29/09/2025
Ottawa, Ontario — Monday September 29, 2025
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Canadian youth, and long wait times for mental health care mean teens with mild-to-moderate suicidal ideation often face delays in getting support. A new study led by Allison Kennedy, Paula Cloutier, and Clare Gray tested BRAVA, a six-week virtual group therapy program designed to help these adolescents and their caregivers.
In a randomized control trial, 99 youth and their caregivers were assigned to BRAVA or enhanced treatment-as-usual (ETU). Researchers measured changes in suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression, and stress at intake, exit, and at a three-month follow-up.
BRAVA participants showed improvements in anxiety, depression, and perceived stress compared to ETU, with suicidal ideation improvements maintained at the follow-up. Notably, BRAVA youth had significantly fewer emergency department (ED) visits during the study period, suggesting the program may help reduce acute care demand.
Youth and caregivers also reported high group cohesion in BRAVA, indicating strong morale and a sense of belonging.
One youth expressed appreciation for “getting a lot of information and resources about what to do and how to cope with suicidal ideation”.
While caregiver outcomes were less pronounced, satisfaction with the program was high.
A caregiver reflected on the importance of listening to and not problem solving for their youth. “it was such a great eye opener to teach us not to problem solve and view things in a different perspective”.
“The dedication of great BRAVA team members and the engagement of many youth and caregivers were essential to the success of our research trial.” said Kennedy. “We are currently focused on taking BRAVA to the clinical world so more families can benefit from the intervention.”
Given the volume of adolescents seeking help for suicidal thoughts and the need to reduce wait times in the ED, BRAVA’s six-week, virtual format offers a promising, low-barrier intervention that could fill a critical gap in youth mental health services.