Loading the player...
Information
Lawyers Can Save Lives: Preventing Child and Adolescent Suicide
Length: 1 hour and 7 minutes
This training provides guidance for lawyers on recognizing, addressing, and responding to suicide risks among children and adolescents. The focus is on how lawyers, especially those working with youth or vulnerable clients, can identify warning signs, have conversations about suicidal thoughts, and connect individuals to professional resources. The training emphasizes ethical responsibilities under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and equips lawyers to handle situations involving diminished capacity or imminent harm, while highlighting the importance of preserving client confidentiality when possible.
Learning Objectives
-
Understand the Prevalence of Suicide in Youth.
-
Learn to identify verbal cues, behavioral changes, and mood shifts that may indicate a risk of suicide in children and adolescents.
-
Engage in Conversations About Suicide by developing skills to ask direct and compassionate questions about suicidal thoughts using developmentally appropriate language.
-
Understand and apply the ethical responsibilities lawyers have under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct regarding confidentiality, diminished capacity, and the duty to prevent harm.
-
Be familiar with national and local resources, including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, and understand when to involve additional services, such as Child Protective Services or guardians ad litem.
-
Dispel myths such as the idea that asking about suicide increases suicidal ideation.
-
Leverage Legal Authority to Protect Clients by identifying circumstances where legal action, like petitioning the court or breaking confidentiality, is necessary to ensure safety.
Rebecca L. Mathews, PhD, LCMHCS, LPC-S, Managing Partner, Acclivity, LLC
Dr. Rebecca L. Mathews is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of Counseling and Educational Development at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She loves helping professionals apply sound psychological principles to their practice and regularly trains mental health professionals, lawyers, educators, and physicians.
Rebecca has worked in the mental health field for 17 years and is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Supervisor in North Carolina and a Licensed Professional Counselor and board-approved supervisor in Texas. She is also a Certified Humanistic Sandtray Therapist, Certified Cognitive-Behavioral Group Therapist, and a Certified QPR Gatekeeper Trainer. Rebecca has worked in inpatient, outpatient, private practice, and criminal justice settings, including work as a substance abuse counselor for a Texas drug court where she received the 2015 Drug Court Counselor of the Year award.
Rebecca is an Executive Board Member for the Association of Child & Adolescent Counseling and is a member of the editorial review board for the Trauma & Counseling journal, published by the International Association for Resilience and Trauma Counseling. She was the recipient of the Mental Health Advocate Award by the Association of Child and Adolescent Counseling.
She received her Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling from Texas A&M University-Commerce, her Master of Arts in Psychology from Midwestern State University, and her Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Brigham Young University.
Lisa Mathews, JD, MBA, Acclivity, LLC
Lisa Mathews is the proud owner of Mathews Law, PLLC, a law firm based in Alexandria, VA, and is an experienced family law and estate planning attorney. She has litigated family law cases in courts across Northern Virginia and served hundreds of clients in her estate planning practice. She previously served as Guardian ad litem in Virginia and is certified as a mediator by the Supreme Court of Virginia. Lisa has also litigated criminal defense matters, having served as a court-appointed attorney for low-income defendants, and civil matters, particularly representing small businesses.
Lisa is an adjunct professor at George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School for the LL.M. program. She is a proud member of the Virginia State Bar and the Maryland State Bar Association and is licensed in both states.
?Prior to becoming a lawyer, Lisa worked for Fidelity Investments for 12 years where she led large-scale process improvement initiatives which saved the company hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. She served as a director of operations, responsible for the design of processes and policies for a 240-person business unit with operations in both the United States and India.
Lisa holds a Juris Doctorate from George Mason University where she graduated cum laude, a Master of Business Administration from Indiana University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University, where she majored in political science.
During law school, Lisa interned for Judge Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, published two articles in law journals, and interned at the Department of Justice - Office of Immigration Litigation, Appellate Division, and the Senate Judiciary Committee, Office of Senator Hatch. She also served as Articles Editor of the George Mason Law Review.
