Behavioral Emergencies

"Virtually every mental health clinician has faced or will face a situation that requires an immediate response: A client or patient presents who is suicidal, potentially violent, or at risk of being victimized. In such a situationconsidered a behavioral emergencythe clinician may have little or no time to consult resources before responding. In this book, Phillip M. Kleespies and his colleagues provide clinicians with critical, evidence-based approaches for the evaluation and management of behavioral emergencies. This book makes clear the distinction between a behavioral crisis, which is a serious disruption of functioning that does not necessarily imply danger, and a behavioral emergency. Guidance on behavioral emergencies is drawn from both clinical experience and empirical evidence, and the book's structure functions as a curriculum for educating both new and seasoned clinicians. Unique to this book are chapters on violence and suicide risk among adolescents as well as individuals who are chronically ill. The contributors also discuss the legal and psychological risks associated with treating behavioral emergencies. Comprehensive in scope, Behavioral emergencies: An evidence-based resource for evaluating and managing risk of suicide, violence, and victimization provides a solid knowledge base that will be a useful resource for clinicians"--Jacket. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).