January 23, 2026 

8:10 AM – 5:00 PM via zoom
Registration opening soon

May 15, 2026 
8:10 AM – 5:00 PM via zoom
Registration opening soon

This webinar has been approved by the Washington State Department of Health to meet the suicide prevention training requirement (TRNG.TG.61377554-SUIC).  

Webinar Description: 

The Washington State House passed the Matt Adler Suicide Assessment, Treatment, and Management Training Act of 2012 on February 10th, 2012. This act adds a new section to chapter 43.70 RCW and requires initial and ongoing training in suicide prevention for Chemical Dependency Professionals, Licensed Social Workers, and other professions. In the Surgeon General’s 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action, she emphasized the importance of instituting “training for all health, mental health, substance abuse, and human services professionals concerning suicide risk assessment and recognition, treatment, management, and aftercare interventions.” This emphasis on training is a consistent theme throughout this report. Another theme is the importance of developing and promoting “effective clinical and professional practice.” This course is designed to help achieve these objectives. The text and material for this course were chosen because they are evidence-based and nationally recognized. The course will review Motivational and Targeted Case Management. Any additional course material will be chosen using the same high standards of “evidence-based”, “emerging practice”, or “best practice”.

Content Area:

• The epidemiology of suicide in America and internationally
• Basic concepts related to suicidal thoughts and behaviors. 
• Review of mental health diagnoses and substance use disorders and their relation to suicide risk. 
• Review evidenced-based risk and protective factors. 
• The importance of family and support system involvement with treating the suicidal person. 
• Hospital Care and Civil Commitment 
• Debriefing/consultation and using supervision. 
• Management infrastructure 
• Referral resources and processes 
• Risk and lethality assessment 

Objectives: 

Understanding Suicide: 

• Define basic terms related to suicidality. 
• Be familiar with suicide-related statistics. 
• Describe the phenomenology of suicide. 
• Demonstrate understanding of risk and protective factors. 
• Understand the link between mental health and substance use diagnoses, and suicide. 

Collecting Accurate Assessment Information: 

• Integrate a risk assessment for suicidality early in a clinical interview and continue to collect assessment information on an ongoing basis. 

Documenting:

• Document items related to suicidality. 

Defining the difference between Management and Treatment: 

• P&P's related to suicide.
• Treatment of the suicidal crisis. 

Understanding Legal and Regulatory Issues Related to Suicidality: 

• Understand state laws pertaining to suicide. 
• Understand that poor or incomplete documentation makes it difficult to defend against legal challenges. 

CE Contact Hours: 8

This webinar has been approved by the Washington State Department of Health to meet the suicide prevention training requirement (TRNG.TG.61377554-SUIC).  

About the presenter:

After more than 20 years in the behavioral health field, Stacey Chay, MSW, MHP, joined the EWU School of Social Work in Fall 2011 as a Faculty Field Instructor. She has served as the Program Director for the Spokane-based MSW part-time program since 2014. She has an A.S. in Paralegal Studies, specializing in Landlord-Tenant Law, a B.S. in Psychology, and a BASW. She received her MSW from Eastern Washington University in 2003. She has worked in several different practice settings, including Children's Administration, Frontier Behavioral Health, and the Spokane County Regional Support Network. She is a trainer for NASW in the area of Suicide Assessment, Treatment, Management, and Prevention. Her practice interests include behavioral health and substance use disorders, suicide prevention, law and ethics, and policy.