Emotionally Naked: A Teacher’s Guide to Preventing Suicide and Recognizing Students at Risk
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, a division of Wiley Publishing, a large educational publisher
Authors: Anne Moss Rogers, Kim O’Brien PhD, LICSW
Publishes: The book is expected to be on sale August 24, 2021
Most important downloads: Model School Policy on Suicide Prevention: Model Language, Commentary, and Resources, After a Suicide: A Toolkit for Schools (Second Edition)
The final manuscript has been sent as of Feb 2, 2021.
What can you expect?
We conducted over 30 interviews with suicidologists, school counselors, school psychologists, and social workers, medical doctors, medical directors, teachers, principals, nonprofits, and more. This book isn’t a remake of what is already out there in the form of evidence-based guides or other books but rather helps teachers and other educators make even small shifts in the school culture to create a foundation of suicide prevention in schools. These strategies have the added benefit of minimizing other poor coping strategies like substance misuse and self-harm.
Some interviewees include: Jim Mazza Ph.D. (DBT Steps-A), Jonathan Singer Ph.D., Victor Schwartz MD, Jessica Chock-Goldman LCSW (school psychologist), Jim McCauley LICSW (Riverside Trauma)
- Pdf downloads of activities, games, mindfulness activators, sample scripts, and protocols that are written about in the book from experts, teachers, and school counselors
- How to spot students at risk. What do they say, draw, write? Including examples.
- How to make schools more inclusive altogether including a lot of emphasis on LGBTQ youth
- What to say and what not to say
- Simple steps to help a student
- Reentry into school after a suicide attempt or when a student has lost a loved one to suicide
- Teacher talking tips for conversations with students after a school community death by suicide
- Ideas on building connection and belonging
- Policies on commemoration and who to include in that policy creation
- Student wellness clubs and sample activities
- What to say to the family when you need to ask about sharing the cause of death
- Programs and training including a few that are not well known
- Data from both Kim O’Brien Ph.D. LICSW and from the thousands of comments and messages from the Emotionally Naked blog and YouTube channel by young people and their parents to help you get inside the heads of those hurting
- Examples of what kinds of clues adolescents leave as a veiled cry for help
- Examples of how to tailor a policy for culturally sensitive populations and how to make lessons more culturally sensitive
- Tips on how educators can respond to students grieving a loss by suicide or other cause of death
- How to promote a help-seeking culture using simple strategies
- How students from middle school and high school made it through their dark period, their coping strategies, where they found support, and how it changed them and helped them grow
And so my Jason is gone. He died alone 1/31/21 and I could not prevent it. For the past 18 months I have been in a maelstrom to save his life, while he was in a frenzy to end it. For 22 years I have been confidante, enabler, co-conspirator, bank of mom and cheerleader. I have custody of his son, 9 years old. Lack of resources, caring and understanding of law enforcement and the epidemic inside the pandemic, our dis-enfranchised vulnerable populations is left to their own devices. Thank you for being here.
Cathy- I know this journey. No support and that desperation and helplessness. You tried so hard. Worked so hard. I’ve known parents who did everything right and lost. And parents who did everything wrong and won. We can’t control it but we try because we are parents. I hope you have support now. One thing is for sure. You have it here.