The relationship between working alliance and treatment outcome in an internet-based grief therapy for people bereaved by suicide

Background Working alliance is an important component in the therapy process, however its’ role in bereavement interventions has rarely been studied. This study investigates the relationship between working alliance and treatment outcome, the change of working alliance throughout therapy and patient characteristics as predictors of working alliance. Methods Data from a randomized controlled trial including […]

Patients’ satisfaction with the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic outcome is related to suicidal ideation in the Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program (ASSIP)

Background: The therapeutic alliance may be a moderating factor of outcome in the Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program (ASSIP). Aims: This study investigates the two components of the therapeutic alliance, patients’ satisfaction with the therapeutic relationship and therapeutic outcome and their associations with suicidal ideation over time. Method: A total of 120 patients (55% female; mean age = 36 years) […]

The relationship between working alliance and treatment outcome in an internet-based grief therapy for people bereaved by suicide

Background Working alliance is an important component in the therapy process, however its’ role in bereavement interventions has rarely been studied. This study investigates the relationship between working alliance and treatment outcome, the change of working alliance throughout therapy and patient characteristics as predictors of working alliance. Methods Data from a randomized controlled trial including […]

Therapeutic alliance and change in suicide ideation among psychiatric inpatients at risk for suicide

Background: Therapeutic alliance is thought to be essential in the treatment of suicidality. Surprisingly, studies about the association between therapeutic alliance and change in suicide ideation over the course of treatment are sparse  and reported inconsistent results. Furthermore, theoretically important moderators were rarely explored empirically. Methods: We investigated the association between therapeutic alliance and change […]

Behind therapists’ emotional responses to suicidal patients: A study of the narrative crisis model of suicide and clinicians’ emotions

Objective Clinicians’ negative emotional responses to suicidal patients are predictive of near-term suicidality. This study aimed to explore the underlying pathway of this association by investigating the potential relationship between clinicians’ emotional responses and the Narrative Crisis Model of suicide, which comprises long-term risk factors (LTRF) of suicidal thoughts and behaviors, Suicidal Narrative, and the […]

Military mental health professionals’ suicide risk assessment and management before and after experiencing a patient’s suicide

Objective This study examines the association between a patient’s suicide and the therapist’s suicide risk assessment (SRA) and suicide risk management (SRM) of patients, following the occurrence. Method SRA values range from “absence of suicidality” to “immediate suicidal intent to die”. SRM consists of therapists’ written recommendations. Rates of the various SRA and SRM values […]

The relationship between the therapeutic alliance in psychotherapy and suicidal experiences: A systematic review

Few studies have examined the relationship between the therapeutic alliance in therapy and suicidal experiences. No studies have examined this relationship with people with non-affective psychosis. The present study sought to redress this gap in the literature. Sixty-four participants with non-affective psychosis and suicidal experiences who were receiving a suicide-focused cognitive therapy were recruited. Self-reported […]

To treat or not to treat: The effect of hypothetical patients’ suicidal severity on therapists’ willingness to treat

Therapists’ intense negative emotional responses regarding suicidal patients raise questions about therapists’ willingness to treat them; however, this issue has yet to be investigated. The aim of the current study is to examine to what extent the severity of suicidality of a hypothetical patient will influence therapists’ willingness to treat and the likelihood of their […]

Contributions of cognitions, psychological flexibility, and therapeutic alliance to suicidal ideation in psychiatric inpatients.

Although suicide treatment is an expanding area of research, there is relatively less in the literature with respect to how specific vulnerabilities to suicide are addressed by treatment. Utilizing measures of suicide cognitions, therapeutic alliance, and psychological flexibility, we compared their relative contributions to suicidal ideation during and posttreatment among a group of adult psychiatric […]

The relationship between therapeutic alliance and patient’s suicidal thoughts, self-harming behaviours and suicide attempts: A systematic review

Suicidality is a common concern for people with mental health problems. The interpersonal nature of suicidality suggests that therapeutic alliance may be important when working clinically with suicidal patients. This paper is a systematic review of studies investigating the association between alliance and treatment outcome relating to suicidal ideation and behaviours. Methods Systematic searches of […]

Suicide ideation is related to therapeutic alliance in a brief therapy for attempted suicide.

The objective of this study was to investigate the role of therapeutic alliance on suicide ideation as outcome measure in a brief therapy for patients who attempted suicide. Sixty patients received the 3-session therapy supplemented by follow-up contact through regular letters. Therapeutic alliance was measured with the Helping Alliance Questionnaire (HAQ). Outcome at 6 and […]

A novel brief therapy for patients who attempt suicide: A 24-months follow-up randomized controlled study of the Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program(ASSIP).

Attempted suicide is the main risk factor for suicide and repeated suicide attempts. However, the evidence for follow-up treatments reducing suicidal behavior in these patients is limited. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of the Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program (ASSIP) in reducing suicidal behavior. ASSIP, a manual-based brief therapy […]

Building a therapeutic alliance with the suicidal patient.

The quality of the therapeutic alliance is a well-established factor for successful therapy process and outcome. When it comes to treating suicidal patients, a strong therapeutic alliance can quite literally save a person’s life. In this book, editors Konrad Michel and David A. Jobes have enlisted an elite group of clinicians and researchers to explore […]

Therapeutic alliance and change in suicidal ideation during treatment in integrated primary care settings.

A strong therapeutic alliance is considered to be an essential factor for the effective assessment and management of suicidal patients; however, to date this has received little empirical attention. The current study evaluated the association of future change in suicidal ideation with therapeutic alliance during first appointments with primary care behavioral health consultants. The Behavioral […]