Publisher's Synopsis
This book explores the often overlooked emotional responses clinicians experience when working with individuals at risk of suicide. Rooted in psychodynamic theory, contemporary suicidology, and reflective clinical practice, Suicidal Countertransference and the Unconscious Language of Emotion offers a practical and compassionate framework for understanding how clinician emotions-such as hope, dread, guilt, or frustration-can influence assessment, risk formulation, and therapeutic engagement.
Designed for mental health professionals across disciplines, this guide introduces concepts like countertransference love and hate, emotional contagion, and therapeutic entanglement, and integrates them with structured tools such as the Therapist Response Questionnaire-Suicide Form (TRQ-SF) and the Suicide Crisis Syndrome (SCS). Through case examples, self-reflection prompts, and applied guidance, it supports clinicians in building greater emotional awareness and clinical clarity in suicide prevention work.
Ideal for students, early-career clinicians, supervisors, and educators, this book provides a language for what many experience but few are taught to name.
