Webinar: Clinical Management of Obsessions Related to Suicide and Acute Suicidality in OCD Patients

Recorded Webinar | Lifespan

OCD Fundamentals

This course provides clinicians with practical, evidence-based guidance for differentiating between suicidal obsessions in OCD and genuine suicidal ideation, and for selecting the appropriate intervention strategy for each. Participants will learn how to apply Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) for obsessions related to suicide, recognize when to pivot to suicide-specific interventions such as the Safety Planning Intervention (SPI), and integrate comprehensive assessment tools including functional analyses, risk factor evaluation, and the AIM model. Through an accessible review of theory, clinical examples, and structured protocols, clinicians will strengthen their ability to deliver safe, effective care for patients presenting with complex suicidal thoughts within the context of OCD.

Faculty: Martin Franklin, PhD

Learning Objective 1: Participants will be able to recognize OCD patients for whom obsessions related to suicide are a primary part of the clinical picture, and how to apply ERP principles in such cases.

Learning Objective 2: Participants will learn to differentiate symptoms of OCD related to suicide from symptoms of depression and acute suicidality, and recognize which clinical procedures to apply depending on that differentiation.

Learning Objective 3: Participants will learn to Identify situations in which treatment should proceed in accordance with established ERP protocols, and when treatment needs to be modified to directly address acute suicidality and suicidal behaviors.