A Phenomenological Analysis of Mental Health Providers’ Experience of Client Suicide

IF 1.5 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOTHERAPY Pub Date : 2024-01-19 DOI:10.1007/s10879-023-09611-9

{"title":"A Phenomenological Analysis of Mental Health Providers’ Experience of Client Suicide","authors":"","doi":"10.1007/s10879-023-09611-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<h3>Abstract</h3> <p>Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S. It is estimated that one third of people who died by suicide received mental health services in the year preceding their death and one fifth had received services in the previous month. Given these statistics, many mental health professionals are very likely to work with a client who dies by suicide at some point in their career. This qualitative study aimed to investigate the experiences of therapists after a client suicide and to identify those supports and responses the therapist found helpful in the aftermath. The nine participants were licensed mental health providers. Each had a client die by suicide at least 2 years prior and was actively providing treatment or had been providing treatment in the 6 months prior to the client’s death. Findings revealed that a client’s death by suicide can have a profound impact on the provider, including sadness, anger and anxiety about litigation. Such reactions speak to the importance of intentional self care for individuals who work with high risk populations. Additionally, results indicated that discussing client suicide in advance helps prepare clinicians to be better able to cope and heal following the actual event. This study enhances our understanding of this experience and fosters the development of actionable postvention steps clinicians, supervisors, and mental health agencies can take to support providers after a client suicide.</p>","PeriodicalId":46994,"journal":{"name":"JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOTHERAPY","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOTHERAPY","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-023-09611-9","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S. It is estimated that one third of people who died by suicide received mental health services in the year preceding their death and one fifth had received services in the previous month. Given these statistics, many mental health professionals are very likely to work with a client who dies by suicide at some point in their career. This qualitative study aimed to investigate the experiences of therapists after a client suicide and to identify those supports and responses the therapist found helpful in the aftermath. The nine participants were licensed mental health providers. Each had a client die by suicide at least 2 years prior and was actively providing treatment or had been providing treatment in the 6 months prior to the client’s death. Findings revealed that a client’s death by suicide can have a profound impact on the provider, including sadness, anger and anxiety about litigation. Such reactions speak to the importance of intentional self care for individuals who work with high risk populations. Additionally, results indicated that discussing client suicide in advance helps prepare clinicians to be better able to cope and heal following the actual event. This study enhances our understanding of this experience and fosters the development of actionable postvention steps clinicians, supervisors, and mental health agencies can take to support providers after a client suicide.

查看原文

微信好友朋友圈 QQ好友复制链接

本刊更多论文

心理健康服务提供者对客户自杀经历的现象学分析

据估计，三分之一死于自杀的人在死前一年接受过心理健康服务，五分之一的人在死前一个月接受过服务。鉴于这些统计数据，许多心理健康专业人员很可能在其职业生涯的某个阶段与自杀身亡的客户共事。这项定性研究旨在调查治疗师在客户自杀后的经历，并找出治疗师认为在自杀后有帮助的支持和应对措施。九名参与者都是有执照的心理健康服务提供者。每个人都在至少两年前有过自杀身亡的客户，并且在客户死亡前的 6 个月内正在积极提供治疗或一直在提供治疗。研究结果显示，客户的自杀死亡会对服务提供者产生深远的影响，包括悲伤、愤怒和对诉讼的焦虑。这些反应说明了与高风险人群打交道的人有意识地进行自我关怀的重要性。此外，研究结果表明，提前讨论客户自杀问题有助于临床医生做好准备，在实际事件发生后能够更好地应对和治愈。这项研究加深了我们对这种经历的理解，并促进了临床医生、督导人员和心理健康机构制定可操作的后期预防措施，以便在客户自杀后为服务提供者提供支持。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文去求助

来源期刊

JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOTHERAPY PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL-

CiteScore

4.40

自引率

5.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy provides an international forum to critique the complexities and controversies facing psychotherapists. The journal publishes original peer-reviewed articles that critically analyze theory, research, or clinical practice. Empirical studies, panel discussions, essays, case studies, brief reports, and theoretical articles are published. Psychotherapists and clinical researchers will find this journal an important vehicle to review the problems of treating a variety of patients.