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HYPOTHESIS AND THEORY article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Psychological Therapy and Psychosomatics
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1449565

Ambivalence Model of Suicidality [ABS-Model]: An orientation model for the treatment of suicidal individuals

Provisionally accepted
Tobias Teismann Tobias Teismann 1Peter C. Britton Peter C. Britton 2,3Thomas Forkmann Thomas Forkmann 4*
  • 1 Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
  • 2 Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, VA Finger Lakes Health Care System, Canandaigua, United States
  • 3 Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York, United States
  • 4 University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The existing models for understanding suicidal ideation and behavior do not provide satisfactory orientation for clinical-therapeutic work with suicidal clients. Based on the observation that ambivalence accompanies the entire suicidal process and building on the empirical knowledge about suicidal ambivalence, this article presents the ambivalence model of suicidality (ABS model), a new clinical working model that aims to provide a framework for risk assessment, case conceptualization and treatment planning in the treatment of suicidal individuals. The model divides the suicidal process into three phases (uncertainty phase, transition phase and action phase), describes the psychological state within the different phases, and identifies phase-specific therapeutic interventions. The ABS model is a descriptive model that can be used to structure and organize crisis intervention and psychotherapy with suicidal patients.

    Keywords: Suicidality, ambivalence, Risk Assessment, case conceptualization, Psychotherapy

    Received: 15 Jun 2024; Accepted: 18 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Teismann, Britton and Forkmann. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Thomas Forkmann, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.