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Continuing Education

Suicide Risk Factors: Data and Research Updates

October 1, 2026 · 12:00-1:00pm EST
Virtual · Live via Zoom

About This Training:

This introductory seminar provides an overview of current data and research related to suicide risk, with an emphasis on helping mental health clinicians understand recent epidemiological trends and the complex factors associated with suicide risk. Participants will review U.S. suicide prevalence and changes in suicide rates over time, including variation across demographic and identity variables, geographic regions, and suicide methods. The seminar examines long-term risk factors across demographic, health, behavioral, environmental, and contextual domains, including access to lethal means, psychiatric and physical health conditions, interpersonal experiences, systemic discrimination, and social and economic stressors. Participants will also examine acute and imminent indicators of suicide risk and factors that may be protective against suicide. Finally, the seminar reviews research regarding the limitations of predicting suicide outcomes and emphasizes a contextual and intersectional approach to conceptualizing suicide risk.

Learning Objectives:

    • Describe recent trends in suicide prevalence in the United States, including differences across demographic and geographic populations.
    • Discuss at least 2 examples of connections between population-level suicide risk, access to lethal means, and cultural or sociopolitical factors.
    • Differentiate long-term risk factors, acute/imminent risk indicators, and protective factors relevant to the conceptualization of suicide risk.

About The Presenter:

Katie Roeder, PhD

Dr. Kathryn Roeder is a licensed clinical psychologist, Associate Director of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Program, and Senior Expert in Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT) at the Boston Child Study Center. She specializes in evidence-based treatments for adolescents and adults with mood and anxiety disorders, PTSD, personality disorders, emotion dysregulation, perfectionism, and excessive self-control. Dr. Roeder is intensively trained and provides clinical care and supervision in DBT, RO DBT, DBT + Prolonged Exposure (DBT-PE), and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

Dr. Roeder received her B.S. in Psychology with honors from the University of Michigan, where she subsequently contributed to research at the University of Michigan Depression Center and Ann Arbor VA Medical Center focused on suicide prevention and chronic depression. She earned her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University with a specialization in child and adolescent psychopathology, where her research and clinical training focused on peer victimization and the development of depression and suicide risk in youth. Dr. Roeder completed her predoctoral internship at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Boston Child Study Center, where she received intensive training and supervision in DBT, CBT, RO DBT, and exposure-based therapies. She later received a competitive RO Clinician Scholar Award supporting advanced training and supervision in RO DBT.

Continuing Education Information

Instructional Level: 

Introductory

Target Audience: This educational activity is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, and MFT’s.

Continuing Education Credit:

1.0 CE Credit

Boston Child Study Center is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Boston Child Study Center maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE Policies & Disclosures

CE Credit Requirements

To receive continuing education credit for this program, participants must attend the program in its entirety and complete the required program evaluation. Partial credit will not be awarded.

Each participant is responsible for determining whether this program meets the continuing education requirements established by their individual licensing board or regulatory agency.

American Psychological Association
Boston Child Study Center is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Boston Child Study Center maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Participants who meet attendance requirements will receive a link to complete the program evaluation following the event. Continuing education certificates will be issued electronically upon completion of the required evaluation.

Registration Fee: There is no fee to register for this program.

Cancellation: If Boston Child Study Center cancels or reschedules this program, registered participants will be notified using the email address provided during registration.

If you are no longer able to attend, we ask that you cancel your registration so that we can maintain accurate attendance records.

There is no known commercial support for this program.

Boston Child Study Center is committed to providing accessible continuing education programs. Participants who require accommodations to participate in a program may contact Beth Jerskey (bjerskey@bostonchildstudycenter.com) with their request. Please submit accommodation requests as early as possible to allow adequate time for arrangements.

The Boston Child Study Center (BCSC) is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformance with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists. The BCSC will comply with all legal and ethical responsibilities to be non-discriminatory in promotional activities, program content and in the treatment of program participants. The monitoring and assessment of compliance with these standards will be the responsibility of Dr. Beth Jerskey in consultation with the members of the continuing education committee.

While the BCSC goes to great lengths to assure fair treatment for all participants and attempts to anticipate problems, there will be occasional issues that come to the attention of the convention staff which require intervention and/or action on the part of the convention staff or an officer of the BCSC. This procedural description serves as a guideline for handling such grievances.

If you wish to file a grievance, please note that the following actions will be taken:

1. If the grievance concerns a speaker, the content presented by the speaker, or the style of presentation, please put your comments in written format and provide them to Dr. Jerskey. Dr. Jerskey will then pass on the comments to the speaker, assuring your confidentiality.

2. If the grievance concerns a workshop offering, its content, level of presentation, or the facilities in which the workshop was offered, the convention chair will mediate and will be the final arbitrator. If you request action, Dr. Jerskey will:

a. attempt to move you to another workshop, or
b. provide a credit for a subsequent year’s workshop, or
c. provide a partial or full refund of the workshop fee.

Actions 2b and 2c will require a written note, documenting the grievance, for record keeping purposes. The note need not be signed by you.

3. If the grievance concerns the BCSC CE program, in a specific regard, Dr. Jerskey will attempt to arbitrate.

To contact Dr. Jerskey or other members of the Continuing Education Committee, please call (617) 800-9610.
Correspondence can be sent to Dr. Beth Jerskey, 729 Boylston Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, Massachusetts, 02116.

Virtual programs are delivered live via Zoom. Participants are responsible for having a reliable internet connection and a device capable of accessing Zoom. We recommend using the most recent version of Zoom and joining several minutes before the scheduled start time.

Attendance is monitored electronically. Participants must attend the live program for the required duration to receive continuing education credit.

By joining this event, you agree to Zoom’s Event Participant Terms of Use, Privacy Statement, and Terms of Service.

For questions about continuing education, registration, or this program, please contact the BCSC Continuing Education Team at ce@bostonchildstudycenter.com.