A Law & Ethics Approach to Working with Client Suicidality 

Time: 9:00am-12:00pm

Location: Virtual

Instructor: Dr. Eric Ström, Ph.D., JD, LMHC

CE credits: 3 (pending)

Course Description:

Fear of liability for suicidal clients is not an uncommon experience for behavioral health providers. This fear can unintentionally lead clinicians to inaction and avoidance thereby increasing a client’s risk of death by suicide. There are two best strategies to minimize: gaining a better understanding of the actual sources and causes of liability, and to have a concrete framework for addressing clint suicidality. This three hour workshop will focus on demystifying true legal risks involved in client self harm and will provide an ethical framework for ethically and effectively working with clients who are experiencing suicidality. 

This course is intended to meet law & ethics continuing education requirements. This course is not intended to meet the WA requirements for 6 hours of continuing education in suicide assessment and treatment. 

Learning objectives. 

At the end of this training participants will be able to:

1. Identify the sources of legal liability when working with client suicidality
2. Describe the ethical standards when working with client suicidality
3. Create and evaluate strategies to systematically approach client suicidality
4. Apply best practice standards to create a clinical plan to best support client safety when working with military veteran clients

References:

American Psychiatric Association. (2003). Practice guideline for the assessment and treatment of patients with suicidal behaviors. American Journal of Psychiatry, 160(11 Suppl.), 1–60.

Department of Veterans Affairs, & Department of Defense. (2024). VA/DoD clinical practice guideline for assessment and management of patients at risk for suicide (Version 3.0)

Drye, R. C., Goulding, R. L., & Goulding, M. E. (1973). No-suicide decisions: Patient monitoring of suicidal risk. American Journal of Psychiatry, 130(2), 171–174.

Florida State University, Department of Psychology. (n.d.). Laboratory for the Study and Prevention of Suicide-Related Conditions and Behaviors.

Jackson v. City of Mountlake Terrace, No. C16-1282JLR (W.D. Wash. Mar. 3, 2017).

Joiner, T. E., Jr., Van Orden, K. A., Witte, T. K., & Rudd, M. D. (2009). The interpersonal theory of suicide: Guidance for working with suicidal clients. American Psychological Association.

Kroll, J. (2000). Use of no-suicide contracts by psychiatrists in Minnesota. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(10), 1684–1686.

Lee, J. B., & Bartlett, M. L. (2005). Suicide prevention: Critical elements for managing suicidal clients and counselor liability without the use of a no-suicide contract. Death Studies, 29(9), 847–865.

Packman, W. L., O’Connor Pennuto, T., Bongar, B., & Orthwein, J. (2004). Legal issues of professional negligence in suicide cases. Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 22(5), 697–713.

Petersen v. State, 100 Wn.2d 421, 671 P.2d 230 (1983).

Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal. 3d 425, 551 P.2d 334 (1976).

Volk v. DeMeerleer, 187 Wn.2d 241, 386 P.3d 254 (2016).

Wash. Admin. Code § 246-809-040 (2026).

Wash. Rev. Code § 18.19.180 (2026).

Wash. Rev. Code § 18.225.105 (2026).

Wash. Rev. Code § 26.44.030 (2026).

Wash. Rev. Code § 70.02.020 (2026).

Wash. Rev. Code § 70.02.050 (2026).

Wash. Rev. Code § 71.05.120 (2026).

Wash. Rev. Code § 74.34.035 (2026).