Survivors of suicide are those who are left behind after a loved one’s death by suicide.   It is estimated that each suicide death intimately affects many other people including family, friends and co-workers.  These survivors suffer a unique grief and are often traumatized themselves by this event.  They are faced with how to tell others of their loved one’s cause of death.  Survivors of suicide may be subjected to insensitivity of others and may fear gossip and rumors as well as the stigma.  Survivors frequently suffer from a lack of closure and often wonder, “Why?” Or they may have feelings of guilt considering “If only I had. . . .”  They may feel rejected or abandoned, reasoning that their loved one chose death rather than being with them. Survivors often feel anger: Toward the deceased, toward professionals for not preventing it, toward themselves, or even toward God. This leaves suicide survivors at a higher risk of considering suicide themselves.

The first half of this training will explore this unique grief and how those in the helping profession can best assist in their journey, including:

• Overview of suicide bereavement
• Local and national  statistics on suicide
• New data on incidence of people who know someone who has died by suicide
• The impact of surviving the suicide of someone close, including the concept of “Post Traumatic Growth” following suicide of a loved one
• Ways in which survivors of suicide have been reported to use individual therapy and Survivors of Suicide (SOS) groups
• Therapy and groups that are helpful/unhelpful to survivors and how therapists might enhance their services to meet survivors’ needs 

The second half of the training moves beyond the typical basic review of suicide warning signs and risk assessments and into a practical therapeutic framework which can be utilized with clients who are displaying suicidal thoughts and behaviors. 

The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) is an evolving clinical intervention based in evidence from over 25 years of research by Dr. David A. Jobes of the Catholic University of America.  CAMS can best be described as a therapeutic framework that focuses on building a strong alliance between the suicidal client and clinician which, in turn, increases treatment motivation. CAMS emphases a collaborative process whereby the client and clinician work together to assess the root cause of the suicidal thoughts and use various tools to define the distress, create a crisis support plan, and track outcomes. This intensive outpatient framework focuses specifically on suicidal ideation, emphasizing coping skill development and problem-solving thereby systematically eliminating the need for suicidal coping behaviors.  A number of published studies and clinical trials have been conducted using CAMS with a variety of populations including veterans, youth, and community mental health clients.  Utilizing lecture, videos and role playing, the training will provide the following:

• Introduction of the theoretical basis for the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) and underlying research
• Use of the Suicide Status Form (SSF)
• Explanation of the concept and resolution of “suicide tracking”

Schedule for the day

 Registration and Continential Breakfast:     8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.

  Morning Session                                            9:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m

  Lunch (Box lunch provided)                          12:15 p.m.  - 1:15  p.m.

 Afternoon Session:                                         1:15 p.m - 3:00 p.m.

 Conclusion/questions/evaluation:                  3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Two 15 minute breaks will be provided at the discretion of the presenters.

Please Note:  The facility has asked that all food and beverages (other than bottled water) be consumed in the cafeteria area.

Speaker Biographies

Julie Cerel, Ph.D.

Julie Cerel is a licensed clinical psychologist and Associate Professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. Her research has focused on suicide bereavement and suicide prevention.  Having written extensively on this topic, Dr. Cerel is the author of over 25 academic publications and co-author of Seeking Hope: Stories of the Suicide Bereaved. She is currently the Principal Investigator (PI) of the Military Suicide Bereavement study funded by the Department of Defense. Dr. Cerel serves as the Board Chair for the American Association of Suicidology as well as their Research Division Chair.

  

Melinda Moore, Ph.D.

Melinda Moore is currently a postdoctoral fellow working on the Military Suicide Bereavement study at the University of Kentucky. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where she was trained in the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS). She has conducted research and worked clinically in the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense. Dr. Moore is the current Chairperson of the Kentucky Suicide Prevention Group, Inc.  Since her husband’s suicide 17 years ago, she has been involved in a broad range of suicide prevention and advocacy work nationally.    

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