Simmons College School of Social Work SW 464 – Understanding suicide: Prevention, intervention and postvention

This is the syllabus for a spring 2016 course at Simmons College of Social Work. SW 464  – Understanding Suicide: Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention examines the public health problem of suicide. Topics include suicide epidemiology and underlying theory, as well as risk and protective factors for suicide. This course also covers evidence-based practices and ethical considerations with suicidal clients, including learning directly from individuals with lived experience. Other topics include current state and national strategies for suicide prevention, as well as policies related to suicide. The course is intended to provide students with skills in assessment and management of suicide risk, intervention and treatment techniques with suicidal clients, and postvention approaches with survivors of suicide loss.