ABSTRACT
Unsurprisingly, risk and protective factors for self-harmful behaviour overlap substantially with those for suicidal behaviour. Data on the prevalence of suicidal and self-harmful behaviour and evidence about its causes and correlates provide a vital context for the practitioner working with an individual client. However, several such aids stop there; that is, they get practitioners so far and offer little further guidance (e.g., on the identification of protective factors, the relevance of risk and protective factors, a risk formulation and comprehensive risk management planning). However, applicability is more narrow than broad; the focus is on suicidal and serious self-harmful behaviour, and practitioners are not guided to include protective factors in their considerations. In the case of Ms Cedar, the opening section suggested above orients the reader to the future by being explicit that there are two possible harmful outcomes self-harmful behaviour, which broadly has an anxiety management function, and suicidal behaviour, whose purpose is to terminate life.
