my mentor

This blog is about my mentor, David Jobes. He is a suicidologist at the Catholic University of America. I have been following his work since 2006 when I first learn of him through my research on a paper I was writing for psych assessments. I found that his suicide status form (SSF) was an awesome tool that is not widely used but should be. He has done research in the field for over 15 years. I have taken his workshop when he came to Boston in 2008 and I met his graduate students. He is a phenomenal person that really cares about suicidal people and the prevention of suicide. His book, Managing Suicidal Risk is groundbreaking work and I truly believe every clinician should read this book or at least have a copy of it.
If I ever get my independent study underway, I would have a raffle on this book and his other one, Building a Therapeutic Alliance to a clinician that responded to my research questions. I would be asking clinicians about their suicide training and if they would be interested in being more educated in this area. Not only about what empirical data is out there but also about the assessments. Most clinicians rely on their interviewing skills alone on detecting suicidal ideation but very few would actually treat it or use an assessment to help decrease the thinking. That is the beauty of the Suicide Status Form. It assesses, manages, creates a treatment plan, and provides documentation all in one.