Premium
No‐Harm Contracts: A Review of What We Know
Author(s) -
Lewis Lisa McConnell
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
suicide and life‐threatening behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.544
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1943-278X
pISSN - 0363-0234
DOI - 10.1521/suli.2007.37.1.50
Subject(s) - enthusiasm , harm , intervention (counseling) , suicidal ideation , psychology , mental health , medicine , malpractice , psychiatry , medical emergency , nursing , suicide prevention , poison control , social psychology , political science , law
Few events in the practice of a mental health clinician can be as devastating as the suicide of a client. Although suicide is a rare occurrence, clinicians face assessment of clients' risk for harming themselves on a regular basis. One well‐accepted and widely practiced intervention for suicidal ideation is the use of no‐harm contracts (NHC), although opinions about NHCs range from enthusiasm to apathy. The existing research does not support the use of such contracts as a method for preventing suicide, nor for protecting clinicians from malpractice litigation in the event of a client suicide.