The 11th Annual (virtual) Summit, “Re-envisioning the Journey Together; The Hero in All of Us.”
This virtual event took place on September 14th and 15th. In addition to the two-day Summit, we hosted a pre-conference event on September 9, 2021, and post conference events on September 17th and 24th.
The Summit featured a diverse range of perspectives, lived experience, and frontline expertise. Throughout the two days speakers discussed relevant topics such as cultural humility, reproductive justice, intersectional allyship, as well as how to help those who support our students.
The pre-conference focused upon attempt and loss survivors and provided helpful insights for those working with survivors of suicide loss.
PRECONFERENCE
September 9, 2021
Loss Survivors – Recovery from Loss: Picking Yourself Back Up After a Suicide Loss
Panel Moderator: Robert Stohr
Panelists: Tess Banko, Susan Auerbach, and Rick Mogil
This panel discussed how to navigate the impact of trauma and grief when someone you care about dies by suicide. The panelists shared their unique perspectives on how they have coped with their own personal losses.
Understanding and Working with Survivors of Suicide Loss
Dr. Nina Gutin Dr. Gutin addressed the unique aspects of grief following the suicide loss of a loved one and provided guidelines for effective treatment for those loss survivors who seek clinical support.
Attempt Survivors: Surviving to Thriving Panel
Moderator: Shelby Rowe
Panelists: Joey Bloomfield, Leslie Kolb, Ann Taylor, and David Woodbury
The healing journey after a suicide attempt is unique to every individual. Which paths might be the right ones and how can we support survivors as they navigate them? The panelists shared insights and experiences from their own journey forward.
Creative Rituals for Processing Loss & Celebrating Life
Dr. Charné Furcron and Jennie Linthorst UCLArts & Healing Issues of loss, grief, and survival are among the most difficult to experience, discuss, and process in treatment. The creative arts can provide a powerful way to express our feelings while honoring the sacredness of life–especially when words elude us. This interactive, online session offered ways to honor our experience, give voice to our feelings, and find resilience in community through movement and writing. The techniques in this workshop can be used with individuals or groups in a variety of settings.
CONFERENCE DAY 1
September 14, 2021
Moment of Creative Wellbeing Versa Style, with Arts for Healing & Justice Network
KEYNOTE – Unstoppable Resilience: The Keys to Staying Strong During Any Challenge
Shola Richards The Unstoppable Resilience™ keynote provided the audience with highly practical strategies to build unshakable strength within themselves and their teams. This is a uniquely difficult time for leaders and staff in workplaces everywhere, which has had a significant impact on overall resilience and mental health. This workshop discussed how COVID-19 has affected homes, schools, jobs, and the nation.
Gitti Maas
This unique and experiential presentation, interlaced with short periods of mindfulness meditation and reflection, supported participants to explore potential obstacles for working with suicidal clients, and additionally pointed towards a new pathway for this work.
Moderator: Daphne Quick-Abdullah
Panelists: Dr. Laurel Bear, Cheryl Eskin, Jewel Forbes, and Dr. Daisy Gomez
Transitioning back into school settings is challenging on many levels. How we manage those transitions is important. This panel of experts shared best practices, strategies, and resources to address school policies, expectations, and social emotional concerns. They discussed how to effectively support administrators, teachers, parents, and students to promote positive outcomes for our children, families, and communities.
Moment of Creative Wellbeing Street Poets, with Arts for Healing & Justice Network
Dr. Darlene Sweetland, Dr. Karen Weigle, and Celeste Meza San Diego START Team
This workshop addressed the complicating factors of assessment and intervention of suicidality for people with intellectual disabilities and autism. The vulnerabilities of people who die by suicide or express suicidal behaviors are even more pronounced for individuals with IDD.
Suicide Prevention in Pregnant and Postpartum Persons
Dr. Emily Dossett, Gabrielle Kaufman, and Dr. Verónica Chávez
This workshop provided valuable information on prevalence rates, risk factors, and signs and systems of Peripartum Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMADs) and suicide. Participants learned to identify and differentiate between the most common PMADs, strategies to appropriately assess for suicidal and homicidal ideation, and what pitfalls to avoid in this sensitive conversation. Participants also learned about appropriate resources for pregnant and postpartum persons experiencing PMADs and what pitfalls to avoid in this sensitive conversation. Participants also learned about appropriate resources for pregnant and postpartum persons experiencing PMADs.
CONFERENCE DAY 2
September 15, 2021
Moment of Creative Wellbeing The Unusual Suspects, with Arts for Healing & Justice Network
Keynote – Suicide in Marginalized Communities: It’s More than Mental Health
Dr. Rheeda Walker
Suicide vulnerability is often overlooked in marginalized communities. Participants learned risk and protective factors associated with suicide crisis. These factors include mental health stigma and important sociocultural phenomena that are unique to marginalized communities.
Cultural Humility and Different Perspectives
Dr. Eraka Bath
This workshop walked through examining the cultural perspectives that are beneficial to acknowledge and understand as they relate to suicide assessment and prevention in individuals of different race and ethnic backgrounds.
Advocating for Asian American Mental Health in the Midst of COVID19 and Anti-Asian Racism Panel
Moderator: Dr. Sherry Wang
Panelists: Aimee Cuellar, Dr. Rebecca Gitlin, Dr. Derrick Hsieh, and Franklin Romero
This panel addressed the context and consequences of anti-Asian racism in the COVID19 pandemic to highlight the mental health needs of Asian Americans. The presenter identified the risk factors that can contribute to Asian American suicide and addressed the racial dynamics of 2020-2021 to highlight the importance of cross-racial solidarity and coalitions during a time of twin pandemics: COVID19 and racial injustice. The panelists shared cross-racial healing dialogues, standing in solidarity across cultures.
From 9-1-1 to Call Diversion to 9-8-8: The Future of Crisis Response
Captain Brian Bixler, Sandri Kramer, and Lyn Morris LAPD/Didi Hirsch
It took 15 years of patience and persistence for the LAPD and Didi Hirsch’s Suicide Prevention Center to bring about 9-1-1 call diversion: Connecting 9-1-1 callers in suicidal or mental health crisis to the crisis line for support and de-escalation, rather than sending an automatic law enforcement response. Now the country is at T minus 10 seconds (months) from 9-8-8 implementation: Are we ready?
An Understanding of the Spirit Nicole Rojas
This workshop explored the unspoken truth of trauma and suicide within indigenous populations. It also provided a local and in-depth view of what our native neighbors are experiencing in their communities.
This experiential workshop used personal storytelling and healing-informed arts activities to create a space of acceptance and support. The presenter drew upon his lived experience as a multi-disciplinary artist, former East L.A. gang member, suicide attempt survivor, counselor for chemical dependency and substance abuse, parent, and youth mentor to lead strength-based whole person healing approaches through the arts. He shared accessible and culturally responsive arts-based interventions to raise awareness of protective factors, and help individuals explore and express emotions and feelings, especially through non-verbal outlets of creative expression.
POST CONFERENCE
September 17, 2021
Moment of Creative Wellbeing The Actors’ Gang, with Arts for Healing & Justice Network
Suicide Prevention: A Racial Justice Issue Janel Cubbage
Racism has long been ignored as a critical contributing factor to suicidal ideation, attempts, and deaths. Interpersonal racism can be postulated as a risk factor for suicide through the framework of Joiner’s Interpersonal Theory of Suicide. Critiques of the suicidology field and future directions were shared to broaden the lens of our understanding of suicide and its prevention in the context of racism.
Moment of Creative Wellbeing Rhythm Arts Alliance, with Arts for Healing & Justice Network
Lidia Gamulin
Community, institutional and clinically effective suicide prevention efforts need to be responsive to groups’ cultural and linguistic needs and preferences. Clinical considerations regarding acculturation, acculturation stress and language in the Latinx population living in the US were included in this workshop.
POST CONFERENCE
September 24, 2021
Filling the Gap: Implementing Support for Suicide Caregivers
Johanna Louie
Johanna Louie introduced a first of its kind support program derived from research in caregiver family therapy, suicide bereavement support and peer programs. The role of the suicide caregiver can be formal such as a therapist or crisis worker or informal such as a family, friend, loved one. Tools for implementation in both community and individual settings were demonstrated to showcase a standard of standard of practice for supporting suicide caregivers.
The Healing Power of Music as a Suicide Prevention Intervention
Arvis Jones
Arvis Jones discussed how to use music therapy (MT) to alleviate the effects of depression, hopelessness, grief, loss and symptoms of various mental illness that have been linked to suicidal feelings. Research shows parallels between non-musical functioning and music assisted tasks, which provide a scientific rationale for the use of music in therapy.
2021 LASPN, U.S.VETS and CalVet Virtual Suicide Prevention Conference
This virtual took place on September 17th from 8:30am- 1:45pm