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Abstract
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Aims: The treatment of suicidal behaviour remains limited in efficacy. This pilot study assessed the effectiveness of a timelimited, group-based problem-solving therapy intervention compared with a treatment as usual control group, in females who self-poison.
METHOD: A total of 18 clients were equally randomised to treatment or control groups. All clients were assessed using standardised questionnaires for depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation and social problem-solving skills, at pre-treatment, post-treatment and two months follow-up.
RESULTS: The treatment group experienced significant reductions in levels of depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation and improvements in self-assessed social problem-solving skills. Improvements in mental health and aspects of self-assessed problem-solving skills for the treatment group continued to be evident at two months follow-up. The control group did not change significantly over time on mental health measures or social problem solving abilities.
CONCLUSION: Although limited by small sample size, the results suggest that group-based problem-solving therapy is effective in the management of deliberate self-poisoning. This paper is a unique contribution in that it examines the implementation of problem solving therapy with a homogenous population and in a group format.
METHODological concerns and directions for future research are discussed. © 2010 British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Language: en |