This training will address strategies to stabilize vicious cycles that lead to imminent suicide risk. An organizing model will be presented to illustrate how perceptions of thwarted belongingness and burdensomeness can increase the desire to die. The model will also illustrate how an acquired capability to die by suicide can lead to more lethal attempts. Points within the model that present a risk for escalation will be discussed, with attention to risks within the LGBTQ+ community. Strategies that can either prevent hospitalization or can provide stabilization while waiting for an ambulance will be offered for facilitating the de-escalation of a client's thoughts, emotions, and behavioral agitation. We will also address the need, which is especially relevant for younger clients, of facilitating de-escalation of family members, friends, and/or community members. Finally, we will acknowledge and provide strategies to maintain the poise and self-regulation that are required by mental health staff during these high-risk and emotionally intense episodes. Recorded on February 10, 2021.

Please note that CEs are only available by attending the live virtual training, not the anytime session.