Half a Century of Counselling: What Experience Has Taught Me About Suicide

In this course, Prof. Barry L. Jackson, Ph.D. (Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania) traces his half-century counselling career in the context of what he has learned through literature, study, and clinical experience about helping suicidal clients. He concludes that most counsellor education programs have inadequate suicide and self-harm components, and that risk factor studies have not proven effective at the individual level, inasmuch as most findings are relevant to aggregate populations. Prof. Jackson outlines his route from his Rogerian training through psychodynamic or behaviourist perspectives and quantitative assessments back to person-centred methods, which genuinely convey caring and build the therapeutic alliance that allows clients to feel safe to talk about suicidal thoughts and/or plans.