CADC Crisis Intervention and Suicide Risk Management

Question 1

A client in early recovery tells you they have a plan to overdose tonight and have the pills at home. What is the counselor's FIRST priority?

Accepted Answer

Ensure immediate safety, including assessing lethality and restricting access to means

Answer

When a client has a specific plan and access to means, the counselor's first duty is immediate safety. That means assessing lethality and intent, limiting access to means, and arranging a higher level of care or emergency evaluation if needed. Exploration and routine referrals come after safety is secured.

Question 2

Which of the following is generally considered the strongest single predictor of a future suicide attempt?

Accepted Answer

A previous suicide attempt

Answer

A prior suicide attempt is among the most robust predictors of later attempts and death by suicide. Substance use disorders, hopelessness, and access to means also raise risk, but prior attempts carry the most weight.

Question 3

Which statement about asking a client directly about suicidal thoughts is most accurate?

Accepted Answer

It does not increase risk and is a necessary part of assessment

Answer

Research consistently shows that asking directly about suicidal ideation does not increase suicidal behavior. Direct inquiry is a core part of risk assessment and often brings relief to the client.

Question 4

Which approach is best supported as a crisis tool for suicidal clients, in preference to a 'no-suicide contract'?

Accepted Answer

A collaboratively developed written safety plan with warning signs, coping steps, contacts, and means restriction

Answer

No-suicide contracts have no solid evidence base and can give a false sense of security. Collaborative safety planning (for example, the Stanley-Brown Safety Planning Intervention) identifies warning signs, coping strategies, supports, crisis lines, and steps to limit means.

Question 5

A client arrives at a program after heavy daily drinking and shows confusion, severe tremor, hallucinations, fever, and a racing heart. What should the counselor do?

Accepted Answer

Treat it as a medical emergency and arrange immediate emergency care

Answer

These symptoms suggest delirium tremens, a life-threatening complication of alcohol withdrawal that needs urgent medical care. It is a medical emergency, not a counseling situation.

(CADC) Certification Prep and Alcohol and Drug Counselor Practice Test

(CADC) Certification Prep and Alcohol and Drug Counselor Practice Test

CADC Crisis Intervention and Suicide Risk Management