This Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, Cohen Veterans Network (CVN) continues our 2024 Clinical Training Series with a new, live webinar about Youth, Lethal Means Safety, and Preventing Suicide featuring Clinical Psychologist, Ted C. Bonar, PsyD.
CEs are available for this training. Participants will be eligible to earn 1.5 CEs (accredited by APA & ASWB) for attending this webinar and completing the post-training survey and quiz.
This training is offered at no cost to participants thanks to generous support from USAA.
Date: September 23, 2024, 2-3:30pm ET
Audience: Behavioral health professionals, medical professionals, adults who interact with youth, and all general audience members.
Description: Conversations about firearms are difficult and rarely practiced. Lethal means safety is an evidence-based strategy to prevent suicide; while any method of suicide may be discussed, conversations about secure storage of firearms as a suicide prevention strategy will be examined in detail. This workshop takes no stance on policy, advocacy, limitations, or rights regarding firearms. This training is focused on the challenges inherent in discussing firearms during suicidal crisis, and approaches the conversation through the intersection of safety, cultural language, and values of those who are at risk of suicide and who have access to a weapon.
This workshop addresses the acute problem of youth suicide, the concepts and science of lethal means safety, and strategies to reduce the risk of suicide for youth. The importance of time and distance between a person in crisis and a method of suicide will be explored with practical, culturally appropriate language and strategies. Participants will hear examples of difficult discussions to improve suicide prevention strategies in the home, specifically regarding discussions of secure storage of firearms, storage of medications, and other vital discussions appropriate for youth and families with any risk of suicidal thoughts or behavior.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this workshop, the learner will be able to:
- Describe the theoretical and scientific underpinnings of means safety as a method of suicide prevention.
- Understand collaborative approaches to discussions of means safety for youth
- Apply cultural information of gun owners to discussions of secure storage of firearms for youth at risk of suicide.
About Our Presenter: Ted C. Bonar, Psy.D.
Ted is Associate Vice President at A-G Associates, Inc., a clinical psychologist, and lead of business development for the A-G Military, Veterans, and Families Center of Excellence (MVF-COE). Ted’s expertise, leadership, and professional partnerships consistently result in high-impact project delivery across all behavioral health sectors, to include suicide, lethal means safety, and military, Veterans, and family concerns. He serves as a PsychArmor Trusted Advisor and was previously the Director of End Family Fire at Brady and the Chief of Continuing Education Programs at the Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP). Ted has worked on high-level product delivery with VA, DoD, SAHMSA, McKinsey, Ipsos, Education Development Center, Suicide Prevention Resource Center, American Association of Suicidology, the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, and has spoken at over 300 universities, national conferences, and continuing education events.
Ted has held clinical positions at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago, The Ohio State University Counseling and Consultation Service, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Counseling Center, and private practice in both Bethesda, MD and Columbus, OH. He was awarded the 2013 Distinguished Alum award by the Illinois School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University/Chicago.
Ted earned his M.A. and Psy.D. at the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, Chicago Campus. He also obtained a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Miami, with a subsequent first career in the music industry as a professional drummer, teacher and was a staff writer/editor at Modern Drummer Magazine.
Interested in MORE training opportunities from Cohen Veterans Network?
Our recent Parent & Family Training Series is now available on-demand! Learn from experts in child, adolescent and family therapy, Dr. Ross Greene and Robyn Gobbel. All trainings are available for FREE and CEs are available for behavioral health professionals. Access the on-demand trainings
If you are interested in joining our CVN Training mailing list, please email info@cohenveteransnetwork.org with your request.