Psychotherapy With Suicidal Patients (IN: Suicide Prevention: Resources for the Millennium, edited by D Lester)

This chapter examines psychotherapeutic approaches to suicidal individuals from the perspectives of several theoretical orientations & time frames. The first period examined is the “presuicidology” era using the establishment of the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center in 1958 as a point of demarcation. Developments in the psychoanalytic model of suicide are reviewed next & several other approaches which have emerged are described. Finally, issues for the future development of psychotherapeutic interventions for persons at risk of suicide are considered. (86 refs.)