What can you expect at a meeting?

The goal of the group is to create a safe place for survivors of suicide loss to talk about their grief experience and support one another in an open, accepting environment where all kinds of spiritual belief as well as non-belief are welcome.

At the start we cover our ground rules (see below) and then each person briefly introduces themselves and says something about who they lost to suicide and when. After the introductions you can participate as much or as little as you wish. We know how hard it can be to talk about our loss, especially when it is recent. Usually the conversation happens organically; people talk about how they are doing, what has been helping them cope and they ask and answer questions. About five minutes before the end of our time together we wrap up and often share a reading.

Support group sessions average between 8 and 12 people but because we are a drop in group we never know how many people will attend any given meeting.

The Ground Rules:

Our facilitators are not mental health professionals, we are fellow survivors of loss and giving advice is not our role. Sharing our experiences, learning from one another and supporting each other are the goals.

We ask you to keep in mind that the words we use make a difference and so rather than saying “you should do X” we find it’s more helpful to say “I’ve found that Y works for me”.  Please keep these conversations confidential and be mindful of not dominating the time so everyone who wants to speak has that chance. Everything shared here stays here.

Please do not share graphic details of the way your loved one died as this can be traumatic for others.

Silence is OK. It can be hard to speak about your loss and it may take time to be comfortable sharing your story. It’s OK to just listen if that’s what feels right for you.