Gregg R. Henriques

Suicide intent and accurate expectations of lethality: predictors of medical lethality of suicide attempts.

The degree of intent to commit suicide and the severity of self-injury were examined in individuals (N = 180) who had recently attempted suicide. Although a minimal association was found between the degree of suicide intent and the degree of lethality of the attempt, the accuracy of expectations about the likelihood of dying was found to moderate the relationship between suicide intent and lethality. Specifically, higher levels of suicide intent were associated with more lethal attempts but only for those individuals who had more accurate expectations about the likelihood of dying from their attempts.

The Tree of Knowledge System and the Theoretical Unification of Psychology

The outline for theoretically unified psychology is offered. A new epistemological system is used to provide a unique vantage point to examine how psychological science exists in relationship to the other sciences. This new view suggests that psychology can be thought of as existing between the central insights of B. F. Skinner and Sigmund Freud. Specifically, Skinners fundamental insight is merged with cognitive neuroscience to understand how mind emerges out of life. This conception is then joined with Freuds fundamental insight to understand the evolutionary changes in mind that gave rise to human culture. By linking life to mind from the bottom and mind to culture from the top, psychology is effectively boxed in between biology and the social sciences.

A Cognitive Therapy Intervention for Suicide Attempters: An Overview of the Treatment and Case Examples.

Although suicidal behavior is a serious public health problem, few effective treatments exist to treat this population. This article describes a new cognitive therapy intervention that has been developed for treating recent suicide attempters. The intervention is based on general principles of cognitive therapy and targets the automatic thoughts and core beliefs that were activated just prior to the individuals suicide attempt. Specific cognitive and behavioral techniques are taught to the patient with the goal of decreasing suicidal thoughts and preventing future suicide attempts. The treatment is unique in targeting suicidal behavior as the primary problem, apart from psychiatric diagnosis. Three detailed case examples are provided that illustrate the use of the treatment with different types of patients.

Cognitive Therapy for Adolescent and Young Adult Suicide Attempters

Although there is a large and increasing literature on biological, psychological, and social characteristics of suicidal behavior, there is a relative lack of information dealing specifically with how to treat suicidal adolescents and young adults. A 10-session cognitive intervention for older adolescents and young adults who have attempted suicide is described in detail. A novel element of the therapy is that the treatment can be applied to individuals exhibiting suicidal behavior, regardless of psychiatric diagnosis. Information is provided about how to structure therapy sessions and how therapy progresses through the early, middle, and later stages. New, specific strategies are offered for helping suicidal individuals learn to cope more adaptively with crises and distress.

Characteristics of recent suicide attempters with and without Borderline Personality Disorder.

The present research compared recent suicide attempters with and without a diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). One hundred and eighty recent suicide attempters, recruited in the Emergency Department, participated in extensive research interviews. Results showed that suicide attempters with BPD displayed greater severity of overall psychopathology, depression, hopelessness, suicidal ideation, past suicide attempts, and had poorer social problem solving skills than those without a BPD diagnosis. No differences were found between the groups regarding the intent to die or lethality associated with the index suicide attempt. These findings highlight the seriousness of BPD and the risk that individuals diagnosed with this disorder will attempt suicide.

Marked increases in psychopathology found in a 30-year cohort comparison of suicide attempters.

BACKGROUND Although several epidemiological studies have found increases in the percentages of people who have made a suicide attempt, few cohort comparisons have been conducted to determine changes within this population over time. The purpose of this investigation was to determine if there have been changes in the clinical profile of suicide attempters in recent decades. METHOD Comparisons between a sample of 258 suicide attempters evaluated between 1970 and 1973 and a second sample of 179 suicide attempters evaluated between 1999 and 2002 were made on depression, hopelessness, suicide intent, drug use, history of suicide attempts and subsequent suicide attempts. RESULTS Present-day suicide attempters were found to exhibit greater levels of depression (p = 0.031), hopelessness (p = 0.008), suicide intent (p < 0.001), and had much higher rates of illicit drug use (p < 0.001). Almost twice as many of the present-day suicide attempters had histories of four or more suicide attempts (p < 0.001), and the present-day suicide attempters made subsequent suicide attempts at close to four times the rate in the year following the index attempt (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The present-day suicide attempters exhibited greater levels of psychopathology on every major variable assessed. Replication is necessary and public health implications are discussed.

Strategies Used in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder: A Survey of Practicing Psychologists

One hundred and twenty three practicing psychologists completed surveys regarding the therapeutic techniques they employ for patients with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Participants identified their predominant orientation and rated the frequency with which they used a range of 27 specific strategies. Logistic regression analyses identified an expected relationship between specific techniques and the theoretical orientations to which they are most closely linked. These findings suggest a high level of concordance between self-described theoretical orientation and the specific treatment techniques utilized, but also that some theoretical orientations are comprised of smaller independent clusters of strategies. The implications of these findings are discussed.

The Nested Model of well-being: A unified approach.

Although well-being is a central topic in psychology in general and positive psychology in particular, it remains somewhat nebulous and more work is required to foster conceptual clarity that will in turn lead to empirical advances. The article outlines the Nested Model (NM) of well-being, which is conceptually grounded in a new unified theory of psychology (Henriques, 2011) that maps the construct into 4 related but also separable nested domains: (a) the subjective domain, which includes the first person phenomenological state of being; (b) the biological and psychological health and functioning of the individual; (c) the material and social environmental context; and (d) the values and ideology of the evaluator. By recognizing these elements and how they combine to form a holistic concept of well-being, theorists, practitioners and researchers from many different areas of inquiry will be able to coordinate their efforts with much greater effectiveness.

Evolving from methodological to conceptual unification.

The absence of a philosophical system that can effectively address the profound problems that exist at the heart of psychology has resulted in the discipline becoming increasingly defined and unified simply by its commitment to the scientific method. This article articulates why unification via method is a weak intellectual solution and explains how the Unified Theory (Henriques, 2011) provides the needed framework so that the field can evolve from its current unity via method to a more mature conceptual unity that clearly defines psychology, grounds it in a scientific worldview, and assimilates and integrates its key insights into a coherent whole.

Character Adaptation Systems Theory: A New Big Five for Personality and Psychotherapy.

Although personality theory and psychotherapy were originally closely linked, the past several decades have witnessed surprising gaps between these domains. This article seeks to close that gap via character adaptation systems theory (CAST), which is a formulation derived from Henriquess (2011) unified approach to psychology that links recent developments in personality theory with integrative visions of psychotherapy via the explication of 5 systems of character adaptation: (a) the habit system, (b) the experiential system, (c) the relationship system, (d) the defensive system, and (e) the justification system. This article delineates the nature of these systems of adaptation and how they connect to modern personality theory and the major systems of individual psychotherapy, as well as how they relate to important domains in human psychology and can be applied in the context of psychotherapy.