Suicide Prevention and Self-Injury

New Resources:

• The California Endowment (a private health foundation that provides grants to community-based organizations throughout California)
• LAUSD Suicide Prevention Unit - Richard Lieberman
• Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program
• Signs of Suicide SOS
• Teenscreen
  

Suicide Prevention and Intervention (Lieberman, R. (2007, September 12). Youth Suicide Prevention Program. Presented at LAUSD PSW district training at the California Endowment Center):

• October-November - highest incidences of suicide and suicide attempts in schools
  
• emerging trend - shift from firearms to strangulation (i.e. the "choking game") as access to firearms becomes more difficult / regulated for youth
• importance of the contagion factor
  
• community models of crisis intervention do not fit well in schools
• "widening the circle of care"
• depression and hopelessness in suicide - similarities in experience - violence against self vs. violence against others - in either situation there are feelings of disconnection and hopelessness / needs are not being met - where is the overlap?
  
• root issue: students need to connect and feel a sense of belonging

Self-Injury (Lieberman, R. (2007, September 12). Youth Suicide Prevention Program. Presented at LAUSD PSW district training at the California Endowment Center):

• Finally, they've stopped calling it self-mutilation (for the most part)
• again, the importance of the contagion factor - as more evidence speaks to the detrimental effects of group assemblies, magazine articles, and talk shows that intend to decrease the stigma, but generally provide more of a "how-to", is this research having any effect on the number of pieces in the media?
• don't laugh - I learned to cut by reading an article in 17 Magazine when I was in high school - it is a valid concern
• correlates with control and structure / comorbidity with eating disorders / reflect on how I choose to lose and then regain a sense of control in my own life
• do not discourage SI, threaten hospitalization, use punishment, act shocked or say anything to cause guilt or shame, agree to hold SI behavior as confidential, make deals in an effort to stop SI, make promises you can't keep
• however maladaptive, this is the student's primary coping mechanism and it should not be taken away from them - importance of working together to find more healthy coping mechanisms, but accepting SI until that point is reached
• motivational interviewing (MI) and stages of change model
  

An Explanation of Sorts

I lack organization and good penmanship, but have a lot of ideas and questions that sort of bludgeon me on a daily basis. As such, it occurred to me that starting yet another blog - this time for the express purpose of reflection and retention - might not be too terrible of an idea. My intent is to type my half-thoughts and questions, here, as they arise, as well as keep a running log of new resources I come across in my PSW work in the field.

The end result? Hopefully I will be able to identify patterns and themes in my own learning in addition to having a somewhat coherent collection of questions and interests as I either move into the working world, post-graduation, or continue on to get my PhD in either social work or school psychology. Here's hoping.

References (in progress)

Allen-Meares, P. (2007). Social work services in schools (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson Allyn and Bacon.

Garbarino, J., & Delara, E. (2003). An educator's guide to school-based interventions. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Gatto, J. T. (2002). The exhausted school bending the bars of traditional education. Berkeley, Calif: Berkeley Hills Books.

Hurry, J. (2000). Deliberate self-harm in children and adolescents. International review of psychiatry, 12, 31-36.

Kozol, J. (2005). The shame of the nation the restoration of apartheid schooling in America. New York: Crown Publishers.

Lieberman, R. (2004). Understanding and responding to students who self-mutilate. Principal Leadership, 10-13.

Lieberman, R. (2007, September 12). Youth Suicide Prevention Program. Presented at LAUSD PSW district training at the California Endowment Center

Lieberman, R., Poland, S., & Cowan, K. (2006). Suicide prevention and intervention. Principal Leadership, 11-15.

Ross, S., & Heath, N. (2003). Two models of adolescent self-mutilation. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 33, 277-286.