University of Vermont Health held an open house last week to celebrate the opening of the Asha Clinic, which it describes as the only program in the region focused exclusively on suicide care. The clinic's work is led by Craig Bryan, an expert in suicide treatment and research.
Vermont Public · Nathaniel Wilson · September 9, 2026
Burlington has a new clinic that provides specialized outpatient care for adults who have recently attempted or are at risk of suicide.
University of Vermont Health held an open house on Friday to celebrate the opening of the new Asha Clinic , which it describes as the only program in the region focused exclusively on suicide care. The clinic, which launched earlier this summer, is housed within the University of Vermont Medical Center’s main campus.
Asha Clinic’s work is led by Craig Bryan, a former clinical psychologist with the U.S. Air Force, and a prominent national expert in suicide treatment and research. Bryan joined UVM after serving in leadership positions at Ohio State University and University of Utah. He’s done extensive research on methods to reduce suicide risk.
“Unfortunately, a lot of these treatments are not widely available, not only in Vermont but honestly anywhere in the country,” he said. “I think [Asha Clinic] is important because it provides an incredibly effective treatment that can greatly improve quality of life. And that's what we've heard from the patients who have already come through our clinic.”
Many people who express suicidal thoughts are often directed to receive treatment in an inpatient unit until the thoughts dissipate, said Robert Althoff, chair of UVM’s psychiatry department. But he said it’s important to address those thoughts head-on.
“The reality is those thoughts themselves are responsive to treatment, and so if we target them in particular, we can actually make a big difference in some of the most extreme sort of symptoms that somebody is having, while we also work on the other symptoms,” Althoff said.
Asha Clinic’s outpatient care model is centered around psychotherapy treatment or counseling, with patients typically undergoing six to 12 individual therapy sessions focused on teaching them how to handle intense, strong and uncomfortable emotions, Bryan said. Treatment professionals teach patients concepts to practice in their daily lives, and then check in with them on progress, he said.
“We believe, and we know based on published research, that teaching people how to live lives that are worth living is the thing that's most effective, and we can do that without hospitalizing them, without requiring them to go to the emergency department, which I think is oftentimes how many people kind of react or respond to suicidal thoughts,” Bryan said. “What we want to do is kind of change the landscape of that and help people think in terms of creating a life that's worth living.”
It’s a service the team at UVM says is sorely needed in Vermont, where suicide rates are consistently higher than the national average. The state health department reported 140 people died by suicide in 2025, with a rate of 21.6 per 100,000 residents — the highest in Vermont since 2021.
So far, the Howard Center Mental Health Urgent Care and the emergency department at UVM Medical Center have been the biggest sources of referrals for the clinic, Bryan said.
Asha Clinic is funded with support from Four Pines Fund, a Vermont-based philanthropic organization dedicated to expanding access to suicide care. That money largely paid for costs affiliated with opening the clinic, Bryan said, but it’s also being used to provide financial support for uninsured and underinsured patients who don’t have coverage for behavioral health services.
“Now that we have an actual service, a clinic open, we're hoping that might allow us to be in a better position to work with all of the [healthcare] payers in the state to say, ‘let's maybe rethink how we are paying for this life-saving treatment,’” he said.
Here are some resources if you or someone you know is considering suicide:
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