A practitioner's insight: your relationship to suicide
- Self-harm and suicide
Many practitioners find themselves working with clients who are expressing suicidal intent and there is a general consensus in research that this can have an adverse impact on the practitioner and how they work with clients (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995; Reeves, 2010; Reeves & Mintz, 2001).
Practitioners may experience a range of feelings, including fear, anxiety, anger and professional impotence (Reeves & Mintz, 2001). Additionally, transference and countertransference responses of distrust, self-blame and hopelessness can be activated between the practitioner and the suicidal client (Jobes, Piehl, et al., 2018; Leenaars, 1994).
These responses can stem from social discourse and a practitioner's own encounters with the potential (or real) loss of family, friends, or clients to suicide. Negotiating these internal conflicts can become challenging as professional's strive to fulfil their professional responsibilities to safeguard.
This webinar aims to provide insights into the origins of the social construct of suicide and suicide prevention in order to allow a relationship to develop with suicide – reducing fear. It incorporates a personal perspective, drawing from doctoral research on suicide grief, as well as my own experiences, both personal and professional, with suicide.
This blend of personal and professional self-disclosure offers participants an opportunity to examine their internal beliefs about suicide and how these beliefs may impact their professional endeavours – developing a 'relationship' to suicide from their own perspective.
This webinars with offer opportunities for attendees to:
- Deconstruct the social construct of suicide and suicide prevention
- Reflect on the highly sensitive subject of suicide
- Deliberate on their identity as psychologists when working with the suicidal mind
- Examine the research of suicide grief and the ripple effect of suicide on others
- Understand how to be more present with suicidal clients and come to a shared understanding and co-authored intervention plan of suicidal drivers
- Consider and implement new procedures for working within wider clinical teams that work with suicide risk
- Be more prepared and able to work through their own emotions whilst working with suicidal clients
Disclaimer
- This webinar is not suitable for those wanting to process their own suicidal thoughts or risks. If you are struggling at the moment you may find the content and nature of this course could exacerbate these issues. If you require support, we recommend contacting your GP or Health Care Provider. Other support is available through, for example, The Samaritans.
- Due to the nature of this webinar, you may find elements of this webinar sensitive or difficult. If so, please take the necessary steps to look after yourself. The webinar will be recorded should you need to leave the live webinar and watch in your own time.
- Attending this webinar does not qualify you to offer therapy to suicidal individuals in the absence of an appropriate qualification, supervision and registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).