DESPAIR and NOTES - Safety Formulation and Documentation for Grounded Clinical Decision Making

In this course, Dr. Manaan Kar Ray (Director, Division of Adult Mental Health, Princess Alexandria Hospital, Brisbane; Associate Professor, Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Griffith University) explores the decision-making process often undertaken by clinicians in the context of client suicidal crisis. Suggesting that decisions are typically based on availability of resources and factors other than client safety, Dr. Ray proposes the use of his seven-step DESPAIR process and his safety documentation procedure of NOTES to more deeply understand intent and thereby enhance client safety during and after crises. The workshop is interactive, and you are invited to rate the suicide risk for a client based on Dr. Ray’s conceptual models.