This week on #SPSM Chat co-hosts Rudy Caseres (@RudyCaseres), Marie Shanley (@Mxiety), and Joelle Marie (@LazTheLazTheLaz) discuss “The Role of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in Suicide Prevention” with guest Dr. Ursula Whiteside (@ursulawhiteside).

Watch as we discuss issues such as:

What have been your experiences with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), positive and/or negative?

Can DBT skills help people who are in a suicidal crisis?

How can we change the culture around suicide reduction?

How can we pair DBT skills with lived experience stories to help manage suicidal thoughts?

Learn more about Dr. Whiteside and her work at UrsulaWhiteside.org and NowMattersNow.org

Further Reading and Watching:

Reducing Suicidal Thoughts with DBT Skills

APA 2019 Main Stage: Ursula Whiteside on Suicide Prevention

What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)?

DBT Core Evidence

Evidence of Increased PTSD Symptoms in Autistics Exposed to Applied Behavior Analysis 

Modified Dialectical Behavior Therapy to Improve Emotion Regulation in Autism Spectrum Disorders

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**SPSM Chat includes content about suicide and other experiences that may be traumatizing to you. You may experience strong or overwhelming emotions as a result. If you find yourself in distress or crisis, we encourage you to seek out support that works for you. Many people find it helpful to talk to a friend, family member, or someone else they trust.

If you would like formal crisis support, you can call National Suicide Prevention Lifeline ‘1-800-273-TALK (8255)’, Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 (U.S.) or 877-330-6366 (Canada), or The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. If you don’t like talking on the phone, you can text HOME to 741741 to get to Crisis Text Line, or you can try Lifeline Crisis Chat. If you’d like to talk to a peer, warmline.org contains links to warmlines in the United States. If you’re not in the U.S., you can go to https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/ for a connection to crisis centers around the world.

Many of these resources could utilize restrictive interventions, like active rescues (wellness or welfare checks) involving law enforcement or emergency services. A warmline is least likely to do this, but still might have these policies. You can ask if this is a possibility at any point in your conversation if this is a concern for you.

The following do not implement any restrictive interventions for people considering suicide:

Peerly Human online support groups: https://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860 (U.S.) or 877-330-6366 (Canada)**

Dr. Ursula Whiteside is a licensed clinical psychologist, CEO of NowMattersNow.org and Clinical Faculty at the University of Washington. As a researcher, she has been awarded grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Dr. Whiteside is co-investigator on a study involving over 18,000 high-risk suicidal patients in four major health systems. This study includes a guided version of NowMattersNow.org, a program she developed that includes skills for managing suicidal thoughts based on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and paired with Lived Experience stories.

Dr. Whiteside is national faculty for the Zero Suicide initiative, a practical approach to suicide prevention in health care and behavioral healthcare systems. This program was recently described by NPR on a segment titled “What Happens If You Try to Prevent Every Single Suicide?” Dr. Whiteside serves on the faculty of the National Action Alliance Zero Suicide Academy. She is also a founding board member of United Suicide Survivors International and a member of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Standards Trainings and Practices Committee.

As a person with Lived Experience, she strives to decrease the gap between “us and them” and to ensure that the voices of those who have been there are included in all relevant conversations: nothing about us without us.