The Suicidal Patient: Clinical and Legal Standards of Care [Hardcover]

Bruce Bongar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 2002 | ISBN-10: 1557987610 | ISBN-13: 978-1557987617 | Edition: 2 Sub

Text for the clinician treating a suicidal patient. Covers standards and guidelines for caring for and monitoring the patient, guidelines for consultation, models of treatment, and models for involving significant others. Previous edition: c1991.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 376 pages
• Publisher: American Psychological Association (APA); 2 Sub edition (January 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557987610
• ISBN-13: 978-1557987617
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 6.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #834,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for all practicing clinicians, September 16, 2002

By 

insteadlaugh "an evolving consciousness" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Suicidal Patient: Clinical and Legal Standards of Care (Hardcover)

The Suicidal Patient by Bruce Bongar provides a much-needed manual for all practicing clinicians. Why do I say all? Well, if you are a clinician the odds are that at some point in your career you will encounter a suicidal patient. In fact, according to Bongar, even "student therapists have a one in three chance of experiencing a patient suicide or suicide attempt during their training years."

By taking a few simple precautions you can greatly minimize your chance of being sued. But, I believe, even more importantly, Bongar champions the idea that if you provide high quality care the odds of you being able to prevent a suicide dramatically increase. According to Bongar, high quality care happens when you have a real understanding of both clinical and legal issues and you apply this knowledge and tailor your approach to each individual.

Obviously you're a therapist, and not a fortuneteller, and so mistakes will happen. Why not learn the basics ahead of time so that you don't make stupid mistakes?

If you effectively deal with a suicidal patient, and he or she improves, then you may have just helped someone save his or her own life. I can't think of a better feeling than that, which is why Bongar provides you with a manual to effectively deal with the suicidal patient. Take responsibility for your practice and prepare for the worst because by doing so you may achieve the best outcome of all.

With that said, I want to be clear about the format of this book. It is written for clinicians. If you are looking for a self-help book this is definitely not for you. Bongar is a therapy researcher and so like much therapy research the book is somewhat dry. This is to be expected since the list of citations alone span thirty-eight pages. The fact that all this voluminous literature has been synthesized into one book is impressive indeed and one only need consider how dry it would be to read all the primary sources to realize the service that this book provides.

Specifically the book provides:
1. A history of suicide research and current theories and research in the field.
2. A comprehensive section on the legal issues involved in treating suicidal patients.
3. Many methods to assess patient risk including assessment protocols and case histories.
4. Best practices for treatment in both inpatient and outpatient settings
5. A section on risk management that includes suggestions for unfortunate event that the patient carries out a suicidal act.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars suicidal patients, August 13, 2006

By 

Robert W. Smith "Robert Smith, Ph.D." (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Suicidal Patient: Clinical and Legal Standards of Care (Hardcover)

dr. bongar's work is especially helpful for mental health professionals to help them understand and appreciate the experience through which the prospectively suicidal patient finds him or herself. like most books published by the apa, it is fairly exhaustive on research (although this review is written 4 years after publication and i acknowledge that a current revision would be welcome in a couple years), perhaps a bit theoretical, and does not provide succinctly written summaries for a busy professionals. it outlines clinical considerations and potential courses or action. it examines legal issues relevant to clinical intervention and failed intervention. the recommendations dr. bongar makes are excellent. this is not, in my opinion, a book for families or patients. i highly recommend this book for academicians and clinicians who wish to better understand and want to more effectively manage potentially suicidal situations. at $33, i think that the information i learned more than justified the purchase.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suicide Basics, January 31, 2006

By 

Miller Garrison "Rocky" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Suicidal Patient: Clinical and Legal Standards of Care (Hardcover)

Dr. Bongar gives a practicing psychotherapist the information she or he needs to decrease the risk of suicide by a patient and effectively intervene with the suicidal patient.

Essential reading.