Autism, Suicide & DBT

Evidence-based Adaptations to DBT for Autistic Clients with Suicidality

March 25-27, 2025, 9:00am - 1:00pm CST
Virtual via Zoom
Fee: $70 full members; $270 partial members & nonmembers
Continuing Education Hours: 12.0

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Course Description

Autistic youth and adults experience co-occurring mental health conditions at significantly higher rates than their allistic (i.e., non-autistic neurodivergent and neurotypical; Monk et al. 2022) peers, with approximately 20% meeting criteria for an anxiety disorder, 11% for a depressive disorder, and 9% for obsessive-compulsive disorder (Lai, 2023). Autistic people are much more likely to experience suicidality, with a 9-fold risk of ideation, 6-fold risk of attempt, and 5-fold risk of death by suicide (Cassidy et al., 2014; Chen et al., 2017; Kirby et al., 2019; Lai et al., 2023). Despite these elevated rates, mental health providers are not routinely trained in delivering mental health treatment, such as DBT, to Autistic clients and have expressed a lack of competence and confidence in doing so (Maddox et al., 2021). Dr. McVey will use case vignettes, small and large group discussion, and role plays to engage participants.

Learning Objectives:

• Define characteristics of Autism and how they can be differentiated from borderline personality disorder and other mental health concerns
• Describe the high rate of co-occurring suicidality and emotion dysregulation in Autistic clients
• Provide a definition of an Autism-affirming stance.
• Name three strategies for adapting Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for Autistic clients

Alana McVey, PhD

Dr. Alana McVey earned her BS in Psychology from Loyola University Chicago and her MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Marquette University. She completed her predoctoral internship at the University of California Los Angeles and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of British Columbia and the University of Washington/Seattle Children's Autism Center. She is a licensed psychologist in Wisconsin and Washington states. Alana has spent the last decade working in autism research with a focus on the presentation and treatment of co-occurring mental health concerns. Her research over the past several years has focused on using implementation science methods to adapt DBT for Autistic clients. This work won the ISITDBT Student Research Award in 2022, and Alana has been invited to speak nationally and internationally on this topic. Alana offers individual therapy at CBM and provides consultation and training in evidence-based adaptations to DBT for Autistic clients. Her approach to clinical work is compassionate, wholehearted, and grounded in evidence-based practice. She is attentive to and deeply values each person's lived experience.