Suicide Risk Assessment Training for Psychology Doctoral Programs: Core Competencies and a Framework for Training

Area of Science:

• Psychology Training and Education
• Clinical Psychology
• Counseling Psychology

Background:

• Current clinical and counseling psychology programs lack sufficient evidence-based competency goals for suicide risk assessment.
• Inadequate training leaves trainees unprepared to effectively assess suicide risk.
• There is a critical need for standardized competencies and training frameworks in this area.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose core competencies for suicide risk assessment training.
• To introduce an integrated training framework to enhance trainee preparedness.
• To address the deficit in evidence-based training for suicide risk assessment.

Main Methods:

• Evaluation of current training effectiveness and methodological issues.
• Integration of empirically- and expert-derived suicide risk assessment competencies.
• Proposal of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) based training framework.
• Introduction of the Suicide Competency Assessment Form (SCAF) for evaluating trainee competencies.

Main Results:

• Identified significant gaps in current suicide risk assessment training.
• Streamlined core competencies for effective training.
• Developed a novel training framework utilizing OSCE methodology.
• Proposed the SCAF tool for standardized competency assessment.

Conclusions:

• The proposed core competencies and integrated training framework offer a foundation for improving suicide risk assessment training.
• The OSCE methodology and SCAF tool provide a structured approach for competency evaluation.
• The framework is ready for empirical evaluation and potential implementation in psychology programs.