Discussion:
Confidentiality When Dealing with Suicidal Client
What is your legal and ethical responsibility when working with a client who is seriously contemplating suicide? Suppose you are faced with a terminally ill client in the advanced stage of illness who is in a great deal of physical pain. The client indicates to you in a calm, reasonable way that she is going to drive out to an isolated spot in a state park, drink a thermos of margaritas, put on her favorite CD, take out her 9mm automatic, get out of the car, go sit under her favorite tree, make an audio tape telling her family how much she loves them and how she does not want to be a burden on them and then kill herself.
How did you feel as far as your own moral view of suicide is concerned?