2025 | Track 1 | Suicide Prevention: Leveraging Episodic Future Thinking with a Community Approach

TRACK 1 SEED GRANT | Whole Health Consortium

Suicide Prevention: Leveraging Episodic Future Thinking with a Community Approach

TEAM:

• Stephen M. LaConte, PhD — Professor, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC
• Michael P. Wilson, MD, PhD — Associate Professor, Carilion Medical Center / Emergency Medicine Physician
• Anita S. Kablinger, MD — Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Medicine, VT School of Medicine & Carilion Clinic
• Philip R. Szeszko, PhD — Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Anthony N. Nist, PhD — Postdoctoral Associate, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute
• Bailey Medeiros — Director, Roanoke Valley Collective Response (RVCR)

Suicide rates in the United States have risen to their highest levels in decades, underscoring the urgent need for innovative prevention strategies. Traditional approaches—including medication and psychological interventions—often require time, specialized settings, and resources that may not be available at critical moments. A key psychological risk factor for suicide, a “foreshortened view of the future,” remains largely unaddressed by current care models. This Whole Health Track 1 project aims to fill that gap by developing a community‑engaged intervention based on Episodic Future Thinking (EFT), a brief, scalable technique that helps individuals pre‑experience positive, meaningful future events.

This interdisciplinary team brings together researchers, clinicians, neuroscientists, and community partners to build a three‑part, whole‑person framework. First, the project will collaborate with the Roanoke Valley Collective Response and its peer recovery specialist network to adapt EFT materials so they reflect real‑world lived experience, cultural context, and the language of individuals at risk for suicidal ideation. These community‑driven refinements will help ensure that EFT is personally meaningful and accessible.

Second, the project will test the clinical feasibility of a brief EFT intervention in the Carilion Clinic Emergency Department, a critical access point for individuals experiencing intense suicidal ideation. This work will evaluate whether EFT can be delivered quickly, accepted by patients and clinicians, and integrated into standard ED workflows—all while producing rapid reductions in suicidal thinking and improvements in whole‑person measures such as recovery capital and quality of life.

Third, the team will conduct a neurofeedback pilot study using real‑time fMRI to explore EFT’s neural mechanisms. By examining how EFT influences regulation of the default mode network and other cognitive‑affective systems, the project seeks to understand how EFT may reduce rumination, enhance flexibility, and support healthier thought patterns. Data from this pilot will inform future externally funded clinical trials.

Grounded in Whole Health principles, this project centers what matters most to participants, positions community partners as true collaborators, and integrates perspectives from neuroscience, clinical medicine, and behavioral science. By adapting EFT for both community and clinical settings, the team aims to build a sustainable, scalable approach to suicide prevention that promotes resilience, empowerment, and long‑term well‑being.