Presenter: Michelle Sandoval, M.A., LMFT 

Friday, March 28, 202
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Descriptive Narrative:

Navigating Suicidal Care is a presentation that focuses on trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, and anti-incarceral approaches to working with suicidal clients and providing suicidal care as a mental health professional. The presentation will focus on learning the impact of suicidal care such as involuntary hospitalizations, inpatient and outpatient treatment centers and programs, safety plans and crisis response efforts on client’s overall well being. It will provide new tools, resources and guides on how to navigate suicidal care to ensure the safest outcome for clients, especially those who are oppressed by larger systems and structures within our healthcare system. In tandem with that, participants will also engage in exercises, tools and resources on how to de-center their discomfort around suicide to make sure that their decisions in their own distress (fear of liability, our own wounds, etc.) don’t negatively impact or harm their suicidal clients.

Objectives:

• Participants will be able to identify two (2) ways in which  the current mental health system impacts their decision making in times of suicidal care with their clients 

• Participants will be able to list and describe three (3) or more ways in which their own discomfort impacts their application of suicidal care

• Participants will be able to apply three different trauma informed and anti-incarceral interventions to suicidal care with their clients before and/or in lieu of more harmful practices (i.e. involuntary hospitalization)

• Participants will be able to explain the impact of suicidal care in our current mental health systems and the impact on marginalized communities

About the Presenter:

Michelle Sandoval, M.A., LMFT (she/her) is aneuroqueer therapist, disability advocate, and mental health educator /presenter. With 17 years of professional experience in community mental health, school systems, and private practice, she leverages her lived experience as aqueer and Autistic person to provide affirming therapy to neurodivergent clients. Michelle's unique neurotype has fostered adeep curiosity about the world, particularly in her special interest in mental health, making her endeavors in learning and teaching about this field deeply rewarding and enriching.

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