Self-harm and suicide prevention in young people: Where is the evidence and what more needs to be do
In This Section

Self-harm is a key risk factor for suicide; the leading cause of preventable death for Australians between 15 and 44 years of age. This webinar will introduce the types of therapies that have been developed for young people engaging in self-harm, the evidence-base for these treatments, and what more needs to be done to further prevent self-harm and suicidal behaviour in young people in Australia.

This webinar will therefore cover the main therapies that have been developed for the prevention of self-harm in young people, the current state of the evidence for these therapies, and what more needs to be done to ensure services respond appropriately to self-harm in young people.

Who is this webinar for?

Clinicians and researchers who work with young people in mental health services, secondary, or primary care. Young people who are accessing services may also find this webinar of interest as it will cover the types of therapies they may experience in these settings.

What will you learn in this webinar?

  • Therapies are typically used in clinical settings to prevent self-harm currently.
  • The evidence-base for these therapies.
  • The current gaps in this evidence-base.

Presenter

Dr Katrina Witt

Dr Katrina Witt is an American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Monash University. Her research centres on probing the evidence-base for novel treatments for self-harm prevention, as well as applying new, epidemiological methods to analyse the trajectories towards self-harm and suicide to uncover novel points of intervention to prevent self-harm and suicide across the age range. She has won a number of awards for the novelty of her work, including as a finalist for the Victorian Young Achiever’s Research Impact Award (2017) and a commendation award from the BUPA Emerging Health Researcher Award (2017).

 

Ana Sterjovska

Ana is a currently in her fourth year of university studying psychology at Monash University.  Her study interests involve positive psychology and interventions in preventing mental illness, and she is passionate about mental health advocacy and reducing the stigma that comes along with mental health issues.

Ana is also a part of the Youth Advisory Group at headspace Sunshine and enjoys her role there in providing a voice for young people.