Biomaterial Database

The family therapy of attempted suicide. 1979

J Richman

Suicidal behavior is a multidetermined act based upon a variety of factors among which family tensions and patterns of interaction predominate. Family therapy, nevertheless, is underutilized for suicidal situations because too few practitioners possess the requisite skills in both suicidology and family treatment. This paper attempts to integrate the two fields, describes some assessment procedures, and presents an account of the method of family therapy utilized by the author with suicidal persons. The basic goals of therapy are to help initiate and to catalyze a healing process that will enable the participants to accept changes in both individual and family existence; to decrease the amount of destructive family interaction; to deal with the inevitable anxiety that accompanies growth and development; to make contact with and among the family members; and to provide hope.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007207	Individuation	A process of differentiation having for its goal the development of the individual personality.	Individuations
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009769	Object Attachment	Emotional attachment to someone or something in the environment.	Bonding (Psychology),Bonds, Emotional,Emotional Bonds,Object Relations,Symbiotic Relations (Psychology),Bonding, Psychological,Object Relationship,Psychological Bonding,Attachment, Object,Attachments, Object,Bond, Emotional,Bondings (Psychology),Emotional Bond,Object Attachments,Object Relation,Object Relationships,Relation, Object,Relation, Symbiotic (Psychology),Relations, Object,Relations, Symbiotic (Psychology),Relationship, Object,Relationships, Object,Symbiotic Relation (Psychology)
D011368	Professional-Family Relations	The interactions between the professional person and the family.	Professional Family Relationship,Family Relationship, Professional,Family Relationships, Professional,Professional Family Relations,Professional Family Relationships,Professional-Family Relation,Relation, Professional-Family,Relations, Professional-Family,Relationship, Professional Family,Relationships, Professional Family
D003142	Communication	The exchange or transmission of ideas, attitudes, or beliefs between individuals or groups.	Miscommunication,Misinformation,Social Communication,Communication Programs,Communications Personnel,Personal Communication,Communication Program,Communication, Personal,Communication, Social,Communications, Social,Miscommunications,Misinformations,Personnel, Communications,Program, Communication,Programs, Communication,Social Communications
D003210	Concept Formation	A cognitive process involving the formation of ideas generalized from the knowledge of qualities, aspects, and relations of objects.	Concept Acquisition,Concept Learning,Conceptualization,Acquisition, Concept,Acquisitions, Concept,Concept Acquisitions,Formation, Concept,Learning, Concept
D003220	Conflict, Psychological	The internal individual struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing needs, drives, or external and internal demands. In group interactions, competitive or opposing action of incompatibles: antagonistic state or action (as of divergent ideas, interests, or persons). (from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed)	Conflict, Psychology,Psychological Conflict,Psychological Conflicts
D003379	Countertransference	Conscious or unconscious emotional reaction of the therapist to the patient which may interfere with treatment. (APA, Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 8th ed.)	Countertransference, Psychology
D003419	Crisis Intervention	Brief therapeutic approach which is ameliorative rather than curative of acute psychiatric emergencies. Used in contexts such as emergency rooms of psychiatric or general hospitals, or in the home or place of crisis occurrence, this treatment approach focuses on interpersonal and intrapsychic factors and environmental modification. (APA Thesaurus of Psychological Index Terms, 7th ed)	Brief Advice,Brief Interventions,Brief Treatment,Critical Incident Stress Debriefing,Screening and Brief Intervention,Advice, Brief,Brief Intervention,Brief Treatments,Crisis Interventions,Intervention, Brief,Intervention, Crisis,Treatment, Brief
D004645	Empathy	An individual's objective and insightful awareness of the feelings and behavior of another person. It should be distinguished from sympathy, which is usually nonobjective and noncritical. It includes caring, which is the demonstration of an awareness of and a concern for the good of others. (From Bioethics Thesaurus, 1992)	Caring,Compassion