Suicidal behaviour is a phenomenon encountered the world over. Recognising and adequately dealing with such behaviours, in a professional setting, is a role expected of a psychologist. Working with suicidal behaviour is influenced by a variety of factors on the part of the psychologist. These may include, inter alia, experiences they may have had with suicidal behaviour, the training they have received in order to deal with such behaviours and their subjective experience of self-efficacy in dealing with such behaviours. The current qualitative study sought to explore and describe the experiences of recently qualified South African psychologists in dealing with suicidal behaviour through semi-structured interviews. The focus was on newly qualified clinical psychologists who received their masters training at a university in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The study aimed to understand how confident, equipped, and ready newly qualified psychologists perceived themselves in dealing with suicidal behaviour. Three major themes emerged from the data. The first describes the strategies psychologists used in order to recognise potential suicidal behaviour, the second was how newly qualified psychologists managed suicidal behaviour, and the final theme described how psychologists could be prepared for their role to deal effectively with these behaviours. Investigating their experiences enabled the participants to contribute towards creating knowledge in this crucial area of psychological practice and allowed for the discovery of invaluable insights which could benefit the future training of psychologists.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nmmu/vital:20962 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Cramer, Ryan |
| Publisher | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Faculty of Health Sciences |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | viii, 101 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University |
Page generated in 0.0025 seconds