What Parents Need to Know about Youth Suicide Risk but are Afraid to Ask

What parents need to know about youth suicide risk, but were too afraid to ask.
Recorded Live Session on February 17, 2022
Description: You’ve likely heard that the COVID-19 pandemic has amplified an already pressing problem, the mental health crisis of kids and teens in the United States. Mental health challenges in youth that go unaddressed can lead to the tragedy of suicide. Last month, the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory, calling for an all-hands-on-deck effort to address the looming crisis. In response to this call, MIMH is presenting a parenting series, starting with a conversation with suicide prevention specialist, Katie Ellison, MA, MS, NCC, with the Safer Homes Collaborative. Katie will answer the tough or awkward questions about youth suicide and provide parents with tools and resources to access help for their children.
Presenter:
Katie Ellison, MA
Katie Ellison, MA, MS, NCC is the research project director for the Safer Homes Collaborative with Missouri Institute of Mental Health at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Her research focuses on lethal means reduction strategies, such as reducing easy access to firearms in the home as a means of preventing firearm suicide. She has worked in community and school suicide prevention for over thirteen years, earning recognition as a specialist and consultant in community, state and school suicide prevention, intervention and postvention best-practices. Ms. Ellison spent the first ten years of her career working in adult and juvenile corrections before transitioning to working in K-12 public education. In addition to having a bachelor’s degree in Family and Human Development, a master’s degree in Psychology, and a master’s degree in School Counseling, Ms. Ellison struggled with mental health challenges in adolescence and young adulthood, survived a nearly lethal suicide attempt in her twenties, and has journeyed with her child who struggled with mental health challenges in childhood.