Edition 61 | May 2023

Welcome to the May 2023 Office of Suicide Prevention newsletter!

This month’s Rockstar Partner is Dr. Stacey Freedenthal!

Dr. Freedenthal is a suicidologist, author, therapist, and educator. She is currently an associate professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. She also has a small psychotherapy and consulting practice in Denver where she specializes in helping people who have suicidal thoughts, have attempted suicide, or have experienced suicide loss. In their coverage on suicide, The New York Times links to Dr. Freedenthal’s blog, Speaking Of Suicide, as a helpful resource. In her free time, Stacey enjoys spending time with her multiple cats!

Her most recent book, Loving Someone with Suicidal Thoughts, can guide anyone who loves someone with suicidal thoughts while supporting the loved one, without sacrificing one’s own needs and well-being. This book can provide answers to some of the most urgent questions people may have when supporting someone with suicidal thoughts. Her earlier book, Helping the Suicidal Person, provides tips and techniques for mental heath professionals. More information about Dr. Freedenthal and her books can be found on her website.

Do you have a Rockstar Partner in your community that you would like to see featured in our next newsletter? Nominate them here by completing our Rockstar Partner Nomination Form.

🌟NEW🌟 Ask the OSP Community!

Do you have questions for the Office of Suicide Prevention or Colorado suicide prevention community? This new segment of our newsletter will feature the questions our community members are asking and provide space to build connections by sharing stories from across the state.  

Last month we posed: How are you supporting the LGBTQ+ community in your region? Read the response. This month we’ve been asked “What gatekeeper trainings do you recommend?”. Submit your EXPERIENCE here. Responses will be summarized and shared in the June 2023 Newsletter.

Have a question to ask the OSP Community? Submit your QUESTIONS here. 

Past questions and answers will also be available here.

The first regular session of the 74th General Assembly (Colorado's legislature) adjourned on May 8th, 2023. OSP is grateful for our Colorado communities who are so passionate about suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention!

Where are they now? - Lena Heilmann: OSP Director Lena Heilmann shares her experience of surviving the loss of her sister, Danielle, and her journey to suicide prevention with the Left Hand Valley Courier. 

Now hiring! OSP is hiring for a Suicide Prevention Commission Coordinator! The position is term-limited through September 1, 2024. The application closes June 1, 2023. This position provides leadership, oversight, coordination, and management of suicide prevention and activities under the Suicide Prevention Commission. Activities include the coordination and alignment of collaborative statewide partnerships and strategic processes. Learn more about the position and how to apply here.

State Partners

Public Health Roundtable on Firearm-Related Violence Prevention - Now accepting applications! CDPHE’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention and Trailhead Institute are bringing together community leaders, researchers, and public health experts for a public health roundtable discussion on firearm-related violence prevention on June 5-6, 2023 at Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs. Apply here!

The Office of Gun Violence Prevention is launching a quarterly newsletter! Each edition will include gun violence prevention updates, upcoming events, resources, and more. Subscribe here.

The next Zero Suicide Learning Collaborative will be held on May 25th, 10am MT. This Learning Collaborative will cover the intersection of providing care for patients experiencing eating disorders and suicidality. Please email [email protected] to be added to this calendar invite and listserv.

The Office of Suicide Prevention is excited to sponsor another virtual Zero Suicide Academy for Colorado health systems, Tues. June 13 - Wed. June 14 (8am-4pm both days). Please access this link for more info and for the application materials; application portal is open until 5/26/23, and teams will be notified of their acceptance by 5/31/23. There will be a virtual, 1-hour pre-Academy meeting on Tuesday, June 6th, at 10am for participating teams.

The OSP will also be sponsoring a virtual, 2-day Brief Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (BCBT) Workshop on Thurs. June 15 - Fri. Jun 16 (8am-4pm both days). Registration link to follow; please reach out to [email protected] to be added to the interest list for this workshop.

Follow-Up Project

The Follow-Up Project (FUP) is actively enrolling new emergency departments at no cost to providers and patients! The FUP works directly with outpatient follow-up care for individuals discharged from emergency departments and services due to suicidal despair, self-harm, substance use, opioid use, and overdose. Over the last 5 years, we have grown to provide services to over 60 hospitals and more than 9,000 patients. We would love for your site to join us in this mission to provide life-saving care. Contact  [email protected], the Suicide Prevention Follow-Up Coordinator, with questions OR complete this interest form. 

OSP recently announced a new partnership between Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners and Second Wind Fund that will connect eligible youth who have experienced a suicidal crisis with licensed therapists. The initiative is an expansion of the existing Follow-Up Project, which has already provided more than 19,000 follow-up services to Coloradans since it began in 2018. Read the press release here.

Man Therapy

Man Therapy was featured in a national NBC News story: How ‘man therapy’ is making a difference in male life expectancy.

Operation Veteran Strong

Operation Veteran Strong Reaches Out to Rural Vets - Steamboat Radio segment about OVS activities in rural Northwest Colorado.

Suicide Prevention Commission

Mark your calendars! The third Quarterly Commission Meeting of 2023 will be on Friday, July 28th, 2023 from 9:00am to 11:30am. This meeting will be virtual. The Commission is proud to offer all Commission Quarterly Meetings with live Spanish interpretation. 

The Colorado Suicide Prevention Commission is currently accepting applications for multiple Commissioner seats. If you are interested in applying for any of the current Commissioner Seat openings, please apply here. For more information on what the Commission is and what being a Commissioner entails, please click here. 

Meeting materials and recording for our April 2023 Commission meeting (with English- and Spanish-language recordings available) can be found here. 

The Suicide Prevention Commission supports multiple workgroups: an Older Adults Workgroup; a Youth-Specific Initiatives Workgroup; the Governor’s Challenge Workgroup to Support Service Members, Veterans, and their Families; and a Postvention Workgroup. Click here to sign up for any of the workgroups. All workgroup materials can be found here.

The Suicide Prevention Commission's Postvention Workgroup is currently looking to identify existing suicide postvention written resources in the Spanish language in order to share out these resources with the broader Colorado community. The Postvention Workgroup released the Postvention Resource Gathering Form in both English and Spanish in order to solicit Spanish-translated postvention resources. Please submit resources and share the Resource Gathering Form with your partners and networks!

Please reach out to the OSP Director, Lena Heilmann ([email protected]), with any questions.

Training

The next virtual CAMS trainings will be Wednesday, May 17th and Tuesday, June 6th from 8:30am-4:30pm. Please only register for one session. Register for the May 27th session here or the June 6th session here.  

If you are interested in attending a different virtual CAMS training session, please join our interest list. 

The Office of Suicide Prevention has updated the instructions for accessing the LivingWorks Start gatekeeper training. Please see this instruction sheet for more details. Please visit the Office of Suicide Prevention’s Training webpage for more information on CAMS, LivingWorks Start, and much more!

*NEW* AMSR and C-SSRS Trainings available Summer 2023!

The OSP is now offering free AMSR and C-SSRS Trainings. AMSR (Assessing and Managing for Suicide Risk) is recommended for health and behavioral health professionals in clinical settings. On a rotating basis, OSP will offer AMSR inpatient, outpatient, and SUD-setting specific training opportunities.  C-SSRS (Columbia-Suicide Severity Risk Scale) is recommended for professionals in non-clinical settings (schools, juvenile justice, foster care system, etc). 

AMSR REGISTRATION LINK: Sign up here

C-SSRS REGISTRATION LINK: Sign up here  

Please follow the respective links above to learn more about each offering and register today. There will be a variety of dates to select from. Once registered, an OSP member will follow up with you with the training link. If you have any questions please contact [email protected].

Booster Train-the-Trainer (BT4T) event: June 8-9th | Lakewood, CO

Learn more about the June 8-9th Booster T4T here. Register for the BT4T here!

Train-the-Trainer (T4T) event: June 13-16th | Colorado Springs, CO

Learn more about June 13-16 T4T here. Register for the in-person T4T here!

Train-the-Trainer (T4T) event: June 26-29th | Virtual

Learn more about the June 26-29 T4T here. Register for the virtual T4T here!

Events

OSP is a Keynote Sponsor of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Colorado (SPCC)’s Bridging the Divide annual conference taking place in Glenwood Springs, CO on May 18th and 19th. OSP will be presenting during lunchtime on 5/19, and we look forward to seeing many of our Colorado partners there!

OSP is supporting the Workplace Well-Being Summit: Tuesday, June 27th, 2023, 8:30am-3:30pm (Golden, CO). A full-day Summit facilitated by Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas and Sarah Gaer offering implementation guidance and team planning opportunities to help organizations develop “upstream, midstream and downstream” workplace well-being culture shifts including how to prevent and respond to mental health emergencies like addiction, overdose and suicide. Goal: To orient attendees the 9 best practices for prevention, intervention and crisis response as outlined in the National Strategy for Workplace Suicide Prevention. Learn more about the H.O.P.E. Certification here. Register for the June Summit here.

Please note: There is an "Upcoming Events" section at the end of the newsletter. If your browser clips this email, please be sure to click "View entire message" to access all of the content!

Mental Health Awareness Month

The Mental Health Technology Transfer Center (MHTTC) compiled this webpage of their upcoming events and free resources for Mental Health Awareness Month. 

Mental Health America released a toolkit for this year’s Mental Health Month. This year’s theme is Look Around, Look Within. The toolkit is available in English and Spanish. 

Equity

MHTTC compiled this webpage full of featured organizations, events, and resources for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.



Moving Beyond Change Efforts: Evidence and Action to Support and Affirm LGBTQI+ Youth: This report provides behavioral health professionals, researchers, policymakers and other audiences with a comprehensive research overview and accurate information about effective and ineffective therapeutic practices related to youth of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity.

Youth and Young Adults

May is also National Adolescent Health Month. Learn more about the annual observance here.

The Central East MHTTC School Mental Health team is conducting an Asynchronous Community Learning Collaborative for Suicide Prevention. Learn more here.

Screen Time and Suicide Risk Among Emerging Adults - In a new study, researchers examined the association between screen media use and suicide risk among adolescents over a 10-year period, from adolescence to emerging adulthood.

Suicide in young people: screening, risk assessment, and intervention: This review focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of suicide among young people, including strategies in clinical settings and schools.

How Districts Can Respond to a Student’s Suicide: It’s a particularly challenging crisis to navigate. Leaders must address stigma, complex emotions, and death, while also working to prevent other deaths by suicide.

Improving Outcomes For Children & Youth With Complex Needs: This blog post highlights recent legislation that aims to address the challenges of children and youth with mental health conditions who end up boarding or with extended hospital stays.

Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among High School Students — Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2021: Results show increasing trends in suicidal behavior among some high school teens.

Older Adults

Spark the Change Colorado Senior Companion Program: Offers companionship, friendship, transportation services and much, much more for Colorado seniors!

Changing the Narrative - Ending Ageism Together: A campaign of NextFifty Initiative to end ageism, using evidence-based strategies, strategic communications and innovative public-facing campaigns.

Cross-Pollinated Resources

Opioid Prescribing and Suicide Risk in the United States: This study estimates associations of regional change in opioid prescribing with total suicide deaths and suicide overdose deaths involving opioids.

The Value of the Lived Experience of Suicide: May Community of Practice event from Peer Recovery Center of Excelence. May 17, 2023 from 12:00-1:30pm MT. Register here.

Johnny’s Ambassadors Preventing Youth marijuana Use Conference: Monday June 10th and Tuesday July 11th. Learn more and register here.

Partners for Children’s Mental Health is offering upcoming trainings and workshops to help youth-serving professionals create safe spaces for LGBTQ youth. Training dates/times (MT):  

• Working with Gender Diverse Youth for Advanced Practitioners: May 22, 4-5pm (only a few spots left!)
• Conducting Readiness Evaluations for Transgender & Gender Diverse Youth: May 29 & June 6 4-5:30pm

2023 Anschutz Alumni Virtual Summer Series - Multiple sessions July through August. This year’s topic is Cultural Considerations in Healthcare. View the event flier or visit the event's information and registration page.

Start making plans now to join Safe States September 11-13, 2023 in Denver, CO for the Safe States Annual Injury & Violence Prevention Conference!

SAVE THE DATE - Annual Colorado Safe Schools Summit: Thursday and Friday, October 19th and 20th. Location: Adams 12 Five Star School District Conference Center on the first day and virtual workshops on the second day.

SAVE THE DATE - Annual Colorado Youth Suicide Prevention Symposium: Thursday, November 16, 2023. Location:  Lowry Conference Center and Zoom

Suicide Prevention Career Opportunities

Tri-County Health Network is hiring their next Suicide Prevention Advocate! View the position listing and TCHN's hiring webpage for more information.