Safety check for suicidal/ homicidal ideation:
Every session, I do a safety check about their suicidal and homicidal ideation. Clearly, if they are suicidal in the session, an assessment and appropriate safety measures will have to be made. If they shared their suicidal thoughts since the last session, then they can discuss triggers, coping skills used, safety plan, and support system. They can also take this home with them.
To find more resources on triggers, coping skills, and support system, you can check out these links.
https://ideasforcounseling.com/locus-of-control/
https://ideasforcounseling.com/coping-skills-mental-health-anxiety/
https://ideasforcounseling.com/rapport-building-strengths-and-support-system/
DAILY CHECK-IN:
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POSITIVE: I ask them to share something positive that happened since the last session. It is very important to make the sessions, not just about their problems, but also about the positive times they had especially if they are only focusing on the negative parts of their life which usually leads them to losing hope and leads to suicidal ideation.
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PROGRESS GOALS: How did they think they did in terms of achieving their goals since the last session. Some of the questions that can be asked are what hindered the goals to be achieved. Because if they are working on their treatment goals and their mental health is getting better, you will notice that suicidal ideations also go down.
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FEELINGS: With younger kids, I have them draw any strong feelings they had for that week. For older children, I have them share their feeling. or I ask them to talk about an event that brought strong emotions or triggered their suicidal ideation. You can work on their triggers, what they felt, and locus of control from this link. https://ideasforcounseling.com/locus-of-control/
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CLIENT’S ISSUES: One thing I have realized is that it is better to ask the client if there is anything they will like to talk about at the beginning of the session, resulting in them feeling heard and also preventing going over the time limit if I wait till the end.
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HOMEWORK: I also try to make sure they write down things they learned in the session, and their homework so they can implement them outside of the session.
SAFETY PLAN:
As for safety plan, I like to share this one below that was created by one of the clients I had. She shared that the safety plan seemed very formal and she wanted to me make it more personal by talking about simple words such as emotional pain and how i deal with it rather than triggers/ warning signs, coping strategies, distractions, professionals etc. I have found out that clients are more engaged and invested when they feel like they can relate to the safety plan created by someone who also went through the same struggles as them.
