Leslie has had the opportunity to provide her counseling expertise through print and speaking engagements

Featured Book

Assessing and Treating Suicidal Thinking and Behaviors in Children and Adolescents

A Play Therapy Guide for Mental Health Professionals in Clinical and School-Based Settings

Edited By Leslie W. Baker and Mary Ruth Cross
Copyright 2025

A guide for dealing with kids and teenagers who show up with overt or covert suicidal ideas, intentions, or thoughts.

The chapters concentrate on supporting parents, caregivers, families, and schools while also examining a variety of therapy modalities. The chapters include evidence-based methods including dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and prescriptive play therapy in addition to emphasizing expressive therapies.

This book will equip expressive therapists, school-based counselors, and other clinicians who work with at-risk kids and teens from a variety of communities and backgrounds with the skills necessary to incorporate each child’s strengths, sources of distress, and available resources to create a treatment plan that is a developmentally appropriate treatment plan.

Publications

• Baker, L. W. & Keller, E. R. Integrating Assessment, Treatment and Prevention of Suicide with Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy with Children in Drewes, A. A., & Remey, L. J. (Eds.). (2026). Cognitive Behavioral Play Therapy: A comprehensive guide to theory and practice (1st ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/cognitive-behavioral-play-therapy-9798216390121/
• Stone, J., Baker, L., Altvater, R. A., & Ong, T. (2025). Initial Recommendations for Virtual Reality in Mental Health Care from the American Medical Extended Reality Association. Journal of Medical Extended Reality, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/29941520251394885
• Baker, L. (2025). Virtual Reality: Suicide Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Mental Health Disorder. In Stone, J. (Ed.), (2025). Mental Health Virtual Reality: The Power of Immersive Worlds. John Wiley & Sons.
• Baker, L. W., & Cross, M. R. (2024). Assessing and treating suicidal thinking and behaviors in children and adolescents: A Play Therapy Guide for Mental Health Professionals in Clinical and School-Based Settings. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Assessing-and-Treating-Suicidal-Thinking-and-Behaviors-in-Children-and-Adolescents-A-Play-Therapy-Guide-for-Mental-Health-Professionals-in-C/Baker Cross/p/book/9781032410821
• Baker, L. (2022). Expressive Therapies in Telemental Play. In Stone, J. (Ed.) (1st Ed.), Play Therapy and Telemental Health: Foundations, Populations, and Interventions (pp. 201-216). Routledge.
• Baker, L. (2019). Therapy in the Digital Age. In Stone, J. (Ed.), Integrating Technology into Modern Therapies (pp. 37-47). Routledge.
• Baker, L. & Cross, M.R. (2019) Snug & Rug and the ‘No Good Very Bad Thing’: A story of coping calming & courage for children. Therapy2Thrive.
• Baker, L. (2017). Healing Feelings: A healing story for children coping with a grownup’s mental illness. Yorkshire.

Speaking Engagements

For more information about Leslie’s speaking engagements click here.