Safety Planning
The Safety Planning course is part of the Mental Health Ally Series and covers the topic of safety planning, for instances of intimate partner violence and suicidal ideation. Although Safety Planning is a standalone course, it is best taken after the Suicidal Behavior Competency course as it both furthers its content and offers practical ways to help others who are at risk for suicide.This course was created for those who want to help someone in their life who is in an abusive relationship, or who is experiencing suicidal ideation. Based on up-to-date statistics from governing bodies and relevant scholarly articles, this course is full of learner-focused activities, live-filmed videos, and attractive animations. NOTE: We recommend completing Mental Health Competency 1 before beginning this course and any other Mental Health Ally Series courses.
Course Overview
ESTIMATED COURSE LENGTH: 1 hour
CE CREDITS: 1 hour continuing education/contact hours for social workers, case managers, health and wellness coaches, nurses, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians
TARGET AUDIENCE: Mental Health and Medical Providers, Healthcare Team, Employers, Caregivers, Coaches, Case Managers, First Responders, Teachers, Attorneys, and other pertinent professionals
LEVEL OF INSTRUCTION: Introductory
PREREQUISITE(S): None
INSTRUCTIONAL METHOD: Self-paced, interactive, hybrid of audio, text, video, and learning checks
ACCESSIBILITY ACCOMMODATIONS: Closed captioning of all audio and video components. To request further accessibility accommodations, please email support@psychhub.com.
COMPLETION REQUIREMENTS: To obtain your CE certificate, you must progress through all course segments, complete a participant evaluation, and obtain a score of 80% or higher on a post test quiz. Learners are expected to complete the quiz within 3 attempts. If unable to do so, the learner will need to re-review the course segments.
FINANCIAL/COMMERCIAL SUPPORT STATEMENT: This course has no commercial support.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST: This course has no potential conflict of interest or outside commercial support. Psych Hub's conflict of interest statement is found in the footer of the training center.
GRIEVANCE AND REFUND POLICIES: Grievance and refund policies are found in the footer of the training center.
PARTICIPATION COSTS: The cost to participate in this CE activity is included in the subscription registration fee.
COURSE CREATION DATE: 7/31/2020; updated 4/14/2026
Learning Objectives
- Describe at least three key considerations before developing an intimate partner violence safety plan and two factors in writing the safety plan. The description must include how roles differ and safety plan uniqueness. The safety plan factors' description must include aspects of both emotional and physical safety.
- Summarize suicide risk assessment including four questions that serve as a screener for identifying suicide risk. The summary must include one key consideration to developing a safety plan for suicide and four steps to include in writing the safety plan.
Course Outline
- Pre Course Assessment
- Introduction
- What is a Safety Plan?
- Intimate Partner Violence
- Common Myths Often Associated with Intimate Partner Violence
- Key Considerations for Developing a Safety Plan
- Developing a Safety Plan
- Additional Factors of a Safety Plan
- Suicidal Ideation
- Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Suicide
- Common Myths about Suicide
- Assessing for Suicide Risk
- Creating a Safety Plan
- Summary
- Post Course Assessment
CE Information
Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB)
Psych Hub, #1750, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 08/20/2024 – 08/20/2027.Social workers completing this course receive 1.00 general continuing education credits.
Commission for Case Manager Certification (CCMC)
This program has been pre-approved by The Commission for Case Manager Certification to provide continuing education credit to CCM® board certified case managers.Activity code: H00065750 Approval Number: 250004046. To claim these CEs, log into your CCMC Dashboard at www.ccmcertification.org. Participant must retain this document for one year past their CCM board-certified case manager’s renewal date.
National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC)
Psych Hub has been approved by the NBHWC to provide continuing education for National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coaches (CEP #100190).Course Number: CE-000008-5
New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work (NYSED-SW)
Psych Hub, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0699. New York State social workers completing this course receive 1.00 contact hours.American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
Nurse CE is provided for this program through collaboration between Psych Hub and AffinityCE. AffinityCE is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation (ANCC). Nurses completing this course receive 1.00 Contact Hours.Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE)
AffinityCE is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education as a provider of continuing pharmacy education (CPE). The cost to participate is included in the registration. Participant CE records will be electronically communicated to CPE Monitor. This knowledge-based CPE activity will provide 1.00 contact hours for participants.UAN: UAN: 0829-9999-22-379-H01-P To claim these CMEs, log into https://psychhub.cds.affinityced.com/#971.
National Association of Social Workers - New Jersey (NASW-NJ)
This course provided by Psych Hub is approved for continuing education by the New Jersey Social Work Continuing Education Approval Collaborative, which is administered by NASW-NJ.Approval #: 9282002-9, CE Approval Collaborative Approval Period: through August 31, 2026. Social workers will receive 1.00 clinical continuing education hours for participating in this course.
New York State Education Department - Licensed Mental Health Counselors (NYSED-LMHC)
Psych Hub, LLC is recognized by 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-0257. New York State licensed mental health counselors completing this course receive 1.00 contact hours.New York State Education Department - Marriage & Family Therapists (NYSED-MFT)
Psych Hub, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0109. New York State marriage and family therapists completing this course receive 1.00 contact hours.New York State Education Department - Psychology (NYSED-PSY)
Psych Hub, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0208. New York State licensed psychologists completing this course receive 1.00 contact hours.Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling
Florida Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling Provider Number 50-45376. Participants completing this course earn 1.00 continuing education credits.Experts
Kelly Posner Gerstenhaber, PhD
Dr. Kelly Posner is a Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and her work is saving lives all over the globe across 6 continents. The President of the American Psychiatric Association noted her work with the Columbia Protocol could be “like the introduction of antibiotics.” The U.S. Department of Defense said that her work is “nothing short of a miracle” and stated "her effective model of improving the world will help propel us closer to a world without suicide.” The CDC noted that her work is “changing the paradigm in suicide risk assessment in the US and worldwide.”
Dr. Posner’s work has been noted in a keynote speech at the White House and in Congressional hearings, and she gave the lead presentation in a forum on school safety at the U.S. Senate in her partnership with the Parkland community. Through her advocacy she has changed local, national and international policy, which in turn has helped achieve reductions in suicide across all sectors of society. Israeli government officials said her work “is not only saving millions of lives but in Israel it is literally changing the way we live our lives.”
She gave the invited presentation on tackling depression and suicide at the first European Union high level conference on mental health, was recognized as the Most Distinguished Alumna of her graduate school at Yeshiva University in the past 50 years, and received the New York State Suicide Prevention Award. She was also named one of New York Magazine’s “Most Influential.”
The Columbia Protocol is policy across all 50 states, many national agencies, and most countries. Dr. Posner was commissioned by the FDA to develop a scientific approach that has become the gold standard for suicide monitoring and is ubiquitous across the U.S. and worldwide. The FDA has characterized her work as “setting a standard in the field” and a lead article in The New York Times called it “one of the most profound changes of the past sixteen years to regulations governing drug development.” Her scholarly work has been included in the compendium of the most important research in the history of the study of suicide.
In 2018, Dr. Posner was awarded The Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service.
Emily St. Amant, MA, LPC-MHSP
Emily served as a Clinical Manager at Psych Hub from 2019 to 2021, helping to bridge the gap between research and academia to the practical real-life application of theory and therapeutic interventions. She assisted the team throughout the content development process by reviewing and creating content to ensure it will resonate with her fellow clinicians and be beneficial to all audiences.
Currently Emily works for the American Counseling Association as Counseling Resources and Clinical Education Specialist.Emily is a licensed professional counselor, mental health service provider. She completed her Master’s in Counseling with an emphasis in Mental Health at MidAmerica Nazarene University. She is a Tennessee counseling licensure board approved supervisor and has been designated as a mandatory pre-screening agent.
Before joining Psych Hub, she gained many years of experience in the mental health and substance abuse treatment field, much of which was spent serving as a therapist to a diverse caseload in a community mental health setting. She also has experience in crisis counseling and assessment, intake evaluations for level of care placement, outpatient and inpatient treatment, and utilization review.