Citation

Gill IJ. Train. Educ. Prof. Psychol. 2012; 6(3): 151-159.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Psychological Association and the Association of Psychology Postdoctoral and Internship Centers)

DOI

10.1037/a0029666

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The following report serves to explore how trainee clinical psychologists could experience the death of a client by suicide. Although a client suicide is a difficult event to process for clinical psychologists, it appears that trainees have additional factors that are detrimental to their healing process after a client suicide. The utilization of identity theory has not previously been used as a framework to understand trainees' reactions. Moreover, trainees' newly developing professional identity may complicate their grieving process. Implications for trainees, supervisors, training programs, and the clinical psychology profession are grounded in the context of identity theory. In light of the limited research, particularly regarding trainees' experiences after a client suicide, the following discussion has been extrapolated from several sources, and placed within the context of identity theory. © 2012 American Psychological Association.

Language: en

Keywords

Suicide; Identity; Client; Patient; Trainee clinical psychologist