Suicide Prevention CE – New Online Course

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Gina Ulery

Suicide Prevention: Evidence-Based Strategies is a new 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that reviews evidence-based research and offers strategies for screening, assessment, treatment, and prevention of suicide in both adolescents and adults.

Suicide Prevention CE - new 3-hour online course that offers strategies for screening, assessment, treatment, and prevention in both adolescents and adults.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes, “Suicide is a serious but preventable public health problem that can have lasting harmful effects on individuals, families, and communities.” The CDC recommends a public health approach, with prevention efforts emanating from individuals, families, and communities who make changes to affect the social environment. Healthcare professionals and teachers can contribute to prevention efforts through awareness, promotion of resilience, and a commitment to social change.

Any approach to a mental health issue should be made using an evidence-based approach. The Evidence-Based Behavioral Practice Project (EBBP), funded by the Office of Behavioral & Social Sciences Research, recommends that professionals in the health and social sciences acquire and use a “shared vocabulary and conceptual grounding” to help share ideas and skills based on research and proven efficacy.

Prevention is key: reducing risk factors and promoting resilience. This course will provide a review of evidence-based studies so that healthcare professionals are informed on this complex subject. Information from the suicide prevention technical package from the CDC will be provided. Included also are strategies for screening and assessment, prevention considerations, methods of treatment, and resources for choosing evidence-based suicide prevention programs. Course #31-42 | 2022 | 67 pages | 20 posttest questions

Click here to learn more about Suicide Prevention CE

CE Credit: 3 Hours
Target Audience: Psychologists | Counselors | Social Workers | Occupational Therapists (OTs) | Marriage & Family Therapists (MFTs) | School Psychologists | Teachers
Learning Level: Introductory
Course Type: Online

Suicide Prevention CE is an online course that provides instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. The course is text-based (reading) and the CE test is open-book (you can print the test to mark your answers on it while reading the course document).

Successful completion of this course involves passing an online test (80% required, 3 chances to take) and we ask that you also complete a brief course evaluation. Click here to learn more.

Professional Development Resources is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Professional Development Resources maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Professional Development Resources is also approved by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC ACEP #5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB Provider #1046, ACE Program); the Continuing Education Board of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA Provider #AAUM); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA Provider #3159); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR Provider #PR001); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Arizona Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology and Office of School Psychology, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, Dietetics and Nutrition, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Georgia State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners – Occupational Therapy; the Mississippi MSDoH Bureau of Professional Licensure – Occupational Therapy; the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists (#PSY-0145), State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors (#MHC-0135) and marriage and family therapists (#MFT-0100), and the State Board for Social Workers an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers (#SW-0664); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker and MFT Board (#RCST100501) and Speech and Hearing Professionals Board; the South Carolina Board of Examiners for Licensure of Professional Counselors and Therapists (#193), Examiners in Psychology, Social Worker Examiners, Occupational Therapy, and Examiners in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the Tennessee Board of Occupational Therapy; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists (#114) and State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678); the West Virginia Board of Social Work; the Wyoming Board of Psychology; and is CE Broker compliant (#50-1635 – all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Enjoy 20% off all online continuing education (CE/CEU) courses @pdresources.org! Click here for details.

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

Suicide Survivors & Guilt

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Gina Ulery

Guilt is very common in suicide survivors and can be external or internal. External influences of guilt occur when others blame the suicide on family members. Internal guilt occurs when the survivors blame themselves for the suicide, for not recognizing suicidal tendencies, and for not being a better parent, spouse, sibling, or grandparent. Often survivors experience anger and rage against the loved one that abandoned them. This in turn generates guilt in the survivor (Feigelman, Gorman, Beal & Jordan, 2008).

Smolin and Guinan (1993) write that suicide victims were often alcoholic or drug dependent and family members often blamed themselves for the victim’s behavior and self-destructiveness. Guilt and responsibility sets in when the person finally kills him or herself. The same guilt previously experienced over not getting them to quit their substance abuse is now felt over the suicide. Maple, Plummer, Edwards, and Minichiello (2007) add that parents exhibit guilt at their own inability to identify signs that their son or daughter’s suicide was imminent. The parents of children who committed suicide report that guilt was the most distressing emotion experienced at the time of the death of their child (Vessier-Batchen & Douglas, 2006).

A study by McIntosh and Wrobleski (1988) found that guilt was equal in all kinship relations. Whether it was parental, spousal, child, or sibling suicide, guilt was equally felt by all family members regardless of who committed suicide.

Guilt does moderate for those who are further removed from the suicide. It needs to be pointed out that declines in guilt were associated with the increase in the number of months since the death. However, the greater the initial guilt experienced, the less the decline in guilt later. In other words, those with greater amounts of guilt just after the death were less likely to report declines in guilt or likely to report lesser declines, while those with lower amounts of guilt originally were more likely to indicate lower levels currently (McIntosh & Wrobleski, 1988).

Postvention is a term coined by Schneidman (1969) and means helping grieving family members of suicide, the suicide survivors. The role of the therapist in postvention is two-fold:

To help the suicide survivor deal with grief through the emotions and feelings of shock, denial, helplessness, blame, anger, guilt, shame, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, suicidality, and other psychosocial issues that survivors work through.
To help the suicide survivor utilize resources that have been known to help other survivors.

Click here to learn more.

Course excerpt from:

The Suicide Survivor is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE) course that provides an understanding and means of helping the people who have lost loved ones to suicide.

One of the most difficult and complex emotional adjustments many individuals will ever face is the challenging and often lengthy process of dealing with the suicide of a family member or other loved one. These people are called suicide survivors; the family members and close friends who have experienced the death of a family member or loved one by suicide.

Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence because nearly 45,000 people die by suicide each year in the United States alone. Estimates are that an average of six individuals experience major life disruption as a consequence of every suicide. The cascade of emotions that follow can be both unexpected and overwhelming, and many of the survivors who most need assistance in the form of supportive counseling do not receive it.

This course will provide information and helping strategies for health professionals who work with individuals who are struggling with both “normal” grief and complicated grief, sometimes described as “persistent complex bereavement disorder.” Also discussed are myths about coping with grief, the progression through the grief of suicide, stigmas associated with suicide, assessing for religious help, theories of grief, role of the therapist, needs of suicide survivors, and, finally, moving on. Course #21-26 | 2018 | 40 pages | 15 posttest questions

Course Directions

CE Information

Professional Development Resources is approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC ACEP #5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB Provider #1046, ACE Program); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA Provider #3159); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR Provider #PR001); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy (#BAP346), Psychology & School Psychology (#50-1635), Dietetics & Nutrition (#50-1635), and Occupational Therapy Practice (#34); the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors (#MHC-0135); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board (#RCST100501); the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs (#193); the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists (#114) and State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678); and is CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Click here to learn more.

Do Mass Shooters Share Characteristics?

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Gina Ulery

In the aftermath of a mass shooting, we all wonder what went wrong and what can be done to prevent more violence in the future. Are there signs we are missing? Are there specific characteristics that predict aggressive behavior?

According to Kathryn Farr of Portland State University, the answer is yes.

Investigating the characteristics shared by 31 school boys involved in 29 mass shootings at American schools between 1995 and 2015, Kathryn Farr of Portland State University found that boys’ social status in middle and high school is determined in great part by peers’ acceptance of them as “appropriately masculine.” When this social status is in question, they become increasingly angry, depressed, more violent in their gendered practice, and develop deep-set grudges against their classmates. A shooting rampage then becomes their ultimate performance (Farr, 2017).

So what are these guidelines for gender appropriateness? Farr describes them as a set of “Adolescent Insider Masculinity” norms that depict masculinity as the ideal that men are cool, heterosexual and tough, shy away from “sissy stuff” and embrace activities, behavior and mannerisms that are typical of “guys” (Farr, 2017).

Of the shooters Farr investigated, ten had a history of serious psychiatric problems, while another ten grew up in extremely abusive households. The remaining eleven boys tended to react explosively and inappropriately to incidents that they perceived as unjustly discrediting them (Farr, 2017).

Farr explains, “Many of the adolescent shooters had personal troubles that affected their ability to manage their social performances at school. Moreover, the potential rampage of a boy with severe mental illness and rampage-related risk factors could be especially injurious” (Farr, 2017).

While all 31 shooters were made aware of their failings through their classmates’ emasculating bullying, rejection by girlfriends, and marginalization in general, most were repeatedly and publicly tagged with homosexual and feminized names such as “homo,” a “cry baby” or “fag” and some even reported being physically and sexually victimized by their male peers (Farr, 2017).

According to Farr, the shooters’ were often perceived as off, either not meeting or exaggerating the Adolescent Insider Masculinity imperatives. However, the shooters themselves typically perceived the responses they received as undeserved injustices that denied them their masculine entitlements. Their actions were often an attempt to reclaim their masculinity. For instance, they often brought guns to school, or emphasized violent themes in their writings, drawings, and class presentations. Almost all had bragged about their rampage plans. Unfortunately, such behavior typically further damaged the boys’ already low social status (Farr, 2017).

What we can do, Farr notes, is become aware of the warning signs, and when we see them, make every effort to reach out to them, and talk about issues such as masculinity, gender norms, and emasculating bullying. And, at the very least, avoid stigmatizing them.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Course:

Counseling Victims of Mass Shootings is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that gives clinicians the tools they need to help their clients process, heal, and grow following the trauma of a mass shooting.

Sadly, mass shootings are becoming more widespread and occurring with ever greater frequency, often leaving in their wake thousands of lives forever changed. As victims struggle to make sense of the horror they have witnessed, mental health providers struggle to know how best to help them. The question we all seem to ask is, “Why did this happen?”

This course will begin with a discussion about why clinicians need to know about mass shootings and how this information can help them in their work with clients. We will then look at the etiology of mass shootings, exploring topics such as effects of media exposure, our attitudes and biases regarding mass shooters, and recognizing the signs that we often fail to see.

We will answer the question of whether mental illness drives mass shootings. We will examine common first responses to mass shootings, including shock, disbelief, and moral injury, while also taking a look at the effects of media exposure of the victims of mass shootings.

Then, we will turn our attention to the more prolonged psychological effects of mass shootings, such as a critical questioning and reconsideration of lives, values, beliefs, and priorities, and the search for meaning in the upheaval left in the wake of horrific events. This course will introduce a topic called posttraumatic growth, and explore the ways in which events such as mass shootings, while causing tremendous amounts of psychological distress, can also lead to psychological growth. This discussion will include topics such a dialectical thinking, the shifting of fundamental life perspectives, the opening of new possibilities, and the importance of community. Lastly, we will look at the exercises that you, the clinician, can use in the field or office with clients to promote coping skills in dealing with such horrific events, and to inspire psychological growth, adaptation, and resilience in the wake of trauma. Course #31-09 | 2018 | 47 pages | 20 posttest questions

Click here to learn more.

Course Directions

Our online courses provide instant access to the course materials and CE test. Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

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Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within a few days of completion).

Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapist (MFTs), Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs), Occupational Therapists (OTs), Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs), School Psychologists, and Teachers

Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

Better Prediction of Suicide Risk

Posted on August 7, 2018 by Gina Ulery

In the aftermath of a horrific event like a suicide, we all ask the same question: What could we have done to prevent it?

Yet for some, that is the wrong question. For researchers at Kaiser Permanente, what we should be asking is how we can better predict suicide risk.

In one of the largest studies to date – involving seven large health systems serving a combined population of 8 million people in nine states, and examining almost 20 million visits by nearly 3 million people age 13 or older, including about 10.3 million mental health specialty visits and about 9.7 million primary care visits with mental health diagnoses – the researchers combined a variety of information from the past five years of people’s electronic health records and answers to questionnaires, taken from five Kaiser Permanente regions.

Not only were they able to more accurately predict suicide risk than before, they found that in the 90 days following an office visit, suicide attempts and deaths among patients whose visits were in the highest 1 percent of predicted risk were 200 times more common than among those in the bottom half of predicted risk; patients with mental health specialty visits who had risk scores in the top 5 percent accounted for 43 percent of suicide attempts and 48 percent of suicide deaths; patients with primary care visits who had scores in the top 5 percent accounted for 48 percent of suicide attempts and 43 percent of suicide deaths (Simon et al., 2018).

The researchers also found that the strongest predictors of future suicide attempts included prior suicide attempts, mental health and substance use diagnoses, medical diagnoses, psychiatric medications dispensed, inpatient or emergency room care, and scores on a standardized depression questionnaire (Simon et al., 2018).

“We demonstrated that we can use electronic health record data in combination with other tools to accurately identify people at high risk for suicide attempt or suicide death,” explained Gregory E. Simon, MD, MPH, a Kaiser Permanente psychiatrist in Washington and a senior investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (Simon, 2018).

Better prediction of suicide risk, says Simon, is the foundation of suicide prevention. When better informed, health care providers and health systems can make better decisions, such as how often to follow up with patients, refer them for intensive treatment, reach out to them after missed or canceled appointments – and whether to help them create a personal safety plan and counsel them about reducing access to means of self-harm.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Courses:

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. In 2015, 44,193 people killed themselves. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes, “Suicide is a serious but preventable public health problem that can have lasting harmful effects on individuals, families, and communities.” People who attempt suicide but do not die face potentially serious injury or disability, depending on the method used in the attempt. Depression and other mental health issues follow the suicide attempt.

Family, friends, and coworkers are negatively affected by suicide. Shock, anger, guilt, and depression arise in the wake of this violent event. Even the community as a whole is affected by the loss of a productive member of society, lost wages not spent at local businesses, and medical costs. The CDC estimates that suicides result in over 44 billion dollars in work loss and medical costs.

Prevention is key: reducing risk factors and promoting resilience. This course will provide a review of evidence-based studies so that healthcare professionals are informed on this complex subject. Information from the suicide prevention technical package from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be provided. Included also are strategies for screening and assessment, prevention considerations, methods of treatment, and resources for choosing evidence-based suicide prevention programs. Course #30-97 | 2018 | 61 pages | 20 posttest questions

The Suicide Survivor is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE) course that provides an understanding and means of helping the people who have lost loved ones to suicide.

Course Directions

Our online courses provide instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

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Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

The Suicide Survivor – New CE Course

Posted on August 3, 2018 by Gina Ulery

New Online CE Course @pdresources.org

The Suicide Survivor is a new 2-hour online continuing education (CE) course that provides an understanding and means of helping the people who have lost loved ones to suicide.

Click here to learn more.

CE Credit: 2 Hours
Target Audience: Psychologists | Counselors | Social Workers | Occupational Therapists (OTs) | Marriage & Family Therapists (MFTs) | School Psychologists | Teachers
Learning Level: Introductory
Course Type: Online

Course Directions:

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This online course provides instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. After enrolling, click on My Account and scroll down to My Active Courses. From here you’ll see links to download/print the course materials and take the CE test (you can print the test to mark your answers on it while reading the course document).Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

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About the Authors:

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Robert Gauger, DMin, has served as a full-time minister for over 30 years. He was a parish minister for 27 years, and has also been a hospital chaplain in Jacksonville, Florida. Currently he is a hospice chaplain. Bob holds a Masters degree from Southern Seminary (KY) and a Doctorate Degree from Regent University (VA) with honors. His own personal experiences of depression and stress in ministry have drawn a special interest and focus on the topic in his life, as have his experiences with family suicidal attempts. Bob enjoys playing the trombone and through the years has played with many professional orchestras.

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Leo Christie, PhD, LMFT, is a Florida-licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a doctorate in Marriage and Family Therapy from Florida State University. Past President of the Florida Council on Family Relations, Dr. Christie is currently CEO of Professional Development Resources, a nonprofit corporation whose mission is to deliver continuing education credit courses to healthcare professionals throughout the United States. He has more than 20 years’ experience in private practice with a specialty in child behavior disorders and as an instructor for over 500 live continuing education seminars for healthcare professionals.

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CE Information:

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Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

Rethinking Grief

Posted on July 20, 2018 by Gina Ulery

Grief, say researchers, deserves a second look.

While we commonly associate the condition with obvious losses, the course of grief does not always follow a pattern or predictable timeline, as we might think.

Sometimes grief is complicated, and sometimes it is prolonged. For this reason, the diagnosis of persistent complex bereavement disorder (PCBD), was recently added as a condition for further study in the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5).

Also referred to as prolonged grief disorder or complicated grief, PCBD is associated with long-term intense distress and suffering. It affects about seven to 15 percent of those grieving the loss of a loved one, and is typically diagnosed when persistent and severe grief continues beyond twelve months after the death of a loved one, resulting in functional impairment.

In looking to assess these criteria, Dr. Stephen Cozza and his team examined responses of study participants from USU’s National Military Family Bereavement Study, which is examining the impact of military service member death on family members. Participants included surviving family members of military members who died, by any cause, since Sept. 11, 2001.

What the researchers found should have us all reconsidering grief: even with the proposed DSM-5 criteria for PCBD, the individual’s actual experiences of clinically impairing grief were not accurately captured (Cozza et al., 2016).

What Dr. Cozza suggests is that when assessing grief, and a diagnosis of PCBD, symptoms such as prolonged distress and disability associated with the death of a loved one, persistent yearning or sorrow, and preoccupation with the deceased should be considered.

However, where a diagnosis of PCBD requires that six of twelve additional symptom criteria be required as currently proposed by DSM-5, we should be requiring a much less stringent criteria – such as meeting only one criteria. Further, the researchers encourage clinicians to remain vigilant to suicidal thinking, which is prevalent in those with persistent and impairing grief.

“It is imperative for clinicians to have reliable criteria to accurately identify and diagnose those individuals suffering from prolonged and impairing grief,” notes Dr. Cozza.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Courses:

Grief: The Reaction to Loss is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that teaches healthcare professionals how to recognize and respond to grief.

Grief is the reaction to loss, and any kind of loss can trigger grief. People grieve for the loss of someone they love, but they also grieve for the loss of independence, usefulness, cognitive functioning, and physical abilities. Grief is also a lifelong process: a journey rather than a disease that is cured. It changes over time to deal with different kinds of losses. It is an experience that is intellectual, physical, spiritual, and emotional. It is affected by the person’s culture, support system, religious beliefs, and a host of other factors.

Grief is often not recognized by healthcare professionals, in patients or themselves. This course will teach healthcare professionals to recognize grief, as well as how to respond appropriately to the grieving person. The progression of aging and dying will be discussed in order to normalize the process, one of the most important aspects of working with a grieving person. Screening guidelines for depression, suicide risk, and grief are included, as are treatment strategies for anticipatory and complicated grief. A final section on compassion fatigue, burnout, and secondary stress includes strategies for professional self-care. Course #21-25 | 2018 | 35 pages | 15 posttest questions

Caregiver Help: Depression and Grief is a 2-hour online video-based continuing education (CE/CEU) course that addresses caregiver depression and grief and provides strategies to help the caregiver cope.

The emotional stress of caring for persons who are aging, chronically ill or disabled can be debilitating for family members as well as professional caregivers. This course addresses caregiver depression and grief and provides a three-step process that can help develop an attitude of creative indifference toward the people, situations and events that cause emotional stress. It offers suggestions for dealing with preparatory grief, an experience shared by families and professionals as they cope with the stress of caring for someone who will never get well. In the process, it also explains the differences between reactionary depression and clinical depression. By gaining insights into the process of losing someone over an extended period of time, the mental health professional will be in a better position to understand the caregiver’s experience with depression and grief and provide both empathy and strategies for implementing a self-care plan. This course includes downloadable worksheets that you can use (on a limited basis) in your clinical practice. The course video is split into 3 segments for your convenience. Closeout course #20-92 | 2014 | 20 posttest questions

The Grieving Self is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that looks at stories of the bereaved to determine the major issues to address to reconnect those who grieve to a stable sense of self.

The annual number of deaths reported in the United States in the early part of this century was 2.4 million, about four per minute. This course looks at the stories of a few of those who are recently bereaved to determine the major issues for those who grieve: aloneness, loss of self, social connections, anniversaries and holidays, self and others’ expectations, the need to continue living, ambivalence of recovery, grief dreams, medical problems. Studies are reviewed which indicate some researchers’ conclusions as to: 1) Gender differences between men and women who grieve; there are important questions regarding the recruitment of subjects and the data gathering process for gender differences research. 2) And, who among the grief survivors are best served by counseling and psychotherapy. This author, while agreeing with much of the research, challenges the belief that the emotional loneliness suffered by the bereaved is the single, major dynamic of the bereaved, and can only be alleviated through passage of time. It is felt that an effort to reconnect those who grieve to a stable sense of self can help the bereaved regain better function and reduce the length of the time they are consigned to painfully distressing lives. Course #30-49 | 2010 | 34 pages | 20 posttest questions

Course Directions

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Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

Grief: The Reaction to Loss

Posted on May 8, 2018 by Gina Ulery

New Online Continuing Education (CE/CEU) Course @pdresources.org

Grief: The Reaction to Loss is a new 2-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that teaches healthcare professionals how to recognize and respond to grief.

Course Directions

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Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

Link Between Screen Time & Suicide

Posted on April 23, 2018 by Gina Ulery

It’s no secret that screen time is increasing exponentially in teenagers, and that it contributes to several mental health issues. New research suggests that screen time should be considered a modern-day risk factor for depression and suicide.

Studying the rise in mental health problems among teens since 2010 that coincides with an increase in ownership of cell phones – by 2015, 92 percent of teens and young adults had a cell phone, along with CDC statistics that show that suicide rate increased 31 percent among teenagers from 2010 to 2015 – Twenge and Joiner found “a concerning relationship between excessive screen time and risk for death by suicide, depression, suicidal ideation and suicidal attempts” (Joiner & Twenge, 2017).

Explains Joiner, “All of those mental health issues are very serious. I think it’s something parents should ponder” (Joiner, 2017).

Specifically, Joiner and Twenge discovered 48 percent of teenagers who spent five or more hours per day on electronic devices reported a suicide-related behavior. That compared to 28 percent of adolescents who spent less than an hour using electronic devices.

Twenge concludes that the results clearly showed that teens who spent more time on the devices were more likely to be unhappy. Those who focused more on non-screen activities like sports and exercise, talking to friends face to face, doing homework and going to church were more likely to be happy.

Joiner and Twenge emphasized their research does not prove that screen time causes depressive symptoms or suicide-related behaviors, but the findings do show a link.

The takeaway, however, is that screen time is just one of the many factors that may contribute to suicide – and one that healthcare professionals should be aware of. By being aware of the many factors that contribute to depression and suicide, as well as the evidence-based strategies that can prevent it, clinicians can better help to reduce the risk factors and promote resilience among our youngsters.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Courses:

Suicide Prevention: Evidence-Based Strategies is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that reviews evidence-based research and offers strategies for screening, assessment, treatment, and prevention of suicide in both adolescents and adults. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. In 2015, 44,193 people killed themselves. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes, “Suicide is a serious but preventable public health problem that can have lasting harmful effects on individuals, families, and communities.” People who attempt suicide but do not die face potentially serious injury or disability, depending on the method used in the attempt. Depression and other mental health issues follow the suicide attempt. Family, friends, and coworkers are negatively affected by suicide. Shock, anger, guilt, and depression arise in the wake of this violent event. Even the community as a whole is affected by the loss of a productive member of society, lost wages not spent at local businesses, and medical costs. The CDC estimates that suicides result in over 44 billion dollars in work loss and medical costs. Prevention is key: reducing risk factors and promoting resilience. This course will provide a review of evidence-based studies so that healthcare professionals are informed on this complex subject. Information from the suicide prevention technical package from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be provided. Included also are strategies for screening and assessment, prevention considerations, methods of treatment, and resources for choosing evidence-based suicide prevention programs. Course #30-97 | 2017 | 60 pages | 20 posttest questions

Effects of Digital Media on Children’s Development and Learning is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that reviews the research on media use and offers guidance for educators and parents to regulate their children’s use of digital devices. Today’s world is filled with smartphones used by people ignoring their surroundings and even texting while driving, which is criminally dangerous. Are there other dangers that may not be as apparent? Media technology (e.g., smart phones, tablets, or laptop computers) have changed the world. Babies and children are affected and research reveals that 46% of children under age one, and up to 59% of eight-year-old children are exposed to cell phones. In England, nearly 80% of senior primary-school staff reportedly are worried about poor social skills or speech problems of children entering school, which they attribute to the use of media devices. Media technology affects family life, children’s readiness for entering school or preschool, and classroom learning. Recent research delineates a developmental progression of understanding information on devices for children between ages 2- 5 years. Younger children may believe false information if it is on a computer. This research is important for understanding technology uses in education. There are also known health risks and possible adverse effects to social-emotional development. Statistics describing the increase of media technology and developing trends in media use are presented along with guidelines and position statements developed to protect children from risks and adverse effects. Course #30-96 | 2017 | 50 pages | 20 posttest questions

Finding Happiness: Positive Interventions in Therapy is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE) course that explores the concept of happiness, from common myths to the overriding factors that directly increase our feelings of contentment. We will start with a discussion on why you, the clinician, need to know about happiness and how this information can help in your work with clients. We will then uncover mistakes we make when trying to attain happiness and look carefully at the actions we take and the beliefs that do not just obfuscate our happiness efforts, but often leave us less happy. Next, we will explore the ways in which our mindset influences our feelings of happiness and the many ways we can fundamentally change our levels of well-being, not just immediately, but for many years to come. The final section of this course contains exercises you can use with clients to cultivate and sustain a lifelong habit of happiness. Course #40-45 | 2018 | 57 pages | 25 posttest questions

Course Directions

Online courses provide instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test. Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

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Earn CE Wherever YOU Love to Be!

Are You Culturally Competent?

Posted on April 10, 2018 by Gina Ulery

Multicultural awareness – which refers to an awareness of, comfort with, and sensitivity toward issues of cultural diversity – has been emphasized through decades of policy reforms, is often taught in health care professions, and from all perspectives, is becoming more important every day.

What we believe about other cultures has a tremendous impact on how effective we are when working with them. One study found that multicultural beliefs are tied to student teachers’ ability to create strong and nurturing classroom environments, measured during student teaching observations by master teachers (Cherng & Davis, 2017).

Interestingly, this same study also found that Black and Latino preservice teachers report greater multicultural awareness than their White counterparts, and that prior experience working with minority cultures is linked to greater multicultural awareness (Cherng & Davis, 2017).

Being aware of cultural differences also becomes crucial when working with families after a suicide. According to Karen Rizzo MD, president of the Pennsylvania Medical Society (PAMED), suicide “is an alarming public health problem that needs to be addressed in a clinically compassionate way being culturally sensitive to the needs of those seeking to find answers to their personal loss” (Rizzo, 2012).

As Rizzo notes, the warning signs of suicide typically involve factors like previous suicide attempts, feeling alone, drug use, a family history of suicide, a history of depression, stressful life events and access to lethal methods, but can very according to an individual’s culture (Rizzo, 2012).

How much a person identifies with their culture can also influence their sense of belonging, well-being, and according to work done by Led by Kamaldeep Bhui, Professor of Cultural Psychiatry and Epidemiology at Barts, predicts their mental health later in life (Bhui et al., 2016).

Working effectively with people from different cultures means not just understanding the cultural norms, expectations, and pressures of an individual’s culture, but also how the individual experiences them. They may be highly identified with their culture and finding a sense of belonging in it, they may be resisting their culture in favor of integrating more fully into the majority culture, and they may not know how they feel about their culture, or the majority culture in which they live. All of these factors demand a culturally competent and sensitive approach – one that overcomes biases, stigmas, and includes the client in the process of improving mental health.

By Claire Dorotik-Nana, LMFT

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Courses:

Cultural Awareness in Clinical Practice is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that provides the foundation for achieving cultural competence and diversity in healthcare settings. Cultural competence, responding to diversity and inclusion, are important practices for healthcare professionals. This course will help you to gain an awareness of bias and provide strategies to adjust your clinical mindset and therapeutic approach to adapt to “the other” – people who differ in color, creed, sexual identification, socio-economic status, or other differences that make inclusion difficult. Inclusion is defined as “the state of being included” or “the act of including,” which is something all clinicians should strive for. This course is designed to provoke thought about culture, diversity, and inclusion. Even though research for evidence-based practice is somewhat limited in this area, the concept of cultural competency (however it is defined and measured) is a key skill for healthcare professionals to create an inclusive therapeutic environment. Course #31-07 | 2018 | 57 pages | 20 posttest questions

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Cyberbullying: What You Need To Know

Posted on February 21, 2018 by Gina Ulery

Cyberbullying is defined as intentional, repeated harm to another person using communication technology. Cyberbullying is also not accidental or random, and those who engage in it choose their victims carefully – those with less perceived power.

In the first large scale study of a low-tech, high-harm form of online harassment known as doxing – which involves collecting and publishing sensitive personal information to exact revenge, seek justice, or intimidate victims – researchers from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering and the University of Illinois at Chicago found that the primary motivations for cyberbullying are revenge or justice (Snyder et al., 2017).

It is perhaps not surprising then that another study done by researchers at The Pennsylvania State University found that youth cyberbullying was dramatically more likely to occur between current or former friends and dating partners than between students who were never friends or in a romantic relationship (Felmlee et al., 2017). As Diane Felmlee, a professor of sociology at Penn State explained, “The large magnitude of the effects of close relationships on the likelihood of cyberbullying, even after controlling for many other factors, was particularly surprising” (Felmlee, 2017).

The psychological effects of cyberbullying are no less concerning. Children involved in cyberbullying are much more likely to also view web content containing self-harm and suicide (Gorzig, 2016) and develop substance abuse and internet addictions (Gamez-Guadix et al., 2013). Further, a review of cyberbullying found that it has been consistently associated with an increased likelihood of depression (Hamm et al., 2015).

Cyberbullying is also increasingly common as children now have access to a wide variety of social media platforms – from Facebook and Twitter to Snapchat, websites, forums, and blogs – where communication and harassment are immediate means of imposing deliberate harm on others.

For clinicians, it almost goes without saying that cyberbullying is a fast-growing area of concern, and knowing how to identify it, what causes it, and what strategies can be used to prevent or manage it are essential skills in today’s social media reliant world.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Courses:

Cyberbullying is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that reviews evidenced-based research for identification, management and prevention of cyberbullying in children, adolescents and adults. Bullies have moved from the playground and workplace to the online world, where anonymity can facilitate bullying behavior. Cyberbullying is intentional, repeated harm to another person using communication technology. It is not accidental or random. It is targeted to a person with less perceived power. This may be someone younger, weaker, or less knowledgeable about technology. Any communication device may be used to harass or intimidate a victim, such as a cell phone, tablet, or computer. Any communication platform may host cyberbullying: social media sites (Facebook, Twitter), applications (Snapchat, AIM), websites (forums or blogs), and any place where one person can communicate with – or at – another person electronically. The short and long-term effects of bullying are considered as significant as neglect or maltreatment as a type of child abuse. This course will describe specific cyberbullying behaviors, review theories that attempt to explain why bullying happens, list the damaging effects that befall its victims, and discuss strategies professionals can use to prevent or manage identified cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a fast-growing area of concern and all healthcare professionals should be equipped to spot the signs and provide support for our patients and clients, as well as keep up with the technology that drives cyberbullying. Course #21-09 | 2016 | 32 pages | 20 posttest questions

Stalking: Recognizing and Responding is a 1-hour online continuing education (CE) course that examines the prevalence of stalking and provides therapists with the means to identify and assist victims/survivors. Stalking is a crime that is far more prevalent and more dangerous than most people realize. It is a crime that is not well understood and that often goes unrecognized. Findings from various studies examining the prevalence of stalking suggest that community-based interventions are critical to raising awareness about this crime and promoting prevention efforts. Mental health professionals have an important role in identifying and treating victims/survivors of stalking through educating themselves about this crime. Researchers have found that stalking victims have a higher incidence of mental disorders and comorbid illnesses compared with the general population, with the most robust associations identified between stalking victimization, major depressive disorder, and panic disorder. Additionally, intimate partner stalking has been identified as a common form of IPV experienced by women veterans that strongly contributes to their risk for probable PTSD. These findings indicate that it is important to assess for these symptoms and diagnoses when working with victims/survivors of stalking. This course is designed to enhance your understanding of stalking by reviewing key findings from research on stalking, identifying common tactics used by stalkers, and exploring the intersections between stalking, intimate partner violence, and sexual violence. This course will also examine common reactions experienced by victims/survivors of stalking and discuss ways to assist victims/survivors in clinical practice. Course #11-17 | 2018 | 18 pages | 10 posttest questions

These online courses provide instant access to the course materials (PDF download) and CE test (you can print the test to mark your answers on it while reading the course document). Successful completion of the online CE test (80% required to pass, 3 chances to take) and course evaluation are required to earn a certificate of completion. Click here to learn more. Have a question? Contact us. We’re here to help!

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