Exploring the Impact of Client Suicide on Social Workers: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

This research aims to further the understanding of how the phenomenon of client suicide is experienced. Using phenomenology, registered social workers were interviewed to garner an understanding of how client suicide is experienced within the social work perspective. Client suicide research has largely focused on the experience of other professions such as psychology and psychiatry, despite social workers often working with people who have suicidal ideation. Understanding how social workers make meaning of, and are possibly affected by their clients dying by suicide, is valuable in avoiding trauma, grief, and burn out. This research used a constructivist lens to interpret how various social workers experienced the same phenomenon differently, examining the question, “how do social workers describe their experience of client suicide and its impact on their personal and professional lives?”

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