On October 27th, 2022, OneOp hosted a webinar called “Suicide Prevention and Intimate Partner Violence.” This webinar was the second of two webinars featuring Dr. Elizabeth “Gizzy” Gray, the Associate Director of Policy and Legislation with the Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO). September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and we felt this webinar was very timely and very informative to mental health practitioners in our OneOp audience. October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month and we wanted to explore the overlap of DV and suicide statistics.
The goals of this webinar focused primarily on discussing how suicide and IPV risk factors intersect and are comparable. We also wanted to highlight the importance of describing common suicide risk factors and how to share ways to strengthen coordinated community responses to DV and suicide.
We were joined in this webinar by Dr. Elizabeth “Gizzy” Gray, the Associate Director of Policy and Legislation with the Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO). Dr. Gray is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified Addictions Counselor, and Credentialed Advocate. Dr. Gray’s experience includes mental health, trauma response, suicidality, addictions, child abuse, and intimate partner violence.
Webinar Highlights
- This webinar began with exploring the similarities of statistics between suicide and intimate partner violence. This includes connections between access to firearms, substance abuse, and spousal unemployment in the comparisons of factors for suicide and IPV.
- Next, Gizzy shared suicide and IPV data for military families as well as discussed, the interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior which further solidifies the connection between IPV and suicide.
- Gizzy also shared the most up-to-date military and civilian suicide data, as well as talked about the importance of a coordinated community safety response to help families open up on these issues.
- Finally, Gizzy shared ways to implement strategies in mental health practices when working with clients and suicide and she emphasized the importance of self-care for clinicians.
Archived Viewing and CE Info
If you missed the live event, you can watch the YouTube archived recording on the webinar event page. Free continuing education credits for this event are still available. Case Management CE credits are available through October 2023, and the UT Social Work CE credits are available through October 2024.
Also, be sure and get caught up with part one of this series with Dr. Gray called “Suicide Prevention and Working with Military Families.” This webinar took place on September 20th, 2022 and focused on becoming more informed on current military suicide data including trends and common risk factors. This webinar explored culturally competent best practices and provided resources for professionals working with service members and military families. Archived viewing and CE opportunities are still available.
Cover Image: RODNAE Productions from Pexels
