School-Based Suicide Postvention from a Liberated Lens: A Community of Practice
October 2022 – May 2023
10:00 am – 12:00 pm PT / 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET (convert to your time zone)
Online via Zoom
This event has passed and registration is closed.
A Community of Practice
A collaborative and conversational space to build the field’s capacity to hold ourselves and each other after death by suicide in our school communities with equity and liberation at the forefront.
Our Essential Questions:
- How might we exist as an advocate for our young people, especially those marginalized in society and in elevated postvention efforts?
- How might we center the inclusion of young folx while also attending to their protection/hold them in trauma-informed ways?
- How might we leverage other frameworks (trauma-informed practices, restorative circles, racial justice, etc.) to intersect with and clarify the approach to suicide postvention?
- How is suicide postvention currently defined, and what would it look like/sound like/feel like to have a more embodied, equitable and liberated approach?
Sessions
Time: 10:00 am – 12:00 pm PT / 1:00 – 3:00 pm ET (convert to your time zone)
- October 20, 2022
- January 19, 2023
- March 9, 2023
- May 11, 2023
This community of practice is a collaborative and brave space for school based or connected practitioners from across the country to come together to share insights, be present together and develop strategies and tools to share with your own networks relating to school suicide postvention, collective care, and healing. Building on last year’s School Suicide Postvention CoP (access resources here), we are deepening our discourse and discussions by designing our space to hold an explicit focus on liberation and the inclusion of young people in our postvention policies, practices, conversations and decisions.
Each of the four CoP sessions focuses on a different question or need for participants to discuss, ideate and leverage collective wisdom to move conversations and practice forward regarding liberated school postvention. This taps into the post-crisis human need for agency, community and growth, while crafting meaning and learning for ourselves and each other.
Sessions will be conversational and focused on resourcing each other, sharing and problem-solving around current dilemmas and providing peer support across roles, experiences and school settings. The goal is to define intentional actions and mindset shifts that create healing and liberating postvention policies and systems of support within school-based teams and those supporting young people in schools.
Learning Goals
- Approach school suicide postvention through liberated, culturally humble, grief sensitive, trauma- informed, healing centered, and youth-focused work
- Collaboratively create content (resources, visuals, lists, etc.) that could be used to inform and engage others that expands postvention beyond the first weeks after a death by suicide (containment) and for longer, more holistic impact (incorporating restorative circles, meaning making, and mourning)
- Expand personal and professional networks for collaboration, collective care and critical analysis with a focus on school suicide postvention.
Resources (priming resources for participants)
Intended Audience
- This community of practice is for anyone who supports student and staff mental health in school settings, state, district and county school administrators, student support services providers, and anyone interested.
- Both previous CoP attendees and those who have not attended a CoP are welcome!
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is this program eligible for Continuing Education Hours (CEH)? No
- Will this offering be recorded? Yes, recordings will be shared only with registrants and the SCRR team
- Do I need to attend all four sessions? Each session can function as a stand-alone experience, but attending all four is recommended to maintain group rapport, trust and connection.
- Who can I contact if I have additional questions? Email us at scrr [at] cars-rp.org with “SCRR Suicide Postvention CoP” in the subject line.
CoP Facilitators
Zeruiah Buchanan (she/her) is a doctoral student in the Epidemiology Department at University of Washington. She began her journey in this work during her prior position as a suicide prevention epidemiologist. Her former education includes psychology, Africana studies, community health education, epidemiology, and biostatistics. Her experience as a Black Queer Hard of Hearing Woman in America and educational background has moved her to be an activist and advocate for marginalized communities that are often made invisible. It is a personal and professional goal for her to promote work surrounding mental health, health equity, cultural humility and liberation. Zeruiah was a co-facilitator for the CoP this past year, and this year, Zeruiah hopes to create a brave space for expansion of critical thinking and bidirectional learning.
Brianna Young (she/hers), M.Ed
SCRR Field Coach with Trauma Transformed
Brianna Young is a Midwest native, currently based in the Bay Area. Her role is a Lead Trainer and Project Specialist with Trauma Transformed, and serves as a Field Coach for the School Crisis Recovery and Renewal project. Having started her professional career as a middle school teacher and instructional coach, Brianna has a particular heart for schools and all the potential they hold. She obtained her Masters of Education from Concordia University, emphasizing Trauma and Resilience in Educational Settings. Brianna dedicates this work to teachers who view their classrooms as healing spaces, and to the students who walk through those doors.
