Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner's Guide To Multi-Level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, And Postvention

Suicide in Schools provides school-based professionals with practical, easy-to-use guidance on developing and implementing effective suicide prevention, assessment, intervention and postvention strategies.

Utilising a multilevel systems approach, this book includes step-by-step guidelines for developing crisis teams and prevention programs, assessing and intervening with suicidal youth, and working with families and community organisations during and after a suicidal crisis.

The authors include detailed case examples, innovative approaches for professional practice, usable handouts, and internet resources on the best practice approaches to effectively work with youth who are experiencing a suicidal crisis as well as those students, families, school staff, and community members who have suffered the loss of a loved one to suicide.

Readers will come away from this book with clear, step-by-step guidelines on how to work proactively with school personnel and community professionals, think about suicide prevention from a three-tiered systems approach, how to identify those who might be at risk, and how to support survivors after a traumatic event: all in a practical, user-friendly format geared especially for the needs of school-based professionals.

Includes links to downloadable eResources.

Table of Contents

Foreword Mennuti and Christner

1. Overview and Introduction
2. Training Gatekeepers
3. School Crisis Response Planning
4. School Liability and Implications for Best Practice
5. Evidence-Based Suicide Prevention Programs
6. Guidelines for Suicide Risk Assessment
7. Intervening with a Potentially Suicidal Student
8. The Aftermath: Immediate Suicide Postvention Step by Step
9. The Bereaved Student, School, and Community
10. Caring for the Caregiver: Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Vicarious Traumatization
11. Comprehensive Case Study
12. Suicide and Schools: Resources

"This book provides the exact kind of practical information school staff need to know, from how to tell a parent his or her child is contemplating a suicidal act to what the school staff member's responsibility is to the child, the parent, and to the community to address suicidal risk. When combined with the detailed case examples that really bring an extra dimension to the step-by-step guides, this book becomes a must-read for any professional working in a school environment."
- Thomas Joiner, PhD, Robert O. Lawton Professor of Psychology at Florida State University and director of the Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Suicide-Related Conditions and Behaviors

"Suicide in Schools is an essential, invaluable resource for all school personnel who are interested in preventing self-harm among their students. User-friendly, yet erudite, the book serves as a manual for evidence-based and innovative practices. If only this reference had been available when, as president of the National Association of School Psychologists, I issued a call to action to prevent suicide."
- Ralph E. (Gene) Cash, PhD, ABPP, professor at the Center for Psychological Studies and director of the School-related Psychological Assessments and Clinical Interventions Clinic at Nova Southeastern University

"This book provides a comprehensive examination of the many issues that schools face in working with suicidal youth and provides hands-on strategies that have been successfully implemented in school-based settings. The authors provide excellent case examples and practical information that aligns with clinical and research experts in the field of youth suicidal behavior. Finally, the authors structure their book to extensively explain how a multi-tiered approach can be implemented for suicide prevention, risk assessment, and management of youth suicidal behavior. This book provides exactly the help school personnel need to feel more confident in working with high-risk youth and thus is an invaluable resource for anyone working in the schools and/or working with them. It already has a place on my desk."
- James J. Mazza, PhD, professor and director of the school psychology program at the University of Washington

"This book provides the exact kind of practical information school staff need to know, from how to tell a parent his or her child is contemplating a suicidal act to what the school staff member's responsibility is to the child, the parent, and to the community to address suicidal risk. When combined with the detailed case examples that really bring an extra dimension to the step-by-step guides, this book becomes a must-read for any professional working in a school environment."
- Thomas Joiner, PhD, Robert O. Lawton Professor of Psychology at Florida State University and director of the Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Suicide-Related Conditions and Behaviors

"Suicide in Schools is an essential, invaluable resource for all school personnel who are interested in preventing self-harm among their students. User-friendly, yet erudite, the book serves as a manual for evidence-based and innovative practices. If only this reference had been available when, as president of the National Association of School Psychologists, I issued a call to action to prevent suicide."
- Ralph E. (Gene) Cash, PhD, ABPP, professor at the Center for Psychological Studies and director of the School-related Psychological Assessments and Clinical Interventions Clinic at Nova Southeastern University

"This book provides a comprehensive examination of the many issues that schools face in working with suicidal youth and provides hands-on strategies that have been successfully implemented in school-based settings. The authors provide excellent case examples and practical information that aligns with clinical and research experts in the field of youth suicidal behavior. Finally, the authors structure their book to extensively explain how a multi-tiered approach can be implemented for suicide prevention, risk assessment, and management of youth suicidal behavior. This book provides exactly the help school personnel need to feel more confident in working with high-risk youth and thus is an invaluable resource for anyone working in the schools and/or working with them. It already has a place on my desk."
- James J. Mazza, PhD, professor and director of the school psychology program at the University of Washington