On 16 June 2026, ACAMH will host Brief Interventions That Make a Difference: Practical Approaches for Young People and Families, an international expert conference bringing together leading voices in suicide prevention, crisis care, neurodivergent-inclusive practice, and scalable mental health support.
We caught up with one of the speakers – Professor Pooja Saini, Professor at Liverpool John Moores University and a specialist in suicide and self-harm prevention – about her work, her session, and what attendees can expect from the day.
How did you come to specialise in suicide and self-harm prevention?
A lot of people working suicide prevention have lived or family experience, which is valuable, but I came from a different route.
I initially wanted to be a clinical psychologist, and along the way I worked in secure units, mental health hospitals, and community organisations where severe mental illness was common. That’s where I first encountered suicide and self-harm as a real, ever-present factor in people’s lives – and I saw how often the right support simply wasn’t there. As my career developed, I realised that through research, I could bring about changes that could actually help the people I’d seen struggling.
When we talk about ‘brief’ interventions, how brief can they actually be – and can something that short really make a meaningful difference?
Much briefer than people expect – and yes, genuinely meaningful. In my research on men in suicidal crisis, the average number of sessions needed was around six, but for some, a single session was enough. Sometimes simply being heard and signposted to the right service is enough – perhaps someone was in crisis primarily because of a housing issue, and once that was identified, they didn’t need further clinical support.
There’s also good evidence from A&E settings that a full biopsychosocial conversation – active listening, support, safety planning – can reduce re-attendance by around 50%.
‘Brief’ doesn’t mean it’s a compromise. The key is that it needs to be flexible and genuinely centred on the individual.
In an environment where frontline staff are themselves under enormous pressure, is there a risk that brief interventions become a way of rationing care, when some people genuinely need considerably more?
It’s a real concern, and one worth naming. But in my experience,they actually complement rather than replace conventional care. Sometimes when someone is in an acute crisis, it’s not the right moment for long-term therapy – the brief intervention stabilises them and helps them to get more out of subsequent treatment.
At other times, the brief intervention identifies that someone’s needs aren’t clinical – there’s a social issue, housing difficulties, loneliness. But yes, some people do need to be stepped up, and a well-designed brief intervention should be part of a clear pathway that recognises that. When it works well, it takes real pressure off overstretched services – NHS colleagues have reported they can sleep at night knowing these community options exist, because it means people aren’t being discharged back out with nothing.
Can you give a concrete example of a brief intervention which you and your research have supported?
James’ Place is a good one – a community-based therapeutic centre for men in suicidal crisis. It grew out of my PhD research, which found that many men who later died by suicide had contacted primary care beforehand and had communicated their distress, but hadn’t found the right support.
I remember one young man I interviewed who described himself as “the life and soul of the party” – the person everyone assumed was happy. Inside, he was at crisis point. His time at James’ Place helped him address the root causes of how he was feeling, complete his degree, and reconnect with people in his life. We’ve also had men return to James’ Place with their young babies, telling staff: “If it wasn’t for you, my baby wouldn’t have a dad today.” I don’t think you can get more impactful than that.
At the conference, you’ll be talking about the importance of co-production. Why does it matter so much?
Co-production should shape everything. When we were setting up James’ Place, the designers initially planned something quite floral and traditionally therapeutic. The men who were involved in shaping it were clear: neutral colours, no noise in the waiting room, and crucially, outdoor space – because in hospitals they’d always felt trapped. When we invited those men back after it opened, many were near to tears seeing that what they’d said had actually been listened to.
The therapists told us that by the time men arrived in the therapy room, they felt like half the work had already been done – simply because the environment had made them feel safe and accepted.
I also do a lot of work in schools now, and we have young people involved in designing everything. They are absolutely ruthless about our adult ideas – and rightly so. They want QR codes, video, audio. Not leaflets. Listening really improves outcomes.
What would you most like attendees to take away – and act on – from your session and the conference as a whole?
That simple can be powerful. A lot of people are scared of the word “suicide”, and understandably so – but the services making the biggest difference are often not complex, not expensive, and not always run by clinicians. They’re offering a listening ear, a non-judgmental space, and help with potential underlying social factors.
I’d also want people to sit up and take notice of the neurodiversity data. In my research at a local children’s hospital, around 60% of young people attending A&E in suicidal crisis had a neurodiverse condition or were on a waiting list for assessment. That’s not a footnote – it’s a significant finding, and one that has real implications for how services are designed and how staff are trained. The hospital hadn’t realised how high those numbers were until we surfaced them, and things started to change quite quickly once they did.
Find more content from Professor Saini and TBC on suicide and self-harm prevention on ACAMH Learn, our completely free, online learning resource.