How to Talk About Suicide with Therapy Clients + Safety Planning | Therapist THRIVAL Guide: Ep. 9

Suicide is a topic that can be difficult to talk about-- and sometimes it's even hard for therapists to talk about this with their clients! Instead of shying away from this topic, we brought suicidologist Brittany Miskowiec, LICSW on as a guest to discuss how to talk about this with clients and what to do if a client says that they are suicidal.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

TIPS FOR ASKING ABOUT SUICIDE:
1. Show them the evidence:
Tell them what you’ve noticed and why you’re asking about suicide. Example: I’ve noticed that you’ve been showing up late for work, you’ve lost a lot of weight, and I know that you and your wife have been struggling to connect lately.

2. Normalize it:
I like to tell people that given the circumstances (the evidence you just showed them), it’s understandable that they might be thinking about suicide. Example: In any of those situations, someone may be thinking about suicide.

3. Ask them directly:
When asking someone about suicide, it’s important to be direct. We want to show the person that we’re comfortable talking about suicide and that we’re there to listen. This is why it’s important to be direct and say “Are you thinking about suicide?” or “Are you thinking about killing yourself?”

All together, it sounds like this:
Hey, I’ve noticed that you’ve been showing up late for work, you’ve lost a lot of weight, and I know that you and your wife have been struggling to connect lately. In any of those situations, someone may be thinking about suicide. Are you thinking about suicide?

LINKS:
Common myths and facts about suicide, another video from Brittany:    • Common Myths About Suicide - Ellie Me...  
Three Tips for Asking Someone about Suicide Blog Post by Brittany: https://elliementalhealth.com/three-e...
Ellie Mental Health: https://elliementalhealth.com/
Mental Health Crisis Line: https://988lifeline.org/

The Therapist Thrival Guide is a podcast from Ellie Mental Health. We want to take therapists from just surviving to thriving. This is everything you didn't learn in graduate school! This podcast is hosted by Miranda Barker, MSW LICSW and Dr. Lucas Volini, LMFT. We'll have a different therapist guest for each episode to talk about what they've learned and what they want to teach other therapists. This series will be covering topics like burn-out, client retention, session structure, and balancing professional relationships.

Find this episode on your favorite podcast platform here: https://anchor.fm/therapist-thrival-g...

Dr. Lucas Volini, LMFT, has been practicing as a marriage and family therapist for over ten years. He has worked as a couple's therapist, a graduate and undergraduate professor, researcher, author, and now as the VP of Clinical Quality at Ellie Mental Health...But he mostly sees himself as a professional recreational golfer.

Miranda Barker, MSW, LICSW, has been practicing as a therapist for a little over a year. She previously worked as a child protection investigator, adoption social worker, and case manager. She's new to the therapy game and loves soaking up all of the knowledge from the expert therapists in her life. She's the Executive Producer at Ellie Mental Health and believes that creativity is an important aspect of mental health care.

Therapist THRIVAL Guide is one of many creative productions from Ellie Mental Health. Ellie is an outpatient mental health clinic that began in St. Paul, Minnesota and has continued to expand to over 20 clinics in Minnesota and a growing number of franchises across the country (we'll be opening over 500 locations in communities nationwide in the near future!!).

#normalizeit #suicideprevention #mentalhealthawareness #therapists