Self-care and the perceived impact of working with people with suicidal ideation on clinical psychologists

AI Summary

Working with suicidal clients is highly demanding, with fear and anxiety when suicide is anticipated and grief, sadness and self-doubt after a client's death.
Clinical psychologists find professional meaning in this work and rely on self-care such as supervision, intervision and personal psychotherapy to cope.
Barriers include emotional overload, time constraints and difficulty disengaging; systemic support is needed alongside individual coping strategies to sustain clinical psychologists' well-being.

Death Stud. 2026 Jun 30:1-11. doi: 10.1080/07481187.2026.2695287. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

This study explored how clinical psychologists experience and manage the emotional impact of working with clients presenting suicidal ideation or coping with a client’s death by suicide, as well as the self-care strategies they use and the barriers they encounter. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten clinical psychologists and analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants described this work as highly demanding, involving challenges in maintaining emotional boundaries and a strong sense of responsibility, while also being experienced as professionally meaningful. Anticipating suicide was associated with fear and anxiety, whereas actual suicide elicited grief, sadness, and self-doubt. All participants emphasized the importance of self-care, reporting strategies such as supervision, intervision, and personal psychotherapy. Barriers included emotional overload, time constraints, and difficulty disengaging from clients’ suffering. Overall, the findings highlight the coexistence of emotional burden and professional meaning, underscoring the need for both individual coping strategies and systemic support to sustain clinicians’ well-being.

PMID:42381197 | DOI:10.1080/07481187.2026.2695287

Document this CPD