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This study aims to build upon previous research findings concerning the impact of experienced patient suicide on the mental health of practicing and trainee psychotherapists in a German sample. A central aspect involves examining the temporal development of perceived distress and identifying short- and long-term emotional effects of suicide through a mixed methods approach to derive corresponding implications for postvention. The online survey revealed relatively low levels of symptoms on the administered PTSD scale. Nevertheless, a subset of participants reported clinically significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Particularly intense feelings of grief, shock, and horror also play a prominent role. Suicide leads to psychotherapists experiencing fear when assessing suicidal patients. Factors that could influence the extent of the impact of suicide include the patient-therapist relationship, lack of support, perception of suicide as violent, and its unpredictability. These factors continue to require exploration to gain a comprehensive understanding of their effects following patient suicide.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-026-67919-7","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]],"date-time":"2026-09-03T08:12:25Z","timestamp":1788423145000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The impact of patients suicide on the mental health of psychotherapists"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Annabelle","family":"Siebert","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"Schnell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Janina","family":"Lehmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3868-5589","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"R\u00fcdiger","family":"N\u00fcbling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,3]]},"reference":[{"issue":"2","key":"67919_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.31887\/DCNS.2012.14.2\/iyoung","volume":"14","author":"I Tal Young","year":"2012","unstructured":"Tal Young, I. et al. 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