unique skills and vision to build a mental health system effectively and elegantly designed to serve the people who need it.

Depression, Grief, and Suicide Among Older Adults: What We Need to Know Suicide is an important problem among older adults. Suicide rates are particularly high among older men, with men ages 85 and older having the highest rate of any group in the country. Suicide attempts by older adults are much more likely to result in death than among younger persons. Depression, substance use, physical illness, disability, pain and social isolation are among the risk factors that increase the risk of suicide. Educating families, caregivers and the community about these risk factors and how to strengthen the protective factors is an imperative in order to prevent suicide in the older adults.

What are We Missing? Filling the Gap at Crisis Text Line For the past seven years, Crisis Text Line has exchanged over 129 million messages across 50 states. Crisis Text Line collects real-time data to create real-time solutions to alleviate the pain throughout our communities. This past year we have taken a deeper dive into the landscape of the social justice issues impacting our work. This session will explore how we have addressed these issues to create a more equitable service and workplace. Crisis Text Line offers free, 24/7 confidential crisis counseling via text.

Your Blues Ain’t Like Mine: Suicide Prevention and Communities of Color The year 2020 has brought a pandemic which affects people of color more severely than their white counterparts. Then came the senseless death of George Floyd at the hands of police. Generational trauma, racial disparities – is there any reason to wonder why young people of color are without hope and dying by suicide at alarming rates? The CNS Healthcare Anti-Stigma Program has been challenging stigma and discrimination with a creative delivery that gives attendees a fresh perspective on barriers and challenges, and ways to overcome them.

Part of Me Wants to Die: An Internal Family Systems Approach Internal Family Systems (IFS) psychotherapy is an evidence-based treatment for trauma developed by Richard Schwartz, Ph.D. In this model, all parts are welcome – even suicidal parts. This presentation will include teaching the basic tenets of this radically different model and how to use the IFS approach when working with suicidal parts of clients.

Specialized Response for Law Enforcement: The New Normal Sojourner Jones & Andrea Smith share new initiatives and collaborations between Detroit Wayne Integrated Health Network and Law Enforcement.

Healing Through Healthy Living Healing from the loss of a special loved one is a lifelong journey. The best way to heal is from a mindset of health; healthy choices, healthy behaviors, healthy actions—healthy living. Making healthy decisions in all aspects of your life throughout the day supports not only healing but also growth.

Economic Justice as Suicide Prevention Shawn will talk about economic justice as a means of primary prevention, the impact of income equality and poverty on quality of life in the United States, and what participants can do in their own communities and workplaces to help build a world worth staying alive in.

EMDR and Coping with Trauma Mark will provide an overview of the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) process, and how it can help heal trauma.

What Does Illness Mean to You: Two Views, One Story Amanda and Kenneth Stein discuss their story of love, illness, and recovery.

Mobile Intensive Crisis Stabilization: Care at the Moment of Need The presentation will provide an introduction to the use of Mobile Intensive Crisis Stabilization teams for intervention in the mental health crises that often lead to suicide attempts. It will provide data and clinical examples showing how the rapid deployment of trained therapists in a crisis can dramatically improve the chances that suicide attempts can be averted and appropriate care paths can be developed that prevent future crises from arising.

Shelby Rowe was the 2016 Chickasaw Nation Dynamic Woman of the Year. A public health professional, crisis intervention expert, and suicide attempt survivor, Ms. Rowe has been a leader in the suicide prevention movement at the local, state and national level since 2007. Ms. Rowe is a former member of the board of directors for the National Association of Crisis Organization Directors and United Suicide Survivors International. She currently serves on the American Indian/Alaska Native Task Force and the Care Transitions Advisory Group for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, the Clinical Advisory Board for Crisis Text Line, and is the co-chair for the Lived Experience Committee for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. In 2019, she co-founded the Indigenous Peoples’ Committee for the American Association of Suicidology, and in 2020, she was added as a faculty member for the Zero Suicide Institute. Ms. Rowe holds a B.A. in Sociology and Philosophy, and an M.B.A.

Dr. Barnes is an Associate Professor at Howard University and teaches suicide risk management in the College of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry. She has published many articles and chapters on suicide and given presentations on the topic across the country. Dr. Barnes trains faculty, staff and students as well as the community on how to recognize the signs of someone who is in a suicidal crisis. She is the co-founder of NOPCAS and the author of the Truth About Suicide, published by DWJ books in New York as part of the “truth about series…” for middle school and high school students.

Dr. Campbell is the Executive Director Emeritus of the Baton Rouge Crisis Intervention Center, where he serves as Volunteer Co-Chair of the National Suicidology Training Center (NSTC). He is also a volunteer Assistant Coroner in East Baton Rouge Parish. In addition to his volunteer activities he is the Senior Consultant for Campbell and Associates Consulting where he consults with communities on Active Postvention efforts and Forensic Suicidology cases. During his more than thirty years of working with those bereaved by suicide he introduced his Active Postvention Model (APM) in 1997, most commonly known as the LOSS Team (Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors). His work with survivors and victims of trauma has been featured in three discovery channel documentaries, professional journals and book chapters. He is a past-president of the American Association of Suicidology, a recipient of both national and international awards for his contributions. Dr. Campbell is also a veteran and is most proud to have been a consultant and contributor to the TAPS program for military family members who attend the survivor seminars and National programs for the past decade. To learn more about his work in the field of Suicidology you can visit his website www.lossteam.com or the NSTC at www.BRCIC.org