TRAINING DATES:
February 19-20, 2026 (2-half days)
TIME:
10:30am-2:15pm Eastern Time
How often do adolescents present in therapy with suicide ideation? Or unexpectedly reveal these thoughts during a session? When do we tell caregivers? How do we tell caregivers? Do we send adolescents to the hospital or create a safety network to keep them at home? What level of risk are we comfortable managing in our practice? Learning some practical, state of the art, empirically supported clinical strategies to manage a youth suicide crisis can improve clinical decision making and ethical practice.
This workshop provides an introduction to state of the art, empirically supported family based suicide risk management practices to help therapists and clinical staff manage suicide concerns when they arise. First, we discuss trauma informed care, adolescent and family development and the national concern about adolescent suicide risk. Then we teach a family-centered care approach to risk assessment and safety planning. Finally, we teach strategies for engaging families into the treatment process and how to conduct a first family session. Lecture, discussion, experiential exercises, and therapy videos are used throughout the workshop.
***If you would like to be a part of this event but you are unable to attend live, you can register and receive 14 days of access to the event recordings to watch on your own. Continuing education credits are not available for the recording.***
This is an intermediate level course. The target audience for this training includes mental health staff responsible for managing high risk clinical assessments and treatment of suicidal youth. This might include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, family therapists and mental health counselors. Other professionals who work with youth might also gain skills from this training.
This is a live synchronous distance learning activity conducted in real time, allowing for simultaneous participation of participants and instructors from different locations.
- List the important aspects of a risk assessment.
- Explain importance of a family generated safety plan.
- Explain the barriers to engaging families in treatment.
- Describe the decision making process of what level of care is needed to match the level of risk.
- Describe strategies for dealing with family resistance to treatment.
View approximate schedule for the training here: FB YSP 2-Part Webinar Schedule
Regular Registration: $135 per person
** Group Discount Available for Groups of 3 or more.
This live training will take place over Zoom. You will be emailed the Zoom link and relevant handouts a week before the first webinar will occur.
We require cameras on during the training. The webinar will be recorded and all participants will have access to the recording for 14 days after the event.
Please let us know if you have any disability or other special needs so that we can ensure that your needs will be fully met (info@abftinternational.com or 267-270-2245). We will attempt to meet needs presented at the last minute, but 2 weeks notice will be appreciated
Suzanne Levy, Ph.D.
Suzanne Levy, Ph.D., is an internationally renowned licensed clinical psychologist and co-developer of ABFT. Previously she was the Executive Director of Strategic Initiatives and Training of the ABFT Training Program at Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions. Since 2007, Dr. Levy has been conducting ABFT training workshops and supervision for therapists nationally and internationally. She has presented regionally, nationally, and internationally on ABFT, emotion coaching, child and adolescent therapies, resilience, adolescent depression, adolescent development, and adolescent substance use.
Guy Diamond, Ph.D.
Guy Diamond, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and formerly was Associate Professor at Drexel University in the College of Nursing and Health Professions. His primary work has been in the area of youth suicide prevention and treatment research. On the prevention side, he has created a program focused on training, screening and triage to be implemented in non-behavioral health settings. On the treatment side, he has focused on the development and testing of attachment-based family therapy (ABFT), especially for teens struggling with depression and suicide. ABFT has now been applied to children and young adults, LGBTQ youth and adults, and adopted in clinics all over the world where it is used as a transdiagnostic approach to patient mental health and ruptures in family attachment.
*Additional instructors may be added.
This program is being offered for the following contact hours of continuing education: 7 hours
The Center for Family Based Training, LLC, is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Center for Family Based Training, LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
Continuing education credits are not available for watching the recording.
A $50 administrative fee will be charged for all refunds. Refund requests will be honored up to four business days before the start of the course and must be confirmed in writing. If cancellation occurs within three business days prior to the course, a refund will not be available. However, the full amount of tuition may be applied to a future course (i.e. you may transfer your registration to a future introductory workshop).
A $50 administrative fee will be charged for any returned checks due to insufficient funds.