Suicide Self Evaluation

Summary

This theme revealed that almost every practitioner experiences a phase of self evaluation and feeling of responsibility for the client after suicide. It was revealed that they all reassess their work with the client and that there is a considerable level of anxiety which is shared by all when a client takes their own life. The use of terms such as; judgement call”; anxiety provoking; feeling of failure and responsibility strongly supports the theory of countertransference hatred which is the “feelings of malice and aversion” that suicidal patients arouse in the therapist is a major obstacle in treatment; its management through full awareness and self-restraint is essential for successful results. The therapist's repression, turning …show more content…
At the same time what was revealed by Peter who is the consultant psychiatrist is that making life or death decisions about clients can carry a considerable responsibility as well as burden since a choice between detaining or discharging a client could mean the difference between life and death.

All throughout the analysis it was rather evident that Rachel who is a forensic psychologist and works within the prison service always carries a sense of sadness and regret and had always felt that more could have been done to avoid her client’s death. Prison as another inpatient unit carries a sense of strong responsibility for practitioners as the offenders (clients) are under their care and therefore their responsibility.

This sense of professional responsibility was not so visible from other practitioners who worked privately as there are no instances of a blame culture but of course this did not apply to their sense of personal responsibility as