Presentations

Ben’s spoken about this topic for over 15 years and focuses on finding connection and purpose in life through genuine internal confidence. 

Ben believes that the biggest flex of mankind today is having inner peace. Once someone has that, they have a fulfilled life. 

Ben talks about finding that peace and confidence in your every day life. 

These principles and values he talks about helped him go from not having purpose to winning a world championship and having an award winning film made about his life. 

Walk the Talk America (WTTA) will open the session with a brief introduction to the organization’s mission of bridging the gap between mental health and responsible firearm ownership. Attendees will learn how WTTA works alongside healthcare professionals, researchers, and the firearms community to reduce suicide through education, trust, and practical, voluntary solutions rather than stigma or politics. The presentation will highlight why secure firearm storage can serve as a meaningful layer of protection during temporary periods of elevated risk while still respecting responsible firearm ownership. 

The session will then transition into a realistic mock patient-clinician scenario demonstrating practical, nonjudgmental ways to discuss firearm ownership and secure storage within medical and behavioral health settings. The goal is to equip providers with language that encourages open conversations and strengthens patient trust. The presentation will conclude with live demonstrations from Regal Products and B.O.S. Lock, showcasing a range of modern secure storage solutions and discussing how different products can support individual needs, home-defense considerations, and voluntary suicide prevention strategies.

School-Based Mental Health Access Strategies in Frontier Communities 

This presentation delves into the pressing challenge of ensuring equitable access to mental health services for K-12 students across the Intermountain West, a region marked by expansive rurality, geographical isolation, and resource disparities. Many school systems, particularly those in small, remote communities, face critical barriers, including severe shortages of qualified school psychologists, social workers, and counselors, as well as significant stigma surrounding mental health support. Our focus will be on scalable, sustainable strategies that leverage school infrastructure to establish a robust and comprehensive continuum of care.

A primary strategy explored will be the development and implementation of regional Tele-Counseling and Tele-Health partnerships. We will examine successful models where multiple districts pool resources to support smaller populations of students. We will also explore how districts can leverage existing infrastructure to recognize student needs, advance early intervention, and respond to crises. 

Furthermore, we will address the critical role of school-based mental health triage and early intervention. This involves training all school staff—teachers, administrators, and support personnel—in mental health literacy and trauma-informed practices to recognize and refer students in need. We will highlight effective, evidence-based screening tools that can be consistently applied across diverse student populations to identify concerns before they escalate. 

Suicide Prevention and the Church:  Faith Communities As Part of the Public Health Solution to Suicidal Desperation 

Suicide all too often gets siloed as a mental health issue left best to the experts.  While there are elements of suicide prevention that belong only to the experts, often time the driving contributories to suicidal desperation are relational, existential and practical while the community-based resources to meet those needs are insufficient. Meanwhile, nearly every small town in America has a church that sits empty most of the week and congregants who want to be helpful but don't always know how.  As peddlers of hope and communities of connection, churches have something essential to bring to this conversation.  This workshop will explore the way that bringing those two groups together can create a network that is stronger than either can be on their own.  

Culture is Prevention 

Educating young people about Native culture enhances resilience by reinforcing cultural identity, nurturing a sense of community, and equipping youth with tools to address the lasting effects of historical and intergenerational trauma. Culturally grounded programs promote healing by fostering a sense of belonging rather than assimilation, while instilling traditional values, practices, and cultural knowledge that strengthen individuals and communities during challenging times. This presentation explores the definition of intergenerational trauma, its impact on Tribal populations, and the role of culture as a powerful prevention and healing strategy. Participants will learn how culturally based interventions can reduce the effects of intergenerational trauma, strengthen protective factors, and support long-term wellbeing through connection to culture, community, and identity. 

Presenters:  Cassie Underwood, Shoshanna Puente, Stefan Kaulaity & Roberta Whiteplume

The Dangers of Favoring Short-Term Safety Over Building Long-Term Trust: Reconsidering Hospitalization 

Hospitalization is often viewed as the default response to suicidality; however, growing evidence and lived experience suggest that involuntary or unnecessary hospitalization can result in psychological distress, loss of autonomy, stigma, and diminished trust in healthcare systems. This presentation explores these challenges through the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice, examining how risk-averse clinical practices can sometimes conflict with patient-centered care.

Drawing on current research and ethical analysis, the session will highlight community-based crisis interventions, collaborative safety planning, and other non-coercive approaches that support individuals experiencing suicidal thoughts while minimizing potential harm. Participants will examine how broadening the definition of "safety" can strengthen trust, preserve dignity, and promote recovery. Attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of ethical, evidence-informed approaches that foster connection, empower individuals in crisis, and support more compassionate suicide prevention practices.

A Life Worth Living: Applying Posttraumatic Growth to Suicide Prevention

Hope Squad is an evidence-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program that empowers students to recognize signs of distress, promote help-seeking behaviors, and foster a culture of connection within their schools. This presentation will highlight the implementation and impact of Hope Squad at Green River High School, where the high school program is well established and the middle school program is in its inaugural year.

Participants will learn how peer-led prevention efforts increase student awareness, reduce stigma surrounding mental health, and encourage early identification of students who may be struggling. The session will also explore how Hope Squad strengthens student leadership, supports a comprehensive school-based approach to suicide prevention, and contributes to safer, more connected learning environments. Attendees will leave with practical insights into implementing and sustaining peer-led prevention programs that promote student well-being and resilience.

A Life Worth Living: Applying Posttraumatic Growth to Suicide Prevention

Suicide rates remain elevated among military, veteran, and public safety populations, particularly in rural communities. This presentation introduces Posttraumatic Growth (PTG) as a strengths-based approach to reducing suicide risk by addressing hopelessness, isolation, and psychological pain.

Participants will gain an overview of the science behind PTG and its connection to suicide prevention, along with early findings from a study of more than 2,000 participants exploring how PTG-based programming fosters resilience, hope, and recovery.

A combat veteran and national PTG trainer will share his personal journey of overcoming trauma and finding purpose through posttraumatic growth, bringing the research to life through lived experience.

Designed for all audiences—not just clinicians—this session highlights the important role anyone can play in suicide prevention. Participants will leave with practical strategies to recognize distress, foster meaningful connection, support emotional regulation, and help restore hope in those who may be struggling.

Building Networks of Hope in Middle and High School: Student Readiness, Trusted Adults, and 988

Students often disclose emotional distress to peers before seeking help from adults or formal support systems. This presentation highlights findings from Wyoming's evaluation of the PROSPER program in both middle and high school settings, where students learned a clear, developmentally appropriate role in suicide prevention: recognize warning signs, ask directly about suicide, connect a peer to a trusted adult, and utilize the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline when appropriate.

Evaluation results demonstrated statistically significant improvements across all eight student readiness indicators, with the greatest gains in knowledge of 988, willingness to contact 988, and confidence in asking a peer directly about suicide. Participants will also learn how PROSPER increased students' confidence in supporting peers and strengthened help-seeking behaviors.

This session will translate these findings into practical strategies for implementing developmentally responsive, peer-informed suicide prevention programs that strengthen school-community partnerships, encourage early intervention, and create safer pathways for students to access support.

Unified Response: How 988, Safe2Tell, and Handle With Care Strengthen Community Safety 

Requests for crisis intervention can come from anywhere. 988, Safe2Tell, and Handle With Care are programs designed to provide support to the community, particularly for students. This presentation will highlight the similarities and differences between the programs and how we have partnered together to protect students, no matter what they may be facing. 988 offers mental health support to anyone struggling or to anyone who wants to help a loved one or friend. Safe2Tell allows students to report any threats or safety concerns. Handle With Care provides law enforcement with a way to connect with schools so that students who have faced a traumatic event can be supported without everyone knowing their business. Together, we can create a strong safety net for our youth. 

The Role of Exploitation in Youth Mental Health and Suicide  to Mending Moral Injury: Addressing Suicide Risk and Moral Repair

Moral injury is increasingly recognized as a significant contributor to suicidal ideation among Veterans. Distinct from PTSD’s fear-based trauma response, moral injury arises from perceived transgressions of deeply held moral beliefs, betrayal by leadership, or actions taken in morally complex combat environments. The resulting shame, self-condemnation, spiritual crisis, and identity fracture can create profound isolation and elevated suicide risk.

This presentation explores the relationship between moral injury and suicidal thinking, highlighting key indicators, risk progression, and intervention strategies grounded in moral repair. Participants will learn how to distinguish fear-based trauma from shame-based moral distress; identify language and behaviors that signal moral injury; and apply evidence-informed approaches that promote acknowledgment, compassion, connection, and restorative meaning-making. Practical tools for clinicians, peer support specialists, chaplains, and first responders will be provided, with emphasis on restoring dignity, identity, and purpose.

The Role of Exploitation in Youth Mental Health and Suicide

Youth mental health crises and suicide risk do not exist in isolation. Increasingly, they are intertwined with experiences of exploitation—both digital and in-person—that deepen shame, isolation, fear, and hopelessness. Sextortion, online grooming, coercive relationships, and human trafficking are rising threats for youth, particularly in rural and underserved communities, and they often go unrecognized until a crisis point is reached.

This session explores how exploitation intersects with youth mental health and suicide risk through an empowering, prevention-centered lens. Drawing from real-world prevention education, youth disclosures, and community-based work, participants will learn how everyday conversations, adult responses, and protective factors can significantly reduce a young person’s vulnerability long before exploitation or mental crisis occurs.

Before the Wildfire: Building Everyday Tools for Connection and Prevention

In rural communities, suicide prevention often begins long before a crisis occurs. Tele-Hope emphasizes the power of everyday connections in helping students feel seen, valued, and supported. This research-informed workshop highlights six repeatable habits that strengthen belonging, reduce isolation, and support early mental health prevention.

Rather than focusing on immediate clinical interventions, this session explores the gap between crisis response and connection-based prevention, demonstrating how skills such as listening, appreciation, and accountability can serve as practical tools for building resilience. Drawing on experiences and preliminary research from engaging with more than 1,500 young Wyomingites, Tele-Hope shares how community-based approaches can create sustainable protective factors against loneliness and isolation. Participants will gain insight into the role of connection in prevention and how Tele-Hope can complement existing mental health efforts across Wyoming communities.

Ask In Earnest:  Candid and Compassionate Conversations about Suicide in Farming and Ranching

Recent data shows that the suicide rate in the U.S. continues to climb.  Tragically, farmers and ranchers have disproportionate rates in comparison to other occupations.  This presentation provides an overview of the latest data, examines factors that put farmers and ranchers at higher risk, and identifies practical, everyday strategies that can be implemented on the farm to help improve mental health, help alleviate depression, and reduce the risk of suicide.