Over five weeks, we will go inside the suicidal part — its function, its protective logic, its relationship to grief, culture, identity, the body, and the clinician in the room. Rooted in Internal Family Systems, decolonized practice, and lived experience.
We are looking at suicidal parts in a way mainstream suicide trainings leave out. That includes the impact of intergenerational trauma, racialized trauma, colonization and capitalism, and oppression. This training is intersectional and honors the Global Majority, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ communities.
This training is paced the way this work unfolds — slowly, relationally, over time. You can bring what you learn into your clinical work between sessions and return the following week with what happened.
Who this training is for
Social workers, psychologists, mental health professionals, students, and interns. No prior IFS experience required but it helps.
Many of us carry our own histories with suicide. Tend to yourself as we go.
The Five Weeks
Week 1 — October 26 | The Foundation Before we can work with suicidal parts, we have to understand what they are trying to do — and why they chose this.
Learning Objectives:
Describe the Internal Family Systems framework — including Self, managers, firefighters, exiles, and the 8 Cs of Self-energy — as it applies to suicidal presentations
Identify the protective function of suicidal parts and explain how suicidal ideation operates as a protective strategy rather than a pathological symptom
Distinguish between life-seeking and death-seeking parts and explain how ambivalence functions as a clinical signal rather than a contraindication to treatment
Week 2 — November 2 | The Spectrum Suicidal parts do not look the same across every age, every loss, or every family — and our clinical response cannot either.
Learning Objectives:
Differentiate suicidal presentations across developmental stages — children, adolescents, and elders — including age-specific risk factors and clinical considerations
Identify self-harm parts and their protective functions along the self-harm to suicidality spectrum, distinguishing intent from function
Apply a five-step IFS-informed clinical protocol when working with suicidal and self-harming parts in the context of grief, loss, and family estrangement
Week 3 — November 9 | The Soma The body knows something is wrong before the words arrive — this week we learn to listen to it.
Learning Objectives:
Recognize somatic indicators of suicidal crisis in clients and identify embodied countertransference responses in the clinician during suicide-related sessions
Apply a Self-energy informed approach to safety planning that centers relational presence and client dignity rather than compliance alone
Describe the somatic and psychological experience of surviving a suicide attempt and identify clinical approaches that honor the body's experience after an attempt
Week 4 — November 16 | Culture and Identity Who gets to have a suicidal part that is understood, believed, and held with care is never a neutral question.
Learning Objectives:
Analyze how intergenerational oppression, racial trauma, and cultural silence shape the formation and expression of suicidal parts within Global Majority communities
Identify population-specific presentations of suicidality among neurodivergent clients, queer and trans clients, veterans, first responders, and spiritually injured or religiously traumatized clients
Apply culturally responsive and liberation-informed clinical adaptations when working with suicidal parts across diverse identities and communities
Week 5 — November 23 | Clinician Parts We will discuss the parts that show up while working with clients and our own suicidal parts — grace and room for both.
Learning Objectives:
Recognize signs of clinician activation, vicarious trauma, moral injury, and burden that emerge specifically in suicide-related clinical work
Identify the clinician's own suicidal parts and describe how unexamined personal history with suicidality or despair may influence clinical presence and decision-making
Implement at least two strategies for sustaining clinical engagement with suicidal populations without sacrificing the clinician's own wellbeing
What you will leave with
A clearer understanding of what suicidal parts protect and why they chose the strategies they chose
A framework for working with suicidal protectors rather than against it
A steadier way to be with what these disclosures stir in your own system
Culturally responsive, liberation-informed approaches to suicidality across diverse populations
Greater compassion, curiosity, and respect for suicidal protectors — in clients and in yourself
A different first question to ask: what is this part carrying?
This training goes deeper than coping skills and safety planning. It gets to the root. When we understand what a suicidal part is protecting, we stop fearing it. We start sitting with it. That shift changes what is possible in the room.
Format
This is a live, virtual training held via Zoom. Each session runs 90 minutes. Sessions are recorded and available to registered participants as a supplemental learning resource.
NBCC CE hours are available only to participants who attend the live sessions. Recordings do not qualify for continuing education credit.
Ten to fifteen minutes of each session are protected for case reflection and Q&A.
Details
Mondays, October 26 – November 23, 2026
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM EST
Virtual via Zoom
Your Zoom link arrives with your registration confirmation.
Continuing Education
This training offers 7 NBCC Continuing Education Hours across five sessions. Full live attendance at each session is required for CE credit. No partial credit will be provided. Participants must attend all five sessions in full. Attendance will be verified through Zoom logs and participation records.
A workshop evaluation will be emailed following the final session. Certificates of completion are emailed within 72 hours of receipt of the completed evaluation and verification of attendance.
Tasha Hunter, MSW, LCSW has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP #8104. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Ascension Growth Center, PLLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
This training is committed to accessibility and ADA compliance. Participants requiring accommodations are encouraged to submit requests in advance. The Provider is dedicated to ensuring an inclusive learning environment for all participants and will promptly address accommodation requests in alignment with federal, state, and local ADA guidelines.
Investment: $500 / Split payments are available upon request
Want to go deeper after the training ends? A consultation group will be available for participants who want continued support and clinical practice beyond the five weeks. Details to follow.
Registration closes October 23, 2026.
Register Here: https://form.jotform.com/tashahunterlcsw/coming-back-to-life
Refund Policy
No refunds will be issued for cancellations received after October 1, 2026