For Survivors of Suicide Loss:
Support Group
Counseling for Individuals or Groups of Friends-Family
Suicide Bereavement Counseling Services
located in Lawrence, Kansas
for those who have lost loved ones to suicide
please see information on “Counseling Services” page
Healing After Suicide support group
every other Tuesday evening from 6:30 – 8:15pm
meets in Lawrence, KS
serving the Douglas County, KS & nearby area since 1990’s
donations appreciated
For additional info about our group in Lawrence, Kansas, including meeting dates and location, please contact Marcia Epstein, LMSW:
phone or text: 785.331.6440
email: M.Epstein.LMSW@gmail.com
This group is for any adult college-aged is living with suicide grief after the death of a friend, partner, or family member. New members are always welcome, no matter how recent or long ago, the loss. Members give and receive support and understanding about losing a loved one to suicide. What is shared by participants remains confidential to those people. Concerns about imminent danger to self or others, prompt one-on-one discussion and safety planning.
Suicide is NEVER someone else’s fault. However, it is so common to feel guilty, and to feel blamed by others. We can’t take away the pain of your loss, but we can help you survive, and even thrive. Sharing and listening with others who’ve walked in similar shoes can truly make a difference.
Sadly, in our country the number of people dying by suicide is still on the increase. With an estimate of 135 people affected by each person’s death to suicide, the number of people affected is huge, and the pain from these losses is huge.
In addition to group meetings:
~ Marcia Epstein, LMSW, facilitator, is a suicide loss survivor as well as a social work professional. She meets with teens, adults, families, or groups seeking support or information about suicide loss.
~ Books about suicide bereavement for adults and for children are available for loan.
~ Starting in 2018, each summer we hold the annual Thriving While Living With Suicide retreat for people with any of the experiences with suicide: grief; supporting suicidal loved ones; living with suicide thoughts, self-harm, attempts; and/or working (volunteer or paid) to support suicidal people. We recognize that many people have more than one of these experiences.
~ We hold the annual Freedom of Expression retreat for people living with suicide grief. This is generally the second weekend in October. We retreat to The Light Center, south and west of Lawrence for some structured and unstructured time in that peaceful, rural setting, away from technology. Our 14th annual Freedom of Expression retreat will be on the weekend of October 10, 2020
~ We hold the annual “International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day Community Workshop” including group discussion, art activities, and information from the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention. Our next ISOSLD Community Workshop will be on Saturday, November 21, 2020
Resources for and about survivors of suicide loss:
Please see the local and national resource list at the above link.
Three very special resources:
1) The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention website area
2) The book by Megan Devine, It’s OK That You’re not OK
https://www.refugeingrief.com/book/
3) The blogs at http://www.OurSideOfSuicide.com/
For information about support groups for suicide bereavement:
~ In the Kansas City area and nearby, many groups are with SASS-MoKan, Suicide Awareness Survivor Support, founded by Bonnie and Mickey Swade, http://www.sass-mokan.com/ or email info@sass-mokan.com
~ In Topeka, Kansas, HeALS, Healing After Loss To Suicide, is hosted by Sandy Reams, and meets on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday evening. Email Sandy at Topeka.Heals@gmail.com or see https://www.facebook.com/HEALsTopekaArea/
~ In Lawrence, Kansas, I host Healing After Suicide, which meets every other Tuesday evening. For more info or to RSVP, email M.Epstein.LMSW@gmail.com
~ For people who work (paid or volunteer) supporting suicidal people, and have experienced the death of a client, colleague, or family-friend, support is available through the Clinician Survivor Task Force of the American Association of Suicidology http://cliniciansurvivor.org/
~ For suicide bereavement groups across the USA, https://afsp.org/find-support/ive-lost-someone/find-a-support-group/
Donations to make free support available
for survivors of suicide loss may be made
to the “Survivors of Suicide” account at Central National Bank, Lawrence, Kansas.
Donations are not yet tax-deductible.
In the USA: free, 24/7 counseling for You or Someone Else
CRISIS TEXT LINE: text “START” TO 741-741
NATIONAL SUICIDE PREVENTION LIFELINE: 1.800.273.8255
