The Role of Faith Communities in the Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention of Suicide

Date of Award

7-2-2009

Document Type

Undergraduate Capstone Project

Degree Name

Psy.D.

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Jenny Cornish

Second Advisor

Sally Spencer-Thomas

Third Advisor

Jina Jensen

Keywords

Faith communities, Suicide, Suicide intervention

Abstract

Suicide is a significant public health and safety concern, claiming approximately 89.4 lives per day (McIntosh, 2008). The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2001) considers suicide to be preventable if education about warning signs and life-saving interventions is properly disseminated. When people are in suicidal crisis they often reach out to individuals or communities around them for help in the days or weeks preceding a suicidal crisis (American Association of Suicidology, 2007). One place where many people tum to in times of crisis is faith communities and spiritual leaders. Unfortunately the training of faith community leaders is commonly lacking in suicide prevention and intervention (Weaver & Koenig, 1996). This Doctoral Paper and accompanying Guidebook aims to prepare faith communities in dealing with suicide in three main areas: prevention, intervention and postvention as a means of reducing the number of suicide deaths.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.

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