When a patient commits suicide: an empirical study of psychoanalytic clinicians.
Twelve psychoanalysts/psychoanalytic psychotherapists who had a patient commit suicide while in treatment, or shortly after leaving treatment, were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of patient suicide on the clinician. A phenomenological research interview was used to gather data, and a psychoanalytic lens was used to interpret the data, generating a descriptive account of the experience of having a patient commit suicide. Thematic analysis of the transcripts yielded eight common themes associated with the clinician's subjective experience of having a patient suicide. The eight themes may be broadly grouped into three general structures: I. Traumatic loss and grief; II. Interpersonal relationships; and III. Professional identity concerns.
Tillman
Jane G
JG
Austen Riggs Center, 25 Main St, Stockbridge, MA 01262, USA. Jane.Tillman@austenriggs.net
D002983:Clinical Competence; D005201:Fantasy; D006117:Grief; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology