It is very important that when performing a suicide risk assessment in a clinical or professional context (whether a therapist, crisis or mental health worker, teacher, etc.), that you adequately document exactly what happened and what you did in response. A good suicide risk assessment form will assist you in documenting what the suicidal person…
Counseling on Access to Lethal Means (CALM)
Counseling on Access to Lethal Means, or CALM is a course originally developed by Harvard Public Health that is now available in an online format through the Suicide Prevention Resource Centre. It is a 90 to 120 minute course designed for counsellors, therapists, crisis workers and others who work directly with suicidal persons, and makes…
CPR Model of Suicide Risk Assessment
NOTE: While this assessment is still very useful, I have changed my recommendation for a comprehensive suicide risk assessment to the DCIB Suicide Risk Assessment. You can see a video of this post here. Suicide Risk Assessment with CPR Model The CPR Model is a simple and effective model for suicide risk assessment. It is…
Suicide Risk Factors, Warning Signs and Protective Factors
Suicide risk factors are those characteristics a person may possess that can increase their suicide risk on a “macro level.” Merely having these things indicates a person may be at an increased risk of suicide over their lifetime, but does not indicate that they are going to kill themselves soon, or even at all. Suicide…
Identifying Suicide Lethality
Do you know how to identify suicide lethality in others? It’s important to identify what causes a person to become suicidal. It’s probably easy to imagine some situations that could cause a person to become suicidal. Financial ruin, becoming the victim of a heinous crime like rape, losing your job can all cause suicidal thoughts….