Abstract

The encounter with a person who struggles with suicidal thoughts, who has attempted suicide, or who is the loved one of someone who has committed suicide raises profound questions about how to respond to this person in deep pain. Curiously, the specialization of the caregiving professions fractures this single person into body, mind, spirit: psychologists address the needs of the psyche, physicians care for the body, and pastoral care providers* tend to the wounds of the soul. Yet, if ever there were an occasion where the person in need requires the experience, expertise, and insight of all these disciplines acting in concert, it is the occasion of suicide. A multidisciplinary approach magnifies the possibility that patients and family members can be set on the road to healing. In this article, I briefly discuss how medical care professionals can work hand in hand with pastoral caregivers to achieve this goal.