Alyssa Martinez is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a current doctoral student at The University of Texas School of Social Work. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychologyfrom St. Mary’s University and a Master of Social Work from the University of Denver with a concentration in mental health and trauma. Her research interest centers on suicide prevention and risk assessment with the aim to advance suicide prevention programs and their effectiveness for youth and adolescents.
Alyssa’s research interest stems from her experience as a clinical social worker in the Zero Suicide Program within Bexar County’s hospital system. In this role, she supported in the CDC grant-funded expansion of the Zero Suicide program, CoSPLAY (Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Blueprint for Adults and Youth), where she coordinated the implementation oftrauma-informed, strength-based interventions in the effort to reduce the risk of hospitalization and suicide attempts in youth and adults (15-45) within Bexar County. In her social work practice, she has shown her dedication to the efforts of suicide awareness and prevention in her community through providing direct clinical services to individuals experiencing suicidal ideations, community outreach and hosting preventative trainings, and collecting behavioral health utilization data from the health system’s outpatient clinics with the goal of improving mental health screening rates.
As a PhD student, Alyssa is part of multiple projects that focus on youth experiencing suicidal ideations. Under her mentorship with Dr. Lauren Gulbas, Alyssa collaborates on a mixed-methods, multi-informant study of childhood suicide ideation to improve risk assessment, and a qualitative adolescent self-harm study to understand the social, emotional, familial, and cultural contexts surrounding self-harm and suicide risk. Alyssa’s research hopes to further advance suicide interventions and assessments through increasing their effectiveness for diverse populations.