Recommendations for Family Interventions Following a Suicide.

Abstract

Consistent with a culturally competent, developmentally informed, and gender-sensitive integrative model of family therapy, this article provides a framework for therapists working with families following the suicide of a loved one. Recommended clinical interventions are provided and organized around commonly encountered themes: addressing psychological distress and painful affects, understanding denial as a protective coping strategy, appreciating and managing concerns about family disintegration, helping families deal with stigmatization, and creating a suicide story. Clinical vignettes highlight common challenges faced by families in response to a loved one's suicide. NADINE J. KASLOW received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Houston. She is professor and chief psychologist at Emory University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Her scholarly and research interests are in family assessment and intervention, suicide, family violence, childhood depression, and psychology internship and postdoctoral fellowship training. SARI GILMAN ARONSON received her MD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is head of psychiatry at the

Functional impairment due to bereavement after the death of adolescent or young adult offspring in a national population study of 1,051,515 parents

“…However, we found that the loss of an offspring by suicide may affect mothers and fathers differently in terms of somatic sickness absence. Our findings agree with Kaslow and Aronson [25] who reported, based upon clinical observation, that suicide surviving fathers often exhibit greater somatic symptoms.…”

What does coping mean to the worker with pain-related disability? A qualitative study

“…Coping has been studied extensively in the context of many stressful events, such as exposure to acts of terrorism, natural disasters, loss due to suicide or divorce, mental illnesses and cancer [1][2][3][4][5][6]. Different stressful situations (for example, relationship stresses versus losses versus health threats) have been shown to engender different types of coping strategies, although some types of coping, for example, self blame and catastrophizing -which can be thought of as ruminating, magnifying the event and feeling helplessness, appear to be generally non-adaptive [7].…”

Solution‐Focused Therapy for Families Coping with Suicide

“…Each of these approaches is similar insofar as they are designed in a cognitive‐behavioral, structured, and/or educational format. Several studies have suggested that families who have lost a loved one to suicide have significant resiliency (Clark & Goldney, 1995; Davis & Nolen‐Hoeksema, 2001; Kaslow & Aronson, 2004; Murphy, Johnson, & Lohan, 2003). Solution‐focused theory holds that families have the capacity to cope effectively because they possess existing strengths, resources, and problem‐solving skills (cf.…”