A Common Sense Approach to Clinical Suicidology

In this course, Dr. David A. Jobes, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Suicide Prevention Laboratory at Catholic University of America, observes that predictions of who will die by suicide are notoriously inaccurate. He outlines the more common suicide screening tools available, noting that more deaths by suicide could be prevented by universal screening “upstream”, as opposed to suicide attempts and deaths “downstream”. The CAMS tool is particularly useful as a screening tool for those at risk, in that it is collaborative and empathic, and helps clients to identify the concerns that generated the suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts. Dr. Jobes cites multiple studies whose findings have all supported the effectiveness of CAMS.