CHADS Coalition for Mental Health is an organization aiming to increase awareness and prevention of suicide and depression. As a volunteer, I worked in their Family Support program, assisting with client intake and therapy. I observed these clients’ inability to flourish as they no longer maintained positive emotion towards living and struggled to psychologically and socially function. CHADS utilizes Suicide Safety Planning in therapy sessions as a prevention tool, this tool emphasizes the use of social relationships and social support. Individuals choosing to involve family or social supporters in planning, treatment, and implementation of therapy seemed to have greater goal accomplishment. Existing research not only identifies social relationships as a dimension of flourishing but also as a strategy to decrease one’s likelihood of suicide. This project examines the value of social relations in combination with observations of client successes and the inclusion of these relationships in Suicide Safety Planning.

Kirby Weiland would like to thank their faculty sponsor Dr. Challis Kinnucan for their support of this project.