School Counselors’ Exposure to Student Suicide, Suicide Assessment Self-Efficacy, and Workplace Anxiety: Implications for Training, Practice, and Research

In a national sample of current school counselors with membership in the American School Counselor Association (N = 226), we examined the prevalence of suicide training among school counselors as well as differences in suicide assessment self-efficacy and workplace anxiety between school counselors who were exposed to student suicide and those who were not. The results indicate that 38% of school counselors were not prepared for suicide prevention during graduate training. Although school counselors’ exposure to suicide was not related to their workplace anxiety, those who were exposed to a student suicide attempt had higher suicide assessment self-efficacy scores than those who were not. This study demonstrates the impact of suicide exposure on school counselors and the need for additional suicide assessment training.

Clinicians’ Experience of Collaboration in the Treatment of Suicidal Clients Within the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality Framework

Introduction There is little known about the clinicians’ experience of collaboration using the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicide (CAMS) framework. This study aimed to give voice to the clinician experience. Method A qualitative design utilised semi-structured interviews with ten psychologists who worked in a Suicide Assessment and Treatment Service (SATS) in Ireland which utilises the CAMS framework. Results An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach revealed several important findings. The superordinate themes included ‘Finding Safety’, ‘Regulation of the Self’, ‘Connecting’, and ‘Systemic Challenges’. Discussion The CAMS framework plays an important role in providing a safe base for the clinician (in terms of understanding suicidality, in addition to the structures of the framework). It provides a mechanism in which to process difficult emotions, and a way of communicating a formulation of suicide to the treating team. Importantly, the CAMS emerged as facilitating a collaborative, therapeutic way of working.

Suicidal Mental Imagery: Investigating a Novel Marker of Suicide Risk

Rates of suicidal ideation and behavior are high and increasing in emerging adulthood. Research focused on suicidal ideation as a predictor of suicidal behavior has nearly exclusively conceptualized suicidal ideation as verbal thoughts about suicide. Emerging research suggests, however, that mentally imagining suicide may be even more impairing than verbal thoughts about suicide. Thirty-nine emerging adults with a lifetime history of suicidal cognitions completed self-report assessments of characteristics of their suicidal cognitions, histories of suicide plans and behavior, and the degree to which their suicidal cognitions took the form of mental imagery or verbal thought. Suicidal mental imagery predicted more intense and longer duration of suicidal cognitions, a higher likelihood of having made a suicide plan, and a higher likelihood of having made a suicide attempt over and above suicidal verbal thoughts. Thus, suicidal mental imagery could provide a novel target for suicide assessment and intervention for emerging adults.