Citation

Leenaars AA. Clin. Neuropsychiatry 2009; 6(5): 216-226.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Giovanni Fioriti Editore)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The villain for the would-be suicide attempter is pain; clinicians need something to fight that pain, an anodyne. Psychotherapy is such; yet, to assuage the pain, the clinician primarily needs to know what he/she is treating. This paper, thus, first offers an empirical, cross-cultural perspective on that 'what,' illustrated with the writings of William Styron. It is argued once one understands what we are treating, effective psychotherapy comes knowingly. An outline of some common factors (or commonalities) in the field of psychotherapy with suicidal people is presented. The most essential common factor is the therapeutic relationship. What is effective and what is lethal are outlined, concluding that to treat the suicidal attempter effectively, the clinician has to be person-centred, not mental disorder centred. He/she has to know whom he/she is treating; this is quality care. © 2009 Giovanni Fioriti Editore s.r.l.

Language: en

Keywords

human; cognition; psychotherapy; aggression; suicide attempt; Pain; Psychotherapy; mood disorder; risk factor; hopelessness; review; mental disease; human relation; emotion; doctor patient relation; emotional stress; Suicide attempter; ego; clinical effectiveness; Suicidal people; psychological pain