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Resources

When a Client Dies by Suicide

Clinicians who experience the loss of a client due to suicide will be significantly impacted both personally and professionally. Supervisors and colleagues should encourage those practitioners who have been most affected by the death to access individual supervision and counselling services in order to adequately debrief and process the trauma. In addition, many clinicians find family and friends to be excellent sources of support. It is important to recognize that clinicians in any discipline and at all level of experience will inevitably be shaken by the suicide death of a client. This is not considered a weakness, but rather a normal reaction to a traumatic event.

Common Reactions to Losing a Client to Suicide

  • Sense of “failing the patient”
  • Guilt and shame
  • Questioning professional competence
  • Symptoms of grief and loss, e.g. depressed mood, poor sleep, irritability
  • Fear of public criticism Isolation and withdrawal

The Clinician Survivor Task Force of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) has a useful section of their website dedicated to supporting therapists who have lost a client to suicide.