Long Way Gone Study Guide Essay Example for Free

Long Way Gone Study Guide Essay 1.What does Ishmael say the war is about? Ishmael says nothing about the causes of the war, or what each side was fighting for, or of the overall political and social conditions in Sierra Leone that caused the war. This was a deliberate strategy on the part of Beah, the author. He wanted to present the war through the eyes of a child. As a boy of twelve, when the war first affected him, he had no interest in politics. He had no reason to be interested—his main interest, understandably for a boy of his age, was in singing and dancing to rap music and hanging out with his friends. When the war comes to him, it is for him a battle for personal survival, not a political cause. He is also fueled by feelings of revenge—instilled into him by his army officers—against the rebels because they killed his family. Once again, these are personal feelings not political beliefs. For the reader, then, transported to a land he or she knows nothing about (for the American reader, that is), the war seems not only almost unimaginably brutal but also meaningless. It consists of one side mindlessly killing the other, and vice versa, in skirmishes in small villages. Ishmael does report Lieutenant Jabati’s speeches to his men, in which he says they are defending their country (â€Å"We kill them [the rebels] for the good and betterment of this country† [p. 123]), but such appeals to patriotism are not what inspire Ishmael. Ishmael’s ignorance of politics is again stressed when he is in Freetown during his rehabilitation and sees a convoy of cars and military vans. He is told that the new president, Tejan Kabbah, who had won an election eight months earlier is passing by. â€Å"I had never heard of this man,† Ishmael writes pointedly. This confirms the tenor of the book as a whole: Ishmael is a boy caught up in a war he knows nothing about for a cause he does not care about. 2.Why was the war fought and what course did it take? During the 1980s Sierra Leone was a one-party state governed by the All-People’s Congress (APC) party. However, this period was marked by extensive government corruption and abuse of power. Although Sierra Leone is rich in natural resources it became one of the poorest countries in the world because of mismanagement. The civil war in neighboring Liberia helped to create conditions for war in Sierra Leone because a Liberian war leader reportedly sponsored the rebel group called the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) as a way of destabilizing Sierra Leone, which at the time was a base for a United Nations peacekeeping force. The war broke out in 1991 in villages in eastern Sierra Leone that were near the Liberian border. The aim of the RUF was to seize and control the diamond sector, and in 1991 it took control of the diamond mines in the Kono district. (It is the mining area around Ishmael’s home town of Mogbwemo that the rebels seize in 1993.) In 1992 a military coup took place that established the National Provisional Ruling Council, replacing the civilian government. However, the new military government was powerless to prevent the RUF from controlling much of the country. It was the years immediately after this, from 1993 to January 1996, that Ishmael was a soldier. The war continued after Ishmael was rescued from it, as he himself found out when he went to stay with his uncle in Freetown after his rehabilitation. There had been an election in April 1996, and a civilian government had taken power, but in May 1997 there was another military coup, and the new military government known as the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) invited the RUF to participate in it. The following year, when Beah was safely in the United States, the military government was ousted and the civilian government restored. But this did not stop the violence as the AFRC and its RUF allies fought to regain power. Fighting returned to Freetown in 1999, before a peace accord was signed in July 1999. But this did not last, and the war dragged on, finally ending in January 2002, with the civilian government in charge. According to the CIA’s World Factbook, the civil war resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and the displacement of more than two million people—about one-third of the population of Sierra Leone. 3.What is the situation in Sierra Leone today? According to the CIA’s World Factbook, Sierra Leone is gradually returning to a fully democratic government following the ravages of the civil war. There was a general election in 2007 that led to one civilian government being peacefully replaced by another. The nation has also tried to come to terms with the recent past. In 2002 the government set up a Special Court to try those responsible for war crimes during the civil war. It also set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Special Court indicted many of those held responsible for the atrocities. Some died before they could be tried, but in June 2007, the Special Court found three men guilty of war crimes, including not only murder, terrorism, and enslavement but also the act of conscripting or enlisting children under fifteen into the armed forces. As refugees from the war are slowly returning from neighboring countries, the Sierra Leone government is trying to create jobs and end political corruption. Revenues from diamond mining have increased significantly since the end of the war. Diamonds account for about half of Sierra Leone’s exports. However, Sierra Leone, with a population estimated in 2009 as 5,132,138, remains an extremely poor country with wide disparities in how wealth is distributed. According to the World Factbook, â€Å"The fate of the economy depends upon the maintenance of domestic peace and the continued receipt of substantial aid from abroad.† 4.How widespread is the use of child soldiers? It would be comforting to think that the forced conscription of children into the armed forces during the war in Sierra Leone was an aberration, not something that can happen again in the modern world. However, that is not the case. Even in the twenty-first century, the use of child soldiers is common in armed conflicts around the world. According to Human Rights watch, an international nongovernmental organization, as of 2007, there were an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 children fighting in various wars. According to a Global Report published in 2008 by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, at the end of 2007 children were used as soldiers in seventeen armed conflicts around the globe. The coalition noted that this was down from twenty-seven conflicts in 2004, but the downturn was more because the conflicts had ended than because child soldiers were no longer being recruited. The Global Report identified the following countries where children were recruited for paramilitaries, militias, civilian defense forces or armed groups linked to or supported by governments: Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, India, Iran, Ivory Coast, Libya, Myanmar, Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Uganda. The most flagrant offender, according to the Global Report, is Myanmar, where the government uses thousands of children in its battle against rebel groups. In Uganda, tens of thousands of children have been forced into joining armies over a period of nearly twenty-five years. In some of these countries, including Uganda, girls as well as boys have been forced to become soldiers. There have in recent years been concerted international efforts to end the use of child soldiers. Sierra Leone, which has tried and convicted men responsible for recruiting child soldiers, has become a leader in this issue. The use of child soldiers has now been prohibited by international law. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict has been ratified by 120 states. The UN Security Council has adopted resolutions calling for the establishment of a monitoring mechanism on children and armed conflict. However, these and other prohibitions are no guarantee that when new conflicts break out, child soldiers will not be recruited. 5.Is Beah’s story factually accurate? A Long Way Gone achieved popular and critical success, but questions have been raised by some regarding the factual accuracy of a number of events Beah recounts in the book. Beah writes that his village was attacked in January 1993 and after that he became a refugee from the war. Critics claim that there are school records showing that Beah was in school later than this date, and that the village was attacked in 1995, not 1993. This would mean that Beah would actually have been recruited at the age of fifteen, not thirteen as he writes in the book. This would have meant that he was only a child soldier for a few months, rather than over two years. Some critics point to the structure of the book to confirm this. They point out that most of the book deals with Beah’s wanderings as a refugee and the months he spent in rehabilitation. Only two chapters (13 and 14) cover his actual experiences as a soldier (although he does present more incidents from his military service at various points in flashbacks). Questions have also been raised about the account Beah gives of the fight between the former boy soldiers at the rehabilitation home, in which several boys were killed. There are no independent reports of such a fight ever taking place. Some believe that Beah used others’ experiences as his own and that he embellished his tale. They point to his interest in creative writing at Oberlin College and the fact that his adoptive mother was a storyteller. The suggestion is that Beah was encouraged by those around him to tell a more vivid story. Others have more charitably suggested that Beah simply got his dates mixed up, and his memory may have been unreliable because on his own admission he was high on drugs most of the time he was in military service. Beah has vehemently denied that he invented anything, however. In an article published in Publishers Weekly in 2008, Beah wrote, â€Å"Sad to say, my story is all true.†

Abortion :: essays research papers

Years ago when a women would get pregnant she would have a baby. Today accidental pregnancies are solved by a method called abortion. With this method the newly formed fetus is basically removed from the mother’s body and destroyed. Although the whole process of having an abortion seems not especially pleasant, they seem to be popular. Many people argue that abortion is plain and simple murder. They reason that if a woman feels responsible enough to have sex, she needs to be responsible enough to deal with the consequences. No matter what the circumstances may be. The fourteenth amendment states that no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without a good reason and a fair trial. Pro-life supporters use the fact that in the United States constitution it clearly states that no one can kill anyone else without due process to fight against abortions. They reason that we must follow all of the other amendments so why do we not fully follow the fourteenth? The unborn baby has a constitutional right to life unless due process of the law is put into effect. But how can due process be in effect when the baby can not even speak for itself? Basically pro-life supporters argue that the baby can not be killed because it has the constitutional right to life. Non-abortions advocates also argue that abortions get used too regularly as a form of birth control. They believe that abortions are put into the same category as the â€Å"pill† and the Depo-Provera shot. They also believe that while abortions are legal and so available, people do not see unprotected sex as serious as they should. Women may consent to un-protected sex because if they become pregnant they figure they can always just go get an abortion. Pro-life supporters believe that abortions are a simple way out of a very complicated problem. However, the illegalization of abortion may bring on many consequences. If someone falls victim of rape and becomes pregnant it is not fair to make them keep the child. The mother would of course love the child, but with that would come a form of hate. It is true that one should take responsibility for their actions, but rape is no action of their own. Rape is an act of violence and no women should have to have a baby out of it. As a women I agree that I, and only I, should make the decision of rather to have an abortion or to not have one.

United States Coast Guard

The last ten years has seen substantial changes in the ways the oceans are being used. Incidences of smuggling, piracy, illegal immigration and the growth in global terrorism have risen dramatically. This report studies how the role of the United States Coast Guard has been refined to deal with these issues and, in particular, their recently emphasised role in security. We look at the key issues facing this force, which include the recently formed Homeland Security project and evaluate their activities in the fight against terrorism and use in foreign campaigns.Our conclusion is that there has been a significant change in the Coast Guard role but that this is a necessary response to the changing face of crime and terrorism on the oceans. United States Coast Guard Their Role in Border Security What is the role of the U. S. Coast Guard in terms of border security and how does it carry out that role? This is the question that we shall be studying within this report. Having studied and r esearched we the changes to the Coast Guards mission and, in particular the reasons and causes that have led to their current role in and duties with regard to border security.Amongst the oldest government organization, the U. S. Coast Guard was formed originally under the name of â€Å"Revenue Marine†. Its history dates back to 1740. Initially its main task was collecting revenue for the government and to stop smuggling. Over the years its duties and responsibilities have expanded to include assisting in distress and rescue, dealing with incidence of slavery and charting the coastline. Before the U. S. Navy was formed in 1798, it also was the only seabourne-armed force.Over recent years it has become part of the Department of Homeland, were it is responsible for enforcing the nations laws of the sea and ensuring safety of both vessels and persons. However in wartime its line of command transfers responsibility to the Navy Department. (United States Coast Guard, website 2006) . The growing globalization in terms of politics and commercialization has brought with it an international expansion of crime and terrorist groups.In recent times the Coast Guard’s role has changed to meet this, with an increased focus on a number of key security areas including smuggling, illegal immigration and, more importantly, the perceived and actual threat from terrorism. As Admiral Allen (2006) points out in his statement on the Coast Guard website, this change is an ongoing situation and they have to remain flexible in their approach to maintain a positive and effective proactive and reactionary response to the constantly changing demands of the issues within their remit.Within this document we are concentrating upon four key issues, theft and smuggling, illegal immigration, terrorism and a brief look at the services they have provided overseas. Theft and Smuggling Since the first moment human beings invented a form of sea transport, there have been those who have s een and seized the opportunity for ill-gotten gains. Indeed, as previous stated, smuggling was one of the original reasons for the formation of the Coast Guard.Due to the vast coastline enjoyed by the United States, theft, smuggling and the task of its prevention, has always played an important part of the Coast Guard duty. With the increase in globalization smuggling of commercial goods has become a more significant problem. It has been reported that the theft of merchandise cargo in the United States is a staggering $25 billion a year, fifty percent of the world’s total thefts. The lost revenue from smuggled cigarettes alone is estimated to cost the U. S. approaching $2 billion.The problem is exacerbated by the diverse nature of the groups and syndicate behind the thefts. These not only include local geographical groups such as the Los Angeles street gangs, but those from South America, the Orient and, with the democratization of much of the Eastern Bloc countries, Russian Crime gangs as well. (Mario Possamai 2001) In addition to the theft, the Coast Guards also have to deal with the growing problem of counterfeit branded merchandise, among the most popular of which are computer software, fashion goods and cosmetics.With the increase in skills and technology in Asia, the Far East and other nations, there has been a proliferation of the importation of counterfeit products and the modern quality of reproduction is so high that detection is becoming more and more difficult. It is estimated that the cost to United States industry from this source was in the region of $200 million per annum in 2001 and the figure has grown steadily from then. The following (figure 1) shows the total number of intellectual property right seizures for the five years to 2000. Table 1 Mario Possamai (2001)By far the worse incidence of smuggling is that involving drugs, across the whole spectrum of the industry. Globally this is adding to the pressures of addiction and other, i ncluding drug related problem, and in the United States, due to the sheer size of population it is an extremely large and difficult problem to deal with. This is one particular area where the Coast Guard can be particularly pleased with their efforts as there seizures during 2002 accounted for 52% of all government seizures in that year, and took off the streets drugs estimated to have a retail value of nearly $4 billion.Another area of responsibility, which because of their more high profile activities, tends to be somewhat overlooked, is the Coast Guards responsibility for protecting their nations fishery industry. With falling stocks world-wide, illegal fishing and theft of catches is on the increase, and the U. S. has not been immune from this problem. Illegal Immigration Although an integral part of the fight against smuggling, because of it’s human connotations, the part of the trade involving illegal immigrants has taken on a unique significance of it’s own.As a result of its â€Å"super-power† status and the world-wide held perception that the United States is the wealthiest country, it acts as a magnet for people from poorer nations wishing to improve their fortunes and, as a result of this there has followed a growth of crime syndicates who operate in this area, seizing the opportunity for substantial financial rewards. Such gangs have used the income generated to form themselves into extremely well organized, sophisticated and effective organizations.Although the influx of illegal immigrants is a national problem, with the longest border between the world’s richest nation and one of the poorer being the U. S. Mexico divide, by far the largest concentration of activity takes place in this area. The efficiency of the operating gangs and syndicates operating in this business serves to tax the Coast Guards capability to the limit. Many believe that, partially as a result of the demands placed upon it in terms of other securit y duties, the Coast Guard is failing to win this particular struggle.In his book, Peter Andreas (2001) observes that, despite setting up a military type operation in order to concentrate the efforts of border enforcement this 1990’s initiative is not achieving its target, which is to reaffirm control over the area. Terrorism Since the dramatic and catastrophic results of the September â€Å"9/11† attacks, the Coast Guard has been charged with the additional responsibilities of focusing a reasonable amount of resources to the fight against terrorism. Their duties and responsibilities here are to defend the United States against any repetition of the September 11th tragedies.(Carolyn and Kit Bonner 2004) Despite the fact that that particular attack was airborne in nature, a seabourne attack is all too possible. For example it is estimated, although as a result of the problems involved with ascertaining positive evidence, that Al Qaeda has an operating fleet of between 15 and 300 vessels. It is already suspected that this terrorist group have been responsible for at least two major seabourne attacks on other vessels, Dr John Daly (2003), each capable of inflicting massive damage on United States seaways or delivery of weapons of mass destruction through its ports.Following on from the successes of Al Qaeda, the fear is that other international terrorist groups will consider this method as an extension to their armory of effective attacks against the U. S. In John Leaning’s report (2001), the Coast Guard stated that the service was operating on a much higher state of security alert, even to the extent of preventing public access to facilities that, pre 9/11 would have welcomed them. The terrorist threat is not only restricted to groups like Al Qaeda, but can be extended to include those countries with which the United States have serious disputes such as Iran and the insurgents in Iraq.Services overseas Despite being primarily a service dedica ted to the protection of it’s nations own shores and waters, the United States Coast Guard, have ventured further a field when there is a need to and duty calls. In addition it has also worked in collaboration with other nations in the pursuance of its security obligations. With regard to the latter, the recent joint operation with Canada is a case in point. Here the two Coast Guard service worked in unison on a regular basis. This cooperation has extended along both the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines and other mutually important stretches of seaway and lakes.Both of the participating services have said that this operation has been of great value to them and that they have learnt a lot from working together, all of which they hope to put towards their joint and individual security role programs. As a trial operation it was a success in terms of showing how such cooperation could be an effective weapon in the fight against any security incident that arises on the high seas. ( Phil Jenkins 2005) Service in Iraq. In addition to working with neighboring countries the U. S. Coast Guard has also been called into action with security conflicts in other parts of the world.The most important of these, and certainly the one with the highest profile, occurred during the recent Middle East conflicts with the Gulf Wars. Working under the jurisdiction of the Navy department, it was part of the Coast Guards responsibilities to guard and protect the oil terminals from attack, a duty that has also become part of their responsibilities in their homeland. With the United States Navy occupied in more direct action in the Middle East operations of war, it was a huge responsibility for the service. ConclusionAs our research has shown, the United States Coast Guard has an extremely important role to play in the area of security. This responsibility stretches across the whole spectrum of the American way of life. In protecting the countries commercial organizations from the ef fects of mechanized theft and incidences of counterfeiting it is contributing to the safeguard of the economic position. With its actions against smuggling, and in particular the human kind, its job it to protect the social conditions and human rights, not only of its own citizens, but also of many of those who are being smuggled into the country.However, by far the most important role that the service plays at this moment in time relates to its activities in the field of terrorism. The attacks of â€Å"9/11† graphically showed the scale of human lives that can be lost and the significant damage to the nations info structure and the affect on a nations moral that such an incidence can have. This task is taking on every increasing importance as both the growth of terrorist groups, and of unstable nations access to nuclear facilities, grows. The difficulties that face both the Coast Guard service and the U.S. government that operates it, is one of funding, facilities and deploy ment. With terrorists seeming to possess almost unlimited funds just who much of the nations taxes should be committed to this area of operations. Whilst the nation is very conscious of the need for it, there is a limit to the amount that a citizen either can or is willing to invest. Even with the funds available, there comes next the problem of exactly what facilities should those funds be utilized for. Seabourne terrorism is not the only concern.There are other forms of terrorism that need protection and need funds as has been clearly demonstrated. Added to this is the almost impossible task of deployment. The United States has such a large expanse of coastline that it would be impossible to cover that area effectively. With the fiscal restraints, together with the limitations in terms of manpower, equipment and other resources, the United States Coast Guard services perform their remit with a great deal of efficiency and, despite isolated incidences of failure, not inconsiderable success. ReferencesAllen, Admiral Thad. (May 2006). Commandants intent. Retrieved from http://www. uscg. mil/USCG. shtm. Andreas Peter. (2001). Border Games: Policing the U. S. Mexico Divide. Cornell University Press. Collins, T (Forward). Bonner, Carolyn & Kit. (2004) Always Ready: Today’s US Coast Guard. Motorbooks International, Powerpro series. Daly, Dr John, C, Kay. (2003) Al Qaeda and Maritime Terrorism [Part 1], The Jameson Institute, Terrorism Monitor Jenkins, Phil. (2005). U. S. and Canadian Coast Guards working together to strengthen partnerships. CNN News release.

The Ethics of Client Suicide - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2381 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2019/07/01 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Suicide Essay Did you like this example? Client suicide is one of the greatest fears of all counselors, and suicide prevention is a difficult and commonly avoided area of counseling. Suicide rates in the United States have steadily increased from 10.4 per 100,000 in 2000, to 13.4 per 100,000 in 2014. This is a 27.6 percent increase over 15 years. If this trend continues, the occurrence of suicide will be one issue that most counselors will unfortunately have to face at some point in their practice. There are many legal, moral, and ethical difficulties surrounding the topic that could ruin a career if not properly dealt with (Sommers-Flanagan and Shaw, 2017). Client confidentiality is of utmost importance, but when a client indicates that he or she may be suicidal, counselors have a duty to report this to family members and authorities. Contrary to common belief, there are several effective suicide treatments for adolescents and adults. Using these techniques, first counselors must help clients out of the actively suicidal state. Next they encourage and teach the client to develop the skills needed to create and uphold fulfilling, rewarding, and enjoyable lives (Meyers, 2017). In this paper I will explore an ethical dilemma involving suicide and highlight some of the areas of greatest difficulty in the event of a client death. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Ethics of Client Suicide" essay for you Create order For most counselors, an ethical dilemma is apparent when they encounter a confounding situation in which they feel hindered in their decision-making due to various factors. There may appear to be conflict between, or inconsistency among, the ethical standards. The situation could be so compounded that the ethical codes offer unhelpful guidance. A discrepancy between ethical and legal standards could materialize, or there may seem to be a conflict between the moral principles that underlie most ethical codes. If the correct route to take in a counselling situation is unclear, the ACAs ethical decision-making model may need to be employed (Forester-Miller Davis, 2018). When making an ethical clinical decision, it is essential to consider both personal bias (ACA, 2014, A.4.b) and level of professional competence (ACA, 2014, C.2.a). How is a counselor to proceed if a client has many symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation and fits into one of the most likely demographic categories for a suicide, but denies all thoughts of suicide? A 30-year-old client named John decides to speak to a counselor because he has been feeling down. His thirtieth birthday was a month ago, and since then he has been overwhelmed with the feeling that he is not where he expected to be at this point in his life. He married young and has been divorced for five years. He is estranged from his parents, who emotionally abused him for all of his childhood, and he does not have any siblings. He did not complete college and complains about his unrewarding and tiresome job. He lives alone and struggles to find a healthy balance for his life, saying that he usually only works, comes home, drinks excessive amounts of alcohol, and watches TV before falling into a restless sleep, repeating the cycle weekly. He mentions that he enjoyed hunting, but can no longer find the will to do even what he enjoys. He does not explicitly mention thoughts of suicide, but shows many of the warning signs. He states that he feels as though his current life is pointl ess and unimportant. After the third session, John commits suicide using one of the guns in his home. John showed signs of isolation and feelings of worthlessness. He had not expressed a true desire to improve his life, only that he recognized that there may be a problem, putting him in the contemplation stage of change. He had taken the first step of attending counseling, but he did not seem as though he would continue attending counseling long-term, stating on the third session that he did not think counseling was going to be as effective as he had hoped. His expression of his love of hunting indicates that he has access to firearms. Studies have shown that when there are no firearms in a household, there are fewer suicide deaths. John lived in a rural area where it has been shown that suicide attempts are more often successful than in urban areas (Westefeld, Gann, Lustgarten, and Yeates, 2016). John also had a high rate of alcohol consumption which is a factor in fifty percent of suicides (Firestone, 2018). The mind of a suicidal person is working against itself. A part of the client wants to live, while another part is self-destructive. All suicides have elements of both planning and of spontaneity. Therefore, therapists must act quickly and precisely if suicidal thoughts are stated in counseling. There are many thought patterns common in suicidal clients including self-hatred, hopelessness, isolation and pushing away loved ones, feeling like a misfit, and feeling like a burden. There are also many common behaviors like past suicide attempt(s), sleeplessness, anxiety and agitation, rage outbursts and low problem tolerance, risky behavior, alcohol use, sudden positive shift in mood, and any direct talk of suicide related behavior (Firestone, 2018). The stakeholders and main decision-makers in this situation should be a collaborative effort between the client and the counselor. If the counselor is still unsure of what to do or feels that the client is being untruthful or flawed in his assessment of himself after the first two sessions, the counselor should talk with other counselors for a second or third opinion on the plan of action (ACA, A.1.c, 2014). John should be heavily encouraged to continue counseling. The counselor does not want to hurt Johns already weakened sense of pride by suggesting that he may be suicidal, but neither does she want to avoid a life-threatening possibility. John does not have friends nearby or family that could be alerted. The only people who could offer him support are his co-workers. It would be a breach in confidentiality to alert them, however (Ethical, 2018). In one study, job/financial problems were found to be an issue in 22.5 percent of the suicide cases analyzed (Schiff et al., 2015). The counselor fears that John is not expressing his suicidal thoughts for fear of the consequences laid out in the informed consent agreement. John is in a high risk demographic group because he is male, white, and unmarried. However, this is also an extremely high false positive group (Fowler, 2012). John was also emotionally abused during his childhood. This puts him at a higher risk for psychopathology. He has trouble forming trusting relationships, as clearly evidenced by his relationship with his counselor. John, like many emotional abuse survivors, finds it difficult to form secure attachments and has trouble forming and maintaining interpersonal relationships. This also puts him at a heightened risk for suicide (Allbaugh et al., 2018). Clients may be asked to sign a no-suicide contract or a commitment to treatment contract. These can be helpful in certain instances, but if the counselor-client relationship is strained or new, clients can feel as though they are being made to sign the contract to shift moral blame away from the therapist in the event of a tragedy, although the contract is in no way legally binding. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24 year-olds (Canady, 2017). Seventy-one percent of psychotherapists report having at least one client who has attempted suicide, and twenty-eight percent of psychotherapists report having had at least one client die by suicide (Firestone, 2018). It is an unfortunately common event that most practitioners will experience in their careers. As difficult as it may be, if a client is presenting symptoms of depression and suicidal ideation, the best course of action is to ask the client directly if he is or is not considering suicide as an option. John should be asked to sign a commitment to treatment agreement. This could encourage him to take the counseling process seriously and could assist in his symptom improvement. He should be encouraged to exercise, eat well, and drink less alcohol; all mood and energy boosters. Exercise could help improve his quality of sleep. John appears to be suffering from depression. He could be referred to a doctor for an antidepressant, but there is limited evidence that medications have substantial impact on suicidal ideation and self-harm behaviors (Jobes, 2017). If he had family nearby, they might have been able to assist in removing the guns from Johns home and provide him with emotional support. John was asked by the counselor after the second session to put his firearms in a remote location that he does not have immediate access to. John denied the request, citing his need for protection in the event of a burglary, although he lives in a very safe area of the country. This is also an indicator that he is perhaps unreasonably paranoid, which is a warning sign for suicide. The only other option would have been to alert authorities, but if John was not suicidal, this could have made John turn away from counseling completely and send him deeper into his depression (Westefeld et al., 2016). Remember that he also did not express any suicidal ideation, making it a breach of confidentiality to alert anyone at that point. In the first session with John, a relatively high-risk client, the counselor should assess his current suicide risk. Next, she should communicate her intent to understand more about his life and what makes living difficult for him. Lastly, she should ask John if he would be willing to negotiate treatment options and devise a plan for managing his well-being, immediate risk removal, and symptom improvement. Suicidal states are often triggered by unbearably painful emotions associated with feeling abandoned, alone, alienated, and disconnected. John is experiencing all of these feelings. In those most vulnerable to suicide, the capacity to think clearly and flexibly collapses, and suicide emerges as a means of evading intolerable affliction. Treatments that focus on restoring the capacity to reflect on strong emotions, and to weather affective storms are emerging as highly effective in reducing the occurrence of suicide-related behaviors. Techniques aimed at improving forbearance for, and improved regulation of, intense affect include radical acceptance, mindfulness acceptance, insight-oriented interpretation, and mentalizing, to name a few. It is beneficial to use all elements to fit the needs of the client, but it is also advised to rely heavily on raising the patients curiosity and awareness of their emotions because suicidal clients are often phobic of negative or conflicting emotions. The most accurate predictor of suicide is past suicide attempts (Fowler, 2013). John has denied ever attempting suicide before. Clients presenting for treatment with active suicidal ideation and intent must be assessed for risk. A new counselor or counselor-in-training should conduct a formal suicide interview. Fowler (2012) says it is best to communicate interest in the clients suffering and to invite them to speak openly about their struggles. Counselors should work to understand the clients reasoning for wanting death and aim to create a sufficient empathic reply to their internal pain in the form of marked mirroring. Johns risk assessment came back as negative, so it was the counselors decision to not have John placed on suicide watch based on his results and the expert opinion of the counselor (ACA, E.2.c., 2014). Over the past 20 years there has been a shift in how psychoanalysts assess potentially suicidal clients. We now realize that, unfortunately, suicide risk factors mean little for prediction and prevention efforts. A positive aspect of the developments in suicide-related theory is the move away from the medical model. There is increased emphasis on the initial and ongoing clinical encounter, including use of comprehensive suicide assessment interviewing protocols and use of increasingly nuanced methods for clinicians to directly question patients about suicidal ideation. There are also methods for monitoring suicidal ideation and risk over time (Sommers-Flanagan and Shaw, 2017). The assessment of suicide risk usually rests on the admission from the client of suicidal ideation, either voluntarily communicated, reported by the patients significant others, or confirmed by skilled clinician examination. Most of the more commonly used screening tools for suicide risk, such as the the Ask Suicide?Screening Questions and the PHQ9 rely heavily on the self?report of suicidal ideation. Even expressed suicidal ideation is only a weak predictor of suicide, however (Berman, 2018). I think many counselors in this situation would feel the need to do something for John. He has many risk factors and many would say that it is obvious that he was suicidal, but he would not admit to suicidal ideation or planning. This puts the counselor between a metaphorical rock and a hard place. There is unfortunately nothing the counselor could have physically done to stop John. Justice and autonomy allow John to keep his firearms. Universality is apparent because any client would have to be treated in the same manner as John. Beneficence of the counselor toward John means that she has the clients best interest in mind and she trusts him to tell the truth, even though in this example he did not. Publicity stops the counselor from alerting Johns coworkers, the only possibility of people to provide emotional support in his life, of her concern. For counselors and counselors in training, client death is a difficult event to move past. The only thing we can do is be as prepared as possible if the event should occur. According to Veilleux and Bilsky (2016), training in suicide prevention does not prepare trainees or training programs for the cataclysm that a suicide can ensue. Suicide postvention procedures exist in other fields to help those affected, but mental health clinicians are forced to adhere to the ethical mandate of confidentiality. Therefore, therapist survivors are not free to openly grieve with others who knew the deceased. In combination, the feelings of responsibility related to the clients mental health and the ramifications of breaching confidentiality can leave the counselor with an often great burden that must be endured in solidarity. Understanding legal and ethical problems related to suicidality is important knowledge to have when counseling suicidal clients. Mental health care providers should grasp state laws pertaining to suicide, recognize legal challenges that are painstaking to defend against as a result of poor or incomplete documentation, and ensure the safety of client records and rights to privacy and confidentiality following the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 that went into effect April 15, 2003 (Cramer, Johnson, McLaughlin, Rausch, Conroy, 2013).