Impact of Client Suicide on Practitioner Posttraumatic Growth

Abstract

Our purpose was to examine posttraumatic growth in clinicians after the suicide death of a client. An experience such as a client suicide could be an opportunity for growth or a danger for the practitioner to become traumatized. Thus, the clinician who works with clients who complete suicide may either suffer or experience a positive change from working with the suicidal client. Posttraumatic growth theory can be used to better understand how a client suicide, as a traumatic event, can affect positive changes in the practitioner. Posttraumatic growth has not been researched in terms of how a suicide might affect change in the practitioner. The goal of this research was to give evidence that practitioners can also prosper after a client suicide. The findings of this study may help mental health clinicians to better understand the factors that contribute to practitioners' posttraumatic growth after a client's suicide. Our study added to the current body of literature through significant findings that compassion fatigue, clinical experience, and hours of working with suicidal clients at the time of the last completed client suicide were correlated with posttraumatic growth. Time passed since the practitioner's last client suicide was relatively influential in explaining variance in posttraumatic growth. Due to the exploratory nature of this research, this subset of factors should be viewed as potential predictors of Posttraumatic Growth in clinicians who have lost a client to suicide. One major finding of this study confirmed that both posttraumatic growth and compassion fatigue are able to co-exist within a clinician after a traumatic event. The amount of time spent working with suicidal clients at the time of losing a client to suicide was also a factor in predicting posttraumatic growth in clinicians. A surprising finding was that practitioner's number of years of clinical experience was negatively related to posttraumatic growth, while time passed since the last client suicide predicted posttraumatic growth in a positive direction. Thus, there is more to know about how posttraumatic growth in practitioners changes or is influenced by personal and professional factors across time. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone [phone]. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]