Providing suicide focused care in K-12 schools: Practical and actionable tips from the field

This webinar will review how to begin developing, scaling, and sustaining tertiary interventions such as CAMS in the context of K-12 schools. We will discuss training, supervision, and implementation challenges, including how to set up informed consent procedures, strengthening mental health infrastructure especially in rural and under resourced schools, and setting up proper follow-up, referral and documentation practices.

Amy Brausch, Ph.D.

Dr. Amy Brausch is a Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Western Kentucky University, an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, and a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. She earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Northern Illinois University and has worked with issues of suicide and self-injury in both her clinical work and research program.  Dr. Brausch’s clinical experiences have included community mental health, public schools, university counseling centers, and private practice.

She has published numerous articles and book chapters related to suicide and self-injury risk and protective factors in adolescents and young adults. She is an Associate Editor for Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, and on the editorial boards for the Journal of Youth and Adolescence and Archives of Suicide Research. She has been a Consultant with CAMS-Care for 10 years and provides training and consultation to clinicians across the United States and abroad in the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality treatment framework.

Dr. Brausch’s research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Kentucky IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Kurt Michael, Ph.D.

Dr. Kurt Michael is a clinical psychologist and suicidologist with expertise in research, meta-analytic designs, K-12, and rural mental health, and tertiary intervention, including postvention. Kurt leads the postvention and reducing access to lethal means consulting practices at The Jed (JED) Foundation, a national suicide prevention non-profit. Before joining JED, Kurt was the Stanley R. Aeschleman Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Assistant Departmental Chairperson at Appalachian State University (now Emeritus), where he established a nationally recognized program of funded research, workforce development and clinical practice in school mental health, including the assessment and treatment of suicidality, postvention, lethal means safety protocols, and rural healthcare. Kurt has published over 90 peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters on the assessment and treatment of anxiety, depression, and suicidality, especially in the context of schools and higher education systems. He serves on the editorial review boards of several scientific journals and recently co-edited a Special Issue in School Mental Health on Suicide Prevention in K-12 Schools with CAMS colleague, Dr. Amy Brausch. Kurt maintains two faculty appointments, including Adjunct Professor, Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah and Research Professor, University of Oregon. Finally, Kurt is a Master Trainer for Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM) and is a National CAMS Consultant.

About David A. Jobes, Ph.D., ABPP

David Jobes, PhD, ABPP, is the founder of CAMS-care, LLC. He began his career in 1987 in the Counseling Center of the Catholic University of America, where he developed a suicide risk assessment tool for college students that evolved into an evidence-based treatment, CAMS, recognized by the Joint Commission, the Surgeon General, Zero Suicide, and the CDC. Dr. Jobes is now a Professor of Psychology and Associate Director of Clinical Training at Catholic; he has trained thousands of mental health professionals in the United States and abroad in evidence-based assessment and treatment of suicide risk and the use of CAMS.