Suicide: An overview

Suicide is a major mental health problem in the United States and an issue that significantly impacts the mental health treatment community. Although the suicide rate remains relatively stable, the discipline of counseling ps ychology has broadened in scope and work settings have diversified. Thus, c ounseling psychology trainees are increasingly exposed to suicidal clients. Despite this reality research suggests that comprehensive, systematic trai ning in suicidology in counseling psychology programs rarely occurs. One re ason for this slate of affairs may be that the suicide literature is spread across a variety of disciplines, making it difficult for educators and pra ctitioners to stay informed about the knowledge base in suicidology. The pu rpose of this contribution, therefore, is to provide counseling psychology educators and practitioners with an overview of the field of suicidology as it applies to the training and practice of counseling psychology.