What is it about?
Most mental health care providers have received psychotherapy at some point in their lives, and many have lived experiences of suicidal thoughts or behaviors. Despite this prevalence, we found that community members would sacrifice some of their treatment's efficacy to avoid working with providers with these experiences. Providers with suicide lived experience were less preferred than those previously in mental health treatment for an unspecified reason.
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Why is it important?
Findings suggest that if potential clients learn about a provider's lived experiences it may be viewed negatively, and this may serve as a barrier to beginning therapy or establishing a strong collaborative environment in treatment. This work highlights the importance of destigmatizing these experiences.
Perspectives
I hope that this article reflects the importance of addressing suicide-specific stigma and highlights that people oftentimes do not weigh efficacy as the most important factor when seeking treatment. I look forward to more research expanding these findings.
Taylor Rodriguez
Rutgers The State University of New Jersey
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Preferences for a potential therapist’s suicide lived experience and use of therapy., Psychological Services, October 2022, American Psychological Association (APA),
DOI: 10.1037/ser0000711.
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