(PS13-39) The Impact of a Single Postvention Training for Students

A client’s death by suicide is a harrowing but unfortunately common experience for mental health clinicians and trainees. Research highlights the need for postvention practices that support the impacted clinician(s). Current postvention research finds that professionals often experience stress reactions and emotional upheaval in the wake of client suicide, in addition to professional struggles such as lowered confidence, self-doubt, and fear of legal consequences (Dransart et al., 2017).  A client suicide elicits both professional and personal emotions, and clinicians must be provided with a safe space for acknowledging the impact of the loss, mourning and reflection, and professional support. Despite the clear need for postvention, many mental health training programs do not equip trainees with knowledge regarding how to respond to a client’s death by suicide. The current study examines the impact of a three-hour didactic on postvention provided to Psy.D. students. The didactic will include a brief lecture, a panel discussion by licensed clinicians who have experienced a client’s suicide, and time for questions and discussion. Students will be asked to complete pre- and post-assessment measures to evaluate learning and impact of the didactic. This poster will present results and supply future recommendations for postvention trainings.