What are some of the recommendations for dealing with individuals who have expressed a serious intent to harm themselves?

Answer:

(1) reduce the lethality: reduce psychological pain and reduce access to means of committing suicide; (2) negotiate agreements: ask the client to sign a contract agreeing to postpone self-destructive behavior for at least a short period of time, include an agreement that the client will contact the therapist directly before engaging in any lethal actions; (3) provide support: make concrete arrangements for social support, alert friends and family members to be available; (4) replace tunnel vision with a broader perspective: suicidal individuals are often unable to consider alternative solutions for their problems; help clients to use a more flexible and adaptive pattern of problem solving to replace death as the only solution.