The treatment in the Danish suicide prevention clinics: a clinician perspective

Background: Few qualitative studies have focused on clinicians’ perspectives regarding treatment of suicidal people. Despite limited evidence and imperfect risk-assessment tools, the psychosocial therapy at the Danish suicide prevention clinics has been linked to reductions in numbers of repeated self-harm, deaths by suicide, and other causes. This merits an investigation into how clinicians describe their practice.

Methods: Using a qualitative design, 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed to describe the psychosocial therapy.

Results: The practices that the therapists described could be categorized along four dichotomous continuums. These illustrated dilemmas encountered during treatment of suicidal patients: 1) intuitive vs. specific risk assessment, 2) meaningful vs. formal, 3) patient-oriented vs. therapist-oriented and 4) direct vs. indirect approach to suicide prevention.

Conclusions: Treatment in the Danish Suicide Prevention Clinics is characterized by methodological flexibility and diversity and with an emphasis on a patient-oriented approach. Furthermore, clinicians balance knowledge available by switching between a direct and an indirect approach according to the perceived suicide risk. If suicide risk was perceived as high, they would administer a direct approach and if low, an indirect approach. Finally, there seems to be differences as to how effective therapeutic methodologies work in the practice of suicide prevention.