Trauma-informed school-based prevention services: Support to students following a suicide death

This paper highlights the role of school social workers and other school-based mental health professionals in postvention activities, supports and services provided by the school following a student’s suicide death. Reflecting the traumatic nature of the unexpected death of a student in the school community, the described postvention activities use SAMHSA’s trauma-informed principles to frame […]

Caregiver experiences of adolescent school reentry after adolescent hospitalization due to suicidal thoughts and behaviors: Recommendations to improve reentry practices

Background Suicide rates among adolescents increased over the past few decades. Following psychiatric hospitalization, many adolescents return to school, a context that can influence recovery. Families can play an integral role in supporting adolescents through the hospitalization and school reentry process; however, little research has focused on family experiences during adolescent school reentry. Grounded in […]

Supporting Indigenous child suicide prevention within classrooms in Canada: Implications for school psychologists and educators

Indigenous young people in Canada are disproportionately overrepresented in suicide rates and alarmingly, young children are accounted for in these disparities. Since children spend much of their day at school, schools are a vital context for suicide prevention, identification, and intervention. However, research indicates that educators often report that they feel unprepared to address mental […]

A national survey of school counselors’ experiences with student death by suicide

We examined school counselors’ experiences with student’s suicide. Our quantitative findings identified that encountering the death of a student by suicide is common for school counselors during their careers. School counselors reported a range of personal and professional reactions and relied on different sources of support following students’ deaths. School counselors who experienced student’s death […]

Depression, suicide and the gifted student; A primer for the school psychologist

Growing up gifted often means growing up “different.” As schools struggle to provide appropriately designed interventions for student mental health issues, the role of the school psychologist is becoming increasingly important. In the present article, the role of the school psychologist is discussed, particularly as related to helping gifted students who may be manifesting symptoms […]