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ForwardMcLean Psychiatry Grand Rounds 2026: McLean Forum - Psychotherapy with Suicidal Patients: An Integrative Psychodynamic Approach - September 23, 2026
Psychotherapy with Suicidal Patients: An Integrative Psychodynamic Approach
Wednesday, September 23, 12 - 1 pm
Description:
Suicidal patients present a unique challenge to the psychotherapist. Inherent in the work is the necessity of accepting the reality that the patient could at some point die by suicide and bearing the feelings that this engenders. It is important that therapists have a therapeutic approach that helps to alleviate crises but also takes a long-term, developmental view that holds out hope for meaningful change. In this talk, we will discuss an “integrative psychodynamic approach” to psychotherapy with suicidal patients. It is psychodynamic in that it emphasizes the importance of attention to the therapeutic alliance and countertransference, unconscious and implicit processes, exploration of fantasy, and the use of the therapeutic relationship as an implicitly interpretive vehicle for change. It is “integrative” because it draws on ideas and techniques described in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), as well as developmental and social psychology research. The integrative psychodynamic approach offers a pathway to lessening harsh self-judgment, greater connection with the body, improvement in continuity of experience, positive changes in narrative identity, emergence of the patient’s genuine capacities, and more satisfying interpersonal relationships, all of which improve satisfaction with life and mitigate the risk of self-harm.
SPEAKER(s)
Mark Schechter, MD
Chair, Department of Psychiatry, North Shore Medical Center
Adjunct Instructor in Psychiatry, Tufts Medical School
Instructor in Psychiatry, Part-time, Harvard Medical School
Member, Boston Psychoanalytical Society and Institute
Target Audience
This program is intended for:
- Nurses
- Psychiatrists
- Psychologists
- Physicians
- Social Workers
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of the activity, participants will be able to:
- Articulate at least three basic principles of working psychotherapeutically with suicidal patients.
- Describe two aspects of instilling hope.
- Discuss the importance of ruptures and repairs in the alliance, and their therapeutic potential.
Accreditation
Physicians
McLean Hospital is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
McLean Hospital designates this live educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Psychologists
McLean Hospital is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. McLean Hospital maintains responsibility for this program and its content. Participants meeting requirements will receive 1 CE credit.
Nurses
This program carries 1 contact hour. McLean Hospital is approved as a provider of continuing education to nursing by the American Nurses Association Massachusetts, which is accredited as an approver of continuing education in nursing by the American Nurses’ Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Social Workers
For information about continuing education credit for social workers, please call 617.855.3140.
National Board for Certified Counselors
McLean Hospital is an NBCC Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP™) and may offer NBCC-approved clock hours for events that meet NBCC requirements. The ACEP is solely responsible for all aspects of the program.
Course summary
- 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of IHP and Massachusetts General Hospital. IHP is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
IHP designates this Enduring activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
- 1.00 Nursing Contact Hours
Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 13, sections 13, 14, 14A, 15 and 15D and Chapter 112, sections 74 through 81C authorize the Board of Registration in Nursing to regulate nursing practice and education.
This program meets the requirements of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing (244 CMR 5.00) for 1.00 contact hours of nursing continuing education credit. Advance practice nurses, please note: Educational activities which meet the requirements of the ACCME (such as this activity) count towards 50% of the nursing requirement for ANCC accreditation.
- 1.00 LMHC
MaMHCA, and its agent, MMCEP has been designated by the Board of Allied Mental Health and Human Service Professions to approve sponsors of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for licensure renewal, in accordance with the requirements of 262 CMR 1.00.
This program has been approved for 1.00 CE credit for Licensed Mental Health Counselors MaMHCA.
Authorization number:
- 1.00 Social Workers
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, the MGH Institute of Health Professions is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. MGH Institute of Health Professions maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 1.00 clock hours for continuing education credits.
- 1.00 Participation
This course allows other providers to claim a Participation Certificate upon successful completion of this course.
Participation Certificates will specify the title, location, type of activity, date of activity, and number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ associated with the activity. Providers should check with their regulatory agencies to determine ways in which AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ may or may not fulfill continuing education requirements. Providers should also consider saving copies of brochures, agenda, and other supporting documents.
- 1.00 Psychologists CE Credit
Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. MGH Institute of Health Professions designates this activity for 1.00 CE credit.
[Profile Picture]
Mark Schechter, MD
Mark Schechter is the Chair of Psychiatry at North Shore Medical Center and a part-time Instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is a member of the Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and a member of the Boston Suicide Study Group. He teaches about suicide in the Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean residency program and has published papers and book chapters about various aspects of psychotherapy with suicidal patients.
Disclosures: Speaker has no financial relationships to report.
Available Credit
- 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of IHP and Massachusetts General Hospital. IHP is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
IHP designates this Enduring activity for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
- 1.00 Nursing Contact Hours
Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 13, sections 13, 14, 14A, 15 and 15D and Chapter 112, sections 74 through 81C authorize the Board of Registration in Nursing to regulate nursing practice and education.
This program meets the requirements of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing (244 CMR 5.00) for 1.00 contact hours of nursing continuing education credit. Advance practice nurses, please note: Educational activities which meet the requirements of the ACCME (such as this activity) count towards 50% of the nursing requirement for ANCC accreditation.
- 1.00 LMHC
MaMHCA, and its agent, MMCEP has been designated by the Board of Allied Mental Health and Human Service Professions to approve sponsors of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for licensure renewal, in accordance with the requirements of 262 CMR 1.00.
This program has been approved for 1.00 CE credit for Licensed Mental Health Counselors MaMHCA.
Authorization number:
- 1.00 Social Workers
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, the MGH Institute of Health Professions is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. MGH Institute of Health Professions maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive 1.00 clock hours for continuing education credits.
- 1.00 Participation
This course allows other providers to claim a Participation Certificate upon successful completion of this course.
Participation Certificates will specify the title, location, type of activity, date of activity, and number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ associated with the activity. Providers should check with their regulatory agencies to determine ways in which AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ may or may not fulfill continuing education requirements. Providers should also consider saving copies of brochures, agenda, and other supporting documents.
- 1.00 Psychologists CE Credit
Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. MGH Institute of Health Professions designates this activity for 1.00 CE credit.