In May 2018 I founded the first CCT-Centre in Ireland. It opened its doors in my office in Kenmare, Co Kerry. It has been quite a journey to get to this point. It all started in 2014 when I went to the World Suicide Prevention Day Conference in Dublin, where I heard about 'CCT' for the very first time.
Contextual-Conceptual Therapy (CCT) is a new and exciting approach to suicide therapy, developed by Seattle based suicidologist Fredric Matteson. In fact, it is the only therapy model specifically for suicide I am aware of.
Matteson was the Keynote Speaker at the Conference in Dublin. He has been working with suicidal clients for over 25 years. During this time he learned to understand the core experience of being suicidal by exploring the language of his clients in the midst of their suicidal crises. He recognised that feeling suicidal is not an illness, but a context-bound problem and an identity crisis.
Reasoning, traditional cognitive-behavioural approaches and medication may help the suicidal person for a while - but often cannot really reach the person deeply enough to end their suffering. CCT, in contrast, supports people to understand the root of their suicidal thinking. CCT listens closely to the client's own language and builds upon the client's strength and passion. With the help of metaphors the CCT practitioner guides the client to see themselves in a new context.
This is a radically new approach that utilises humour, paradox and play.
CCT is a life-embracing suicide therapy that successfully supports the suicidal client in their endeavour to change the desperate situation they find themselves in.
With CCT, the client's moment of crisis can become their moment of transformation.
Matteson stood out from the rest of the presenters in Dublin that day. In fact – it deeply touched my heart when I heard him speak from the perspective of a suicidal person, expressing a true understanding of the suffering a suicidal person goes through.
I knew I needed to learn more and have been in close contact with Fredric Matteson, the founder of CCT Suicide Therapy in Seattle, since 2014. I have visited the Seattle CCT Centre several times and have studied CCT extensively. I am now a CCT Associate (one of three in Europe), and founder of the first CCT Centre in Ireland.
Please read my article in the International Journal of Psychiatry for a brief overview on CCT: