Virtual Trauma Therapy for Individuals with Suicidal Ideation

• Author / Creator

  Dhaliwal, Raman K

• Suicide is a serious public health issue resulting in high mortality rates around the world. Trauma and adversity are strongly correlated with suicidal thoughts and behaviours. Memories associated with past trauma can contribute to significant distress in the present, creating a desire to escape through suicide. Trauma therapies may be used to reduce suicidality by helping individuals to process past trauma. However, many clinicians are hesitant to deliver trauma therapy for individuals with suicidal ideation (SI) due to a fear of worsening suicidality. Furthermore, social distancing restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have led many clinicians to deliver therapy remotely, although concerns exist regarding the safety and efficacy of virtual psychotherapy. The overall objective of this research was to investigate the effect of trauma therapy for individuals with SI in a virtual care context.
  Chapter 1 provides a general introduction to suicide, trauma, and psychotherapy. Chapter 2 consists of a scoping review which explores gaps in the literature on trauma focused psychotherapy for individuals with SI. Chapter 3 consists of a literature review on the strengths and weaknesses of virtual psychotherapy. Chapter 4 presents the protocol for a randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigating the safety and efficacy of a trauma therapy for adults with SI, delivered virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapter 5 discusses preliminary findings associated with this RCT. Chapter 6 presents a discussion of the current problems associated with suicide prediction and prevention, as well as potential solutions. Chapter 7 summarizes key research findings and discusses potential future research directions
  The major findings of this research are that despite concerns among clinicians about worsening suicidality associated with trauma focused psychotherapy, the literature indicates that trauma focused psychotherapy does not appear to increase suicide risk, although some caveats apply due to the heterogeneity of the study populations, study conditions, TFT interventions, and outcomes. Furthermore, while effectiveness and acceptability of virtual psychotherapy are the main aspects of healthcare quality studied in the literature, significant gaps remain with regard to accessibility, appropriateness, efficiency, and safety. In the current RCT investigating the safety and efficacy of a virtually delivered trauma therapy for adults with SI, the sample size enrolled precludes quantitative analysis. A larger sample size may help to generate results that support the use of this virtual trauma therapy as a safe and effective treatment for adults with SI. While virtual trauma therapy may be a crucial part of the solution to suicide prevention, this research also highlights the importance of a public health approach to suicide prevention, involving a focus on social determinants of health and early life trauma.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Suicide
  • Psychotherapy
  • Trauma
  • Virtual

• Graduation date

  Fall 2022

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-ms77-d771

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Library with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.