Main description:

This clinical manual offers essential tools and guidance for therapists of any orientation faced with the complex challenges of assessing and treating a suicidal patient. In a large, ready-to-photocopy format, the book provides step-by-step instructions and reproducible forms for evaluating suicidal risk, developing a suicide-specific outpatient treatment plan, and tracking clinical progress and outcomes using documentation that can help to reduce the risk of malpractice liability. In addition to providing a flexible structure for assessment and intervention, The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) approach is designed to strengthen the therapeutic alliance and increase patient motivation. Highly readable and user-friendly, the volume builds on 15 years of empirically oriented clinical research.

Contents:

Shneidman, Foreword. Contemporary Clinical Challenges and the Need for the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS). A Review of the Suicide Status Form and the Origin of CAMS. The Early Identification of Suicide Risk. CAMS Risk Assessment: The Collaborative Use of the SSF. CAMS Treatment Planning: Coauthoring the Outpatient Treatment Plan. CAMS Suicide Status Tracking: Assessment and Treatment Plan Updates. Suicide Status Outcomes: The Completion of CAMS. CAMS as Means of Decreasing Malpractice Liability. Future Developments: Using CAMS Across Settings and Future Research. Epilogue. Appendixes: A: The Suicide Status Form-III (SSF-III): Assessment, Treatment Planning, Tracking, and Outcome Forms. B: Coding Manual for the SSF Likert Scales: Qualitative Assessment. C: Coding Manual for SSF Reasons for Living versus Reasons for Dying. D: Coding Manual for the SSF One-Thing Response. E: Frequently Asked Questions About CAMS. F: Complete CAMS Case Example.