Annual STAR Center Suicide Prevention Conference

Save the Date - Friday, May 15, 2026

The Services for Teens At Risk (STAR) Center annual suicide prevention conference will be held on Friday, May 15, 2026.

Check our website for more details!

Visit the STAR Center past conference archives to access webinar materials, including slide decks and keynote speaker recordings.

STAR Center in the Community

Professional Development and Trainings

As part of its mission, STAR Center develops and disseminates new knowledge and strategies for preventing and treating suicidal behaviors, depression, and anxiety to teachers, mental health professionals, and the public.

STAR staff have delivered presentations to hundreds of people in Pennsylvania and nationwide on a wide variety of topics such as suicide risk assessment and safety planning, crisis prevention and intervention, and care for providers and survivors.

Request a training for your organization here.

Training and Professional Development:

From this summer:

• Suicide Prevention (Act 71) Training - Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center
• Chain Analysis Following a Suicide - Pennsylvania Psychological Association (PPA) Convention
• Suicidality in College Students for Resident Directors - Pitt Residence Life
• Safety Planning and Suicide Risk Assessment in Adolescents - BHE-TAC CHESS University of Wisconsin

Upcoming Opportunities:

The Pennsylvania GLS Youth Suicide Prevention KEY-PPLE grant team and partners are providing a range of suicide prevention trainings for mental health professionals working with youth across various settings.

Join Maria Anderson, MSW, Therapist at STAR Center as she talks about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) for Depressed and Suicidal Youth on November 4, 2025 from 12-1 pm (ET).

Visit this page for more trainings and registration links.

Back to School

As school gets underway for the new year, reach out to chat about mental health resources for students, peer-to-peer support, and the work of STAR Center in suicide prevention.

BRITE App

​BRITE is a smartphone-based safety planning app for adolescents that has gone through clinical trials with suicidal youth. BRITE promotes self-monitoring and self-management through personalized strategies to avoid or cope with triggers for suicidal urges.

​BRITEPath is a companion clinician portal on which clinicians can onboard patients to the BRITE app. This includes aiding youth in the development and personalization of a safety plan, incorporating distress tolerance and emotion regulation strategies, and monitoring symptomatic progress for at-risk youth in their care.

STAR Research Highlights

Sleep Disturbances Are Associated With Depressive Symptoms and Suicidality Among Adolescents in Pediatric Primary Care

Led by Giana Teresi MA (University of Pittsburgh Clinical Psychology graduate student and STAR extern) and her research mentor Tina Goldstein PhD (STAR Director)

​https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaacop.2024.11.004​

Read the article in Science Direct about the increase in sleep disturbances in adolescents and the association with depression and suicide risk.

STAR Center faculty lead research projects focused on improving understanding of youth depression and suicide as well as identifying novel prevention and intervention approaches.

PA's 2025 Suicide Prevention Guide

We are excited to share Pennsylvania's Suicide Prevention Month Guide for 2025, "Continuing the Conversation" with our colleagues and community partners. Each page contains information to review with topics and collected resources related to suicide prevention, postvention efforts following a loss, and self-care for caregivers.

Everyone is encouraged to review the awareness activities throughout the year, consider how you would implement the practice, and share with others who may be interested.

​The Prevent Suicide PA Youth Poster Contest Winner for 2025 is Khaira Omari from Lancaster County Career and Technical Center! Other noteworthy poster submissions as well as 30- and 60-second video winners can be found at the link.

Past winners, videos, and more details on entering the 2026 contest can be found here.