The experience of psychotherapists having worked with suicidal clients while in training

Introduction: Suicide is the 17^th leading cause of death worldwide. Studies exploring professionals working with suicidal clients found that about 70% of therapists had a client who attempted suicide, and 80% of trainees have experienced a client with suicidal ideation. Studies in the area of suicidality and psychotherapy have focused on investigating risk factors and improving risk assessment, reinforcing a prediction-prevention culture this way that impacts also professionals’ work. The same applies to training programs that mostly focus on risk assessment. The experience of professionals in their work with suicidality is significantly under-researched. There are a small number of qualitative studies that have investigated the impact on experienced professionals and only one qualitative study has addressed the experience of therapists-in-training when working with suicidal clients.

Goals and Methods: The present study aimed to explore the lived experience of psychotherapists who have worked with suicidal clients during their training, investigating the immediate impact and the impact it had on their professional identity. The research methodology utilized was Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) and there were conducted semi-structured interviews with five psychotherapists from multiple theoretical approaches, three to five years after training, who had worked with at least one client with suicidal behaviors during their training.

Results: The analysis revealed three master themes: (a) the emotional labor of working with the risk of suicide; (b) in search of stable ground outside; and (c) transforming the training experience. Each master theme consisted of three themes and subthemes.

Conclusions: The research results suggest that the experience of therapists having worked with suicidal clients as trainees, in the long run, may provide a positive transformative experience, with support from external sources playing a crucial role. The present findings also suggest essential elements for the training of psychotherapists across theoretical models.