Considering the prevalence of suicide and other forms of self-injurious behavior, it is ironic that relatively little attention has been paid to the training of mental health workers in suicide intervention. Still less effort has been spent in evaluating the effectiveness of such workers or the agencies in which they serve. We review the evaluation strategies that have been used to assess the process and outcome of suicide intervention, ranging from macroanalyses of the impact of crisis services on suicide rates in the community to microanalyses of the competence of individual suicide interventionists. Particular attention is paid to the Suicide Intervention Response Inventory, a self-administered test of suicide counseling skills whose validity, reliability, and practical utility suggest the benefit of its use in a broader range of research and applied settings. The advantages and disadvantages of each evaluation strategy are discussed, and guidelines are offered for the sophistication of future research and program evaluation efforts.
Hypothesis-testing strategies used by 72 psychology doctoral students were assessed after these therapists viewed and responded to a videotaped client-therapist interaction. The results of the present study indicate that the therapists who were provided with a plausible hypothesis or who were allowed to develop their own hypothesis were more likely to rely on confirmatory hypothesis-testing strategies than were therapists provided with a less plausible hypothesis about the client In addition, it was found that the type of decision-making strategy used by the therapists was not influenced by whether they were held highly accountable for their responses or minimally accountable for their responses.
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