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You are here: Text Only Home > What to do to help > Treatment Resources > Legal considerations
 
Legal Considerations 

There are many things to consider, when offering help to those who are at risk for suicide. Carrying out the best course of action involves not only an understanding of what is “clinically best”, but also insight into the legal and ethical considerations. The best legal and ethical practices should always focus on:

  • Consulting a mental health clinician, emergency medical professional or local law enforcement when there is a concern that a person is a risk for suicide.
  • Making sure that the person at risk is getting ethically appropriate care.   Health care clinicians must abide by an ethical code dictated by their professional organizations and operate within the regulations of their professional practice.
  • Knowing the individual rights of a person at risk and operating within the guidelines of those rights when offering assistance to a suicidal person.

For more specific information on the ethical codes of health care clinicians, please access Professional ethical and legal guidelines.

 
Resources
Electronic, print, and multimedia resources are provided to help you to find authoritative information on legal considerations when interacting with a person who may have suicidal thoughts or behaviors.  These resources are available from such national organizations as The National Institute of Mental Health as well as professional organizations, not-for-profit organizations, and educational institutions.

Internet

 

American Counseling Association (ACA)

 

The ACA is a not-for-profit, professional and educational organization dedicated to the growth and enhancement of the counseling profession and is the world's largest association exclusively representing professional counselors in various practice settings.

 

The ACA provides guidelines for non-counselors to the professional counselor's ethical code, information about the licensure requirements for counselors, and information about the mental health bill of rights.   The ACA Web page providing information on legal and ethical considerations is available at the following Web address:  

http://www.counseling.org/site/PageServer?pagename=consumers


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