Ethical Issues in the Assessment and Treatment of a Rational Suicidal Client

A rational client's decision to suicide may present particularly complex ethical issues for a therapist. This article presents and discusses a 3-month account of therapy with such a client, from the perspective of the ethical values and principles upon which assessment and treatment decisions were made, and the complex ethical dilemmas encountered as the therapist juxtaposed the client's autonomy with the irreversibility of her potential death by suicide.

Facilitating Adolescent Optimal Development

Competencies and training models for working with adolescents have not been well defined. The literature related to adolescents has focused on at-risk populations, with little attention to healthy and optimal development. Numerous and as yet primarily untapped opportunities are available for counseling psychologists to facilitate adolescent optimal development. This article proposes a training model that incorporates competencies for working with adolescents with the goal of helping them thrive. Information is presented concerning changes in service delivery, current training practices, and methods to infuse information about adolescent optimal development into the curriculum.

Using rational suicide as an intervention to prevent irrational suicide

This paper sets forth the idea that using the concept of, and criteria for, rational suicide can be a clinically useful intervention even with people who may be irrational in their suicidality. Case examples are used to illustrate ways in which reviewing the criteria may help move a person away from an impulsive decision to suicide.