The Assessment And Management of Suicidality

by M. David Rudd

Suicide risk assessment has become a routine task among clinicians working in outpatient settings. As inpatient alternatives have slowly dwindled and lengths of stay have decreased dramatically over the past two decades, it has become increasingly important that mental health practitioners be well informed about, and comfortable with, assessing suicide risk and managing those at-risk in outpatient settings. There is little doubt that those in clinical practice will see suicidal patients even if they are not identified as working in the specialty area. It is difficult, if not impossible, to so tightly control the patient flow to prevent these individuals from appearing through routine referral channels. Since the author had yet to find a brief, thorough, and easily accessible clinical guide to suidice risk assessment, one that clinicians of all stripes could review in a short time frame, he wrote this book to fill that gap in the literature.

Genres: Psychology

75 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2006

Reviews

[Shelley Diamond · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource for therapists. Short book that focuses on protecting patients and protecting yourself in any potential lawsuit. Gives all the specific details you need to document. Clarifies precise terminology, and important differences between ideation, attempts, intentions, and acute vs. chronic cases.

I heard about this book in a CEU course on suicide where the instructor said that if you only get one book on suicide, get this one. He was right. I have lots of good books on the existential and clinical aspects of suicide but this one is the only one I've seen that integrates the clinical and legal aspects.

If you are a practicing therapist, you need this book. The author of the book is a forensic expert. If you are ever in a lawsuit over suicide, it is likely to help your case if you have used this book as a guideline.