Crisis Intervention and Suicidality Flashcards

A client tells their therapist they plan to overdose on pills at home that evening. The therapist's MOST appropriate first action is to:

Answer: Conduct a thorough safety assessment and attempt to engage the client in collaborative safety planning

The clinically appropriate first response is to assess safety and attempt collaborative safety planning before escalating to involuntary intervention.

A 'No-Harm Contract' or 'Safety Contract' in suicide risk management is best understood as:

Answer: A clinical tool that may be useful as part of a broader safety plan but is insufficient on its own

Safety contracts are clinical tools that can supplement a safety plan but carry no legal protection, are not mandated by California law, and have not been shown to independently reduce suicide risk.

Which California Welfare and Institutions Code section authorizes a 14-day involuntary psychiatric hold for intensive treatment after an initial 5150 hold?

Answer: WIC 5250

WIC 5250 authorizes a 14-day involuntary hold for intensive treatment when a person continues to meet criteria after the initial 72-hour 5150 hold.

A therapist's client is acutely suicidal and refuses voluntary hospitalization. The therapist's MOST appropriate response is to:

Answer: Consider initiating a 5150 hold if criteria are met and less restrictive options have not been sufficient

When a client meets 5150 criteria and less restrictive alternatives have been insufficient, the therapist may initiate an involuntary hold to prevent imminent harm.

A California licensed therapist who fails to take reasonable protective action when a client poses a foreseeable serious threat to a third party may face liability under:

Answer: Tort law based on the Tarasoff duty to protect

The Tarasoff duty creates a tort-based legal obligation for therapists to protect identifiable third parties from clients' serious threats, and breach of this duty can result in civil liability.

Which of the following is a PRIMARY dynamic (modifiable) risk factor for suicide?

Answer: Current hopelessness and acute psychological pain

Current hopelessness and psychological pain are dynamic factors that can change with clinical intervention, making them key targets in suicide risk reduction.

When documenting a suicide risk assessment, a therapist should include:

Answer: A comprehensive account of risk and protective factors, clinical reasoning, interventions taken, and the follow-up plan

Thorough suicide risk documentation must capture the clinical reasoning process, all relevant risk and protective factors, actions taken, and the follow-up plan—not just the risk level conclusion.