Five Challenges in Helping the Suicidal Person

In this course, Stacey Freedenthal, Ph.D., LCSW, Associate Professor of the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work, tackles five challenges to helping the suicidal person: the uncertainty, fear, and anxiety about the suicidal person's level of risk; conflicting agendas of clinician and client; risk of harm due to coercion and control; feelings of helplessness and the urge to rescue; and contagious hopelessness. She then outlines numerous antidotes that clinicians can employ, including validity techniques, collaborative interacting, joining the person in the darkness, and helping to rebuild hope.