Mental Health Specialist Training Introduction

Welcome to the Mental Health Specialist Training in Targeted Violence Prevention. This training presumes a basic level of competency as a mental health specialist. It is meant for persons who are trained and licensed as psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and counselors.

This six-hour training will support your ability to assist in decreasing the incidence of targeted violence for both individuals and communities. The training has been developed with the support of a grant from the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships of the Department of Homeland Security awarded to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). The team includes subject matter experts from UIC, DePaul University, and Loyola University Chicago.

Training Goals

The overall goals for this training are:

1. To build your knowledge and awareness of a range of mental health and psychosocial prevention and treatment approaches to targeted violence.
2. To build your competency for assessing and treating persons at risk for targeted violence.

A central message underlying this training is that mental health specialists can address the challenges of targeted violence prevention in individuals and communities by supplementing their existing knowledge and skills with focused training. We want mental health specialists to know what to do and to feel competent and confident in intervening with someone who may be at risk for engaging in targeted violence.  

However, do not expect this training to present you with either evidence-based practices, best practices, or an intervention plan. Unfortunately, these do not yet exist in the field of targeted violence prevention. For the most part, we will be sharing information and expect you to draw upon it as part of your overall fund of knowledge and approach to clinical judgment and professional decision-making. 

This training will share what is presently known about targeted violence based on recent studies. These studies all have their limitations, and much about targeted violence is still not known, especially regarding how to effectively prevent targeted violence. However, we think it is important for mental health specialists to be exposed to this knowledge.  

One very important issue we would like to highlight up front: although we are calling for mental health professionals to be involved in targeted violence prevention, we are not in any way implying that mental illness causes targeted violence. The existing evidence does not support such a conclusion and, although we will be focusing on possible areas of association, we certainly do not want this training to contribute to further stigmatization of persons who experience mental illness. While we will not raise this concern at every subsequent relevant point in the training, please always keep in mind the importance of not feeding into false beliefs in the association and adding to stigma regarding mental illness.

Training Structure

This training consists of 3 modules:  

1. Understanding Targeted Violence and Mental Health  
2. Assessment of Targeted Violence
3. Interventions for Targeted Violence

This training includes links to many scientific articles, agency reports, and media stories. We strongly recommend that you take time to explore these sources as part of this training.  

This training includes two live sessions conducted remotely or in person and lasting approximately one hour each. The first covers Modules 1 and 2 and the second covers Module 3. These live sessions use a case study approach whereby participants apply the knowledge learned during the modules to specific case examples. These sessions will also offer participants the opportunity to ask questions, network with others working in this space, and obtain feedback from the facilitators.

These sessions will also be an opportunity for all participants to discuss how the topics addressed in this training interact with the unique values, context, strengths, needs, and challenges of the local communities where you live and work. We realize that there are many sensitive topics covered in the training. As you think about what this would mean for the people, communities, and organizations where you work, we welcome your questions, concerns, and recommendations.