Suicide and Self-Harm in Adolescents: Effective Assessment and Intervention Strategies for Young People in Crisis
- Speaker:
- Tony L. Sheppard, PsyD, CGP, ABPP, AGPA-F
- Duration:
- 6 Hours 14 Minutes
- Language:
- Presented in EN, subtitles in EN and FR, handouts in EN and FR
- Copyright:
-
Aug 14, 2025
- Product Code:
- POS053365
- Media Type:
- Digital Seminar
Description
Helping young people heal is your greatest reward.
But when treating adolescents with depression, anxiety, and trauma the full extent of their suffering is not always obvious. Many in distress wear a mask of strength while secretly harming themselves or hiding their struggle with thoughts of suicide. You worry that you could be missing critical signs.
This seminar will provide you with the assessment tools you need to unmask self-harming and suicidal thoughts, adapt interventions from DBT and CBT to work with the distinct challenges of treating suicidal and self-harming adolescents, and manage the specific confidentiality and liability issues that accompany working with minors.
There’s too much at stake to be unprepared!
Sign up today and leave this critical program confident and capable in using these vital assessment tools and treatment techniques to bring hope and healing to vulnerable young clients!
Credit
Program Information
Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationshipsAll members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
NOTE: Tuition includes one free CE Certificate (participant will be able to print the certificate of completion after passing the online post-test (80% passing score) and completing the evaluation). Instructional methods will include PowerPoint, didactic lecture, and others.
Continuing Education Information: Listed below are the continuing education credit(s) currently available for this non-interactive self-study package. Program content is reviewed periodically per accrediting board rules for currency and appropriateness for credit. Credit approvals are subject to change. Please note, your licensing board dictates whether self-study is an acceptable form of continuing education, as well as which credit types are acceptable for continuing education hours. Please refer to your licensing board's rules and regulations. If your profession is not listed, please contact your licensing board to determine your continuing education requirements and check for reciprocal approval.
For other credit inquiries not specified below, please contact info@pesi.com or 800-844-8260 before purchase.
Materials that are included in this course may include interventions and modalities that are beyond the authorized practice of your profession. As a licensed professional, you are responsible for reviewing the scope of practice, including activities that are defined in law as beyond the boundaries of practice in accordance with and in compliance with your profession's standards.
For Planning Committee disclosures, please see the statement above. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
Earn up to 6.25 CE hours. Please see below, for more details, as credit amounts vary by jurisdiction and profession.
PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association to offer continuing education for counsellors and psychotherapists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This self-study activity is approved for 6.0 credit hours.
PESI, Inc. is approved by the Canadian Psychological Association to offer continuing education for psychologists. PESI, Inc. maintains responsibility for the program. This program is approved for 6.0 self-study continuing education hours. Full credit statement at: www.pesi.com/cpa-statement

PESI, Inc., #1062, 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: January 27, 2026 - January 27, 2029. Social workers completing this course receive 6.25 Clinical continuing education credits.
Course Level: Intermediate Format: Recorded asynchronous distance. Full attendance is required; no partial credits will be offered for partial attendance.
Canadian Social Workers: Canadian provinces may accept activities offered by providers approved by the ASWB ACE program for ongoing professional development.
This self-study activity qualifies for 6.25 continuing education clock hours as required by many national and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Save your activity advertisement and certificate of completion, and contact your own board or organization for specific requirements.

This self-study course has been approved by PESI, Inc., as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #77553. PESI, Inc. is responsible for all aspects of their programming.
This self-study course offers 6.0 continuing education contact hours in the Counseling Services skill group. Full attendance is required; no partial credit will be awarded for partial attendance.

PESI, Inc. is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Nurses completing these self-study materials will earn 6.25 contact hours. Expires: 04/21/2028.
Handouts
| File type | File name | Number of pages | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual - Suicide and Self-Harm in Adolescents (23.4 MB) | 201 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Suicide and Self-Harm in Adolescents - French (23.4 MB) | 201 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Suicide and Self-Harm in Adolescents - Italian (23.4 MB) | 201 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Suicide and Self-Harm in Adolescents - German (23.4 MB) | 201 Pages | Available after Purchase | |
| Manual - Suicide and Self-Harm in Adolescents - Spanish (23.4 MB) | 201 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Speaker
Tony L. Sheppard, PsyD, CGP, ABPP, AGPA-F Related seminars and products
Tony Sheppard, PsyD, CGP, ABPP, AGPA-F, specializes in treating young people suffering from psychiatric issues including self-harm and suicide. A licensed psychologist and certified group psychotherapist, Tony brings over 20 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and young adults to his clinical practice. In addition to his private practice, Groupworks, he has trained hundreds of clinicians, educators, nurses, and physicians across the country in the treatment of self-harm and suicide and is the author of a training curriculum in group psychotherapy. He is board certified in group psychology.
Tony’s clinical approach draws from interpersonal neurobiology, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, solution-focused brief therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and positive psychology. His creative and interactive delivery style will draw you into the dire nature of youth suicide and self-harm and have you leave feeling confident and prepared to handle this most important work.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Dr. Tony Sheppard is the founder and director of Groupworks Psychological Services and has an employment relationship with Spalding University. He receives royalties as a published author and a speaking honorarium from E-Care Behavioral Health Institute. Dr. Sheppard receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Dr. Tony Sheppard has is a member of the Kentucky Psychological Association, the American Group Psychotherapy Association, and the American Association of Suicidology.
Additional Info
Program Information
Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)Access never expires for this product.
For a more detailed outline that includes times or durations of time, if needed, please contact cepesi@pesi.com.
Questions?
Visit our FAQ page at https://www.pesicanada.ca/faq or contact us at https://www.pesicanada.ca/contact-us.
Objectives
- Employ clinical screening and assessment tools to help you determine which clients present the highest risk for suicide.
- Apply motivational techniques that engage resistant suicidal and self-harming teens in the therapeutic process.
- Develop strategies for incorporating schools and peer groups into your treatment plans for suicidal and self-harming clients, and communicate how this multi-systemic approach can improve treatment outcomes.
- Articulate how alternative coping strategies can be introduced in-session to help self-injuring clients manage triggering situations without engaging in self-harm.
- Communicate how clinicians can foster support among family members with techniques that promote problem solving and communication, and help young people feel in control and part of the therapeutic process.
- Utilize therapeutic interventions from Dialectical Behavior Therapy to improve your client’s coping skills and interpersonal effectiveness.
Outline
Suicide and NSSI- The relationship between suicide and self-injurious behavior
- When clients present with depression, anxiety, trauma
- Confidentiality, documentation, and legal considerations
- Formal assessment tools for NSSI
- Recency and frequency
- Severity
- Triggers
- Who’s aware
- Suicide risk assessment
- SAFE-T
- C-SSRS
- Ideation, plan, means, intent
- Level of risk, intervention and when to hospitalize
- Tips to quickly establish rapport
- Using the Stages to Change/Motivational Interviewing Model in Treatment
- Overcome therapy interfering behaviors
- When parents are ready for change NOW!
- Track suicidal and self-harming urges with diary cards
- Reduce emotional reactivity and improve distress tolerance
- Identifying emotions and triggers
- Mindfulness practices and relaxation techniques
- Reproducible handouts and checklists
- ”Thought flipping” to maintain positive focus
- Address body image issues
- Create opportunities to build resilience, self-efficacy and self-control
- Handle suicidal crisis – self-soothing and distraction techniques
- Interpersonal effectiveness skills for adolescents
- Training exercises to convey feelings/read the feelings of others
- Integrate parents into treatment
- Parental behaviors that can do more harm than good
- Means restriction strategies for safe home environments
- Involve schools and peers
- Learn to build “Trusted Adult” support networks
- Peer education approaches that create support
- Minimize the impact of bullying
Target Audience
- Social Workers
- Psychologists
- Counsellors
- Teachers
- School Administrators
- Case Managers
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Addiction Counsellors
- Therapists
- Nurses
- School Counsellors
- School Social Workers
- School Psychologists
- Other Mental Health Professionals School Counsellors
Reviews
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Overall: 5
Total Reviews: 4
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