Course Description

*This selection is for the Final Exam only. Access to the book, Brief Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Suicide Prevention, is required to complete the exam. If you already have access to the book, click the "Buy" button above to continue. To order the e-Book from Guilford Press (which enables you to take the course immediately), click here. To order the paperback book from PRP, click here.

This program presents an innovative treatment approach with a strong empirical evidence base. Brief cognitive-behavioral therapy for suicide prevention is presented in step-by-step detail. Participants will learn from leading treatment developers who show how to establish a strong collaborative relationship with a suicidal patient, assess risk, and immediately work to establish safety. Proven interventions are described for building emotion regulation and crisis management skills and dismantling the patient's suicidal belief system.

15 CE credits/hours, 96 questions

Target Audience

Psychologists | School Psychologists | Marriage & Family Therapists | Mental Health Counselors | Social Workers

Learning Level

Intermediate

Learning Objectives

  • List four risk factor models of suicide that seek to understand suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
  • Explain why brief cognitive-behavioral therapy (BCBT) to prevent suicide is best understood as the “next step forward” in the development of the cognitive-behavioral model that has been successfully used over the course of several decades.
  • Name the seven core ingredients/elements that are used in cognitive-behavioral therapies for reducing risk of suicide.
  • Recognize the competencies that form the foundation for the basic principles of effective care for suicidal patients.
  • Discuss the reasoning behind the structure of the sessions for BCBT for suicide prevention.
  • Describe how regular assessment and monitoring of clinical outcomes of BCBT can provide targeted interventions that will help the patient’s recovery process.
  • Describe how the treatment log is used.
  • Develop a crisis response plan with a patient.
  • Demonstrate the steps for working with the individual and their support system when the individual is suicidal, until the individual is no longer feeling suicidal.
  • Identify methods to target sleep disturbances.
  • Introduce several different relaxation and mindfulness exercises to the patient.
  • Explain the rationale behind the Reasons for Living List and the Survival Kit interventions.
  • Apply three cognitive appraisal techniques and the explain the rationale behind their uses.
  • Summarize the final procedure of BCBT – the relapse prevention task.

Sections

  1. 1

    • Statement of Understanding (downloadable/printable)
  2. 2

    • Final Exam Questions (downloadable/printable)

    • Final Exam
  3. 3

    • Evaluation Questionnaire

About the Authors

Craig J. Bryan, PsyD, ABPP

Craig J. Bryan, PsyD, ABPP, is Executive Director of the National Center for Veterans Studies and Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Utah. He is an associate editor of the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior and previously served on the board of directors of the American Association of Suicidology. Dr. Bryan has received honors including the Charles S. Gersoni Military Psychology Award from Division 19 (Society for Military Psychology) and the Peter J. N. Linnerooth National Service Award from Division 18 (Psychologists in Public Service) of the American Psychological Association, as well as the Citizen Scientist Award and the Edwin S. Shneidman Award from the American Association of Suicidology. He is a University of Utah Presidential Scholar and Beacon of Excellence recipient. From 2005 to 2009, he served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force as a clinical psychologist, including a deployment to Iraq in 2009. Dr. Bryan’s primary research interests include suicide prevention and posttraumatic stress disorder. He has published over 150 scientific articles and several books, most of which focus on suicide prevention, trauma, and military mental health.

M. David Rudd, PhD, ABPP

M. David Rudd, PhD, ABPP, is President of the University of Memphis, where he is also Distinguished University Professor of Psychology. He is Co-Founder and Scientific Director of the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah. Dr. Rudd is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the International Academy of Suicide Research, and the Academy of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies, and has been elected a Distinguished Practitioner and Scholar of the National Academies of Practice in Psychology. He previously served as chair of the Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists, president of the Texas Psychological Association, president of the American Association of Suicidology, and a member of the American Psychological Association’s Council of Representatives. Dr. Rudd’s research focuses on the treatment of suicidal patients. He has published over 200 scientific articles and numerous books on the clinical care of suicidal individuals and is considered an international leader in suicide prevention.