Increasing suicide rates among specific groups of the population have led to the publication of suicide reduction targets and guidelines applicable to all mental health professionals, including counsellors. It is now widely expected that mental health workers possess skills and knowledge in the assessment of suicide risk. This research study used a discourse analysis approach to analyse 16 counselling transcripts generated from assessment interviews with suicidal ‘client actors’. Clients generally only referred to suicide by metaphors. Counsellors’ responses to suicidal clients were primarily reflective. There was little evidence of a suicide risk assessment being undertaken in the counselling discourse. Implications for suicidal clients, counsellors and the counselling profession are discussed and further areas for research highlighted.
Recent legislation in the U.K., particularly the NHS and Community Care Act 1990, has encouraged the direct participation of service users in the planning and management of care services. This paper explores evidence of how the interests of service users experiencing mental distress are represented within community care services in the U.K. and the extent to which this leads to a devolution of power to those service users. The evidence is drawn from a survey of principal officers in social services departments responsible for mental health services and interviews with 135 service users. This reveals considerable confusion about the meaning and purpose of user involvement and about how service users can best be represented; little evidence, despite users' interest in it, of power-sharing; and limited commitment of resources to make further participation possible. The conclusion considers how, in the light of this evidence, Central and Local Government might further develop user involvement.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.