Nina J. Gutin, PhD Private Practice Pasadena, California Contracted Psychologist Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services: Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Center Culver City, California Co-Chair, Clinician-Survivor’s Task Force American Association of Suicidology Washington, DC
Disclosure The author reports no financial relationships with any companies whose products are mentioned in this article, or with manufacturers of competing products.
Confidentiality issues, as well as advice from attorneys to limit the disclosure of information about a patient, are likely to preclude a clinician’s ability to talk freely about the patient, the therapeutic relationship, and his/her reactions to the loss, all of which are known to facilitate movement through the grief process.46
The development of trust and the sharing of pain are just 2 factors that can make the clinical encounter an intense emotional experience for both parties. Recent trends in the psychodynamic literature acknowledge the profundity and depth of the personal impact that patients have on the clinician, an impact that is neither pathological nor an indication of poor boundaries in the therapy dyad, but instead a recognition of how all aspects of the clinician’s person, whether consciously or not, are used within the context of a therapeutic relationship. Yet when clinicians lose a patient, confidentiality restrictions often leave them wondering if and where any aspects of their experiences can be shared. Legal counsel may advise a clinician against speaking to consultants or supervisors or even surviving family members for fear that these non-privileged communications are subject to discovery should any legal proceedings ensue. Furthermore, the usual grief rituals that facilitate the healing of loss and the processing of grief (eg, gathering with others who knew the deceased, sharing feelings and memories, attending memorials) are usually denied to the clinician, and are often compounded by the reactions of one’s professional colleagues, who tend not to view the therapist’s grief as “legitimate.” Thus, clinician-survivors, despite having experienced a profound and traumatic loss, have very few places where this may be processed or even validated. As one clinician in a clinician-survivors support group stated, “I felt like I was grieving in a vacuum, that I wasn’t allowed to talk about how much my patient meant to me or how I’m feeling about it.” The isolation of grieving alone is likely to be compounded by the general lack of resources for supporting clinicians after such a loss. In contrast to the general suicide “survivor” network of support groups for family members who have experienced a suicide loss, there is an almost complete lack of supportive resources for clinicians following such a loss, and most clinicians are not aware of the resources that are available, such as the Clinician Survivor Task Force of the American Association of Suicidology (Box 312).
Box 3
The Clinician Survivor Task Force
Frank Jones and Judy Meade founded the Clinician Survivor Task Force (CSTF) of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) in 1987. As Jones noted, “clinicians who have lost patients to suicide need a place to acknowledge and carry forward their personal loss … to benefit both personally and professionally from the opportunity to talk with other therapists who have survived the loss of a patient through suicide.”12
Nina Gutin, PhD, and Vanessa McGann, PhD, have co-chaired the CSTF since 2003. It now supports clinicians who have lost patients and/or loved ones, with the recognition that both types of losses carry implications within clinical and professional domains. The CSTF provides a listserve, opportunities to participate in video support groups, and a web site (www. cliniciansurvivor.org) that provides information about the clinician-survivor experience, the opportunity to read and post narratives about one’s experience with suicide loss, an updated bibliography maintained by John McIntosh, PhD, a list of clinical contacts, and a link to several excellent postvention protocols. In addition, Drs. Gutin and McGann conduct clinician-survivor support activities at the annual AAS conference, and in their respective geographic areas.
