Article archive / April 1, 2015
Originally published: . Volume 6, No. 4. Source pages: 1, 5.
Dr. William Schmitz, Jr., President of the American Association of Suicidology and clinical psychologist, presented as a plenary session speaker at this year’s annual conference of the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, held at Hilton Capitol Center in downtown Baton Rouge, March 18 through 20.
Dr. Schmitz spoke to the full convention on Dispelling the Fear of Working with the Suicidal Patient. He pointed to suicide warning signs, how social workers can measure suicide risk, and steps for dealing with a crisis and how to restrict the person’s access in carrying out plans.
Dr. Schmitz told the Times, “There’s so much fear in the mental health professions, because they have poor or no training, and don’t know what to do.” And he said, “That’s what this is about, dispelling the fear.”
“This should be a basic skill in everyone’s training. I’ve heard from several people who say, ‘I don’t treat suicidal people,’ and that scares me because you don’t control who walks through your door or what health crisis they do or do not have,” he said.
The talk was one of numerous sessions and other plenary speakers for the annual conference, said Carmen Weisner, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Executive Director of the Louisiana Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
It was, “… the optimum time for over 775 social workers to gather for their annual conference,” she said, and explained that she was humbled by the turnout for this year’s gathering. This year marks the 60th anniversary of the National Association of Social Workers, Weisner said.
“Each year, we are challenged to provide training that is relevant and diverse. I think we accomplished that goal,” she said. “The broad range of the offerings reflect the diversity of the social work profession.”
Dr. Schmitz was invited to speak by the group. “Social Workers care,” he said, “they understand this is a dire need for health care and mental health care in general. I’d like all the state boards to do this. I want skilled, competent providers, so when Louisianans reach out for care, they’ll get good care.”
Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. Despite being the most frequently encountered behavioral emergency in mental health settings, most mental health workers have minimal, if any, training in the assessment and management of suicidality, Dr. Schmitz and other experts in the area have pointed out.
“An additional concern is,” Schmitz explained, “due to the anxiety and the potential pain in providers, due to the poor or zero training, it’s easy to miss basic information. The fear impairs the executive functioning.”
“One of the remedies is training,” Schmitz said. “Every mental health professional should have the core essential skills. It’s like if you go to your primary care doctor with chest pain and they say, ‘I don’t know CPR, so I can’t treat you.’ The irony is that in all our health systems, and as a shrink, I have to be trained in CPR. But in 10 years I’ve seen only one person who even remotely was in that situation. I still take CPR every two years,” Schmitz said.
Also presenting at this year’s NASW conference were psychologists Dr. Leslie Drew and Dr. Kelley Pears, and social workers Laurie Guillory, and Dana Rippy. The group presented PTSD and Evidence Bases Therapies and helped attendees learn to properly diagnose Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which disorders are commonly co-occurring with PTSD, and information on evidence-based practices such as Prolonged Exposure Therapy.
Dr. Angelo McClain, the national Executive Director for the organization, led off the conference with a welcome video, Weisner said, explaining the value of membership in one’s professional organizaton. And, she said there were numerous breakout sessions and plenary speakers over the course of the conference.
According to the Center for Disease Control suicide rates have been increasing. In 2009 the number of deaths from suicide surpassed the number of deaths from automobile accidents. Last year CDC researchers reported that the annual, age-adjusted suicide rate among persons aged 35 to 64 years had increased 28.4 percent from 1999 to 2010.
This article is part of a historical newspaper archive. Read the original issue for its original layout, photographs and graphics.