VIRTUAL-Thursday, January 23, 2025, 1:00pm-4:00pm-Intertwined Issues Series-Suicide & Substance Use with Suzy Langevin, LICSW, LADC I & Jean Brickman, LADC I

VIRTUAL-Thursday, January 23, 2025, 1:00 PM-4:00 PM-$109 including CEUs

Intertwined Issues Series- Suicide & Substance Use

Suzy Langevin, LICSW, LADC I & Jean Brickman, LADC I

This training will provide clinicians with strategies and supports for managing two interconnected high-risk challenges of suicide and substance use, including strategies for managing our own reactions to this work.

The relationship between substance us and suicide is complex and challenging. This has been compounded in recent years with the opiate crisis, with the continual risk of overdose. This training aims to make connections between suicide and substance use and provide clinicians with actionable ways to talk about these two complex subjects in ways that encourage hope and recovery, paired with harm reduction interventions to keep individuals who are using safe. Secondary trauma and preventing provider burnout from working with these high-risk issues will also be addressed.

Following this training the participants will understand:

• The relationship between substance use and suicide, including the risk of overdose with passive suicidality.
• Identify strategies to address suicide and substance use with shared language and interventions.
• Recognize the signs of vicarious trauma and provider burnout that can result from working with high-risk issues and have 1-2 strategies for combatting that stress.

Your Trainers:

Suzy Langevin, LICSW, LADC I, Director of Training and Professional Development at Open Sky Community Services, is committed to making the best evidence-based tools and supports available to both Open Sky employees and the broader provider community through the Bridge Training Institute. Ms. Langevin has presented regionally and nationally on implementing evidence-based treatment modalities, including the Stephanie Moulton Symposium, NAADAC National Webinar Series, and the Massachusetts Psychiatric Rehabilitation Collaborative Annual Conference. She has extensive training and fidelity coding experience in Motivational Interviewing and is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT).

She had provided training and consultation in a variety of evidence-based treatment modalities to mental health providers, school systems, community groups and state agencies, where feedback has included, “Suzy is very knowledgeable and provides practical insight on how to apply the skill learned in real life situations. Her training approach is upbeat, engaging, and informative.”

In her more than decade long tenure at Open Sky, she served as Director of Dual Diagnosis Services, where she developed a model for services for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders within the agency’s community mental health programming. She also previously worked to implement and supervise the provision of Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) services across adult and adolescent treatment settings and the development and opening of The Bridge Counseling Center, Open Sky’s outpatient division. In 2014, Ms. Langevin was awarded the ABH Excellence in Outcomes Award as a member of the CR for PTSD group. She was selected to the Worcester Area Chamber of Commerce Leadership Worcester Class of 2021.

In addition to her work at Open Sky, Ms. Langevin has experience in a diverse range of settings, including emergency mental health, juvenile justice, residential treatment, and hospital inpatient care.

Jean Brickman LADC I, RCPF, is the Co-Occurring Disorders Clinical Supervisor at Open Sky Community Services.  In her role, she oversees the provision of services for supporting individuals with co-occurring mental health and substance use challenges.  She also provides supervision, training and consultation organizationally to support staff teams in providing recovery-oriented, person-first care and to enhance the capacity of specialty practitioners in delivering these services.

Ms. Brickman has over 15 years of experience, specializing in supporting individuals who are navigating co-occurring disorders, providing direct care across a variety of residential, community-based and outpatient settings. 

Ms. Brickman is passionate about the use of evidence-based practices and has driven agency-wide practice implementations that support multiple pathways to recovery and enhance equitable access to these supports.  These practices include: Harm Reduction strategies, Motivational Interviewing and the use of Seeking Safety and Recovery Life Skills groups, to provide care to individuals at any stage of change. 

Ms. Brickman is a graduate of City University of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she earned an MA in Forensic Psychology.  Jean is a licensed alcohol and drug counselor and licensed social worker.  She holds the designation of Recovery Coach Professional Facilitator through Connecticut Community For Addiction Recovery.