Riverside Trauma Center’s Suicide Assessment and Intervention Training for Mental Health Professionals Listed in the SPRC Best Practices Registry for Suicide Prevention

We are pleased to announce that Riverside Trauma Center’s Suicide Assessment and Intervention Training for Mental Health Professionals has been listed in Section III of the SPRC Best Practices Registry for Suicide Prevention (BPR). This full-day training is based on current best practices and is designed to increase knowledge and improve the skills and confidence of mental health professionals who find themselves identifying high-risk youth and adults, and planning for their care.

Practices listed in Section III of the BPR address specific objectives of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and their content has been reviewed by a panel of suicide prevention experts for accuracy, safety, likelihood of meeting goals and objectives, and adherence to prevention program guidelines. Although practices listed in Section III have not been reviewed for evidence of effective outcomes, their content has been found to adhere to current standards in the field. Studies conducted by Riverside Trauma Center staff have found that the training increases knowledge and confidence in a significant percentage of mental health professionals who have attended the training.

Riverside Trauma Center’s highly-trained, licensed mental health professionals have over 50 years of combined clinical experience with trauma, suicide survivors, and suicide prevention. The Suicide Assessment and Intervention Training for Mental Health Professionals uses multiple teaching methods, including lecture with PowerPoint, group discussion, videos, and short role play, which help attendees understand and retain the information.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 40,000 Americans die by suicide every year, making suicide the 10th leading cause of death for Americans. It is estimated that 90% of those who die by suicide had a diagnosable psychiatric disorder at the time of their death (National Center for Health Statistics for the year 2006). In the fight against suicide, it is important for mental health professionals to receive the best training possible in suicide prevention.

You can find a fact sheet describing the training posted in Section III of the Best Practices

Registry, located on SPRC’s website (www.sprc.org). For additional information about the training, visit the Riverside Trauma Center website (www.riversidetraumacenter.org) or contact Jenny Huynh at 781-433-0672, ext. 5738 or jhuynh@riversidecc.org.