The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) Stabilization Plan for Working With Patients With Suicide Risk

The Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) provides clinicians with an evidence-based suicide-focused therapeutic framework to help patients understand and manage suicidal thoughts and behaviors. A key component in CAMS suicide-focused treatment planning is the development and use of the CAMS Stabilization Plan (CSP). The CSP is used to ensure between-session safety and stability by helping patients learn to cope differently, enabling clinicians to care for suicidal patients on an outpatient basis, and thereby rendering suicidal-oriented coping obsolete. While implementing and maintaining the CSP, clinicians work to identify, target, and treat patient-identified suicidal drivers aimed at lowering the patient's suicide risk. The CSP employs a collaborative, flexible, and problem-focused approach creating a unique dynamic between clinician and patient as they work together to address the patient's suicidal struggle. CAMS allows clinicians to be flexible in their approach to treating suicidal behavior, utilizing techniques and tools they know, while providing them with a unique framework to engage their suicidal patients. Additionally, there is an overt and ongoing emphasis on encouraging patients to cultivate purpose and meaning in their lives with plans, goals, and hope for the future ultimately leading patients to discover a life worth living, which is the final focus in CAMS-guided care.