ABSTRACT
There exists a wide gap between the large demand for but limited supply of psychological interventions for prisoners. Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), problem-solving therapy and interpersonal therapy were highlighted to be the most promising interventions. The Cognitive Behavioural Suicide Prevention therapy (CBSP) treatment protocol systematically addresses pertinent cognitive mechanisms in a tiered approach, moving from attentional processes to appraisals and then onto schematic processes. The five modules within the CBSP treatment programme are: attentional control training, appraisal restructuring, problem-solving skills training, behavioural activation, and schema-focused techniques. CBSP stimulates positive emotion with the purpose of the inhibition of threat-related processes. The CBSP intervention is typically delivered over a four- to six-month period, with clients offered up to 20 individual sessions lasting 30 to 60 minutes, on a once- or twice-weekly basis. Initial sessions focus on engagement and assessment of the participants' presenting problems, previous experiences of suicidal ideation and behaviour and formulation of key areas for intervention.
