Suicidal Individuals: Evaluation, Therapies, and Ethics


There is no area of research that brings a complex array of ethical issues into sharp focus more than conducting treatment trials when the focus is on decreasing suicidal behavior and preventing suicide. Historically, suicidal individuals have been excluded from treatment studies because their inclusion was thought to be unethical, unsafe or too difficult to manage clinically. In this lecture, Dr. Linehan will discuss the development and evaluation of therapies used to treat individuals with suicidal behaviors.