Amy Kyriakidis is the 2024 recipient of the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN) Southeast Regional Suicide Prevention Award.
Amy Kyriakidis called it both “humbling” and “uncomfortable” to be honored for the work she is doing.
Kyriakidis, assistant director for suicide education and prevention in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Center for Wellbeing, has been recognized for her exceptional contributions to suicide prevention in Tennessee. She recently received the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network (TSPN) Southeast Regional Suicide Prevention Award, an honor created by TSPN co-founders Madge and Ken Tullis “to acknowledge innovation and excellence in the state’s suicide prevention awareness efforts.”
TSPN Executive Assistant Vladimir Enlow praised Kyriakidis’ impact in a congratulatory note.
“This award is bestowed upon you in recognition of your contributions to suicide prevention and mental health in your community, work that has likely changed and even saved lives,” Enlow wrote.
Kyriakidis was reflective when asked about winning the award.
“I think it’s humbling,” she said. “To me it feels really humbling because the work that I do … I do because I love it. I am truly passionate about mental health and decreasing the stigma around mental health. It feels good to receive the award—but also a little uncomfortable at the same time.”
Kyriakidis joined the Center for Wellbeing in December 2023 and is in her second stint as a UTC employee—having worked as a licensed professional counselor at the University from September 2021 to October 2022. She has had an extensive mental health care career in the Chattanooga area, having also held roles at the Mental Health Cooperative, AIM Center, Centerstone, Erlanger Behavioral Health Hospital and Alma.
Since coming to the Center for Wellbeing, Kyriakidis has spearheaded a number of important initiatives, “including restarting the Badge Buddies program with CHI Memorial, the UTC nursing program and Erlanger,” she said. “I’ve been able to do trainings with them and provide badges that have our Columbia Scale rating on them.”
She has also partnered with the School of Nursing to provide mental health first aid.
September’s Suicide Prevention Month was a significant time on campus for spreading awareness about suicide prevention strategies, she said. Kyriakidis played a key role in organizing an on-campus summit featuring mental health advocate April Simpkins, an event open to the entire campus community. “It was amazing. It brought a lot of people in,” she said.
A UTC alum, Kyriakidis earned two bachelor’s degrees from the University in 2002—in history and humanities: international studies—before completing a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Richmont Graduate University in 2014.
“My experience here was fantastic in the history program,” she said, “and I got to study a lot of historical traumas. That got me interested more in sociology and traumas and what that looks like—and how that impacts society as a whole. That moved me towards working with mental health.
“What I really loved in moving to this role was working with public health and working with the community as a whole. It was a broader perspective to use a lot of the skills I had gained—especially when it comes to suicide prevention.”
According to its website, TSPN is a statewide public-private partnership composed of agencies, advocates, professionals and individuals dedicated to suicide prevention. The network also provides valuable resources for suicide attempt survivors, suicide loss survivors and organizations.
Learn more
