Suicide Exposure in Crisis Workers

Background: Crisis workers provide services to individuals who are in acute distress. There is no research examining personal and occupational exposure to suicide in these workers. Aims: We aimed to examine the prevalence of personal, occupational, and colleague suicide exposure among crisis workers, the mental health outcomes associated with suicide exposures, and perceived professional preparedness for client suicide. Method: Crisis workers ( n = 115) completed an online survey assessing suicide exposure, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Results: Over a third of participants (33.9%, n = 37) reported that they had lost at least one client to suicide, with an average of 2.30 clients ( SD = 4.47) lost to suicide. Over three quarters (77.1%, n = 81) of study participants reported they had experienced at least one personal loss to suicide. Those who perceived their relationship to the personal suicide as close or very close had significantly greater PTSD symptoms ( M = 3.29, SD = 2.23) than those who perceived their relationship as not at all close, not close, or somewhat close ( M = 1.38, SD = 1.69), t(20) = −2.10, p = .049. Limitations: Snowball sampling is the study's main limitation. Conclusion: The current study demonstrates that a substantial percentage of crisis workers are exposed to suicide and additional research is needed to determine how exposures impact practice and personal symptoms in this population.

Psychologists’ Experiences Conducting Suicide Risk Assessments: A Phenomenological Study

Psychologists conduct suicide risk assessments (SRAs) regularly to identify and prevent clients’ self-harm and risk of death, although little is known about their experiences of the process. In this phenomenological study, five registered psychologists (master’s and doctoral level) were interviewed to explore the essence of their SRA experiences. Psychologists reported weaving tenets of assessment and therapy throughout their SRAs, relying on their clinical intuition, and investing deeply in their suicidal clients. Also, psychologists reported feeling significant anxiety working with suicidal clients, revealing the ways in which the fear of client suicide guides and motivates their SRA practices. While they have an empathic view of suicide, they believe in preventative intervention. They reported feeling pressure from clients and colleagues to conduct ethical and useful SRAs despite receiving what they consider to be insufficient and ineffectual graduate SRA training. Results from this study offer a qualitative foundation for future research on the ethics, training, and practice of SRA.

“I Honestly Would Not Have Known What to Do”: An Exploratory Study of Perspectives on Client Suicide Among Vocational Rehabilitation Support Staff

Despite the high prevalence of suicide both overall and among people with disabilities in particular, little research has explored suicide in the context of the vocational rehabilitation (VR) system or in counseling support staff in general. We analyzed the responses of 14 VR support staff who responded to an open-ended qualitative prompt regarding their experiences with suicide training and competency. Key themes included a perceived lack of and desire for more training regarding suicide, seeking and receiving suicide training outside of VR, and a perceived lack of resources for working with suicidal clients. Responses also underscored the heavy emotional impact of working with these clients, especially when one feels unprepared to do so. These results suggest that it is important to provide VR support staff with resources and training for addressing suicide in their client populations.

Workplace Responses and Psychologists’ Needs Following Client Suicide

This research aimed to explore the role of workplace responses in psychologists’ adaptation to client suicides. Participants were 178 psychologists who completed an online self-report questionnaire which included both open and closed questions yielding qualitative and quantitative data. Fifty-six (31.5%) participants reported one or more client suicides. Mixed results were found in terms of perceived support from the workplace following a client suicide. Psychologists reported a need for more open communication in the workplace, peer supports, space to grieve, as well as opportunities to engage in a learning process. The findings have important implications for research and for understanding the role of the workplace postvention. It also raises the need for external support to be accessible for psychologists working in private practice.