Adolescent Suicide Prevention Program

John Gavazzi, PsyD, ABPP is licensed as a Psychologist and Board Certified in Clinical Psychology.  His experience includes outpatient and inpatient mental health as well as educational systems.  This workshop is intended to provide both didactic and experiential learning components that draw from the most current research on adolescent depression, suicide, and suicide prevention strategies.  

The morning program provides a comprehensive overview of risk factors for suicide, signs and symptoms of depression, as well as important social and cultural factors that lead to suicide.  Myths and misconceptions about adolescent depression and suicide are addressed.  The educational portion of the program includes statistics about suicide as well as understanding the mental health system, referral issues, and access to mental health treatment. 

The afternoon session builds upon and reinforces the information from the morning.  The experiential exercises focus on pragmatic intervention strategies, ways to talk about and address suicide, and developing an appropriate plan for a given situation.  This state of the art program assists staff in identifying stressors and creating a self-care plan for the emotionally taxing task of dealing with at-risk youth.