For All Suicide Survivors
Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group - Madison, NJ
Following the suicide of a loved one many survivors are lost in their feelings of grief. They may have experienced grief from the death of a loved one by natural causes before, but the grief from a suicide death is different. Healing from a suicide death requires understanding about suicide and how mental health issues likely lead to the death. There are numerous grief related books available, but the following list of books are books that specifically focus on losing someone to suicide. They are often the best place to start healing after a suicide death.
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Reading List About Healing and Grief After a Suicide
No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving The Suicide Of A Loved One
Author: Carla Fine
ISBN: 0385485514
Suicide would appear to be the last taboo. Even incest is now discussed freely in popular media, but the suicide of a loved one is still an act most people are unable to talk about--or even admit to their closest family or friends. This is just one of the many painful and paralyzing truths author Carla Fine discovered when her husband, a successful young physician, took his own life in December 1989. And being unable to speak openly and honestly about the cause of her pain made it all the more difficult for her to survive.
With No Time to Say Goodbye, she brings suicide survival from the darkness into light, speaking frankly about the overwhelming feelings of confusion, guilt, shame, anger, and loneliness that are shared by all survivors. Fine draws on her own experience and on conversations with many other survivors--as well as on the knowledge of counselors and mental health professionals. She offers a strong helping hand and invaluable guidance to the vast numbers of family and friends who are left behind by the more than thirty thousand people who commit suicide each year, struggling to make sense of an act that seems to them senseless, and to pick up the pieces of their own shattered lives. And, perhaps most important, for the first time in any book, she allows survivors to see that they are not alone in their feelings of grief and despair.
Author: Beverly Cobain, Jean Larch
ISBN: 1592853293
- Surviving the heartbreak of a loved one's suicide - you don't have to go through it alone. Authors Beverly Cobain and Jean Larch break through suicide's silent stigma in Dying to Be Free, offering gentle advice for those left behind, so that healing can begin.
Beverly Cobain is a registered nurse, with certification in Psychiatric/Mental Health nursing. She is a survivor of three family suicides, including that of Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the band Nirvana, who killed himself in 1994. Kurt's death led Bev to write the acclaimed book, When Nothing Matters Anymore..A Survival Guide for Depressed Teens, (Free Spirit Publishing, Minneapolis, MN, 1998), and to become a national speaker on the topics of depression and suicide. Bev resides in Costa Rica with her German Shepherd, Tosh.
Jean Larch, SWT, for the past two decades, has followed her passion at Macomb County Crisis Center as a Crisis Intervention Specialist, working closely with suicidal individuals and family members who have survived the loss of a loved one due to suicide. She has developed an acclaimed workshop on the subject of the suicidal mind, which continues to benefit both survivors and professionals. She trains mental health professionals on various aspects of suicide. She lives with her husband Mark in Michigan.
Author: Christopher Lukas
ISBN: 184310847X
Silent Grief is a book for and about "suicide survivors" - those who have been left behind by the suicide of a friend or loved one. Author Christopher Lukas is a suicide survivor himself - several members of his family have taken their own lives - and the book draws on his own experiences, as well as those of numerous other suicide survivors. These personal testimonies are combined with the professional expertise of Henry M. Seiden, a psychologist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist. The authors present information on common experiences of bereavement, grief reactions and various ways of coping. Their message is that it is important to share one's experience of "survival" with others and they encourage survivors to overcome the perceived stigma or shame associated with suicide and to seek support from self-help groups, psychotherapy, family therapy, Internet support forums or simply a friend or family member who will listen. "Silent Grief" gives valuable insights into living in the wake of suicide and provides useful strategies and support for those affected by a suicide, as well as professionals in the field of psychology, social work, and medicine.
After Suicide Loss: Coping with Your Grief
Author: Bob Baugher
ISBN: 0963597558
This 67-page book is written for the person whose loved one has died by suicide. With the input from 24 suicide survivors the book guides the reader through the first few days, weeks, months, year, and beyond. Includes ten stories from relatives and friends of people who've died from suicide. Appendices include Surviving Suicide Resource List, Suicide and Psychiatric Illness, and When to Seek Professional Help.
Healing After the Suicide of a Loved One
Author: Ann Smolin
John Guinan
ISBN: 0671796607
Too often people suffering the aftermath of a suicide suffer alone. As the survivor of a person who has ended his or her own life, you are left a painful legacy -- and not one that you chose. Healing After the Suicide of a Loved One will help you take the first steps toward healing. While each individual becomes a suicide survivor in his or her own way, there are predictable phases of pain that most survivors experience sooner or later, from the grief and depression of mourning to guilt, rage, and despair over what you have lost.
You may be torturing yourself with repetitive questions such as "What if...?" "Why didn't we...?" and "Why, why, why?" Healing After the Suicide of a Loved One will steer you away from this all-too-common tendency to blame yourself and will put you on the path to healing and recovery. Remember, your wounds can heal and you can recover. Filled with case studies, excellent information, valuable advice, and a completely up-to-date reading list and directory of suicide support groups nationwide, this valuable book will give you the strength and hope to go on living.
Rocky Roads: The Journeys of Families through Suicide Grief
Author: Michelle Linn-Gust
ISBN: 0972331816
The grief journey following a suicide loss is not a quick and easy path. Because people are unique, as are the life experiences of individuals, the road can open up in several ways for each person. No one travels the same way. In Rocky Roads: The Journeys of Families through Suicide Grief, Michelle Linn-Gust, the author of Do They Have Bad Days in Heaven? Surviving the Suicide Loss of a Sibling, guides the family unit with a road map to navigate suicide grief as individuals and also as part of the family unit with the ultimate goal of strengthening the family even after a devastating suicide loss.
Author: Trudy Carlson
ISBN: 0964244381
Based on personal experience and extensive grief research, this practical compendium is filled with frank advice for fellow survivors. Dealing with the three major survivors issues (the question "Why?", anger over the event, and guilt) the book gives description of typical patterns in grief process and offers helpful steps to recovery. Chapters include dealing with others, handling holidays, and effects of death and tragedy on the family unit. Of special interest is a portion of one chapter devoted to grief issues of surviving children.
This is an expanded version of the Handbook which was originally published in 1995. The expanded Handbook contains additional information concerning resources for survivors.
Author: Rita Robinson
ISBN: 1564145573
This revised edition goes into more detail about teen suicide and the help that is available. Survivors of Suicide also dispels the myths surrounding suicide, based on the latest research and interviews with leading medical experts, as well as with family and friends who have survived the suicide deaths of loved ones, and who offer support, knowledge, and comfort to other survivors. When people lose a loved one to suicide, they feel isolated, as if this has never happened to anyone else. But worldwide statistics on suicide tell a different story. Governments of several countries are making concerted efforts toward greater understanding of depression and suicide, leading to better preventive measures. The historical perspective on depression and suicide is nothing to be proud of, but the understanding today among health professionals, religious bodies, and enlightened citizenry, in itself, offers comfort to the bereaved.
Author: Michael F. Myers, Carla Fine
ISBN: 1592402283
Whether you are struggling with fresh grief at a loved one’s death by suicide or your loss happened years ago, you should know that you are not alone. 5 million Americans are affected—directly or indirectly—by this tragedy each year. And it sends us on a lifelong search for answers, both to the practical questions and the deepest question of all: Why? In this definitive guide book, Michael F. Myers, MD, a leading psychiatrist, and Carla Fine, author of the acclaimed No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One, combine their perspectives as a physician and a survivor to offer compassionate and practical advice to anyone affected by suicide.
Author: Alan D. Wolfelt
ISBN: 1879651351
Explaining the important difference between grief and mourning, this book explores every mourner's need to acknowledge death and embrace the pain of loss. Also explored are the many factors that make each person's grief unique and the many normal thoughts and feelings mourners might have. Questions of spirituality and religion are addressed as well. The rights of mourners to be compassionate with themselves, to lean on others for help, and to trust in their ability to heal are upheld. Journaling sections encourage mourners to articulate their unique thoughts and feelings.
Author: Alan D. Wolfelt PhD
ISBN: 1879651599
With ample space to unburden the heart and the soul, this companion workbook helps grievers explore the 10 essential touchstones for finding hope and healing. The exercises throughout the journal recall the content of the book and ask corresponding questions about the survivor's unique grief journey.
Grieving a Suicide: A Loved One's Search for Comfort, Answers & Hope
Author: Albert Y. Hsu
ISBN: 9780830823185
A 2003 Finalist in the United Kingdom Christian Book Awards! Every seventeen minutes, someone in the United States dies by suicide. It is one of the most serious public health crises of modern times, claiming over one million lives worldwide every year. Those who have lost a loved one to suicide experience tremendous shock and trauma, with a confusing mix of emotions--anger, guilt, grief and despair. Suicide also raises heartrending questions: Why did this happen? Why didn't we see it coming? Many also wonder if those who choose suicide are doomed to an eternity separated from God and loved ones. Some may even start asking whether life is worth living at all. After his father's death by suicide, Albert Hsu wrestled with the intense emotional and spiritual questions surrounding suicide. While acknowledging that there are no easy answers, Hsu draws on the resources of the Christian faith to point suicide survivors to the God who offers comfort in our grief and hope for the future. If you have lost a loved one to suicide or provide pastoral care to those left behind, this book is an essential companion for the journey toward healing.
Aftershock: Help, Hope and Healing in the Wake of Suicide
Author: Candy Neely Arrington
ISBN: 0805426221
Every seventeen minutes, someone, somewhere, chooses death by self-murder. In the wake of this horrific decision, other people are left to cope with the ripples caused. This book will provide knowledge and resources for those left in the wake of suicide.
Aftershock is a recovery book that will provide encouragement and support for survivors. Examining the complex emotions involved in grieving a suicide death, readers will come to realize they are not alone in their grief and will not be alone in their healing.
I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye: Surviving, Coping and Healing After the Sudden Death of a Loved One
Author: Brook Noel
ISBN: 1402212216
Now there is a hand to hold...
Each year about eight million Americans suffer the death of someone close to them. Now for thse who face the challenges of sudden death, there is a hand to hold, written by two women who have experienced sudden loss. This updated edition of the best-selling bereavement classic will touch, comfort, uplift and console. Authors Brook Noel and Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D. explore sudden death and offers a comforting hand to hold for those who are grieving the sudden death of a loved one.
Featured on ABC World News, Fox and Friends and many other shows, this book acts as a touchstone of sanity through difficult times. I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye covers such difficult topics as the first few weeks, suicide, death of a child, children and grief, funerals and rituals, physical effects, homicide and depression. New material covers the unique circumstances of loss, men and women's grieving styles, religion and faith, myths and misunderstandings, I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye reflects the shifting face of grief.
These pages have offered solace to over eighty thousand people, ranging from seniors to teenagers and from the newly bereaved to those who lost a loved one years ago. Individuals engulfed by the immediate aftermath will find a special chapter covering the first few weeks.
Tapping their personal histories and drawing on numerous interviews, authors Brook Noel and Pamela D. Blair, Ph.D, explore unexpected death and its role in the cycle of life. I Wasn't Ready to Say Goodbye provides survivors with a rock-steady anchor from which to weather the storm of pain and begin to rebuild their lives.
The Wilderness of Suicide Grief: Finding Your Way (Understanding Your Grief)
Author: Alan D. Wolfelt PhD
ISBN: 1879651688
Presenting the idea of wilderness as a sustained metaphor for grief, this compassionate guide explores the unique responses inherent to the grief felt by those who have experienced the suicide of a loved one and offers information about coping with such a profound loss. Likening the death of a loved one to the experience of being wrenched from normal life and dropped down in the middle of nowhere, the handbook employs 10 touchstones, or trail markers, that survivors use to begin to make their way through the new landscape. Each touchstone gently guides readers through the entire grieving process and includes topics such as dispelling misconceptions regarding suicide, exploring feelings, and embracing the uniqueness of a loss.
Healing the Hurt Spirit: Daily Affirmations for People Who Have Lost a Loved One to Suicide
Author: Catherine Greenleaf
ISBN: 0977824403
"Healing The Hurt Spirit" speaks to survivors about the crucial stages of recovery from suicide loss, offering hope and peace of mind.
Author: Alan D. Wolfelt PhD
ISBN: 1879651327
Dealing with grief in a practical manner, this guide offers compassionate tips for those affected by a traumatic death. Included are topics such as coping with family stress, expressing feelings of hurt and anger, dealing with hurtful comments, and exploring feelings of guilt. Each of the 100 suggestions is aimed at reducing the confusion, anxiety, and huge personal void in order to help survivors begin their lives again. Some of the tips include understanding the special characteristics of trauma grief, planting a tree in memory of the person who died, and making connections with others affected by a similar death.
When There Are No Words: Finding Your Way to Cope with Loss and Grief
Author: Charlie Walton
ISBN: 0934793573
This book is designed to help those who are dealing with loss handle it in a way that is natural for them.
How To Go On Living When Someone You Love Dies
Author: Therese A. Rando Ph.D.
ISBN: 0553352695
Mourning the death of a loved one is a process all of us will go through at one time or another. But wherever the death is sudden or anticipated, few of us are prepared for it or for the grief it brings. There is no right or wrong way to grieve; each person's response to loss will be different. Now, in this compassionate, comprehensive guide, Therese A. Rando, Ph.D., bereavement specialist and author of Loss And Anticipatory Grief, leads you gently through the painful but necessary process of grieving and helps you find the best way for yourself.
Whether the death was sudden of expected, from accident, illness, suicide, homicide, or natural causes, Dr. Rando will help you learn to:
Understand and resolve your grief.
Talk to children about death.
Resolve unfinished business.
Take care of yourself.
Accept the help and support of others.
Get through holidays and other difficult times of the year.
Plan funerals and personal bereavement rituals.
How To Go On Living With Someone You Love Dies also includes a comprehensive resource listing and a chapter on finding professional help and support groups.
There is no way around the pain of loss, but there is a way through it. Dr. Rando offers the solace, comfort, and guidance to help you accept your loss and move into your new life without forgetting your treasured past.
Author: John W. James
ISBN: 0061686077
Newly updated and expanded to commemorate its twentieth anniversary—this classic resource helps people complete the grieving process and move toward recovery and happiness.
Incomplete recovery from grief can have a lifelong negative effect on the capacity for happiness. Drawing from their own histories as well as from others', the authors illustrate how it is possible to recover from grief and regain energy and spontaneity. Based on a proven program, The Grief Recovery Handbook offers grievers the specific actions needed to move beyond loss. New material in this edition includes guidance for dealing with:
Loss of faith
Loss of career and financial issues
Loss of health
Growing up in an alcoholic or dysfunctional home
Author: Courtney M Armstrong LPC
ISBN: 0983499918
Although losing someone you love to a sudden or violent death is a shocking experience, there are steps you can take to heal. This book provides compassionate support and creative ways to soothe and transform your emotions with powerful, but simple strategies that: - Promote healing and calm feelings of anxiety, anger, or despair - Alleviate nightmares, intrusive images, and ruminating thoughts - Relieve guilt and regrets so you can open up to new experiences in your life - Help you get the kind of support you want from other people - Retain "the living story" of your loved one and sense them as a positive presence in your life Recent reviews: “Courtney Armstrong's Transforming Traumatic Grief provides practical tools to comfort grievers, promotes resilience and hope for those who have been devastated by tragedy and loss, and shows ways to create renewed meaning in life beyond grief and trauma.” - Bill O'Hanlon, author of Thriving Through Crisis and Quick Steps to Resolving Trauma "Unlike other books detailing therapies that work at the cognitive level of the mind, “Transforming Traumatic Grief” is a how-to book of practical (and even more importantly) attainable activities and proven strategies for those dealing with grief and loss. As a therapist specializing in trauma counseling and her own personal experience with loss, Armstrong builds a strong case for why we need to speak to the emotional brain in a language it understands. Unless we do, she argues, the traumatized and grief-stricken simply can’t experience a shift in how they’re feeling. Written in a voice that emanates from a very personal place, Armstrong's book is both comforting and empowering. It's for anyone having difficulty moving through grief or growing from their traumatic experience. It's also for therapists who want to help their patients help themselves in between appointments or post-therapy." Nancy Gerhsman, www.artforyoursake.com
On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss
Author: Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
ISBN: 1476775559
Ten years after the death of Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, this commemorative edition of her final book combines practical wisdom, case studies, and the authors’ own experiences and spiritual insight to explain how the process of grieving helps us live with loss. Includes a new introduction and resources section.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s On Death and Dying changed the way we talk about the end of life. Before her own death in 2004, she and David Kessler completed On Grief and Grieving, which looks at the way we experience the process of grief.
Just as On Death and Dying taught us the five stages of death—denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—On Grief and Grieving applies these stages to the grieving process and weaves together theory, inspiration, and practical advice, including sections on sadness, hauntings, dreams, isolation, and healing. This is “a fitting finale and tribute to the acknowledged expert on end-of-life matters” (Good Housekeeping).
Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss
Author: Pat Schwiebert
ISBN: 0961519762
If you are going to buy only one book on grief, this is the one to get! It will validate your grief experience, and you can share it with your children. You can leave it on the coffee table so others will pick it up, read it, and then better appreciate your grieving time. Grand's Cooking Tips section at the back of the book is rich with wisdom and concrete recommendations. Better than a casserole!
Hardbound; 56 full-color pages. Affirms the bereaved. Educates the un-bereaved. A building-block for children..... WINNER! of the 2001 Theologos Book Award, presented by the Association of Theological Booksellers.