Nina Gutin, Ph.D., will invite attendees to explore the complexities and philosophical dimensions of suicide, and to challenge conventional perspectives on its understanding, assessment and treatment. Drawing from her extensive clinical work and personal perspectives, she will explore how language, historical and societal attitudes around suicide may shape the experiences of those with suicidal experiences as well as those who aim to support and treat them.

Dr. Gutin will begin by referencing thinkers like Camus, Nietzsche, and Shakespeare, whose perspectives suggest that contemplating suicide can be an integral, perhaps even beneficial aspect of the human condition. She will contrast this with conventional and clinical discourse around suicide, often framed in terms of the “Biomedical Model” and individual pathology, and will detail how this contemporary discourse often contains implicit moral judgment and stigma directed towards those with suicidal experiences. Additionally, she will highlight how the “one size fits all” focus on individual pathology overlooks significant social and contextual factors such as trauma, discrimination, economic and other inequities which have been shown to drive and shape suicidal experiences.

Dr. Gutin will address the well-documented biases and discomfort many clinicians bear towards suicidal patients, the overreliance on assessment checklists (which have very poor predictive reliability) and conventional liability-based treatments, particularly involuntary hospitalization. In combination, these are paradoxically likely to exacerbate the distress of suicidal individuals, increase their sense of hopelessness and alienation, reduce trust of the mental health system and ultimately increases their risk of suicide!

Advocating for a broader understanding of suicidal experiences, Dr. Gutin will call for shifts in treatment approaches that align with what individuals with lived experiences of suicide find helpful: compassionate, non-judgmental support that respects their experiences, autonomy and dignity.