Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality

Domain II · Behavioural & cognitive · Jobes

What it is

CAMS (Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality) is a suicide-specific therapeutic framework, not a new psychotherapy. Its authors call it "theoretically 'non-denominational' and integrative" (Jobes, Crumlish & Evans 2020). It gives a structure for assessing, stabilising, treating and…

Format

• Session count. There is no prescribed length (Jobes et al. 2025). Resolution often comes within 6–8 sessions and most patients resolve within 12 (Tyndal et al. 2021). The UCL competence map, drawing on the 2nd edition, describes negotiating an agreed trial period of about 3 months or 6–8 sessions.
• Criteria for moving from Phase 2 to Phase 3 (resolution). All three must hold for three consecutive sessions:

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Drift into using CAMS as a one-off assessment form without tracking.
• Supporters who respond with control or anger. Coach them in their role.
• Drivers too global to treat ("life"). Narrow them to something workable.
• Dropped connections during high-risk moments. Agree a reconnection plan in advance.
• Patients hiding risk out of fear of admission. Being transparent early reduces this.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.