Light Up The Couch The Silent Weight of Client Suicide: On Grief, Ethics, and Clinical Realities, Ep. 236
Mar 19, 2025
Khara Croswaite Brindle, a licensed professional counselor and expert in suicide assessment training, delves into the silent grief clinicians endure after a client's suicide. She introduces the concept of 'confidential grief,' emphasizing the stigma around these feelings. The conversation touches on the impulsivity of unpreventable suicides, ethical dilemmas in communication with bereaved families, and strategies for clinician self-care using the LEAN framework. Through personal reflections, they advocate for open dialogue and compassion in navigating these profound losses.
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Confidential Grief Silences Clinicians
- Losing a client to suicide creates 'confidential grief' because clinicians can't openly mourn due to confidentiality and stigma.
- Hiding grief amplifies harm and blocks healing for clinicians.
The Saving Expectation Is A Harmful Myth
- Training and cultural expectations push clinicians to believe they must 'save' clients, creating a false responsibility to prevent all suicides.
- This expectation fuels shame and distorted self-blame when a client dies.
Stop Relying On Verbal Contracts
- Avoid relying on outdated practices like verbal no-suicide contracts; they comfort clinicians more than they save lives.
- Update assessment and intervention approaches to reflect current evidence.
