Laws, risk management, and ethical principles when working with suicidal patients

Working with a suicidal patient is a high-risk enterprise for the patient who might die from suicide, the patient’s family who might lose a loved one, and the psychologist who is likely to feel extreme grief or fear of legal liability after the suicide of a patient. To minimize the likelihood of such patient deaths, psychologists must ensure that they know and follow the relevant laws dealing with suicidal patients, rely on risk management strategies that anticipate and address problems in treatment early, and use overarching ethical principles to guide their clinical decisions. This article looks at the roles of laws, risk management strategies, and ethical principles; how they interact; and how a proper understanding of them can improve the quality of patient care while protecting psychologists from legal liability.