Ethics / Lecture Discussion 308    

Barbara Ackerman, PhD, Wendy Linderholm, PsyD, Jessica McClintock, PhD    

Between 2012 and 2014, adults aged 18 and over made an estimated annual average of 30 million mental health-related office visits.  In almost one-third of these visists, patients saw a primary care physician, not a psychiatrist.  It is common for depressed patients, even severely depressed ones, to be seen first in primary care settings because many of these patients assume their suffering is due to a somatic illness.  Managing suicidal risk is a stressful clinical responsibility for many health providers who feel unprepared to work with persons experiencing suicidality.  This clinical practice update features the CAMS Framework, an evidence-based collaborative approach to assessing and managing suicidal risk.  This framework, which was developed by psychologist David A. Jobes, offers a promising, research-driven approach for mitigating suicidal risk and malpractice liability.  

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