Konrad Michel
Konrad Michel, MD, Prof. emeritus, is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist affiliated with the University of Bern, Switzerland (Publications).
In collaboration with Ladislav Valach, PhD, he developed an approach to the suicidal person based on the notion that suicide and suicide attempts are actions that can be understood through the persons’ own narratives. A model of suicide that is meaningful to people at risk of suicide is a prerequisite to learning how to cope with life-threatening suicidal crises.
The suicide-as-action model has successfully been used in a three-session therapy for patients who had attempted suicide (https://www.assip.ch). In a scientific study, this brief therapy reduced the risk of future suicidal behavior by remarkable 80 percent.
Konrad Michel is active in training, supervising, and supporting therapists in the clinical use of ASSIP in Europe and overseas.
ASSIP – Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program
ASSIP is a brief therapy for patients in treatment after a suicide attempt. It is administered as add-on therapy to usual clinical management. ASSIP is based on a patient-centered model of suicidal behavior, with a strong emphasis on therapeutic alliance. The therapy protocol is highly structured and consists of three face-to-face sessions, followed by regular letters sent to patients.
In a Randomized Controlled Trial with 120 participants (2016), ASSIP was highly effective in reducing suicide reattempts over 24 months follow-up. The risk of reattempting suicide in the ASSIP group was reduced by 80%. Furthermore, ASSIP participants spent 72% fewer days in the hospital during follow-up.
A cost-effectiveness study at the London School of Economics LSE (2018), based on the data of the RCT, found ASSIP to be dominant, with a 96% chance of being less costly and more effective than a psychosocial assessment, when added to usual clinical management.
For more information go to ASSIP.ch
The Finnish version of the manual has been translated for the Finnish Association for Mental Health MIELI, ©2013 Verlag Hans Huber, Hogrefe AG, Bern, Switzerland.
The Farsi version has been translated by permission of Hogrefe. It will be limited to internal use by the team of Seyed Kazem Malakouti, MD, MBA, Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for mental health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Division of Suicide Behaviors Study and Prevention.
Selected Publications
Michel, K.; Lutz-Beck, D.; Engeroff, S. Improving the Therapeutic Relationship When Prescribing Antidepressants: A Pilot Study. Healthcare 2023, 11, 2825. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11212825
Michel, K., Gysin-Maillart, A., Breit, S., Walther, S., Pavlidou, A .(2021). Psychopharmacological treatment is not associated with reduced suicide ideation and reattempts in an observational follow-up study of suicide attempters. Journal of Psychiatric Research 140 (2021) 180–186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.05.068. Open access.
Michel, K. (2021). Suicide Models and Treatment Models Are Separate Entities. What Does It Mean for Clinical Suicide Prevention? Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 5301. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18105301. Open access.
Michel, K. (2020). Suicide Risk Assessment Must be Collaborative. Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 4.12: 38-43, http://dx.doi.org/10.31080/ASMS.2020.04.0793 (PDF). Open access.
Park, A., Gysin-Maillart, A., Müller, T.J., Exadaktylos, A., Michel, K. (2018). Cost-effectiveness of a Brief Structured Intervention Program Aimed at Preventing Repeat Suicide Attempts Among Those Who Previously Attempted Suicide. A Secondary Analysis of the ASSIP Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Network Open. 2018;1(6):e183680. DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.3680 . Open access.
Michel, K., Valach, L., Gysin-Maillart, A. (2017). A Novel Therapy for People Who Attempt Suicide and Why We Need New Models of Suicide. Concept Paper. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14(3), 243; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14030243. Open access.
Gysin-Maillart, A., Schwab, S., Soravia, L., Megert, M., Michel, K. (2016). A Novel Brief Therapy for Patients Who Attempt Suicide: A 24-months follow-up randomized controlled study of the Attempted Suicide Short Intervention Program (ASSIP). PLOS Medicine 13(3): e1001968. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1001968. Open access.
Michel, K. (2014). Will new insights into neural networks help us to improve our models of suicidal behavior? Editorial, Crisis, 35 (4): 215-218; https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000272.
Reisch, T., Seifritz, E., Esposito, F., Wiest, R., Valach, L., & Michel, K. (2010). An fMRI Study on Mental Pain and Suicidal Behavior. Journal of Affective Disorders, 126, 321-325; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2010.03.005.
Michel, K., Valach, L. (1997). Suicide as goal-directed action. Archives of Suicide Research 3,213-221.
Books/Chapters
Michel, K. The Suicidal Person, A New Look at a Human Phenomenon. Columbia University Press, New York, 2023; ISBN 978-0-231-20530-6.
Michel, K. Therapeutic Alliance and the Therapist (2016). In: O’Connor R, Pirkis J (Eds.). The International Handbook of Suicide Prevention, Second Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, p.346-361.
Michel, K., & Gysin-Maillart, A. (2015). ASSIP — Attempted suicide short intervention program: A manual for clinicians. Boston, MA: Hogrefe Publishing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/00476-000.
Michel, K. & Jobes, D.A. (Eds.) (2011). Building a Therapeutic Alliance with the Suicidal Patient. American Psychological Association APA Books, Washington DC.
Michel, K. & Valach, L. (2011). The Narrative Interview with the Suicidal Patient. In: Michel K. & Jobes D.A. (Eds.). Building a Therapeutic Alliance with the Suicidal Patient. American Psychological Association APA Books, Washington DC, p.63-80.
Valach, L., Young, R., & Michel, K. (2011). Understanding Suicide as an Action. In: Michel K. & Jobes D.A. (Eds.). Building a Therapeutic Alliance with the Suicidal Patient. American Psychological Association APA Books, Washington DC, p.129-148.