Training Format:
On Demand
CEs Available and Cost:
1 HR FREE CE Training in Suicide Prevention
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Resilience is more than the absence of symptoms—it’s the capacity to stay connected to life in the face of pain and uncertainty. In this one-hour training, we’ll explore how the brain, body, and sense of self work together to protect against suicidality, and how connection may be our most powerful tool in prevention. You’ll learn practical, relationship-centered strategies, informed by neurobiology and ego state work, to help clients strengthen their ability to weather life’s hardest moments.
STATISTICS ON SUICIDE
- In 2023, over 49,000 people died by suicide in the U.S.—that’s one every ~11 minutes.
- In 2024, about 5.5% of U.S. adults seriously thought about suicide in the last year.
- Young adults (18-25) are among the highest risk: ~2.0% of people in that age group reported a suicide attempt in the past year.
- Nearly half (≈ 46%) of people who die by suicide have a known mental health condition.
- Key protective factors include resilience, social connectedness, coping/problem‐solving skills, supportive relationships, and sense of purpose.
- Studies show higher levels of resilience are significantly associated with lower incidence of suicidal ideation, even when accounting for other risk factors.
- Social support + resilience are strong protectors against depressive symptoms and suicidal thinking.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
This one-hour continuing education training invites clinicians to reframe suicide prevention through the lens of resilience, connection, and trauma-informed practice. Rather than focusing solely on risk management, this course explores how neurobiological and psychological capacities for resilience serve as protective factors against suicidality. Participants will learn how experiences of safety, belonging, and attunement can reduce suicide risk and foster hope, even in the presence of profound pain.
The training will integrate principles of ego state theory, demonstrating how understanding clients’ internal parts or states can inform compassionate and effective interventions. Practical strategies will be emphasized, with attention to relationship-centered approaches that strengthen resilience, deepen therapeutic alliance, and create space for clients to reconnect with their inherent capacity for survival and growth.
Case examples and clinical applications will illustrate how therapists can support clients in moving from isolation and despair toward safety and connection. By centering resilience and belonging, this course empowers clinicians to bring skill, attunement, and humanity into their work.
Who is Next Therapist?
NextTherapist is a healthcare platform committed to making therapy accessible, compassionate, and personalized. They connect individuals with the right therapist by ensuring a precise, human-centered matching process while streamlining intake, waitlist management, and scheduling for therapists. Their goal is simple: personalized healing through faster connection.
They eliminate the stress and friction from finding mental health support by providing an easy, intuitive, and stigma-free experience. Through personalized therapist matching, real-time scheduling, and seamless waitlist integration, they ensure individuals get the care they need quickly and efficiently.
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Who is IRIS Training Collective?
Iris is not here to sell you a product but to invite you into a process. They're building something different: a space where you don’t have to shrink to fit in. Where your intuition, intellect, and embodiment matter just as much as your clinical skills. And where training isn’t just about CE credits, it’s about becoming the therapist you actually want to be.
At IRIS, they have built the kind of training they wish they had. Grounded in real clinical work, rich with wrap-around support, and rooted in the belief that growth does not come from perfection but from practice. They are three practicing clinicians who balance therapy, teaching, continued learning, and the complexities of their own lives, just like you.
Their teaching is not about telling you what to do. It is about helping you trust your own clinical judgment and intuition, while holding empathy, courage, and precision. If you are called to this work, they would be honored to support your growth and your journey.
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Describe the neurobiological and psychological components of resilience that protect against suicidality.
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Identify at least two ways connection and belonging act as protective factors in suicide prevention.
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Explain how ego state theory can inform interventions for clients experiencing suicidal thoughts or behaviors.
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Apply one or more practical, relationship-centered strategies to strengthen client resilience in the face of suicidal risk.
MEET YOUR TRAINERS
Laurel Thornton, LPC
Laurel Thornton is a licensed counselor, clinical supervisor, and EMDRIA-approved consultant known for her ability to make complex concepts both clear and actionable. As a neuro-psychotherapist, she brings a deep understanding of brain-based healing to her work with complex trauma, neurodivergence, and high-performing individuals. Laurel owns a group practice, Whole Brain Solutions, specializing in EMDR for stress- and trauma-based disorders and blends clinical excellence with whole-person care.
As a passionate educator and co-founder of the Whole Brain Institute and the Iris Training Collective, Laurel helps professional helpers and healers deepen their skills with clarity, creativity, and compassion. She brings a love of the AIP model and a respect for each brain’s unique wiring into every training space—empowering clinicians to trust themselves, embrace nuance, and lead with purpose.
Laurel’s teaching brings a belief in the learner’s unique brain, clarifying insight, humor, and a steady commitment to cultivating spaces where learning is both rigorous and deeply human.
Jessica Downs, LCSW
Jessica Downs, LCSW, is an EMDR Advanced Trainer and Consultant specializing in complex trauma and dissociation. She brings warmth, clarity, and a playful spirit to her work, integrating EMDR with Ego State Therapy, Polyvagal Theory, and the Theory of Structural Dissociation. Jessica is passionate about helping clinicians build confidence and deepen their therapeutic skills.
A skillful and caring healer, in addition to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), she incorporates Ego State Therapy, Polyvagal Theory and the Theory of Structural Dissociation into her one-on-one work with adults of all ages. Jessica is known for her warm, grounded presence, and her ability to bring playfulness to the often difficult work of therapy.
While pursuing her master's degree in social work at the University of Denver, Jessica was introduced to the benefits of EMDR for the treatment of trauma. The education she received led her to seek out advanced training in EMDR, and to pursue certification. Today, Jessica shares her expertise in EMDR as an Advanced trainer and Consultant to other therapists, looking to deepen their therapeutic skills.
