For 4 years I have led a suicide prevention task force for our region in the upstate of South Carolina and wanted to share free resources / webinars covering an array of topics on suicide prevention and postvention best practices. We began our work when the SC Office of Suicide Prevention, Department of Mental Health created a statewide initiative, following an expanded ZERO suicide framework. The initiative was designed by Dr. Alex Karydi and overlayed trauma-informed best practices. In our particular region, for example, all participants in our task force attended a 3 day ACEs summit held by USC Upstate Child Protection Training Center with dozens of inter-agency practitioners collaborating.
Our collective research in K16 led to gathering over 10,000 surveys from school educators and professionals. Through this feedback we learned the great need to cultivate a safe space and suicide prevention task force whereby licensed community and K16 professionals could come together regularly and share concerns and strategies for suicide prevention and postvention.
Over the course of the last 4 years, we were able to coordinate exceptional training and professional development. During COVID we decided to create a "fireside chat" series to continue our connectedness virtually. I have made the series available for you all, in the hopes it might bring some respite. Although the focus is predominantly K16, we designed the series to provide a host of resources which are included with each chat. In addition, please feel free to reach out to me directly if you would like to strategize. I'm at rfarrell@sharpenminds.com.
Find the resources at https://www.sharpenminds.com/chats
Topics:
School behavioral health featuring Dr. Mark Weist and the Behavioral Alliance of South Carolina
Athletes and mental health featuring NFL player, Bret Lockett, Dr. Rahul Mehra and Coach Mike Cerino at Limestone University
Mindfulness / MBSR and Suicide Prevention featuring Dr. Alexis Stoner, Dr. Natalie Fadel and Dr. Liz Jodoin
Suicide Risk and Screening featuring Dr. Tom Young and nView “MINI” screener
Alcohol, Substance Use and Suicide, featuring Dr. Therese Killeen, Medical University of South Carolina
Resilience and Suicide Prevention in Schools featuring Dr. Terry Pruitt, Colin Bauer, Tye Tindal and Ruth Schoonover
Community Approach to Behavioral Health and Resilience featuring Heather Witt, Tom Barnet, Roger Williams and Carey Rothschild from the Spartanburg Behavioral Health Task Force
Veteran Resilience and Suicide Prevention featuring Dr. Christiana Degregorie, Dr. Craig Burnette, and Dr. Ray Scurfield
Find the resources at https://www.sharpenminds.com/chats
Robyn Hussa Farrell, MFA, E-RYT
CEO, Resiliency Technologies
