Suicidal Behavior Competency

About the Course

The Suicidal Behavior Competency course is in the Mental Health Ally Series. The main topics covered in this course include a discussion on the nature of suicide and its prevalence rates as well as an overview of the risks and protective factors associated with suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The course was created using up-to-date statistics from governing bodies and relevant scholarly articles on the topic of suicide. The instructional design is learner-focused and approachable, including reflection activities, live-filmed videos of lived experiences, and engaging animations. Learners will discover the warning signs of those who may be at risk for suicide, as well as ways to connect those at risk to services that can help.  NOTE: We recommend completing Mental Health Competency 1 before beginning this course and any other Mental Health Ally Series courses.

Start Learning

Course Overview

  • Estimated Course Length: 1 Hour 
  • CE Credits: 1.00 continuing education/contact hours for social workers, case managers, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and health and wellness coaches 
  • Course Includes: 13 sections with components in each section (components consist of a mixed media approach with lived experience videos and animation explainer videos). 
  • Downloadable PDFs: 5 downloadable PDFs expanding on relevant course topics
  • Target Audience: Mental Health and Medical Providers, Healthcare Teams, Nurses, Employers, Caregivers, Coaches, First Responders, Teachers, Attorneys, and other pertinent professionals
  • Level of Instruction: Introductory 
  • Prerequisite: None
  • Instructional Method: Self-paced, interactive, hybrid of audio, text, video, and learning checks 
  • Accessibility Accommodations: Closed captioning of all audio and video components. Contact support@psychhub.com for more information.
  • Completion Requirements: To obtain your CE certificate, you must complete a pre-test (not scored), 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: 7/10/2020

Learning Objectives

Learning Objectives:

The learner should know upon course completion how to:

  1. Summarize the nature of suicide, prevalence rates and the risks and protective factors associated with suicidal ideation and behaviors.
  2. Relate the warning signs of those who may be at risk for suicide to ways to connect these persons to national and community services.
  3. Describe 3 or more ways to practice postvention with suicide attempt survivors and people who have lost someone to suicide.

Course Outline

  • Pre Course Assessment 
  • Introduction 
  • Defining Suicidal Behaviors: Suicidal Thoughts, Plans, and Attempts 
  • Myths and Stigma 
  • Risk Factors 
  • Protective Factors 
  • Screening for Suicide Risk 
  • Tips for Effective Communication 
  • Postvention: Dealing with Loss 
  • Instilling Hope 
  • 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 clinical 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: H00057893 Approval Number: 230004337. To claim these CEs, log into your CCMC Dashboard at www.ccmcertification.org.

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-000008-4

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 continuing education credits.

Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of AffinityCE and Psych Hub. AffinityCE is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Physicians completing this course receive 1.00 continuing education credits.

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: 0829-9999-22-378-H01-P To claim these CMEs, log into https://psychhub.cds.affinityced.com/#970.

National Association of Social Workers - New Jersey (NASW-NJ)
This course is approved by the New Jersey Social Work Continuing Education Approval Collaborative, which is administered by NASW-NJ. CE Approval Collaborative Approval period through August 31, 2026. New Jersey social workers will receive 1.00 CE credits for participating in this course.
Approval #: 11082024-284 CE Credits Approved: Clinical

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.

Experts


Keita M. Franklin, PhD, LCSW

Dr. Keita M. Franklin was Psych Hub’s, Chief Clinical Officer from 2019 to 2020.  In this capacity, she served as a key member of the executive team overseeing the development and production of all clinical content for Psych Hub’s ever-expanding repository of educational videos and informational materials. A nationally-recognized expert, Dr. Franklin, ensures all clinical content is on the cutting edge of the intersection between health care and information technology. Key to Psych Hub’s goal of revolutionizing how mental health care education and training are delivered, Dr. Franklin leads the esteemed Psych Hub, clinical team, ensuring all Psych Hub products are evidence-based and trauma-informed.


With over 25 years of progressively responsible experience, Dr. Franklin is spearheading efforts to improve mental health literacy across the Nation by championing the development of specialized evidence-based training for providers thereby improving mental health care outcomes for at-risk population groups.  A public health expert and transformational leader, Dr. Franklin has spent her career driving complex organizational change in the federal sector, always improving the systems that provide care for our Nation’s military, family members, and veteran populations. 

Before joining Psych Hub, Dr. Franklin served as a senior executive at both the Department of Veteran Affairs and the Department of Defense.  In these roles, Dr. Franklin served as the principal advisor to Department leadership for all matters on suicide prevention, and she is widely credited with leading a transformative, enterprise-wide shift from a crisis intervention posture to an upstream, broad public policy approach focused on continuous surveillance and early prevention.  Dr. Franklin was also responsible for leading a multi-disciplined team of experts in advancing evidence-based prevention practices for over 20 million Veterans and reaching our Nation’s heroes wherever they live, work, thrive, and receive care. A poised and articulate communicator of strategic messaging, Dr. Franklin has been frequently asked to testify before committees in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and led numerous caucus roundtable discussions with members of Congress.

While serving as a senior executive within the Department of Defense, Dr. Franklin was responsible for suicide prevention policy, programs, and oversight. During her tenure, she conducted a first-of-its-kind comprehensive, program review and authored new DoD policy directives and instructions, optimizing higher headquarter guidance for all military service branches. She also chaired several DoD senior leader committees charged with developing solutions for vexing mental health issues impacting our service members and their families. 

Adept at building partnerships and coalitions, Dr. Franklin was singularly responsible for bolstering relationships with both the private and public sector in the advancement of key suicide prevention initiatives.  An experienced manager of large programs, she proved critical during congressional-level advocacy for budget and programming activities while simultaneously directing a multi-million dollar research and evaluation program.  Her efforts resulted in high-quality service delivery for active duty, reserve, and National Guard members and their families.

Dr. Franklin is a licensed social worker with a specialization in children and families. She earned a Ph.D. in social work with specialized training and certifications from the Center for Advancement of Research Methods and Analysis (CARMA). Dr. Franklin began her career in child welfare and has dedicated much of her work to researching the impact of wartime trauma and post-traumatic stress on families. She serves on several national panels, including the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Dr. Franklin has received numerous federal and civilian awards for her efforts leading military, family, mental health, and suicide prevention programs.  Dr. Franklin has published work in the areas of military social work, child abuse, domestic violence, suicide prevention, and substance abuse. She and has served as an adjunct professor in the graduate programs at Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University.  Dr. Franklin holds certificates from Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education on “Leading Large Organizational Change” and Women in Leadership” as well as the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School course on “Executive Leadership.”


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.