For the Love of Kids^® 2007 Practical Parenting Conference

 

Catherine Strunk, RN

WORKSHOP TITLE: Surviving the Teens: The unrecognized signs of depression and suicide

WORKSHOP OVERVIEW: In this powerful workshop, you will hear from parents who have suffered the loss of a child by suicide. Depression and suicidal behaviors often go unrecognized by parents and doctors. It is estimated that there are 100 attempts for every completed suicide, and 20% of these teens gave no recognizable warnings. Since the signs are not always obvious, it is important for parents to keep the lines of communication open, actively listen, and recognize the subtle signs of depression and suicidal behaviors. Teen behavior can be a little “off the wall” and even a little frightening. This workshop will help parents sort out the average, expectable eccentricities of teen behavior from signs that their teen may be at risk.

Catherine Strunk is the program director and educator for the Surviving the Teens Suicide Prevention Program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Strunk fully developed and implemented a multi-class curriculum in 2001 that has been presented to teenagers in 34 area schools about stressors, coping, depression and suicide prevention. Currently, she has presented to more than 20,000 teens and hundreds of parents and teachers on depression and suicide.