National Association of Retrospective Fatality Analysis Training (RFA)

Our two-day virtual or in-person training prepares participants to conduct Retrospective Fatality Analysis, expanding upon the psychological autopsy methodology by adding increased breadth and depth. The RFA Process was developed to be used in a variety of contexts, including:

Informing suicide prevention efforts, survivor meaning making, research, legal testimony, equivocal death determinations, and postvention.

Requirements to attend the training:

• A bachelor’s degree.
• Work experience in social sciences, public health, health, death investigation, and/or fields involving support for grieving and bereaved individuals, particularly suicide loss survivors.
• Proficiency in interviewing skills.

Please be aware that behind every suicide statistic there is a person with a family, and suicide loss survivors who are grieving.

Presenters:

Dr. Anne Kelly

Anne Kelly, Ph.D. is a Suicide Postvention Technician with over two decades of experience in suicide prevention and postvention. She specializes in program development, evaluation, and strategic leadership, conducting psychological autopsies to understand suicide risk factors and inform targeted strategies. Anne is a Certified QPR and Adult Mental Health First Aid Trainer and serves as Board Chair of the National Association of Retrospective Fatality Analysis. She also chairs the Community Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Coalition in Mitchell, SD, and serves on the Board of Lost&Found, a nonprofit focused on reducing suicide risk among young people. She has participated in state advisory boards and legislative task forces in South Dakota. Previously, Anne was Dean of the College of Business, Education, and Social Science and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Dakota Wesleyan University, where she taught since 2000. She earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Nevada, Reno.

D r. Shannon Harrison

Dr. Harrison is the Senior Project Analyst supporting the Department of Defense Suicide Prevention Office in Alexandria, VA. She has been a practicing clinician for 27 years, including ten years at Ft. Carson’s Warrior Transition Unit, and Evans Army Hospital’s Child and Family Behavioral Health System. Having worked most of her career in acute care mental health settings, her valuable experience has inspired her to focus her clinical expertise in the area of suicide prevention. She is a Board Certified Diplomat, accredited as a School Suicide Prevention Specialist, a Certified Advanced-Child, Youth, and Family Social Worker, and a founding member of the National Association of Retrospective Fatality Analysts.

Janet Schnell, MSW, LCSW

Mrs. Janet Schnell, MSW, LCSW, completed her master's degree in social work in 2010 at the University of Southern Indiana. She is a contractor for AP3SI as a suicide postvention subject matter expert for the Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO). Mrs. Schnell is a founding Retrospective Fatality Analysis Consultant (RFA-C) member. She is an expert in suicide prevention, intervention, and addressing depression, anxiety, and substance abuse following a suicide. Mrs. Schnell has received numerous awards for her activism in suicide prevention from county, state, and federal agencies. She serves as the President of Survivors of Suicide of Dubois County (SOS) and has been honored with the prestigious Torchbearer Award by the Indiana Suicide Prevention Network. As a certified master trainer for the Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) program, Mrs. Schnell also trains individuals in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). She leads one of the first teams in Indiana in Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors (LOSS), paving the way to offering resources and hope after a suspected suicide death. As a public speaker, Mrs. Schnell shares her personal journey as a suicide loss survivor, which motivated her to become a social worker after her brother's death by suicide.