History

Founding of the American Association of Suicidology
The American Association of Suicidology (AAS) was founded in 1968 by clinical psychologist Edwin S. Shneidman, PhD. After a decade co‑directing the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center, Dr. Shneidman joined the National Institute of Mental Health as co‑director of the Center for Suicide Prevention in Bethesda, Maryland. His work at NIMH highlighted both the limited national knowledge base on suicide and the absence of a coordinated structure to support research, education, and professional practice. With sponsorship from NIMH, he convened leading scholars in Chicago to establish a national organization dedicated to advancing suicidology

Growth of Crisis Centers and Early Organizational Leadership
Drawing on his extensive experience in suicide prevention, Dr. Shneidman recognized the rapid expansion of crisis centers and hotline services across the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. The newly formed AAS quickly embraced these centers as essential sources of information and research related to suicidal individuals.

Over time, AAS developed into a national clearinghouse and coordinating hub, connecting crisis centers through shared needs, common training materials, and unified goals. This collaborative network helped lay the groundwork for consistent service standards across the country.

Certification and Training Programs
The partnership between research and crisis counseling led AAS to create formal standards and criteria for the certification of crisis centers nationwide. AAS certified its first center in 1976, and today more than 120 centers meet the Association’s established standards for services and training.

In 1989, AAS expanded its certification work by launching a program for individual crisis workers. By the end of 2015, over 1,000 crisis workers had successfully completed a rigorous examination assessing their knowledge and application of crisis theory in practice. These programs reinforced AAS’s leadership role in shaping quality expectations throughout the crisis intervention field.

AAS Becomes a Membership Organization
As the organization expanded, AAS evolved into a broad membership association. Members now include crisis center staff and volunteers, researchers, clinicians, public health professionals, school districts, survivors of suicide loss, attempt survivors, students, and others committed to suicide prevention.

From the small group of leaders who met in Chicago in 1968, AAS has grown to more than 1,200 individual members and over 150 organizational members. The Association also maintains referral directories of more than 600 suicide prevention and crisis centers and nearly 300 survivor support groups nationwide.

Our Mission in Practice
AAS responds to thousands of annual inquiries from the public and the media regarding referrals and suicide prevention information. Public education and information dissemination have become core components of the Association’s mission. Over the years, AAS has produced fact sheets, brochures, statistical reports, books, and other educational resources for both professional and general audiences.

Since its founding, AAS has hosted major annual conferences featuring research presentations, expert panels, training workshops, and interactive discussions. Scholarship from these meetings frequently appears in the Association’s peer‑reviewed journal, Suicide and Life‑Threatening Behavior, alongside independently submitted research and case studies. In addition to its annual conference, AAS sponsors the Healing After Suicide Loss Summit (HASLS), a national event bringing together professionals and survivors to share information and insights related to suicide bereavement.

Today, the Association continues to shape the future of suicide prevention by integrating scientific research, professional education, community resources, and national standards—advancing the vision first established by Dr. Shneidman more than five decades ago.