Suicide Prevention Course

“Identifying, Assessing, & Responding to Suicide Risk”

Instructor: Gregory M. White, MS, LMHC, CCHP

WSDOH Approval #TRNG.TG.60715084- SUIC: On the Model List for Suicide Prevention programs in Washington State for health professionals

6 CREDIT HOURS AWARDED UPON COMPLETION

To host this training, please contact Mr. White at gwhite@nwfamilylife.org.

ABOUT THE COURSE: 58 SEMINARS COMPLETED WITH 839 PARTICIPANTS SINCE 2013

This course will include research information from agencies such as the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the American Association of Suicidology for an in-depth look at the prevalence of suicide, the risks and warning signs, effective treatments and protective factors. Mr. White utilizes case examples, research articles, videos, and break-out groups to facilitate a dynamic 6-hour training. By the end of the training, clinicians will be familiar with several risk assessment tools and safety planning guidelines that should give them confidence when working with suicidal patients/clients.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Gregory White received his Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Seattle Pacific University in 1983. Early on, his professional experience included working in a residential treatment program for teens, private practice, and outreach crisis intervention for families. Then, for 23 ½ years, Mr. White worked as a mental health professional at the Snohomish County Jail in Everett, WA, a facility that had the largest mental health patient count in the county on any given day. During that time he assessed hundreds of people who made suicide statements, suicide gestures, and serious suicide attempts. Mr. White has had extensive experience working with families, clinicians, case managers, psychiatric providers, courts, and DCRs when developing treatment plans and safety plans for at-risk detainees returning back to the community. As a consultant, Mr. White has provided subject matter expertise for the National Institute of Corrections, the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, OmniSure Consulting Group, Wolters Kluwer Lippincott Professional Development, and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care.

Mr. White is married, has two adult children, and resides in Washington state.

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDITS

Northwest Family Life has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6300

FEE

Host this seminar at your agency for $100 per person (Minimum 5 participants)

Note from the Washington State Department of Revenue: Starting Oct. 1, 2025, live presentations are a retail sale subject to retailing business and occupation (B&O) tax and retail sales tax.

Groups that have hosted this training in-person include: Accent Counseling, Salish Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organization, Wrightway Counseling, Lummi Behavioral Health, CoHear/BCS, Briarwood Health Center at Timber Ridge, Samaritan Center of Puget Sound, MultiCare Auburn Medical Center, Sophie Trettevick Indian Health Center, The Center, and The Everett Clinic. Groups that have hosted this training virtually include: Bell Tower Counseling, Muckleshoot Behavioral Health, Counselor’s Choice Award, The Seattle Clinic, Elder Education Institute at Sound Generations, NW Medical Specialties, Pacific Northwest Counsel of Nephrology Social Workers, Cascadia, and Navos. Groups that have hosted a shorter version of this training include Compass Housing Allowance, The Patrick Group, Seattle University, SRT MisAnon Services, The Skokomish Tribe, and North Shore Community Church. Here are some of the responses from these trainings:

2026 “Greg’s course, “Identifying, Assessing, and Responding to Suicide Risk”, was highly valuable to our team. It was informative, relevant, and carefully curated to address key elements of this important topic. Even with what is a sensitive and heavy topic, Greg brought genuine levity, care, and attention to the subject. Our practice walked away feeling more confident and competent in being able to support and address a very real and growing area of concern for the mental health field. I offer our sincerest recommendation and gratitude for the opportunity.” Kaileh Butler- Clinical Director; Accent Counseling, Inc, Bellingham, WA

2026 “We were fortunate to host Greg at our group practice for a suicide risk assessment and prevention training, with about half of our clinicians participating. I personally found the training to be both engaging and incredibly helpful on such an important, and often intimidating, topic. Greg struck a thoughtful balance between humor and seriousness, which made the material accessible while still honoring the weight of the subject. It was especially valuable to host the training at our own site, as it made participation convenient and helped establish a shared foundation of knowledge and approach among our team. After the training, I felt significantly more confident in assessing and responding to suicidal ideation in my clinical work. I would highly recommend this training to any agency looking to strengthen both competence and confidence in this critical area.” Etjen Mack-Palmer, MA, LMHC, Counselor, Accent Counseling, PLLC 2024 “Our team of mental health clinicians thoroughly enjoyed our training with Greg White. He made the content clear, relevant, and interactive in a way that helped us grow our confidence and skills in assessing for suicide risk and providing us with the tools and knowledge needed to support our clients and intervene when necessary. We would highly recommend this training to any other healthcare providers who want to broaden their skills and feel well-equipped to care for people who struggle with suicidal ideation and behavior.” Katie Ribera, MA, LMHC, Executive Director & Counselor, Bell Tower Counseling

2024: “I am writing to enthusiastically endorse Gregory White for his thoughtful suicide assessment training. Greg provided exceptional communication leading up to the training, and thoughtfully tailored the training to meet the needs of my team and the unique population we serve. Greg has profound expertise in his field and an ability to engage participants through story telling his lived experiences. His use of break out groups created a thought provoking training. I highly recommend Greg White for any risk assessment training initiatives your organization may consider. His professionalism, knowledge, and ability to tailor programs to meet specific needs make him an invaluable asset to any training program.” Hayley Henry, LMHC, Mental Health Manager, Muckleshoot Behavioral Health Program

2024: “The course was informative with theory and practice but also touched on many different personal experiences and case studies that helped to illustrate the points. The use of small group discussions was a useful tool for keeping participants engaged…We’d be happy to have him teach for us again and got incredibly positive feedback from students who overall found the course as “Excellent”. Leo DeBroeck, MS, LMHC, CMHS, President of Counselor’s Choice Award

2024 “Greg’s training is fantastic – it was not only thorough, full of practical and useful information, and applicable to a wide variety of treatment settings, it was also engaging for the entirety of the six hours (no mean feat!). My colleagues and I admired the balance of seriousness and human-ness that infused the hours we spent in Greg’s training, and were grateful for the way he brought his decades of experience to bear in the room…I cannot say enough good things about him and his class, and would recommend him without hesitation to anyone wanting further training in this challenging topic!” Kai Scantlin, Psy.D, The Seattle Clinic

2023 “I facilitate an education program for health professionals and other service providers who work with older adults and was hard pressed to find a qualified instructor who specializes in teaching about suicidality in this specific population. Greg White was recommended to me as a great instructor…The workshop was engaging and dynamic, and the students found it provided them with crucial training to deal with possible suicidality in their clients.” Alison Laird Craig, Continuing Education Specialist, The Elder Education Institute at Sound Generations

2023 “As a clinic with multiple healthcare disciplines, we were looking for suicide training relevant and meaningful to all of our healthcare providers, from the oncologists, advanced practice providers, and registered nurses to LICSWs. Greg White beautifully orchestrated the training to meet the needs of all in attendance. Following the training, providers at the practice report feeling more confident in identifying, assessing, and responding to suicide.” Abra Kelson, LICSW, Support Services Manager Northwest Medical Specialties, PLLC

2023 “You engaged a diverse audience with a well‐researched survey of information…Personal anecdotes, video clips, and small group work engaged the audience. The presentation made excellent use of updated sources and supplementary material. Mental health clinicians, substance use professionals, and peer counselors reported that they felt the training improved their practice.” Amy Browning, LICSW, Care Manager/Systems Coordinator for Salish Behavioral Health Administrative Services Organization

2022 “His expertise and experience working with individuals who are suicidal will contribute to the knowledge others will gain when participating in his trainings. Mr. White will keep you engaged from real life stories of those in crisis to the techniques he shares that have shown to be successful. We completed his training feeling more confident in our clinical practice when working with our patient population.” Dawn Menchen, MSW, LSWAIC, Chair of the Pacific Northwest Counsel of Nephrology Social Workers

2020 “It went above my expectations. I have had suicide-related trainings before and usually leave feeling overwhelmed, heavy-hearted, and with only a little new knowledge. This one was very informative, and I appreciated that it was presented in a way that was respectful to the topic, but not burdensome to the participant. Thank you! Participant from Cascadia training

2020 “The speaker was excellent and well-versed in suicide and suicide prevention. I enjoyed the mix of lecture, media, and breakout groups. I’m very picky on speakers, and found this presentation to be excellent” Participant from Navos training

2020 “He is an engaging speaker that is willing and able to adapt to his audience. Greg provided current information and answered questions appropriately and with great insight. He promoted a positive learning environment…Everyone in attendance was impressed with his presentation of this challenging topic. I would encourage all professional therapists, first responders and non-profit personnel to participate in at least one of his trainings.” Joel Wright, MA, LMHC, Founder of Wrightway Counseling Services, Arlington, WA

2019 “It reduced my anxiety towards these situations by providing tangible tools & skills…Providing the specific frameworks & screening tools…the specific questions to ask & topics, variety of resources…Extremely helpful” Participant from Lummi Behavioral Health

2019 “On behalf of the CoHear/BCS staff, I want to thank you for your training of “Identifying, Assessing, and Responding to Suicide Risk”. Your wisdom, years of experience and understanding the of the scope of this issue made the training interesting and challenging for us. You encouraged us as mental health providers to sharpen our awareness and strengthen our courage to openly address this issue with our clients. Your self-disclosure, empathy and sincerity modeled to us how to genuinely and appropriately relate to our at-risk clients. I can highly recommend you and your training to other health professionals dealing with suicide risk.” Brian L. Whitney MA, LMFT, LMHC, S-PSB, Clinical Director CoHear/BCS, Bellevue, WA

2019 “We had the pleasure to have Mr. Gregory White provide suicide prevention training at our Health Center in July 2019. His class was very interactive and full of knowledge. His real life experiences with patients made his class interesting…Our staff was fully engaged in his class…Greg encouraged participation from the staff…I would recommend his class to anyone looking to get suicide prevention training.” Monica Jaswal, Staff Development Nurse, Briarwood Health Center at Timber Ridge, Issaquah, WA

2019 “Greg was extremely helpful to our staff in providing accessible, useful, comprehensive clinical information about suicide prevention in a style and manner which was encouraging, hopeful, and skill-sharpening…The team was grateful for his leadership, his flexibility, his deep knowledge of this field and his skillful service to our team in this area. We could not have wished for a more comprehensive or useful training on this topic and highly recommend Greg for training, collaboration, and consultation.” Laura Benton, MS, LMFT, Clinical Training Director, Samaritan Center of Puget Sound.

2018 “I would like to extend my highest appreciation to Gregory White from the people who attended his training in the Neah Bay community…He was extremely knowledgeable and his sense of humor was a great asset to a very hard topic…I would highly recommend him to any organization or team that needs to be fully informed on all the aspects of this topic.” Betty Poffenbarger, Behavioral Health Manager, Sophie Trettevik Indian Health Center, Neah Bay, WA

2018 “Case studies were on point…Provided additional tools to use to help others…Knowledge of issue very good; so relayed info well.” Participant from The Skokomish Tribe

2015 “We recently utilized Mr. White’s expertise for our clinical team for suicide prevention. We have been providing clinical treatment for 31 years and we have experienced many trainers. Greg White is in the upper 1% of professional presentation, knowledge, and communication skills. Our entire team really enjoyed and benefited.” Dr. Greg Jantz, PhD, CEDS, Founder, The Center, Edmonds, WA