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Live Event

Addressing Suicide in School Settings

Tue, Apr 7th, 2026
11:00am – 2:15pm US Eastern Time
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About the Event

This training equips school-based professionals—including counselors, social workers, psychologists, and other support staff—with practical, evidence-informed strategies to identify, assess, and respond to suicide risk in K–12 settings.

Participants will review current data and warning signs, explore risk and protective factors specific to youth, and learn developmentally responsive approaches to engaging students in conversations about suicidal thoughts. Emphasis is placed on culturally responsive practices, collaboration with families and community providers, documentation standards, and postvention planning to support the broader school community after a suicide-related crisis.

Through case examples and applied discussion, participants will strengthen their confidence in conducting brief risk screenings, implementing safety planning, and navigating ethical and legal responsibilities. The training also addresses staff wellness and vicarious trauma, recognizing the emotional impact of suicide-related work in school environments.

Live Event
This live online event will be held as a Zoom Webinar. Attendees will have the option to interact through features such as the Chat and Q&A, but cameras and microphones will not be enabled.

Live Event Instructor

Diane Bigler

Diane Bigler

Diane Bigler, LCSW, LSCSW has over 25 years of experience in social work and mental health practice. She is a frequent national continuing education speaker and former Professor of Social Work at The University of Kansas, School of Social Welfare. Diane has been involved in the provision of clinical supervision for over 15 years and has trained hundreds of clinicians on succeeding at supervision.

Target Audience

This live interactive webinar is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, MFT's and Addiction Professionals.

Learning Objectives

After taking this activity, you should be able to:

  1. 1 Identify warning signs, risk factors, and protective factors associated with youth suicide in school settings.
  2. 2 Apply a structured framework to assess suicide risk and develop collaborative, developmentally appropriate safety plans.
  3. 3 Evaluate school-based protocols to determine appropriate next steps for intervention, family engagement, referral, and postvention response.

Kohlbeck, S., Armanious, M., & Pickett, M. (2026). Understanding School-Based Universal Suicide Screening Strategies for Minoritized Students: A Pilot Study. Community Mental Health Journal, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-026-01598-6

Marshall, T., Cosgrove, J., Wilson, M., Hoey, T., Taylor, J., Ghose, S. S., & Patel, N. A. (2025). Suicide prevention interventions in schools: assessing the evidence base. Psychiatric Services, 76(10), 898-905. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20250162

Reinbergs, E. J., Smith, L. H., Au, J. S., Marraccini, M. E., Griffin, S. A., & Rogers, M. L. (2025). Potential harms of responding to youth suicide risk in schools. Research on child and adolescent psychopathology, 53(5), 785-799. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-024-01261-2

Rochelle, J. L., McWhirter Boisen, M. R., Spafford, S. G., & Seeley, J. R. (2025). Key Determinants of School-Based Suicide Prevention: Barriers and Facilitators to Implementation. School Mental Health, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-025-09835-1

Verlenden, J. V. (2024). Mental health and suicide risk among high school students and protective factors—Youth Risk Behavior Survey, United States, 2023. MMWR supplements, 73. http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.su7304a9.

Walsh, E. H., Herring, M. P., & McMahon, J. (2023). A systematic review of school-based suicide prevention interventions for adolescents, and intervention and contextual factors in prevention. Prevention Science, 24(2), 365-381. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-022-01449-2

Disclosure to Learners

CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME's Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity – including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity's planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

Planners and Reviewers

The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Faculty

There are no known relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Course Creator

Diane Bigler, LCSW, LSCSW – None to report

Commercial support

There is no commercial support for this distance-learning course.

NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC)

3 CE credit hours
Eligible until Apr 7th, 2026
This course has been approved by CE Learning Systems, service provider of Impact CE, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #192243, CE Learning Systems is responsible for all aspects of their programming.
More Info
NAADAC Approved Education Provider

Event Agenda

Agenda times are listed in US Eastern Time. That is 3 hours later than US Pacific Time. The event starts at 8:00am US Pacific Time.

11:00-11:30 (30 min) — Welcome & Framing the Work Review of objectives and agenda Brief grounding exercise (modeling trauma-informed practice) Opening vignettes Current youth suicide data overview (context setting) 11:30–12:00 (30 min) — Understanding Youth Suicide Risk Warning signs vs. risk factors vs. protective factors Developmental considerations (elementary, middle, high school) Cultural and contextual influences (LGBTQ+ youth, BIPOC students, rural communities, disability status) Small group case vignette discussion: “What are you noticing?” 12:00–12:30 (30 min) — Assessment & Direct Conversations How to ask directly about suicide (language practice) Structured risk assessment components: -Ideation -Plan -Intent -Means -Protective factors Documentation essentials Practice scenarios 12:30–12:45 (15 min) — BREAK 12:45–1:30 (45 min) — Intervention & Safety Planning Metaphor: Fire Drill When to manage at school vs. emergency referral Collaborative safety planning steps Parent/caregiver notification conversations Confidentiality and legal considerations Practice activity: Build a brief safety plan from a case example 1:30–2:15 (45 min) — Systems Response & Postvention School crisis protocols Re-entry meetings after hospitalization Postvention principles to reduce contagion risk Communication guidelines for staff and families Staff Wellness & Vicarious Trauma -Emotional impact of suicide-related work -Signs of compassion fatigue -Peer consultation and support structures -Brief self-regulation practice Resources and next steps

Policies

If a grievance arises pertaining to your participation in our continuing education activities, please contact our support team immediately. See our full grievance policy for more information.

ADA accommodations will be made in accordance with the law; please indicate your special needs when you register by contacting us.

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If you need to cancel your registration for a webinar, please contact our support team for assistance prior to the event. Please note our refund policy, above.

If the activity must be cancelled by the provider, all attendees will receive an email notifying them of the cancellation. The email will also provide details about transferring the registration to another educational activity or receiving a refund of the registration fee. As always, you can contact our support team if you have questions or concerns.

Frequently Asked Questions

Once you register, you'll receive an email with the link and instructions to join the live event. The event will be hosted via Zoom. You may test your Zoom connection prior to the event at the Zoom Test page We recommend logging in 10-15 minutes early to be sure your connection is ready.

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If you need to withdraw 30 or more days before the event, you can do this your self from your current courses tab.

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