Why People Die by Suicide with Thomas Joiner, PhD

OCUSPP 2019 Training

OCUSPP is very excited to host Thomas Joiner, PhD, a leading expert on suicide. The training will take place on Thursday, June 27 at Portland State University and provide 5 CEs. To learn more about OCUSPP visit our website.

In his theory of suicidal behavior, Dr. Thomas Joiner, proposes three factors that mark those most at risk of death: the feeling of being a burden on loved ones; the sense of isolation; and the learned ability to hurt oneself. He tests the theory against diverse facts taken from clinical anecdotes, history, literature, popular culture, anthropology, epidemiology, genetics, and neurobiology— and facts about suicide rates among diverse groups.

This training includes seven learning objectives to increase participants knowledge of:

• Approaches to suicide risk assessment
• Developments in the treatment of suicidal behavior
• Epidemiology and risk factors for death by suicide
• New theory of suicidal behavior
• Anecdotal, clinical, and scientific evidence that evaluates theory of suicidal behavior
• Developments in suicide prevention
• Understand the experience of people who are bereaved by suicide

Presenter Biography:

Thomas Joiner went to college at Princeton and received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. He is The Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Psychology at Florida State University (FSU). Dr. Joiner’s work is on the psychology, neurobiology, and treatment of suicidal behavior and related conditions. Author of over 675 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Joiner is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Suicide & Life-Threatening Behavior, and was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship. He received the Dublin Award for career achievement in suicide research from the American Association of Suicidology, as well as research grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and Department of Defense (DoD). The Lawton Professorship and the Dublin Award are the single highest honors bestowed, respectively, by FSU and the American Association of Suicidology. In 2017, he was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He was a consultant to NASA’s Human Research Program, and is the Director of the DoD-funded Military Suicide Research Consortium, a $30 million project which was recently extended for a second five-year phase at a similar funding level.

Dr. Joiner has authored or edited eighteen books, including Why People Die By Suicide, published in 2005 by Harvard University Press, and Myths About Suicide, published in 2010, also with Harvard University Press. The book Mindlessness: The Corruption of Mindfulness in a Culture of Narcissism, came out in 2017, from Oxford. Largely in connection with Why People Die By Suicide, he has made numerous media appearances, including two appearances on the Dr. Phil Show. He runs a part-time clinical and consulting practice specializing in suicidal behavior, including legal consultation on suits involving death by suicide.