ABSTRACT
Sometimes people come to therapy in order to choose between life and death. There are guidelines regarding suicide, both in law and in psychotherapy organisations' Codes of Ethics, but these don't always help in individual cases. Suicide became illegal in UK in the thirteenth century, the idea being that God was the only entity with the right to decide when a life should end. Suicide was finally decriminalised in the UK in 1961 when it was agreed that it made no sense to take people who were already in a vulnerable state to court. The laws of some countries acknowledge that suicide might be a valid response to certain situations. People often come to therapy to speak about their suicidality, rather than just going ahead and acting. In terms of therapists' Codes of Ethics, if someone is thought to be a danger to themselves or others then therapists are licensed to breach confidentiality.
