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Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality Approach

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Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention

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Abstract

The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) is a flexible and adaptive evidence-based suicide-specific therapeutic framework. At the center of the CAMS approach is the use of the Suicide Status Form (SSF), a multipurpose tool that guides suicidal risk assessment, treatment planning, and tracking of patients who are suicidal. The effectiveness of CAMS (and its use of the SSF) is supported by extensive clinical research through numerous correlational/open trials, quasi-experimental studies, and five randomized controlled trials (RCTs). CAMS is a suicide-specific intervention, and suicidal ideation and behaviors are therefore kept center stage until suicidality is resolved. A main agenda of the CAMS approach is for the clinician and the patient to collaboratively elucidate and understand key constructs underlying the patient’s suicidal state from the patient’s point of view. Through the identification and understanding of patient defined “suicidal drivers,” the clinical dyad can start the exploration and examination of alternative solutions and adaptive ways of coping that do not require the patient to terminate their life. Thus, CAMS is a patient-centered approach to suicide-specific care that enables the patient to cope differently, ultimately leading the patient to pursuing a life worth living with purpose and meaning.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, USA

    David A. Jobes, Irene Zhang & Tia Tyndal

Authors
  1. David A. Jobes
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  2. Irene Zhang
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  3. Tia Tyndal
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David A. Jobes .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Sensory Organs, Suicide Prevention Center, Sant’Andrea Hospital, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy

    Maurizio Pompili

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Jobes, D.A., Zhang, I., Tyndal, T. (2022). Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality Approach. In: Pompili, M. (eds) Suicide Risk Assessment and Prevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42003-1_16

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