A number of competencies or skills are required for adequately working with suicidal individuals. Cramer et. al. (2013) examined a number of resources including the AAS Core Competencies (2010) and other resources. This list is adapted from those resources. Manage Attitudes and Reactions Towards Suicide and Suicidal Clients This competency involves self-awareness about your attitudes…
Month: May 2015
DCIB Suicide Risk Assessment
Introduction The DCIB Suicide Risk Assessment follows the new standards of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (Joiner, et. al., 2007). The result of the research and expert consensus was the following core principles and subcomponents, listed below. If you prefer to watch, you can see a video below. Components of the DCIB Risk Assessment Suicidal…
Evaluating a Samaritans Suicide Risk Assessment
The Samaritans are one of the most well-known suicide prevention organizations, helping individuals in distress via telephone, email and even through postal mail, over 5 million times a year (Pollack et. al. 2008) The Samaritans teach their volunteers the skills of active listening and the value of self-determination, and therefore most Samaritan organizations use no caller…
Designing Safety Plans with Suicidal Individuals
A safety plan is a written list of those activities that allow us to do three things: Recognize when a crisis is occurring Recognize who our supports are Make immediate next-steps for planning Safety plans are not checklists, and they should not be used in place of having a real conversation. They help provide a sense…
Risk Factors Predicting Youth Suicide Attempts
Youth suicide represents a significant public health issue and one particularly important given that young people often have fewer tools to deal with their suicidal thoughts. Demographics Suicide is the 4th leading cause of death for youth in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2011). There are between 50 and 200 suicide attempts per suicide death in adolescents (Schwartz, 2003)….