South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, yet talking about suicide remains difficult. Even news coverage treats the subject cautiously, and it is rarely raised in public settings. Looking away, however, does not make the reality disappear. Korea's suicide rate stood at 29.1 per 100,000 people in 2024, far above the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of 10.8. That is why confronting the problem and providing appropriate help to people in crisis is the starting point for change.
"Suicide Crisis Counseling," a new release, is a practical manual for counselors and related professionals who meet people at risk of suicide face to face. Suicide is among the most complex and difficult human behaviors to understand. It emerges from extreme conflict between the instinct to preserve life and self-destructive impulses, which makes understanding it — and helping someone out of crisis — equally difficult.
Counseling clients in suicidal crisis is rewarding work that protects a life, but it also places considerable fear and burden on the counselor. Anxieties such as "What if I make a mistake and make things worse?" or "What if the client takes their own life?" can at times make active intervention harder. "Suicide Crisis Counseling" offers specific guidance on what to do, and how, in actual counseling settings.
The book first addresses the fundamentals a counselor needs before entering the field. It covers a broad range of topics, from psychological and sociocultural understandings and misconceptions about suicide to the counselor's attitude and self-care, suicide risk assessment and the use of psychological testing, and ethical and legal issues and post-incident response. It also introduces ways to apply key concepts and techniques from acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to suicide crisis intervention.
At the core of the book is the "SOS-Link" model. In the safety stage, the counselor builds a trusting relationship with the client, assesses risk and draws up a safety plan. In the oriented acceptance stage, the counselor helps the client confront painful emotions and accept themselves. In the final survival stage, the client is guided toward rediscovering the values and relationships that matter to them and committing to them. "Link" refers to reconnecting the client, through this process, to life and to community.
The authors are Yoo Young-kwon, a professor at Yonsei University; Park Jung-ah, a professor at Kyungnam University; Shin Soo-jung, a visiting professor at Yonsei University; Lim Soo-yeon, an adjunct professor at Semyung University; and Kim Min-young, a visiting professor at Gachon University. They drew on experience developing counseling training for Air Force personnel managers and programs to train counselors in suicide crisis response. The book can serve as a practical guide not only for counselors but also for social workers, teachers, doctors and nurses who encounter people in suicidal crisis.
