Suicide Counseling: Theories and Session

Suicide Counseling: Theories and Session

Introduction

Counseling is an essential direct intervention technique in the provision of mental health services. Counseling is a general term that can be applied to psychotherapy, therapy, educational training, and psycho-educational counseling. In the current study, counseling is defined as a direct intervention in which a practitioner works with a person to bring about a productive change in attitude, behavior, or perspective. It may also be characterized as direct service delivery in which the clinician engages the relationship with the client as an avenue for change (Whisenhunt & O'Hara, 2012)

Empirical Discussion

Research that explores the relationship between suicide and self-injury is limited, and the lack of clarity surrounding this topic can present challenges for professional counselors. Although persons who self-injure are at an increased risk for suicide, not all individuals who engage in self-injurious behaviors attempt suicide. Research on common and distinct risk factors for suicide and self-injury, as well as emotional antecedents and consequences for suicide and self-injury, has contributed to our understanding of this complex relationship. However, the specific nature of the relationship remains unclear (Whisenhunt, 2011).

Suicide is not inevitable. Many people have suicidal thoughts and engage in behaviors along a suicidal continuum before attempting or without ever actually attempting. Preventative measures could save lives. In the U.S., one quarter of all people aged 18-24 are either full or part time college students. One can conclude, therefore, that suicide prevention programs in college could reach a significant amount of at-risk population. That is not to say that nothing is being done, According to the American Association of Suicidology webpage, "most suicidal persons give definite warnings of their suicidal thoughts, but those closest to them are either unaware of the significance of these warnings or do not know how to respond to them," As a result, strategies to address suicide concerns include school-based suicide awareness programs, screening, gatekeeper training, crisis centers and hotlines (Whisenhunt, 2011).

Suicide Counseling Methodologies

In regards to methodology, several trends have also emerged. First, research has been slowly responding to calls to provide theoretical bases for empirical research. A recent content analysis noted that just over half of the empirical articles included in the study employed a theoretical framework for their research. This is an improvement over the finding that only 37% of articles had a theoretical foundation. Second, while further analyses are needed to determine the stability of this trend, qualitative methodologies are seeing increased use. 12% of studies were using qualitative designs compared to a complete absence of qualitative methodologies. However, another study found only 12 articles from 1998-2008 in the four counseling journals they examined (Journal of Counseling & Development, The Counseling Psychologist, Journal of Counseling Psychology, and Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling) (Whisenhunt, 2011).



Application models

Procedures for the systemic changes and implementation of the model have been suggested. The first step in such a model calls for population-based needs assessments. It is noted that a shift to this type of assessment requires significant time and redirection of ...