Our colleague, Barbara Stanley, PhD, a noted suicide researcher at Columbia University, died in January 2023.
Dr. Stanley and Greg Brown from the University of Pennsylvania developed the Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention, which we use in the Beck Institute on-demand course, CBT for Suicide Prevention, and other suicide prevention trainings. The Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention asks clients to create a plan with coping strategies and ideas for support and distraction to turn to if they are experiencing a suicidal crisis. This practical and straight-forward approach has greatly impacted treatment for those struggling with suicidal urges. When it was first tested in 2008, researchers found that over two-thirds of the study participants used their safety plan at least once (Barry, 2023).
Dr. Stanley served on boards and committees of many organizations, including the International Academy for Suicide Research, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American Psychological Association, National Institute of Health, and Applied Research Ethics National Association. She wrote over two hundred papers and co-wrote several books. She received several awards for her research, including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Research Award and the Suicide Prevention Center of New York Research Award. Dr. Stanley’s research, clinical work, and intervention has simply saved lives.