Idaho State, Community Suicide Prevention to host virtual suicide prevention conference on Sept. 18

The theme of this year’s conference is “Fostering Hope Through Connections.” The goals of the conference are to increase knowledge about suicide, reduce stigma related to emotional health challenges and to challenge each attendee to take at least one action to reduce suicide. 

The conference will feature keynote speaker Thomas Joiner, a suicide researcher. Joiner will address why people die by suicide and share important information on how we can all work together to prevent suicide. 

Other notable speakers are Dawn Cureton, who will discuss the provision of mental health treatment through online platforms and Linda Hatzenbuehler, who will detail Idaho’s suicide prevention plan. There will also be a panel to discuss cultural perspectives on suicide. 

“Suicide is an all too common occurrence,” said Rick Pongratz, director of the ISU Counseling and Testing Center. “While there is never a simple answer, there is good information available to help us both better understand the factors that contribute to suicide as well as the efforts we can all make to prevent suicides from occurring.”

The virtual suicide prevention conference is open to the public. Attendance is free for ISU students, faculty and staff. For more information and to register, visit https://cspeid.wixsite.com/cspevents.