NOTE: This event is specifically for Washington State attendees who are part of the behavioral health workforce.
This session is part of the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) track of the Mental Health Institute.
Individuals with autism are more than 4 times as likely to die by suicide than their neurotypical peers. Suicide risk assessment is often frightening or overwhelming for providers, especially when working with clients with diverse communication styles. This training will provide training on appropriate tools and methods for completing suicide risk assessment and safety planning for clinicians.
Contact hours will be available for participants who attend the entire session. The University of Washington is an approved provider of continuing education for DOH licensed social workers, licensed mental health counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, psychologists, chemical dependency professionals, nurses and physicians under the provisions of: WAC 246-809-610, WAC 246-809-620,WAC 246-811-200, WAC 246-840-210, WAC 246-919-460 and WAC 246-924-240.
Session is 11a-1p PT
Meseret Haile is a mother of two boys from Bellevue, WA. Originally from Ethiopia, she has the experience of raising a child with special needs. Her oldest son's name is Leoul, a fifteen year old boy, who is diagnosed with Autism. Leoul currently lives in the residential school called Heartspring in Kansas. The youngest child's name is Amanuel, he is a very smart thirteen year old boy. Meseret works for King County Metro and she is a member of the Seattle Children's Psychiatry Family Advisory Board. Meseret has recently published a book in Amharic titled "I am a mother of Black man" which includes the true story of her struggles to access services for her special needs child and describes her experiences navigating the mental health system in Washington state. The book has many poems which describe the struggle she has had. The purpose of the book is to create awareness in Ethiopia communities and 100% of the book money is for donations to support families in her country Ethiopia! So far she has raised more than $51,000 dollars in Seattle and Atlanta, Georgia.
Marie Loeb, LICSW, LMHC, CMHS, DMHS, (she/they) is an Autistic, queer, polyamorous Clinical Social Worker who is committed to serving their community through direct practice, training, and advocating for policy change. Marie is the owner of Holistic Child and Family Practice where she works with individuals and families, is a practicum instructor for the University of Washington School of Social Work, supervises clinicians in and out of the practice, and works to build community through no cost neurodiversity-affirming consult groups and trainings. Holistic Child and Family Practice has a staff that is exclusively neurodivergent, and within this environment Marie developed a new modality, Empathetic Inquiry, which is a strengths-based approach where the client is centered as the expert of their own experience and utilizes the natural hyperempathetic talents of neurodivergent providers.
Alana McVey, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Scholar jointly appointed at the University of Washington and Seattle Children's Autism Center. Clinically, she provides evidence-based treatment of mental health concerns to autistic children, adolescents, and adults through the Autism Center's Mood and Anxiety Program. Dr. McVey's program of research centers on the redesign and implementation of evidence-based mental health treatments for autistic people in community settings. Her current project, funded by the Autism Intervention Network on Physical Health (AIR-P), is focused on redesigning Dialectical Behavior Therapy to treat suicidality in autistic young adults.
Karís Casagrande (she/her), PhD, is a clinical psychology postdoctoral fellow with the University of Washington Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) program and the Seattle Children’s Autism Center. Clinically, she specializes in neurodevelopmental assessment, parent coaching models of intervention focused on behavior and social communication, and cognitive-behavioral therapy for individuals with neurodevelopmental differences. She is also engaged in community outreach and capacity-building research and programming to improve access to and quality of care for individuals with autism and their families in their home communities. Previously, she has worked with community organizations such as museums, theaters, and hotels to increase accessibility for individuals with sensory and developmental differences.
