Suicidality in Hospice and Palliative Care: Cultivating a Therapeutic Presence

During this activity, participants will explore foundational concepts influencing suicidality, including ambivalence—often characterized by conflicting feelings about life and death—loss of identity and demoralization. Through an in-depth examination of psychological dynamics, attendees will learn to approach suicidality with nuanced skills that strengthen our therapeutic potential. This activity also introduces practical tools, such as countertransference awareness, coping assessments, and therapeutic response strategies, offering clinicians methods/approaches for engaging with these intense clinical encounters.

Drawing on case studies across diverse HPC settings, including hospice and VA populations, this presentation illustrates the application of these concepts in varied and complex patient scenarios. By the conclusion of the activity, participants will possess both enhanced knowledge for conducting suicidality assessments and skills for bolstering therapeutic presence to attend to patients’ psychological and existential distress.

Target Audience

Palliative care physicians, physician associates, nurses, social workers, chaplains

Learning Outcomes

  1. Engage in a multidimensional assessment of suicidality in patients with serious illness, including risk factors, protective factors, and key psychological constructs, such as ambivalence, loss of identity, and demoralization.
  2. Cultivate therapeutic presence by applying practical tools and therapeutic response techniques to support patients experiencing suicidality and related psychological and existential distress.
Activity summary
Available credit: 
  • 1.00 ABIM MOC
  • 1.00 CME (physician only)
  • 1.00 Participation
Activity Published: 
10/16/2025
Activity Expires: 
09/30/2028
Member cost:
$49.00
List Price:
$64.00
Rating: 
0

AAHPM endorses the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) Standards for disclosure and commercial support and endeavors to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor for all accredited products or programs. All who are in a position to control or influence the content of an educational activity must disclose any relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies.*Disclosure documents were reviewed for potential conflicts of interest and, if identified, were resolved prior to confirmation of participation. Only those who had no conflict of interest or who agreed to an identified resolution process prior to their participation were involved in this activity.

All editors, faculty and staff have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

*An ineligible company is defined as any entity producing, marketing, reselling, or distributing healthcare goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients. 

Faculty
Keri O. Brenner, MD MPA 
Danielle Chammas, MD

Staff
Emily Geary, BA
Julie Tanner, BSN RN-BC CHPN
Julie Bruno, MSW LCSW

Continuing Medical Education (CME)

The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.

Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion includes attesting to meaningful activity participation and completion/submission of activity evaluation within the time frame designated.

Evaluation period closes September 30, 2028 for claiming CME credit.

Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Recognition Statement

Through the American Board of Medical Specialties (“ABMS”) ongoing commitment to increase access to practice relevant Continuing Certification Activities through the ABMS Continuing Certification Directory, Suicidality in Hospice and Palliative Care: Cultivating a Therapeutic Presence applies toward general CME requirement for the following ABMS Member Boards:

  • Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.0 MOC Medical Knowledge points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit. By submitting your evaluation, you grant AAHPM permission to submit completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting respective BOARD MOC program credit or points as applicable. De-identified aggregated data from the evaluation may be used for research and/or publication and will conform to generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection and analysis where indicated. 

Evaluation period closes September 30, 2028 for claiming MOC credit.

Available Credit

  • 1.00 ABIM MOC
  • 1.00 CME (physician only)
  • 1.00 Participation

Price

Member cost:
$49.00
List Price:
$64.00
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