Working With Chronically Suicidal People

Wisdom from Dr. Vint Blackburn

The Frontier Psychiatrists started as a room on the app Clubhouse. Carlene and I started hosting these social audio rooms before they could be recorded, and we had some colleagues join us. I wanted to do one of those rooms on the topic of mass shootings, and I asked a friend who told me, given his role with the government, that he couldn't do it. So he recommended a colleague who he thought would do a great job. That colleague was Dr. Vint Blackburn. Vint is a child and an adult psychiatrist also, and was a teacher before he became a physician. We had a lot in common! Both of us had some other job first, which colored our approach to the work that we did. I was recording engineer, as my readers may remember. Vint became a regular on our weekly shows.

Vint and I shared a passion for working with people who are suicidal. It's really difficult challenge for many, but his levelheaded approach always appealed to me. He's also a great teacher, having been an actual literal teach…