The Washington State House passed the Matt Adler Suicide Assessment, Treatment, and Management Training Act of 2012 on February 10th, 2012. This act adds a new section to chapter 43.70 RCW and requires initial and ongoing training in suicide prevention for Chemical Dependency Professionals, Licensed Social Workers, and other professions. In the Surgeon General’s 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action, she emphasized the importance of instituting “training for all health, mental health, substance abuse, and human services professionals concerning suicide risk assessment and recognition, treatment, management, and aftercare interventions.” This emphasis on training is a consistent theme throughout this report. Another theme is the importance of developing and promoting “effective clinical and professional practice.” This course is designed to help achieve these objectives. The text and material for this course were chosen because they are evidence-based and nationally recognized. The course will review Motivational and Targeted Case Management. Any additional course material will be chosen using the same high standards of “evidence-based”, “emerging practice”, or “best practice”.

Moral Injury & Moral Distress occur when individuals violate or witness violations of deeply held values and beliefs. While these phenomena have been long studied in military and health care workers, examining Moral Injury in the context of other roles, like social work, is a new and emerging inquiry. In this interactive, 90-minute workshop, Cassie Gillespie, LICSW will define, unpack, and explore Moral Injury & Moral Distress, and their unique presentation and impact across social work settings.