The fifth annual suicide prevention conference in Contra Costa County was held Friday, June 10, 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Concord. More than 300 people attended, most of them mental health professionals.
The conference was co-sponsored by the Crisis Center, Contra Costa Mental Health, and John Muir Health. Funding was provided by the Mental Health Services Act and conference fees.
Past conference presenters have been Dr. David Rudd, Dr. Marsha Linehan, Dr. David Jobes, and Dr. Shawn Shea—all noted experts in the field. This year’s speaker was Dr. Thomas Joiner. He has published dozens of research papers on suicide and is the Brice-Burton Professor of Psychology at Florida State University. He’s also the editor of Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior and the author of Why People Die by Suicide and Myths About Suicide, both published by Harvard University Press. Suicide has been the primary focus of Joiner’s professional career after his father died by suicide while Joiner was in college.
