What role does formulation play in suicide risk assessment, and what is the relationship between formulation and suicide prevention?

In this episode, host Dr Mary Emeleus; general practitioner and psychiatry trainee, and her guest, Associate Professor Christopher Ryan; psychiatrist, discuss the complex, charged and challenging topic of managing risk of suicide using the text, ‘Reformulating Suicide Risk Formulation: From Prediction to Prevention’ (2015, Pisani, A.R, Murrie, D.C, Morton, M.S) as the foundation to their conversation.

The text promotes a framework which encourages a focus on prevention rather than on prediction - listen in as Mary and Chris explore the merits, challenges, and limitations of this position. In so doing, Mary and Chris share their mutual regard of the ‘art of’ formulation in psychiatry; their views on the utility of suicide risk assessments; and the key distinction, as they see it, between suicide prediction and suicide prevention.

In drawing on their combined professional experiences in mental health across both clinical and academic contexts; Mary and Chris offer a rich, accessible, and thought-provoking pathway for listeners to ponder more deeply about the challenges of responding to and managing risk in clinical work.

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Note: This episode of Book Club was originally released in August 2021 to the Book Club podcast show, and has since been re-released on MHPN Presents