Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Suicidal Behavior

Current and comprehensive information concerning the assessment and treatment of suicidal persons and the prevention of suicidal behavior

The eighth leading cause of death in the United States and the second leading cause among U.S. teens, suicide is unique in being self-inflicted and is, as such, often preventable. By assessing the risk of suicide accurately, providing effective treatment according to this risk, and implementing strategies against suicidal urges, mental health professionals can successfully guide their clients away from this senseless taking of life.

Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Suicidal Behavior provides the most current and comprehensive source of information, guidelines, and case studies for working with clients at risk of suicide. It offers clinicians, counselors, and other mental health professionals a practical toolbox on three main areas of interest:

• Screening and Assessment covers empirically based assessment techniques and how they can define dimensions of vulnerability and measure the risk of self-destructive behavior. Authors discuss research on the use of each screening instrument, guidelines and suggestions for using the instrument in practice, and a case study illustrating its application.
• Intervention and Treatment compares several different approaches for structuring psychotherapy with suicidal clients. Each author covers a psychotherapy system, its application to suicidal clients, and a case study of its real-world use.
• Suicide and Violence explores the relationship between suicidal individuals and violence, covering suicide in specific contexts such as school violence, police confrontations, and terrorist violence. This section also includes a discussion of the increased risk of suicide in our more insecure and violent world, as well as how topromote coping styles for these new anxieties.

While addressed mainly to psychologists, social workers, and other mental health professionals for use in serving their clients, as well as students of psychology, Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Suicidal Behavior is also an accessible and valuable resource for educators, school counselors, and others in related fields.

ROBERT I. YUFIT, PhD, ABPP, is an associate professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University in Chicago and is also in independent clinical practice where he has focused primarily on the assessment and treatment of suicidal persons for the past three decades. He is a past president of the American Association of Suicidology, and is currently Associate Editor of their journal, Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior. He has published widely on the assessment of suicide potential.
DAVID LESTER, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. He has written extensively on both suicide and murder. He was director of research and evaluation at the Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service in Buffalo, New York, and is a past president of the International Association for Suicide Prevention.