The challenge and the promise of clinical suicidology.

The existing research in clinical assessment and treatment of suicidal patients is reviewed. Data concerning the "life course" of suicidality among outpatient samples of suicidal university students are then presented. These data suggest different subtypes of suicidality, which are further considered using a conceptual model that differentiates intrapsychic versus interpsychic suicidality. The implications of these data and this model are discussed in relation to current changes in mental health care with an emphasis on differential assessment and prescriptive treatments. Future developments in clinical suicidology and ideas for additional research are discussed.