September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month—a time to honor those lost, support affected families, and advance prevention efforts.
Dr. Belinda Bellet brings three decades of experience in suicide prevention and trauma, specializes in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and has a foundation in attachment theory. Her decades of work highlight a critical truth she sees day after day, patient after patient, backed by research: prevention must extend far beyond emergency response.Prevention requires meaningful connection.
Across multidisciplinary research, belonging serve as primary protective factor against self-harm and suicide, while chronic loneliness significantly heightens risk.
Connection builds in everyday moments:
- A parent listening empathically without questioning or rushing to fix
- A clinician noticing subtle shifts in functioning and gently inquiring
- A school fostering genuine belonging for everyone and noticing those on the fringe
- A friend reaching out when someone withdraws
- Asking a hard question when something feels off
While connection cannot eliminate every risk, it offers vital opportunities to ensure someone feels seen and supported. Strong family bonds, school engagement, and social support are essential, as are online digital spaces. They can provide meaningful recovery communities. However, parents need to stay curious and vigilant about youth engagement, as they can also create more harm.
Insights from Dr. Bellet: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) provides an accelerated path to healing for those struggling with complex attachment trauma. The skills therapists utilize in-session empower them to create rapid, life-saving shifts. Through a therapeutic relationship built on acceptance and trust, patients safely learn to tolerate distress, regulate overwhelming emotions, and communicate effectively—transforming despair into a life worth living. For teens, treatment must involve caregivers. DBT rewires family dynamics—disrupting invalidation and traumatic patterns to cultivate the ultimate foundation for secure attachment: safety, connection, and love.
As always, our team is available and accepting referrals. We welcome complimentary inquiries.
Dr. Bellet: drbellet@bhbehavioralassociates.com
Isabella Levere (Intake Coordinator): bhbaadmin@bhbehavioralassociates.com
We hope the resources below offer guidance, encourage important conversations, and remind our community that help is available.
If you are concerned about someone:
- Ask directly how they are doing.
- Listen without judgment.
- Take all statements about suicide seriously.
- Connect them to professional support.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
- Suicide Prevention Awareness Month Resources from NAMI
- The DBT Course – Build Grit and Love with Dr. B
- NYC Teenspace
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is free, confidential, and available 24/7. Call or text 988.
For immediate, life-threatening emergencies, call 911 or visit the nearest emergency room.