TPC-Journal-V6-Issue1

The Professional Counselor /Volume 6, Issue 1 86 Conclusion The findings from this study identify significant interrelationships between the practitioner’s self-perceived feelings of preparedness, confidence levels and methods used to assess for suicide risk among youth. The self-reported feelings of being prepared and confident seem to contradict the method used to obtain a suicide risk level. This finding suggests many practitioners are well intended, but lack the necessary skills to conduct a thorough suicide risk assessment. The majority of practitioners participating in this study reported conducting a suicide risk intervention using an informal, non-structured interview to formulate a suicide risk level versus using a formalized suicide risk assessment instrument. Prior experience and exposure to suicide risk assessment instruments and increased emphasis in suicide-specific training curriculum in graduate school can offer the opportunity for a practitioner to feel better prepared, feel more confident and utilize a more effective method to determine a youth’s suicide risk level. Practitioner gaps in training are typically augmented by the practitioner seeking personal training and workshops to fill these gaps. Efforts must be made by colleges and universities to increase the competency skills in this area if we are to ever reduce the growing number of youth suicides. The findings from this study supported limited previous research sounding urgent calls to better prepare practitioners, especially school counselors, in the identification of youth presenting with suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure The authors reported no conflict of interest or funding contributions for the development of this manuscript. References Al-Damarki, F. R. (2004). Counselor training, anxiety, and counseling self-efficacy: Implications for training psychology students from the United Arab Emirates University. Social Behavior and Personality , 32 , 429– 439. doi:10.2224/sbp.2004.32.5.429 Allen, M., Burt, K., Bryan, E., Carter, D., Orsi, R., & Durkan, L. (2002). School counselor’s preparation for and participation in crisis intervention. Professional School Counseling , 6 , 96–102. Boudreaux, E. D., & Horowitz, L. M. (2014). Suicide risk screening and assessment: Designing instruments with dissemination in mind. American Journal of Preventative Medicine , 47 (32), 163–169. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2014.06.005 Bryan, C. J., & Rudd, D. M. (2006). Advances in the assessment of suicide risk. Journal of Clinical Psychology , 62 , 185–200. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014a). Fatal injury data. Web-based injury statistics query and reporting system (WISQARS) . Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/index.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014b). Youth risk behavior surveillance, United States, 2003. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report , 63 (SS-4), 1–168. Cramer, R. J., Johnson, S. M., McLaughlin, J., Rausch, E. M., & Conroy, M. A. (2013). Suicide risk assessment training for psychology doctoral programs. Training and Education in Professional Psychology , 7 , 1–11. Debski, J., Spadafore, C. D., Jacob, S., Poole, D. A., & Hixson, M. D. (2007). Suicide intervention: Training, roles and knowledge of school psychologists. Psychology in the Schools , 44 , 157–170. doi:10.1002/pits.20213 Dexter-Mazza, E. T., & Freeman, K. A. (2003). Graduate training and the treatment of suicidal clients: The students’ perspective. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior , 33 , 211–218. Douglas, K. S., & Ogloff, J. R. P. (2003). The impact of confidence on the accuracy of structured professional and actuarial violence risk judgments in a sample of forensic psychiatric patients. Law and Human Behavior , 27 , 573–587.