Assessing & Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR) - Columbus

The Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation(OSPF) invites you to this 1-day workshop designed to train outpatient treatment providers in how to recognize and assess suicide risk, plan for client safety, and manage the ongoing care of at-risk patients/clients. Josephine Ridley, Ph.D., AMSR Master Trainer, will educate on the effective prevention of client suicide.

AMSR is a Zero Suicide Institute (ZSI) at the Education Development Center (EDC) training. Training services will be performed by the ZSI at EDC for the Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation.

Workshop Components:

Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk (AMSR®) for Health and Behavioral Health Professionals Working in Outpatient Settings (AMSR-Outpatient) formulation model and helps clinicians feel confident navigating challenging conversations about suicide. AMSR offers key strategies for providing compassionate care to people at risk for suicide. The training is designed for clinicians with a master’s or doctoral degree in a behavioral or mental health field, including:

• Social workers
• Professional counselors
• Marriage and family therapists
• Psychologists
• Psychiatrists
• Psychiatric nurses

This 6.5 hour in-person training will teach essential skills through video, live demonstrations, and paired and written practice. By the conclusion of the training, participants are able to:

• Reconcile the potential conflict between their goal to prevent suicide and the patient’s desire to eliminate psychological pain via suicidal behavior.
• Manage their own emotional reactions with the aim of establishing a shared perspective and maintaining a non-adversarial stance.
• Use skilled questions to elicit each patient’s unique suicidal ideation, behavior, and plans in order to offer patients realistic hope for recovery.
• Develop a collaborative safety plan that is tailored to a patient’s needs and conveys the message that their safety is the highest priority.
• Discussion of Means Restriction.
• Gain knowledge in the following core competencies: maintaining an effective attitude and approach; collecting accurate assessment information; formulating risk; developing a treatment and services plan; and managing care.
• Identifying changes to make in their practice, specific to the assessment and management of individuals at risk for suicide.

Continuing Education Information:

Participants who fully complete this training will also be eligible for 6.5 hours of continuing education credits from APA and NASW. As these are National-level CEs, you will need to check with your respective Ohio licesning board to see if they will accept this credit. Participants must participate in the entire training to receive credit. Per AMSR standards, partial credit will not be awarded.

Per our grant funding, this opportunity is intended for providers who work with youth between the ages of 10-24 in some clinical capacity. Funding for this Safety Plan Training was made possible (in part) under grant number SM086105 from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The views expressed in written conference materials or publication & by speakers & moderators do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of CMHS, SAMHSA, or HHS; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Registration Deadline: June 19, 2026

Registration Fee: $40.00 to cover the cost of administrative fees, lunch, and CEU processing. OSPF's SAMHSA Garrett Lee Smith Grant is covering the training & materials cost.

Registration includes, beverages, lunch and CEU's, if required.

Contact Information for Questions:

Austin Lucas
Associate Director
Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation
austin.lucas@ohiospf.org