Join us for From Hesitation to Help: A Collaborative Approach to Lethal Means Safety Conversations in Clinical Practice, a 3-hour webinar designed to equip mental health clinicians with the tools and knowledge to utilize lethal means safety counseling as a method of suicide prevention. This training emphasizes actionable strategies, client collaboration, and a deeper understanding of the cultural and societal factors surrounding lethal means.
Date/Time
November 19, 2026
2:00 – 5:00pm ET / 11:00am – 2:00pm PT
About The Training
- Earn 2.75 CEs, approved by APA & ASWB. To be eligible to earn CEs, participants must watch the full webinar and pass a final 20-question post-test with a score of at least 75%.
- Cost: No Cost; Training and CEs are free to all learners.
- Target Audience: Mental health professionals and graduate-level students, specifically those serving military, veteran, or military family members and/or clients at risk for suicide.
- Content Level: Intermediate.
Learning Objectives:
Following completion of this training, participants will be able to:
- Describe the rationale for lethal means safety as a method of suicide prevention.
- Apply a culturally sensitive framework to understand the function and meaning of means for a specific client.
- Use direct questions to understand client’s relationships to their firearms.
- Identify at least 2 safe storage options for storing firearms.
- Identify at least 1 safe storage option for storing medication.
- Demonstrate the integration of Lethal Means Safety into clinical approaches to suicide safety planning.
Additional Training Information
Course Description
This 3-hour Zoom webinar will address lethal means safety counseling as a method of suicide prevention. Participants will be introduced to the acute problem of suicide and the concepts and science of lethal means safety, including nuanced considerations of how to navigate client culture, values, and experience related to lethal means. The workshop will cover principles and strategies relevant to increasing safety with any potentially lethal means; however, special attention will be paid to firearms, firearm culture, and safe storage due to the lethality of firearms in a suicidal crisis and the high proportion of suicide deaths via firearm. Content attends directly to the military, veteran, and military family population, including a spotlight on expert insights into lethal means safety with women veterans. Participants will view newly developed video examples of clinical conversations about lethal means. Trainers will introduce and demonstrate concrete strategies related to assessing access to lethal means, engaging and motivating clients to participate in lethal means safety conversations, and integrating lethal means safety into Safety Planning. Participants will be able to ask real-time questions and share comments via Zoom chat and Q&A features.
Commercial Support/Conflicts of Interest
Cohen Veterans Network received a grant from the Face the Fight coalition in order to fund the development of this training. CVN has no other commercial support or conflicts of interest to disclose.
Contact the CVN Training Team
Questions, comments, concerns, grievances, and requests for accommodation:
Please email the CVN Training Team at [email protected].
Training Evaluation Summary
More than 1,000 mental health professionals completed this training and 99% would recommend to others! Learn more about the key strengths of this program and what past training participants had to say.
Requirements & Interaction
Prerequisite Requirements
There are no prerequisites for this training.
Course Interaction
This live training is interactive. Participants may ask and answer questions throughout the presentation and participate in instructor-led discussions. This training may include video demonstrations and participant role play.
System requirements
Participants are required to attend individually on separate devices. We recommend you attend via a desktop computer and not a mobile device. Additional requirements:
- A strong internet connection
- An operating system and web browser that supports Zoom (please refer to Zoom system requirements here).
Additional CE Information
Participants who complete this training in its entirety will be eligible for 2.75 CEs.
Completions requirements
To be considered complete for this training and eligible for CEs, participants must:
- Attend the full training.
- Pass the post-training quiz (20 questions) with a score of at least 75%.
- Complete the entire post-training survey (required by ACE-ASWB).
Receiving CE Certificates
For participants who meet all completion requirements and request a CE certificate, certificates will be issued within 7-14 calendar days of the training. CVN will email participants a copy of their CE certificate.
If participants don’t receive their CE certificate by the date stated at the end of the evaluation survey, they should email [email protected]. CVN cannot issue new CE certificates if more than 30 days have passed since the training (per ACE-ASWB).
Course Schedule
Training introduction, objectives, and guiding principles: 15 minutes
Understanding suicide & rationale for lethal means safety: 20 minutes
Means selection and firearms: 15 minutes
Raising the issue & assessing for lethal means: 20 minutes
BREAK: 15 minutes
Introducing & motivating lethal means safety: 40 minutes
Making a plan: 30 minutes
Review & document: 15 minutes
Wrap up & questions: 10 minutes
Meet the Instructors
Our sessions are led by clinical professionals with hands-on experience and extensive knowledge in suicide prevention strategies.
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Interested in More Training from CVN?
- To find additional on-demand training opportunities from CVN, visit our Training Page. Select from our self-paced courses and earned CEs at no cost.
- To learn more about Lethal Means Safety, check out our new Toolkit for Mental Health Clinicians: Lethal Means Counseling for Military-Affiliated Women.
Join Our Team of Clinicians!
At CVN, we provide our clinicians with extensive, specialized training throughout the year, along with continuous consultation to enhance their practice.