Suicide and its discontent: Practitioner psychologists experiences of working with active suicidal ideation

Llewellyn, Shane

Abstract

Suicide is often conceptualised as a harmful, frightening and a misunderstood phenomenon. Research has shown that the theorising of suicide is broad-ranging and complex identifying that working clinically with clients who present with suicide can be challenging for practitioners, and such challenges can interfere in the ways in which practitioners work with suicidal presentations. Building on existing research on the experiences of practitioners working with the phenomenon, practitioner psychologists appear unrepresented within the research. This study aims to qualitatively explore the experiences of practitioner psychologists working with active suicidal ideation. The study asks what the experiences of practitioner psychologists’ working with active suicidal ideation are. The rationale for focusing on active ideation helped place a specific focus on researching the phenomenon.

Based on a review of the literature on practitioner’s experiences, seven HCPC registered practitioner psychologist were interviewed using semi-structured interviews and participants explored their experiences of working with active suicidal ideation. Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to analyse the participant’s narrative, and three Super-ordinate themes emerged, 1- Working in Multi-Disciplinary Teams, 2- Working with Suicidal Ideation and 3- Exploring Our Own Ideation. The findings explore the extent to how the participants draw on a range of experiences in order to work effectively with clients who present with active ideation and to what extent working with the phenomena impacts on their ability to work clinically with active suicidal ideation. On the basis of this, it is recommended that policy directives demonstrate awareness of the complexities of the phenomenon, which could have positive implications for positive risk-taking and wider societal discourses on how suicide is conceptualised and understood. Reflective guidelines for practitioners are also discussed. Further research is needed to explore the Super-ordinate themes highlighted and how these impact on clinical practice and MDT working.

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 9, 2019
• Keywords: Practitioner Psychologists, Active Suicidal Ideation, IPA, Reflexivity
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1491233
• Contract Date: Aug 13, 2019
• Award Date: Sep 9, 2019