A solution-focused approach to working with clients who are suicidal

Self-harm and suicide are amongst the most challenging and frightening problems that therapists and counsellors can encounter in the course of their work. The risk of clients harming themselves in the course of treatment can debilitate the therapists from acting creatively and collaboratively, and make their actions defensive, focused solely on risk assessment rather than therapeutic change.Yet it is precisely a creative and collaborative response, such as that engendered by solution-focused therapy and other models, that is the most likely to facilitate change and re-empower clients to take back charge of their lives. This article describes a solution-focused approach to working with suicidal clients that can be used in conjunction with traditional approaches and which focus on establishing safety as well as assessing risk.Working from this model the clinician shifts to identifying client strengths and coping skills, to collaborating with the client to establish meaningful goals and to helping the client envision a positive future. Arguably, such an approach can increase collaboration between therapist and client and lead to a more client-centred safety plan.