Integrative Care: Primary Care and Mental Health

This session will discuss suicide prevention through a trauma-informed lens. The discussion will include trauma and its impacts along with strategies and resources to support patients and clients.

Presenter: Amanda DeDiego, PhD, NCC, LPC, BC-TMH, University of Wyoming Associate Professor of Counseling

During this presentation you will learn how the two 988 centers in WY operate and what it is that they do. Then we will present on how 211, 911, and 988 work in the mental health care continuum, and how they overlap. Finally, we will discuss how 988 intersects with your work in this space.

Presenter: Ralph Nieder-Westermann, Executive Director, Wyoming Lifeline & Katrina Ferrell, CCIS I, Lifeline Program Coordinator, Central Wyoming Counseling Center

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This session will provide insight into how the Suicide Fatality Review Board in Laramie County conducts its review and how the information learned through the review process guides practical strategies for community prevention activities. Considerations for implementing a similiar process in other counties will also be discussed. 

Presenter: Rebecca Reid, Laramie County Coroner

This session will explore the intersection of social health and suicide prevention, emphasizing how relationships, community connections, and societal factors influence mental well-being and reduce suicide risk. Attendees will learn strategies to strengthen social bonds and foster supportive environments to promote resilience and reduce isolation.

Presenter: Lesley Manson, PsyD, PROSPER Master Trainer, Clinical Associate Professor, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University

This session will focus on best practices for documenting suicide risk assessments and creating effective crisis response plans. Participants will review critical elements of documentation and learn how to develop and implement actionable, ethical, and legally sound crisis response plans in clinical and organizational settings.

Presenter: Lesley Manson, PsyD, PROSPER Master Trainer, Clinical Associate Professor, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University

This session will be from the perspective of a hospital Peer Specialist and her experience joining a system that had not previously used peer specialists. Participants will learn about what the work of a peer specialist entails, how they help support individuals experiencing mental health and substance use challenges, and how the health system values the integration of this role into the patient support team.

Presenter: Karen Miller, Peer Specialist, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center.

This presentation will address how caring for others requires that we acknowledge, honor and care for our own physical, mental, relational and spiritual well-being.

Presenter: Lou Farley, PhD, LPC, Spiritual Director at Laramie Hospice

Substance use disorders and suicide share many intersections and overlaps; substance use disorder is a risk factor for suicide. Integrating suicide prevention and screening into your practice when caring for those with diagnosed or suspected substance use disorder can help protect your patients and improve outcomes. We will discuss current data on the intersection of suicide and substance use and risk and protective factors of each as well as resources and clinical techniques to address this.

Presenter: Lexy Jamison, Community Prevention Unit, Wyoming Department of Health; Terresa Humphries-Wadsworth, PhD, Project Director, Education Development Center

In this presentation, we will discuss distinctions between distal and proximal risk factors for suicidal behavior. We will then review specific risk factors for individuals across the lifespan and conclude with implications for suicide risk assessment in clinical practice to inform treatment planning.

Presenter: Tina R. Goldstein, Ph.D, Licensed Psychologist, Pittsburgh Foundation Endowed Professor in Psychiatry Research, Director, Child and Adolescent Bipolar Spectrum Services (CABS), Director, Services for Teens at Risk (STAR Center), Western Psychiatric Hospital, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

This interactive presentation will review the rationale for providing postvention services in schools following a tragic loss, especially a death by suicide. The key components in a postvention response will be reviewed. Lessons learned will also be shared. Resources for individuals, families, schools, and communities will be highlighted.

Presenter: Paula S. McCommons, Ed.D., Director, STAR-Center Outreach and Supervisor/Behavioral Health Liaison for Allegheny County Student Assistance Program, UPMC- Western Behavioral Health

In this session, participants will have the opportunity to learn with subject matter experts and individuals with lived experiences about the types of grief and stages of grief, how to conceptualize the unique aspects of suicide loss and bereavement, and explore the journey forward for individuals navigating suicide loss and bereavement.

Presenter: Kelly Monk, BSN, RN, Research Coordinator, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital; & Donna Pandullo, Executive Assistant and Advocate, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital