Archived Books

April 2025

Why? A Story for Kids Who Have Lost a Parent to Suicide

By Melissa Heath, Illustrated by Frances Ives

Oliver’s daddy loved him―a whole bunch, forever and for always. One day Oliver’s daddy died by suicide. Why?

Oliver’s mommy hugs him tight, and she tells him why. And she reassures Oliver that his daddy loved him―and that will never change. In developmentally appropriate language and evocative illustrations, this picture book helps open communication about why a parent completes suicide. A reader’s note offers more information about supporting children who have lost a parent to suicide.

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MARCH 2025

A Grief Observed

By C. S Lewis

The Spiritual Journey of Grief

A Grief Observed is C.S. Lewis’s honest reflection on the fundamental issues of life, death, and faith in the midst of loss. Written after his wife’s tragic death as a way of surviving the “mad midnight moments,” A Grief Observed is an unflinchingly truthful account of how loss can lead even a stalwart believer to lose all sense of meaning in the universe, and how he can gradually regain his bearings.

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FEBRUARY 2025

Not Another Lasagna – How to Truly Help a Grieving Friend

By Gwen Kapcia & Bethany France

Your grieving friends need support. We often rush to their side, initially, with a pan of lasagna or the words, “let me know if you need anything.” The reality is, they probably won’t let you know and they can’t bear to look at another pasta dish.

Bethany and Gwen give you practical tips on: what to say in awkward conversations, equip you to help & not hide from your grieving friend, and serve them in the best way you can, using your gifts and talents, for as long as they need support (longer than most people think!).

Grieving people do not say they want support from someone with many degrees, or who talks in clinical or theological terminology. They are helped by those who have qualities that lie within a servant’s heart: respect, warmth, genuineness, trust, patience, hope and humor. You, as you are, can truly help your grieving friend …with this book as your guide.

Bethany lives in West Michigan with her two kids, one sneaky/naughty cat (Leo), one fat/cuddly cat (Lucy) and a rambunctious, but faithful lab named Scout. She loves her family, friends, church and predictable romantic comedy movies. Her “dad” jokes and love of puns and use of sweet sarcasm is an attempt to lighten the moods around her and make people smile. Bethany works full time in the field of Human Resources where she uses her education (MBA/SHRM-CP) and experience to resolve conflicts in the workplace but with grace and empathy at what employees might be going through. Bethany has a devotional story published within “And Then There was Light” – EA Publishing- and maintains a blog at bethanyfranceblog.com focused on Faith, Family, Friends and Giving Hope to the Grieving. You can also find her at Bethany France, Writer, on social media. Gwen Kapcia is a licensed social worker in the state of Michigan and holds a certification in Thanatology: the study of death, dying and bereavement. She has spent her entire career around grief and loss, spanning from hospice care, funeral home aftercare support, and Executive Director at a West Michigan grief support ministry. She is the Co-Author of Mourning Star, a Christ-centered Grief Curriculum for children, teens and adults. She is a wife, mother of 3 adult children, (recently promoted to grandmother!), and lives in Portland, Michigan. Gwen is the owner of Your Grief Guide. Through online classes, virtual checkpoints and educational presentations, she aims to normalize the reactions to loss, give practical guidance and provide hope for healing. She is a national speaker, conducting programs to healthcare, corporations, schools and churches. You can find her at Gwen@grief-guide.com, Facebook grief-guide and Instagram at: gwenkapcia, or website, grief-guide.com.

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JANUARY 2025

Suicide Prevention Guidebook

By Joy Hibbins

In this comprehensive guidebook, Joy Hibbins (the founder of an award-winning Suicide Crisis Centre which has attracted international attention) shares her invaluable experience of helping people through suicidal crisis.
Equally popular with the public and professionals, the book provides the reader with strategies and skills to help someone through a period of suicidal crisis.

Whether you have never helped someone in crisis before, or you already have an abundance of experience, this book is relevant for you.

The charity that Joy runs (Suicide Crisis) regularly provides suicide prevention training for the NHS, the British Transport Police and charities.

This book will show you how to:

• Understand the complexity of suicidal feelings and what may lead to a crisis
• Be aware of factors that can increase someone’s risk of suicide
• Assess risk and directly ask someone about suicidal thoughts
• Build empathy and a strong connection with the individual in crisis
• Create a safety plan
• Learn strategies and skills to help someone survive (in the short-term and the longer term)
• Learn techniques to support someone who is experiencing intense distress – or conversely someone who is silent and withdrawn
• Create manageable steps to help someone survive
• Know what to say, including how to help someone see their own worth
• Understand why some people experience multiple crises and how to help them

All royalties donated to the charity Suicide Crisis.

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DECEMBER 2024

You Are Not Alone

By Ken Duckworth, MD

Written with authority and compassion, this is the essential resource for individuals and families seeking expert guidance on diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, featuring inspiring, true stories from real people in their own words.

Millions of people in the United States are affected by mental illness every year, and the Covid-19 pandemic only further exposed the shortcomings of the American mental health system. Too many are confused, afraid, and overwhelmed, with many asking themselves the same questions: What does it mean when different doctors give me different diagnoses? What if my insurance won’t cover my treatment? Will I ever feel better? Families and friends are often left in the dark about how best to help their loved ones, from dealing with financial and logistical issues, to handling the emotional challenges of loving someone who is suffering.

You Are Not Alone is here to offer help. Written by Dr. Ken Duckworth with the wisdom of a psychiatrist and the vulnerability of a peer, this comprehensive guide centers the poignant lived experiences of over 125 individuals from across the country whose first-person stories illustrate the diversity of mental health journeys.

This book also provides:

• Practical guidance on dealing with a vast array of mental health conditions and navigating care Research-based evidence on what treatments and approaches work
• Insight and advice from renowned clinical experts and practitioners

This singular resource―the first book from the National Alliance on Mental Illness―is a powerful reminder that help is here, and you are never alone.

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NOVEMBER 2024

Loving Someone With Suicidal Thoughts

By Stacey Freedenthal, PhD

If you love someone who has suicidal thoughts, you may struggle with profound fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. You desperately want to help, but you’re unsure of where to start. This book can guide you as you support your loved one—without sacrificing your own needs and well being. You’ll find the answers to some of your most urgent questions, including:

• What are signs and clues of suicide risk?
• How do I talk with my loved one about their suicidal thoughts?
• When should I call the police?
• What do I say and do after a suicide attempt?
• What treatments for suicidality are available?
• How can I help the person I care about stay safe?
• What can I do to help them feel better, too?
• What can I do to cope better?
• What does recovery look like after a suicidal crisis?

Written by a psychotherapist and expert in suicidology, this compassionate guide offers essential communication techniques you can use to help your loved one, as well as strategies for navigating your own stress, worry, fear, and anxiety. Drawn from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and mindful self-compassion, the tools in this book will help you recognize warning signs, improve communication, create a safety plan, know when to seek professional help, and support a loved one in crisis.

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OCTOBER 2024

Managing Suicidal Risk, A Collaborative Approach, 3rd Edition

By David A. Jobes

Now in an extensively revised third edition with 65% new material, this is the authoritative presentation of the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS) therapeutic framework.

CAMS provides proven tools to help clinicians of any orientation evaluate suicidal risk and develop a suicide-focused treatment plan. In addition to their clinical utility, the procedures used for assessment, stabilization, and treatment of suicidal risk within CAMS can help reduce the risk of malpractice liability. In a convenient large-size format, the book includes the latest version of the Suicide Status Form (SSF-5) plus other valuable reproducible tools, which can be downloaded and printed for repeated use.

For CAMS training opportunities offered by David A. Jobes, visit https://cams-care.com.

New to This Edition

• Major updates based on ongoing clinical research, including tools and adaptations for additional populations and settings.
• Increased focus on implementation with adolescents, with a new extended case example.
• Vital guidance for effectively using CAMS via telehealth.
• Additional reproducible forms to photocopy or download, including a fillable PDF of the Suicide Status Form, optimized for electronic medical records.

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SEPTEMBER 2024

The Varieties of Suicidal Experience

By Dr. Thomas Joiner

PROSE Award Finalist for Psychology and Applied Social Work argues that a range of behaviors such as murder suicide, terrorism, and mass shootings are better understood as motivated by suicidal impulses than by homicidal ones.

Mass shooters often display behaviors that strongly mirror the warning signs for suicide: lives led in isolation, intense personal suffering, disaffection, and struggle. Letters detailing why they did what they did paint pictures of intense misery and loneliness. As this book makes clear, private despair sometimes leads to social violence.

In this groundbreaking work, Thomas Joiner offers a unified theory of suicide, making the case that many acts that appear homicidal are best understood primarily as suicidal. We must recognize that there are several forms of suicidal violence, some of which masquerade as other types of acts, including terrorism and murder. These include suicide-by-cop, suicide terrorism, murder-suicide, and running amok. Though there are obvious differences among these acts, Joiner argues that framing them as stemming from a common ideology of suicide is a crucial step in preventing these atrocities.

By recognizing the desire to die―not to kill―as being at the heart of many of the acts of those who choose to kill their partner, shoot up their school, or terrorize their community, we can offer more effective measures of intervention. At a time when our nation is scrambling for solutions in the fight to end gun violence, this book presents a crucial component in the detection and treatment of unwell individuals.

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August 2024

Guardian of the Golden Gate: Protecting the Line Between Hope and Despair

By Kevin Briggs and Sam Mellinger

The wind was gusting around the Golden Gate Bridge on a March afternoon in 2005 when a 22-year-old man climbed the railing, convinced he and this world would be better without each other. He put himself on a thin beam 220 feet above the Pacific Ocean. The man had just lost his job and felt overwhelmed as a new father.

Kevin Berthia wanted to die, and he had come to the world’s most effective suicide destination to make that happen. That’s when he met a highway patrolman, a former Army soldier and San Quentin State Prison guard named Kevin Briggs.

‘I know you must be in tremendous pain,’ Briggs said over the railing. ‘If you want to talk, I’m here to listen.’ The next 90 minutes saved Berthia’s life.

‘I opened up about stuff I’d never dealt with before,’ Berthia recalls. ‘Kevin gave me a reason to try again.’

Berthia is one of hundreds of Americans to come within inches of ending their lives with a jump off the Golden Gate Bridge, only to meet Briggs and decide to give life another chance. Out of those hundreds who have talked with Briggs on the bridge, only two have jumped.

As Briggs told the San Francisco Chronicle, ‘I’ve talked to people from ten minutes to seven hours. I very much despise losing. I do whatever I can to get that person back over the rail. I play to win.’

Before his days at the Golden Gate, Briggs spent three years in the Army before being discharged after a cancer diagnosis. He beat cancer and then entered law enforcement as a correctional officer. He was Charles Manson’s prison guard, among others, at San Quentin. His own personal story includes heart issues and dealing with divorce and depression in his family. The bulk of Briggs career was with the California State Highway Patrol, including more than two decades with the Marin County office. There, he worked predominately on the Golden Gate Bridge, which every month produces four to six suicidal subjects, multiple traffic collisions, and dozens of other law enforcement calls. After 9-11, security was heightened even more. Briggs had no training with suicide prevention or mental illness before taking the job but has since become such a respected expert that he’s helped train the FBI and several major corporations. He’s been called ‘a true American hero’ by Robert Gebbia, director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and is among the country’s most active speakers in promoting crisis management, leadership skills, and suicide intervention and prevention worldwide. His TED Talk has been viewed well over a million times.

More Americans die of suicide than homicide every year. Nine percent of Americans are dealing with depression at any particular time, many of them with major depression that can last a lifetime. Depression is the leading cause of disability for Americans age 15 to 44. These are under appreciated problems in the United States, at least in part, because they’re usually hidden and often come with a stigma of shame.

In Guardian of the Golden Gate, Briggs shares his experiences with the help of people who credit their lives to him. His inspiring story will help shine a light on a killer that lurks in the darkness and show readers signs to look for and the value of hope.

You will gain insight into this steadfast hero that will allow you to see why he’s known as the Golden Gate’s guardian. Kevin Briggs aims to promote mental illness awareness and ultimately break the stigmas associated with it. By reading this book, you join him in that pursuit.

Suicide is preventable. There is hope. There is help.

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July 2024

Diary of a Broken Mind: A Mother’s Story, a Son’s Suicide, and the Haunting Lyrics He Left Behind

By Anne Moss Rogers

THE FUNNIEST, MOST POPULAR KID IN SCHOOL, Charles Aubrey Rogers suffered from depression and later addiction, then ultimately died by suicide.
”Diary of a Broken Mind” focuses on the relatable story of what led to his suicide at age twenty and answers the why behind his addiction and this cause of death, revealed through a mother’s story and years of Charles’ published and unpublished song lyrics. The closing chapters focus on hope and healing—and how the author found her purpose and forgave herself.
”Diary of a Broken Mind” is a poignant and powerful story written with telling detail and searing honesty—and hope. It is an inside look at the issues of depression, addiction, and suicide affecting so many families. It is a book that won’t easily be forgotten.

“ANNE AND HER LATE SON, Charles, bring
tragedy, hope and healing through the pages of ‘Diary of
a Broken Mind.’ The unimaginable pain and suffering
that countless American families go through as a result of
a loved one’s addiction and suicide is real. Through the lens
of her son’s musical lyrics, Anne Moss Rogers explores the
questions these families ask themselves … Why?
And throughout the process, we all learn how to find purpose
—even through some of our darkest moments.”
– RYAN HAMPTON, Author, “American Fix: Inside the Opioid Crisis—and How to End It”

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June 2024

Helping the Suicidal Person: Tips and Techniques for Professionals

By Stacy Freedenthal, PhD

Helping the Suicidal Person provides a highly practical toolbox for mental health professionals. The book first covers the need for professionals to examine their own personal experiences and fears around suicide, moves into essential areas of risk assessment, safety planning, and treatment planning, and then provides a rich assortment of tips for reducing the person’s suicidal danger and rebuilding the wish to live. The techniques described in the book can be interspersed into any type of therapy, no matter what the professional’s theoretical orientation is and no matter whether it’s the client’s first, tenth, or one-hundredth session. Clinicians don’t need to read this book in any particular order, or even read all of it. Open the book to any page, and find a useful tip or technique that can be applied immediately.

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May 2024

It’s OK That You’re Not OK

By Megan Devine

When a painful loss or life-shattering event upends your world, here is the first thing to know: there is nothing wrong with grief. “Grief is simply love in its most wild and painful form,” says Megan Devine. “It is a natural and sane response to loss.”

So, why does our culture treat grief like a disease to be cured as quickly as possible?

In It’s OK That You’re Not OK, Megan Devine offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others who have endured tragedy. Having experienced grief from both sides―as both a therapist and as a woman who witnessed the accidental drowning of her beloved partner―Megan writes with deep insight about the unspoken truths of loss, love, and healing. She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, “happy” life, replacing it with a far healthier middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it. In this compelling and heartful book, you’ll learn:

• Why well-meaning advice, therapy, and spiritual wisdom so often end up making it harder for people in grief.
• How challenging the myths of grief―doing away with stages, timetables, and unrealistic ideals about how grief should unfold―allows us to accept grief as a mystery to be honored instead of a problem to solve.
• Practical guidance for managing stress, improving sleep, and decreasing anxiety without trying to “fix” your pain.
• How to help the people you love―with essays to teach us the best skills, checklists, and suggestions for supporting and comforting others through the grieving process

Many people who have suffered a loss feel judged, dismissed, and misunderstood by a culture that wants to “solve” grief. Megan writes, “Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution.” Through stories, research, life tips, and creative and mindfulness-based practices, she offers a unique guide through an experience we all must face―in our personal lives, in the lives of those we love, and in the wider world.

It’s OK That You’re Not OK is a book for grieving people, those who love them, and all those seeking to love themselves―and each other―better.

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April 2024

Empty Shoes By The Door

By Judi Merriam

Grief demands we stand face-to-face with it and admit the messy truth of our brokenness.

On the afternoon of December 23, 2011, Judi Merriam’s eighteen-year-old son, Jenson, took his own life—an act that blindsided everyone who knew him—changing her life and those of her family forever.

This is the story of Jenson’s life and death—and of Judi’s path to surviving without the physical presence of the kind, intelligent, and endlessly creative young man she never imagined she would outlive.

The suicide of a loved one can be devastating for those left behind and bring deep despair and seemingly endless grief. Judi was forced to confront profound feelings of loss and guilt and a future so very different from what she thought it would be. In this honest and soul-searching memoir, Judi reflects with grace and courage on the fragile and amazing, terrifying and broken, and glorious and painful experience of living life after an unfathomable loss.

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March 2024

Shattered: Surviving the Loss of a Child

By Gary Roe

Unthinkable. Unbelievable. Heartbreaking.



Whatever words we choose, they all fall far short of the reality.

The loss of a child is a terrible thing.

How do we survive this? Can we?



Shattered: Surviving the Loss of a Child was written to help.

Bestselling author, hospice chaplain, and grief specialist Gary Roe uses his three decades of experience interacting with grieving parents to give us this heartfelt, easy-to-read, and intensely practical book.

 

In Shattered, Roe walks the reader through the powerful impact a child’s death can have – emotionally, mentally, physically, relationally, and spiritually.

• Intense, unpredictable emotions can hijack us at a moment’s notice.
• Our minds spin. We forget things. It feels like we’re going crazy.
• Our bodies get hit. Our health can be impacted.
• Our souls feel crushed, shaking our faith and what we think we believe.
• Our relationships change. A deep loneliness of the heart can set in.
• Our plans and dreams are shattered. We’re now in uncharted territory.

Yes, the loss of a child affects everything.

In Shattered, you will discover how to…

• Manage the massive changes that are occurring in your life
• Take care of yourself during this process
• Honor your child with your grief
• Love those around you, even with a broken heart
• Live life as well as possible while in the midst of great pain
• Make your child’s life count in deep and powerful ways

Shattered is not a magic pill. The death of a child cannot be fixed. But comfort, compassion, guidance, and hope can be found in these pages.

We will never be the same, but we can survive. And to some degree, we can heal. Shattered can help.

Open this book, and let the healing continue.

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February 2024

When it is Darkest

By Rory O’Connor

When you are faced with the unthinkable, this is the book you can turn to.

Suicide is baffling and devastating in equal measures, and it can affect anyone of us: one person dies by suicide every 40 seconds. Yet despite the scale of the devastation, for family members and friends, suicide is still poorly understood.

Drawing on decades of work in the field of suicide prevention and research, and having been bereaved by suicide twice, Professor O’Connor is here to help. This book will untangle the complex reasons behind suicide and dispel any unhelpful myths. For those trying to help someone vulnerable, it will provide indispensable advice on communication, stressing the importance of listening to fears and anxieties without judgment. And for those who are struggling to get through the tragedy of suicide, it will help you find strength in the darkest of places.

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January 2024

The Invisible String Book and Workbook

Parents, educators, therapists, and social workers alike have declared The Invisible String the perfect tool for coping with all kinds of separation anxiety, loss, and grief. In this relatable and reassuring contemporary classic, a mother tells her two children that they’re all connected by an invisible string. “That’s impossible!” the children insist, but still they want to know more: “What kind of string?” The answer is the simple truth that binds us all: An Invisible String made of love. Even though you can’t see it with your eyes, you can feel it deep in your heart, and know that you are always connected to the ones you love. Does everybody have an Invisible String? How far does it reach? Does it ever go away? This heartwarming picture book for all ages explores questions about the intangible yet unbreakable connections between us, and opens up deeper conversations about love.

Recommended and adopted by parenting blogs, bereavement support groups, hospice centers, foster care and social service agencies, military library services, church groups, and educators, The Invisible String offers a very simple approach to overcoming loneliness, separation, or loss with an imaginative twist that children easily understand and embrace, and delivers a particularly compelling message in today’s uncertain times. This special paperback edition includes vibrant new illustrations and an introduction from the author.

This must-have companion to the picture book phenomenon The Invisible String—which has sold over 1.5 million copies to date—uses more than 50 art and writing activities (plus bonus reflection cards!) to help build self-esteem and healthy relationships, and to celebrate the power of love.

The bestselling picture book The Invisible String has been used successfully by countless parents, caregivers, therapists, and organizations who work with people coping with separation. Now, The Invisible String Workbook allows readers of all ages who have experienced any kind of separation or loss to delve deeper into their relationships, to engage in healing conversations, and to build stronger attachments. Written in collaboration with Dana Wyss, PhD, an art therapist who has used The Invisible String in clinics for years, this 112-page write-in book will help spread the power of The Invisible String to the communities who most need it—whether it be teachers in the early days of the school year, military families, counselors at grief camps, or everyday families nurturing connections with their loved ones.

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December 2023

Bearing the Unbearable, Love, Loss, and the Heartbreaking Path of Grief

By Joanne Cacciatore, PHD

When a loved one dies, the pain of loss can feel unbearable—especially in the case of a traumatizing death that leaves us shouting, “NO!” with every fiber of our body. The process of grieving can feel wild and nonlinear—and often lasts for much longer than other people, the nonbereaved, tell us it should.

Organized into fifty-two short chapters, Bearing the Unbearable is a companion for life’s most difficult times, revealing how grief can open our hearts to connection, compassion, and the very essence of our shared humanity. Dr. Joanne Cacciatore—bereavement educator, researcher, Zen priest, and leading counselor in the field—accompanies us along the heartbreaking path of love, loss, and grief. Through moving stories of her encounters with grief over decades of supporting individuals, families, and communities—as well as her own experience with loss—Cacciatore opens a space to process, integrate, and deeply honor our grief.

Not just for the bereaved, Bearing the Unbearable will be required reading for grief counselors, therapists and social workers, clergy of all varieties, educators, academics, and medical professionals. Organized into fifty-two accessible and stand-alone chapters, this book is also perfect for being read aloud in support groups.

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November 2023

WARRIOR: How to Support Those Who Protect Us

By Shauna Springer

From a Trusted Doc to Our Nation’s Military Warfighters and First Responders Comes a Book That Touches, Changes, and Even Saves Lives

Shauna ‘Doc’ Springer is a licensed psychologist, bestselling author, and keynote speaker, and is one of the world’s leading experts on psychological trauma, military transition, suicide prevention, and close relationships. She is a Harvard graduate and a senior advisor to several prominent organizations. In WARRIOR: How to Support Those Who Protect Us — now in its second, expanded edition — Doc Springer shines new light on things that many of us thought we understood:
— Trust
— Stigma
— Firearms
— Self-Destruction
— Human Connection

WARRIOR offers us an intimate, truthful account of how our bravest citizens may struggle, and provides actionable insights and real solutions for mental crises. The author draws from her deep understanding of the hearts and minds of warriors to help us understand true courage and the bonds of love that keep us in the fight.

WARRIOR has broad implications for all Americans and can help us develop insights about how to heal from trauma and overcome universal human challenges. WARRIOR brings new lines of thinking and new strategies for confronting our most important and most personal challenges, including suicidal thoughts, relationship problems, and grief and loss. This is a book that develops insight about human suffering, and how the power of connection is critical for helping us achieve post-traumatic growth despite trauma and disruptive life changes.

This expanded second edition of WARRIOR is loaded with additional content to bridge the insights in the 1st edition of WARRIOR to all who suffer from trauma — whether civilian or military, and to help healers forge relationships of deep trust with those they serve. Doc Springer, through the insights she offers in this remarkable book, equips us to get up and fight. WARRIOR is a book that calls to the warrior spirit in all of us, as we emerge from decades of war and a year of global trauma.

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October 2023

It’s OK That You’re Not OK

By Megan Devine

When a painful loss or life-shattering event upends your world, here is the first thing to know: there is nothing wrong with grief. “Grief is simply love in its most wild and painful form,” says Megan Devine. “It is a natural and sane response to loss.”

So, why does our culture treat grief like a disease to be cured as quickly as possible?

In It’s OK That You’re Not OK, Megan Devine offers a profound new approach to both the experience of grief and the way we try to help others who have endured tragedy. Having experienced grief from both sides―as both a therapist and as a woman who witnessed the accidental drowning of her beloved partner―Megan writes with deep insight about the unspoken truths of loss, love, and healing. She debunks the culturally prescribed goal of returning to a normal, “happy” life, replacing it with a far healthier middle path, one that invites us to build a life alongside grief rather than seeking to overcome it. In this compelling and heartful book, you’ll learn:

• Why well-meaning advice, therapy, and spiritual wisdom so often end up making it harder for people in grief
• How challenging the myths of grief―doing away with stages, timetables, and unrealistic ideals about how grief should unfold―allows us to accept grief as a mystery to be honored instead of a problem to solve
• Practical guidance for managing stress, improving sleep, and decreasing anxiety without trying to “fix” your pain
• How to help the people you love―with essays to teach us the best skills, checklists, and suggestions for supporting and comforting others through the grieving process

Many people who have suffered a loss feel judged, dismissed, and misunderstood by a culture that wants to “solve” grief. Megan writes, “Grief no more needs a solution than love needs a solution.” Through stories, research, life tips, and creative and mindfulness-based practices, she offers a unique guide through an experience we all must face―in our personal lives, in the lives of those we love, and in the wider world.

It’s OK That You’re Not OK is a book for grieving people, those who love them, and all those seeking to love themselves―and each other―better.

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September 2023

The Wild Edge of Sorrow

By Francis Weller

Noted psychotherapist Francis Weller provides an essential guide for navigating the deep waters of sorrow and loss in this lyrical yet practical handbook for mastering the art of grieving. Describing how Western patterns of amnesia and anesthesia affect our capacity to cope with personal and collective sorrows, Weller reveals the new vitality we may encounter when we welcome, rather than fear, the pain of loss. Through moving personal stories, poetry, and insightful reflections he leads us into the central energy of sorrow, and to the profound healing and heightened communion with each other and our planet that reside alongside it.

The Wild Edge of Sorrow explains that grief has always been communal and illustrates how we need the healing touch of others, an atmosphere of compassion, and the comfort of ritual in order to fully metabolize our grief. Weller describes how we often hide our pain from the world, wrapping it in a secret mantle of shame. This causes sorrow to linger unexpressed in our bodies, weighing us down and pulling us into the territory of depression and death. We have come to fear grief and feel too alone to face an encounter with the powerful energies of sorrow.

Those who work with people in grief, who have experienced the loss of a loved one, who mourn the ongoing destruction of our planet, or who suffer the accumulated traumas of a lifetime will appreciate the discussion of obstacles to successful grief work such as privatized pain, lack of communal rituals, a pervasive feeling of fear, and a culturally restrictive range of emotion. Weller highlights the intimate bond between grief and gratitude, sorrow and intimacy. In addition to showing us that the greatest gifts are often hidden in the things we avoid, he offers powerful tools and rituals and a list of resources to help us transform grief into a force that allows us to live and love more fully.

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August 2023

What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen

By Kate Fagan

It’s time to heal the invisible wounds of complex trauma and reclaim your mind, body, and spirit.

The heartbreaking story of college athlete Madison Holleran, whose life and death by suicide reveal the struggle of young people suffering from mental illness today in this #1 New York Times Sports and Fitness bestseller.

If you scrolled through the Instagram feed of 19-year-old Maddy Holleran, you would see a perfect life: a freshman at an Ivy League school, recruited for the track team, who was also beautiful, popular, and fiercely intelligent. This was a girl who succeeded at everything she tried, and who was only getting started. But when Maddy began her long-awaited college career, her parents noticed something changed. Previously indefatigable Maddy became withdrawn, and her thoughts centered on how she could change her life. In spite of thousands of hours of practice and study, she contemplated transferring from the school that had once been her dream.

When Maddy’s dad, Jim, dropped her off for the first day of spring semester, she held him a second longer than usual. That would be the last time Jim would see his daughter. What Made Maddy Run began as a piece that Kate Fagan, a columnist for espnW, wrote about Maddy’s life. What started as a profile of a successful young athlete whose life ended in suicide became so much larger when Fagan started to hear from other college athletes also struggling with mental illness.

This is the story of Maddy Holleran’s life, and her struggle with depression, which also reveals the mounting pressures young people — and college athletes in particular — face to be perfect, especially in an age of relentless connectivity and social media saturation.

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July 2023

The Pain We Carry

Healing From Complex PTSD For People of Color

It’s time to heal the invisible wounds of complex trauma and reclaim your mind, body, and spirit.

If you are a person of color who has experienced repeated trauma—such as discrimination, race-related verbal assault, racial stigmatization, poverty, sexual trauma, or interpersonal violence—you may struggle with intense feelings of anger, mistrust, or shame. You may feel unsafe or uncomfortable in your own body, or struggle with building and keeping close relationships. Sometimes you may feel very alone in your pain. But you are not alone. This groundbreaking work illuminates the phenomena of complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD) as it is uniquely experienced by people of color, and provides a much-needed path to health and wholeness.

In The Pain We Carry, you’ll find powerful tools to help you understand and begin healing from repeated trauma. You’ll discover ways to feel safer in your body, build self-compassion and resilience, and reclaim your health and wellness by reconnecting with your sense of self and your ancestral wisdom. You’ll learn how trauma is connected to grief, how it can affect both the mind and the body, and how it can persist from one generation to the next. Most importantly, you’ll find the validation you need to begin mending your heart, and the skills you need to live a life of intention—even in the midst of an oppressive system.

It’s time to find relief from the trauma and burdens you have been carrying and start celebrating and rediscovering who you are. With this guide, you will uncover your own strength in order to work toward healing C-PTSD within the external constraints you face to live a life of resilience, empowerment, reflection, and perseverance.

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June 2023

I Have Something To Tell You (Young Adult)

Growing up, Chasten Glezman Buttigieg didn’t always fit in. He felt different from his father and brothers, who loved to hunt and go camping, and out of place in the rural, conservative small town where he lived. Back then, blending in was more important than feeling seen. So, when Chasten realized he was gay, he kept that part of himself hidden away for a long, painful time. With incredible bravery, and the support of his loved ones, Chasten eventually came out—and when he did, he learned that being true to himself was the most rewarding journey of all. Finding acceptance and self-love can seem like a tremendous challenge, but it’s never impossible. With honesty, courage, and warmth, Chasten relays his experience of growing up in America and embracing his identity, while inspiring young people across the country to do the same.

 

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I Have Something To Tell You (Adult)

Throughout the past year, teacher Chasten Glezman Buttigieg has emerged on the national stage, having left his classroom in South Bend, Indiana, to travel cross-country in support of his husband, former mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Pete’s groundbreaking presidential campaign. Through Chasten’s joyful, witty social media posts, the public gained a behind-the-scenes look at his life with Pete on the trail—moments that might have ranged from the mundane to the surprising, but that were always heartfelt. Chasten has overcome a multitude of obstacles to get here. In this moving, uplifting memoir, he recounts his journey to finding acceptance as a gay man. He recalls his upbringing in rural Michigan, where he knew he was different, where indeed he felt different from his father and brothers. He recounts his coming out and how he’s healed from revealing his secret to his family, friends, community, and the world. And he tells the story of meeting his boyfriend, whom he would marry and who would eventually become a major Democratic leader. With unflinching honesty, unflappable courage, and great warmth, Chasten Buttigieg relays his experience of growing up in America and embracing his true self, while inspiring others to do the same.

 

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May 2023

 

Emotions Coloring Book for Kids

About this coloring book:
★ Beautiful simple Illustrations.
★ The perfect size: The book comes in a squared print format of size 8.5 x 11 inches.
★ This book is suitable for both boys and girls, preferably ages 3-8.
★ Great for all coloring mediums. White-Color HighQuality Paper For pencil colors, crayons, or markers.
★ The pages have designs on one side to prevent the coloring from bleeding through to the other side, and so the pages can be removed and hung up without losing the picture on the reverse side.

 

 

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Self Care

Create a little oasis of calm and happiness with this serene coloring book.
★ Each page contains a beautifully illustrated self-care affirmation, so that as you color, you’re reminded to treat yourself, ditch the ”should,” and love who you are becoming.
★ Affirmations include ”You Are Enough,” ”Be You, Do You, for You,” ”Be Kind to Your Mind,” and 28 more.
★ 31 complex yet relaxing pages in all!
★ Heavyweight paper is superior to that of other coloring books.
★ Designs are printed on only one side of a page — no bleed-through.
★ Each page is micro-perforated for ease of removal and display of your artwork.
★ Acid-free archival-quality paper helps preserve your work.
★ For artists and colorists of all abilities!
★ Coloring book measures 9-1/2” wide x 9” high.

 

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April 2023

The Self-Healing Mind by Gregory Scott Brown, MD

Self-care is a powerful, evidence-based medicine for the mind.

Mental health is the driving force behind every decision we make—how we live, work, and love. Many of us suffer from depression and anxiety, which impede our choices and quality of life, and despite the proliferation of prescription drugs, the numbers are growing across the globe. But there is another, proven way to achieve mental wellness, beyond antidepressants and talk therapy. Practicing psychiatrist Gregory Scott Brown believes that mental health begins with actionable self-care.

The Self-Healing Mind is a holistic approach to emotional and psychological healing that focuses on how evidence-based self-care strategies can be used to improve and sustain mental health. Dr. Brown challenges the current state of mental health care and the messaging around it, showing us how to move past outdated notions of “broken” brains and chemical imbalances. While he agrees that prescription drugs and talk therapy in many cases are important for healing, his personal and professional experience has taught him that lifestyle interventions are also key to sustainable mental wellness.

Dr. Brown’s clinical philosophy supports an integrative approach that combines conventional treatments (medication and psychotherapy) with what he calls the Five Pillars of Self-Care: breathing mindfully, sleep, spirituality, nutrition, and movement. These purposeful lifestyle practices, backed by science and proven in his clinical practice, can be adopted by everyone. Dr. Brown’s advice and insight put the power of healing back in your control.

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March 2023

The Sudden Loss Survival Guide: Seven Essential Practices for Healing Grief (Bereavement, Suicide, Mourning)

 “The Sudden Loss Survival Guide is a must-read guidebook for everyone who has experienced an unexpected loss of any kind in their life.” – The Grief Reiki

Healing after loss. When a loved one passes unexpectedly, the person left behind can lose their bearings. After the sudden death of her mother, Chelsea Hanson, a nationally-recognized grief educator and founder of With Sympathy Gifts and Keepsakes, didn’t know where to turn for help, what to do next, or how to put the pieces of her life back together. Hanson’s The Sudden Loss Survival Guide gathers everything that she learned during her own recovery process and provides an indispensable road map to aid those who’ve experienced a life-changing loss.

A proactive, intentional approach. While you cannot control losing a loved one, you can consciously guide your own recovery. Through the application of simple, proactive practices, The Sudden Loss Survival Guide will empower you to overcome the darkness and anxiety of grief.

Action-based tools. The Sudden Loss Survival Guide includes heart-lifting prompts and action steps that guide you towards reengaging in life and discovering deeper meaning. Through Hanson’s grief healing practices, this book delivers the essential answers and tools needed to survive, cope, and heal from the devastating impact of sudden loss.

The Sudden Loss Survival Guide is a distinctive grief recovery handbook. In this book, discover:

• Seven practices for healing, including creative memorialization and maintaining an ongoing spiritual connection
• Skimmable, stand-alone passages with immediate, usable information for the trauma you’re facing
• A transformative method for living a meaningful, fulfilling life in remembrance of your loved one
  

Readers of grief books like Your Grief, Your Way, I Wasn’t Ready to Say Goodbye, or Grief Day By Day will learn how to live again with the help of The Sudden Loss Survival Guide.

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February 2023

Bottled up Inside: African American Teens and Depression

Bottled up Inside: African American Teens and Depression seeks to educate and inform individuals who work with youth through the authors own, personal and professional lived experiences. Depression is a huge health concern for African Americans due to a variety of issues affecting their families and communities. Too many people are not seeking help and treatment, and this has prevented many from healing due to the stigma associated with mental illness. The suicide rate among black teens is increasing with this being the third leading cause of death for young people 15-24. It is essential to discuss the issues of mental health and how it affects people, so when help is needed, people will not be afraid to ask for help. In this book, the reader will learn how to assist youth dealing with the turmoil of adolescence, gain an understanding of depression, identify potential risk factors and protective factors, and learn an intervention to help youth in non-crisis and crisis situations. Rose Jackson-Beavers is the author of 10 books. She is an advocate for teens and works in close collaboration with others to encourage young people never to give up. She resides in Florissant, MO with her family. Rev. Jermine Alberty has worked in the mental health field as an educator and trainer for 12 years and is a national trainer of Mental Health First Aid. He is Executive Director of Pathways to Promise and Senior Pastor of Bethel Baptist Church. Alberty holds a bachelor’s degree and his Master of Divinity. He resides in Columbia, Missouri with his wife, Dyone Alberty.

 

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January 2023

Finding Meaning: The 6th Stage of Grief by David Kessler

In this groundbreaking and “poignant” (Los Angeles Times) book, David Kessler praised for his work by Maria Shriver, Marianne Williamson, and Mother Teresa journeys beyond the classic five stages to discover a sixth stage: meaning.

In 1969, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross first identified the stages of dying in her transformative book On Death and Dying. Decades later, she and David Kessler wrote the classic On Grief and Grieving, introducing the stages of grief with the same transformative pragmatism and compassion. Now, based on hard-earned personal experiences, as well as knowledge and wisdom gained through decades of work with the grieving,

Kessler introduces a critical sixth stage: meaning. Kessler’s insight is both professional and intensely personal. His journey with grief began when, as a child, he witnessed a mass shooting at the same time his mother was dying. For most of his life, Kessler taught physicians, nurses, counselors, police, and first responders about end of life, trauma, and grief, as well as leading talks and retreats for those experiencing grief. Despite his knowledge, his life was upended by the sudden death of his twenty-one year-old son. How does the grief expert handle such a tragic loss? He knew he had to find a way through this unexpected, devastating loss, a way that would honor his son. That, ultimately, was the sixth stage of grief—meaning. In Finding Meaning, Kessler shares the insights, collective wisdom, and powerful tools that will help those experiencing loss.

“Beautiful, tender, and wise” (Katy Butler, author of The Art of Dying Well), Finding Meaning is “an excellent addition to grief literature that helps pave the way for steps toward healing” (School Library Journal).

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December 2022

Surviving the Holidays While Grieving by Janet K. Johnson

The loss of a loved one can change our lives forever. Healing from the pain of losing a loved one doesn’t happen overnight.

Each day can be a battle to keep unpredictable emotions under control—especially around holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, which can bring losses into full focus. Traditions and expectations often add more stress to an already grieving heart. Even simple tasks, such as walking through a store during the holidays, can surface memories that turn on emotions like a light switch. Finding joy may seem impossible. Janet Johnson knows. She lost a brother to murder, a son to a car accident, and a brother-in-law to suicide. She has experienced firsthand how the holidays have a peculiar way of activating emotions—and why it’s important to process those emotions, not ignore them. In Surviving the Holidays While Grieving, Janet comes alongside readers who have lost a loved one or are journeying with someone dealing with grief. With tenderness and compassion, she offers ideas for managing emotions, hands-on activities for expressing feelings in tangible ways, and tips for communicating those feelings to others. Readers will be encouraged to remember meaningful traditions and create new memories about their loved ones with others. Through the pages of this tenderly composed book written from a Christian perspective, readers will find hope for healing and a toolkit for taking steps forward with joy.

 

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November 2022

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, MD

“Essential reading for anyone interested in understanding and treating traumatic stress and the scope of its impact on society.” —Alexander McFarlane, Director of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies

A pioneering researcher transforms our understanding of trauma and offers a bold new paradigm for healing in this New York Times bestseller

Trauma is a fact of life. Veterans and their families deal with the painful aftermath of combat; one in five Americans has been molested; one in four grew up with alcoholics; one in three couples have engaged in physical violence. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, one of the world’s foremost experts on trauma, has spent over three decades working with survivors. In The Body Keeps the Score, he uses recent scientific advances to show how trauma literally reshapes both body and brain, compromising sufferers’ capacities for pleasure, engagement, self-control, and trust. He explores innovative treatments—from neurofeedback and meditation to sports, drama, and yoga—that offer

new paths to recovery by activating the brain’s natural neuroplasticity. Based on Dr. van der Kolk’s own research and that of other leading specialists, The Body Keeps the Score exposes the tremendous power of our relationships both to hurt and to heal—and offers new hope for reclaiming lives.

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October 2022

Build a mentally healthy workplace

Mental health is just as important as physical health. Yet being honest about depression, anxiety, and other psychological conditions at work can feel risky–and hasn’t always been welcome. How can you ensure that you and your colleagues feel as though mental health is supported at the office?

The HBR Guide to Better Mental Health at Work contains practical tips and advice to help you bring mental health out of the shadows and into everyday conversations. You’ll learn how to:

• Build habits to support your mental health
• Stay productive even when you’re not feeling like yourself
• Talk about mental health with peers and managers
• Reach out to someone who might be struggling
• Consider the impact of intersectionality
• Offer the benefits people really need
• Fight the stigma and reduce shame

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September 2022

You Are Not Alone by Dr. Ken Duckworth

Written with authority and compassion, this is the essential resource for individuals and families seeking expert guidance on diagnosis, treatment, and recovery, featuring inspiring, true stories from real people in their own words.

Millions of people in the United States are affected by mental illness every year, and the Covid-19 pandemic only further exposed the shortcomings of the American mental health system. Too many are confused, afraid, and overwhelmed, with many asking themselves the same questions: What does it mean when different doctors give me different diagnoses? What if my insurance won’t cover my treatment? Will I ever feel better? Families and friends are often left in the dark about how best to help their loved ones, from dealing with financial and logistical issues, to handling the emotional challenges of loving someone who is suffering.

You Are Not Alone is here to offer help. Written by Dr. Ken Duckworth with the wisdom of a psychiatrist and the vulnerability of a peer, this comprehensive guide centers the poignant lived experiences of over 125 individuals from across the country whose first-person stories illustrate the diversity of mental health journeys. This book also provides:

• Practical guidance on dealing with a vast array of mental health conditions and navigating
• care
• Research-based evidence on what treatments and approaches work
• Insight and advice from renowned clinical experts and practitioners

This singular resource—the first book from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and with all sales proceeds going back to the NAMI community—is a powerful reminder that help is here, and you are never alone.

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August 2022

Surviving Suicide Loss by Rita A. Schulte, LPC

Nothing could hurt worse. But even in the darkness . . . there’s hope.

The pain of suicide loss is indescribable. It seems beyond survival. Yet with faith, perseverance, and the tools of brain science, there is a way through. It will take time. It will take struggle. But hope is real, for there are things you can do to make it to the other side.

If you are struggling with suicide loss or you need to come alongside someone who is, Rita Schulte wants to help you move forward. As a suicide loss survivor herself, she understands the pain you’re feeling because she has been there too. Rita, an experienced therapist and expert in traumatic loss, offers a science-based therapy model that also takes into account the role of human spirituality. Chapters in this book include:

• Making Sense of the Desire to Die
• The Mind-Body Connection
• Unfinished Business
• Making Peace with Ourselves
• Facing the Dark Side
• Children—Living Behind the Shadow
• The Time that Remains

When it comes to suicide loss, you’ll never have all the answers. But one thing is certain: there are real pathways to help you heal—body, mind, and spirit.

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July 2022

The Suicidal Thoughts Workbook: CBT Skills to Reduce Emotional Pain, Increase Hope, and Prevent Suicide by Kathryn Hope Gordon

If you or someone you love is dealing with a crisis right now, please call 1-800-273-8255 to reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. You can also text HOME to 741741 to reach a crisis counselor at the Crisis Text Line.

A compassionate guide to managing suicidal thoughts and finding hope.

If you’re struggling with suicidal thoughts, please know that you are not alone and that you are worthy of help. Your life and well-being matter. When you’re suffering, life’s challenges can feel overwhelming and even insurmountable. This workbook is here to help you find relief and solutions when suicidal thoughts take over.

Grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), this compassionate workbook offers practical tools to guide you toward a place of hope. It will help you identify your reasons for living, manage intense emotions and painful thoughts, and create a safe environment when you are in a crisis. You’ll also find ways to strengthen social connections, foster self-compassion, and rediscover activities that bring joy and meaning to your life. This workbook is here to support you. However you are feeling at this moment, remember the following: You are worth it, you are loved, and you matter.

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June 2022

Guns and Suicide: An American Epidemic by Michael D. Anestis

The majority of gun deaths in the United States are suicide deaths, and the majority of suicide deaths are gun deaths. Most people are unaware that suicide, at nearly 43,000 deaths per year, is more common than homicide and other widely publicized tragedies. And yet, suicide is typically absent from discussions of gun violence. As such, the national conversation on gun violence is inadequate and unrelated to the majority of gun deaths in this country.

In Guns and Suicide, Michael Anestis reframes our perspective on gun violence by shifting the focus to suicide. Guns play a uniquely profound role in American suicide, and Anestis explains how they have this effect-not by making otherwise non-suicidal people want to die, but by facilitating suicide attempts among suicidal individuals. He reviews the evidence – in suicide and other public health concerns – that focusing on specific means for contracting an unwanted outcome (e.g., HIV) can successfully reduce the frequency of that outcome. With suicide, this could mean the passage of legislation related to firearm ownership and storage, non-legislative encouragement of safe storage of private firearms, voluntary and temporary removal of firearms from the home during times of distress, or a combination of these factors. Importantly, this is not a book about gun control. Anestis does not argue in favor of tighter restrictions on ownership, assault weapon bans, or longer waiting periods for purchase because these will not substantially reduce the staggering gun suicide rate. Rather, Anestis aims for a cultural shift towards suicide-specific safe gun ownership and puts forth unemotional suggestions in hopes of leveraging common ground in the pursuit of a lower suicide rate.

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April 2022

Grief Is Love, Living with Loss – Marisa Renee Lee

In Grief is Love, author Marisa Renee Lee reveals that healing does not mean moving on after losing a loved one—healing means learning to acknowledge and create space for your grief. It is about learning to love the one you lost with the same depth, passion, joy, and commitment you did when they were alive, perhaps even more. She guides you through the pain of grief—whether you’ve lost the person recently or long ago—and shows you what it looks like to honor your loss on your unique terms, and debunks the idea of a grief stages or timelines. Grief is Love is about making space for the transformation that a significant loss requires.

In beautiful, compassionate prose, Lee elegantly offers wisdom about what it means to authentically and defiantly claim space for grief’s complicated feelings and emotions. And Lee is no stranger to grief herself, she shares her journey after losing her mother, a pregnancy, and, most recently, a cousin to the COVID-19 pandemic. These losses transformed her life and led her to question what grief really is and what healing actually looks like. In this book, she also explores the unique impact of grief on Black people and reveals the key factors that proper healing requires: permission, care, feeling, grace and more.

The transformation we each undergo after loss is the indelible imprint of the people we love on our lives, which is the true definition of legacy. At its core, Grief is Love explores what comes after death, and shows us that if we are able to own and honor what we’ve lost, we can experience a beautiful and joyful life in the midst of grief.

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March 2022

Aftermath: Picking Up The Pieces After a Suicide – Gary Roe

The unthinkable has happened.
Painful. Crushing. Traumatic. Confusing.
Complicated.

No chance to say goodbye. No final embrace, kiss, or touch. No opportunity to clear the air, ask and
give forgiveness, or make amends.

A life gone.

The tsunami has come, and now you’re left standing amid the aftermath.

What do you do?

Reach out and grab the hand of multiple award-winning author and grief counselor Gary Roe. Let him walk with you through this uncharted, forbidding territory. You need a companion who can be a source of comfort, perspective, hope, and healing. Let Gary journey with you through the aftermath and help you pick up the pieces and begin to rebuild your heart and life.

Aftermath was written to…

• Connect with your heart in all the pain, grief, and confusion.
• Be a companion for you in this unwanted, heart-crushing process that has been thrust upon you.
• Be a source of comfort, perspective, healing, and peace.
• Provide practical tools to help you pick up the pieces and begin to rebuild your heart and life.

In Aftermath, you can discover how to…

• Be kind to yourself and patient with yourself during this incredibly hard time.
• Manage the racing thoughts and volatile emotions that come.
• Deal with other people and the unhelpful words and weird reactions that come your way.
• Navigate the tough spiritual issues and faith questions that confront your soul.
• Grieve in healthy ways that honor the one you lost, take your own heart seriously, and express kindness and compassion to those around you.
• Abandon the notion of quick fixes, self-medicating relief, and the lying voice of addiction as a way out.
• Latch onto the truth that no one is beyond repair and that anyone can heal – including you.
• Use your grief as fuel for good and make this death count by living with more purpose and meaning than ever before.
• Save lives and become part of the solution to this raging suicide epidemic.

You didn’t choose this road. You woke up on day and found you were on it. You’re left standing in
amid the aftermath.

But you are not alone. Far from it. Let Aftermath become a understanding companion for you in the
days ahead.

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February 2022

I Understand: Pain, Love, and Healing after Suicide – Woodrick, Vonnie

Time doesn’t heal—love heals
When Vonnie Woodrick lost her husband Rob to suicide in 2003, she was faced with a series of decisions. How would she move on? How would she support and raise her three children as a young widow? How would she talk about Rob and honor his memory? These questions had no easy answers, but Vonnie found herself longing for one thing in particular: understanding. The stigma of mental illness loomed large over Rob’s death and made healing difficult. But Vonnie found the common assumptions surrounding suicide to be false. Rob was not “crazy.” He did not choose to take his own life. He was in agony and only wanted the pain to end. His death was a direct result of his mental illness. Why didn’t more people understand this?

Over a decade later, Vonnie and her children created the nonprofit organization i understand to help others enduring this same grief and loneliness. Since its founding in 2014, i understand has become a haven of compassionate comfort and a powerful voice in the movement to change the way we talk about suicide so that it can be seen for what it truly is: a terminal effect of mental illness, rather than a deliberate choice.

This is the story of how love transformed Vonnie’s brokenness into hope—not only for herself and her family, but for anyone struggling to emerge from the darkness of suicide.

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January 2022

When Someone You Love Completes Suicide – Sondra Sexton-Jones

Sondra Sexton-Jones’ husband, Ray, died by suicide. In this supportive book, she shares her story, her grief and healing. You’ll learn what to expect, what may happen, how you may feel. “It takes a long time to digest death, and in trying to do so, we are transmuted into new people, never again to be what we were, innocent from some of the horrors life throws our way. The pieces of my life’s puzzle will never again fit together as they once did.”

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December 2021

Rethinking Suicide: Why Prevention Fails, and How We Can Do Better – Craig J. Bryan

An examination of how suicide prevention efforts largely fail due to the mistaken assumption that greater mental health awareness is the key to saving lives.

Over the last two decades, the US suicide rate has steadily grown despite extensive awareness campaigns, wide implementation of suicide prevention programs and initiatives, and increased mental health advocacy. To the confusion and frustration of researchers, healthcare providers, and many others, these efforts have largely failed to reverse the trend. Why do suicide rates continue to climb despite our best efforts? Why aren’t we better at this? What are we doing wrong?

Rethinking Suicide is a critical examination of what we think we know about suicide, with particular focus on the assumed role of mental illness. Craig J. Bryan, a leading expert on suicide prevention, argues that most prevention efforts have failed because they disproportionately emphasize mental health-focused solutions such as access to treatment and crisis services. Instead of classifying suicide as a mental health issue, careful analysis of research findings suggest it should instead be seen as a highly complex problem with many risk factors – from personal decision-making styles, to the availability of lethal means, to financial uncertainty. As such suicide rates will not be curtailed by conventional solution-oriented thinking; rather, we need process-based thinking that may, in some cases, defy or contradict many of our long-held assumptions about suicide. Rethinking Suicide interweaves the author’s firsthand experiences with explanations of scientific findings to reveal the limitations of widely-used practices and to introduce new perspectives that may trigger a paradigm shift in how we understand and prevent suicide.

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November 2021

Healing After Loss: Daily Meditations for Working Through Grief – Martha W. Hickman

The classic guide for dealing with grief and loss
For those who have suffered the loss of a loved one, here are thoughtful words to strengthen, inspire and comfort

 

 

 

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September 2021

Saving Ourselves From Suicide – Before and After: How to Ask for Help, Recognize Warning Signs, and Navigate Grief – Linda Pacha

Linda Pacha is refreshingly transparent, holding nothing back in this moving and uplifting help book. With the detailed table of contents, you will refer back to her recommendations and warm advice time and time again. Read warning signs in her son’s last text messages that are labeled for you. Learn what Nick could not feel or understand: the options and hope that were still there. And if suicide has already happened, she will help you move forward in your grief, release any guilt or anger, and find the hope in life again. Pacha is a parent who has been through the worst and shares everything to help others in pain. Book Club discussion questions available.

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July 2021

After a Parent’s Suicide: Helping Children Heal – Margo Requarth

The premature death of a parent can be devastating for young children- with the consequences far more profound when the parent dies by suicide. Amidst the resulting grief, turmoil and confusion, the surviving parent is faced with the monumental task of tending to the emotional lives of the children left behind. In this instructive and impassioned work, longtime children’s bereavement counselor and psychotherapist Margo Requarth, M.A., M.F.T., charts the complex emotional waters every family must navigate in the wake of a previously unimaginable suicide death. Starting with the haunting tale of her own mother’s suicide, Requarth weaves together her experience counseling “survivors,” poignant interviews with children, teens and parents, and the latest research on suicide and its aftermath. What emerges is a groundbreaking “how-to” guide for parent survivors: how to manage both the immediate and long-term implications of the suicide, how to talk to your children, how to see them through the heart-rending anguish to a place of acceptance, healing, and finally, a renewed and deepened capacity for joy.

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June 2021

The Invisible Front: Love and Loss In An Era of Endless War – Yochi Dreazen

The Invisible Front is the story of how one family tries to set aside their grief and find purpose in almost unimaginable loss. The Grahams work to change how the Army treats those with PTSD and to erase the stigma that prevents suicidal troops from getting the help they need before making the darkest of choices. Their fight offers a window into the military’s institutional shortcomings and its resistance to change – failures that have allowed more than 3,000 troops to take their own lives since 2001. Yochi Dreazen, an award-winning journalist who has covered the military since 2003, has been granted remarkable access to the Graham family and tells their story in the full context of two of America’s longest wars. Dreazen places Mark and Carol’s personal journey, which begins when they fall in love in college and continues through the end of Mark’s thirty-four year career in the Army, against the backdrop of the military’s ongoing suicide spike, which shows no signs of slowing. With great sympathy and profound insight, The Invisible Front details America’s problematic treatment of the troops who return from war far different than when they’d left and uses the Graham family’s work as a new way of understanding the human cost of war and its lingering effects off the battlefield.

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May 2021

Still With Us: Voices of Sibling Suicide Loss Survivors: Edited by- Lena M. Q. Heilmannn

Lena Heilmann lost her sister, Danielle, to suicide in 2012. Experiencing the enormous weight of grief, she reached out to other sibling suicide loss survivors to find comfort, healing, and connection. Still With Us contains 23 stories of sibling suicide loss survivors who, after experiencing devastating losses, navigated through their grief and found a path forward.

The essays in Still With Us are arranged chronologically to move the reader from the first years of grieving to decades of healing. The authors commemorate the love that they continue to have for their siblings by telling us stories of grief, support, and strength.
All of these essays share a common message: No matter how much time passes, our siblings are still with us.

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April 2021

Understanding Your Suicide Grief: Ten Essential Touchstones for Finding Hope and Healing Your Heart (Understanding Your Grief) – By Alan D Wolfelt

For anyone who has experienced the suicide of a loved one, coworker, neighbor, or acquaintance and is seeking information about coping with such a profound loss, this compassionate guide explores the unique responses inherent to their grief. Using the metaphor of the wilderness, the book introduces 10 touchstones to assist the survivor in this naturally complicated and particularly painful journey.

The touchstones include opening to the presence of loss, embracing the uniqueness of grief, understanding the six needs of mourning, reaching out for help, and seeking reconciliation over resolution. Learning to identify and rely on each of these touchstones will bring about hope and healing.

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March 2021

“Sitting Still: Like a Frog” – Eline Snel

Mindfulness—the quality of attention that combines full awareness with acceptance of each moment, just as it is—is gaining broad acceptance among mental health professionals as an adjunct to treatment. This little book is a very appealing introduction to mindfulness meditation for children and their parents. In a simple and accessible way, it describes what mindfulness is and how mindfulness-based practices can help children calm down, become more focused, fall asleep more easily, alleviate worry, manage anger, and generally become more patient and aware.

The book contains eleven practices that focus on just these scenarios, along with short examples and anecdotes throughout. Included with purchase is an audio CD with guided meditations, voiced by Myla Kabat-Zinn, who along with her husband, Jon Kabat-Zinn, popularized mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) as a therapeutic approach.

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February 2021

“The Unapologetic Guide to Black Mental Health” – Rheeda Walker

We can’t deny it any longer: there is a Black mental health crisis in our world today. Black people die at disproportionately high rates due to chronic illness, poverty, under-education, and the effects of racism. This book is an exploration of Black mental health in today’s world, the forces that have undermined mental health progress for African Americans, and what needs to happen for African Americans to heal psychological distress, find community, and undo years of stigma and marginalization in order to access effective mental health care.

This breakthrough book will help readers recognize mental and emotional health problems, understand the myriad ways in which these problems impact overall health and quality of life and relationships, develop psychological tools to neutralize ongoing stressors, live more fully, and navigate a mental health care system that is unequal.

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January 2021

Answering the Cry for Help: A Suicide Prevention Manual for Schools and Communities – David A. Opalewski

Every year it is estimated that in excess of 100,000 people in the United States end their lives by suicide. These people are not just statistical numbers, They are husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, children, friends and/or classmates.
Answering the Cry for Help will help to bridge the gap between schools and communities by providing guidelines for developing a Community Suicide Prevention Program that:

• Promotes awareness about risks,
• Discusses methods for suicide prevention,
• Establishes guidelines and resources for intervention,

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December 2020

Why People Die by Suicide by Dr. Thomas Joiner

Drawing on extensive clinical and epidemiological evidence, as well as personal experience, Thomas Joiner brings a comprehensive understanding to seemingly incomprehensible behavior. Among the many people who have considered, attempted, or died by suicide, he finds three factors that mark those most at risk of death: the feeling of being a burden on loved ones; the sense of isolation; and, chillingly, the learned ability to hurt oneself. Joiner tests his theory against diverse facts taken from clinical anecdotes, history, literature, popular culture, anthropology, epidemiology, genetics, and neurobiology–facts about suicide rates among men and women; white and African-American men; anorexics, athletes, prostitutes, and physicians; members of cults, sports fans, and citizens of nations in crisis

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November 2020

“Dying to be Free-a Healing Guide for Families after Suicide”

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.

 

 

 

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