WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES, March 6, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The American Association of Suicidology (AAS) is pleased to announce the release of the first in a series of resources to support emotionally impacted family and friends of loved ones who have experienced a suicidal crisis. This innovative toolkit is the result of a collaboration between A Voice at the Table and AAS’s Impacted Family and Friends Committee to address a lethal gap in resources for this marginalized population.

The purpose of the toolkit is to guide impacted family members through a personal, emotional inventory, to offer suggestions on how to better recognize one’s own behaviors and attitudes, to enhance one’s own self-care, and to better communicate with and support loved ones. This self-directed process is a new way of addressing fear-driven attitudes and behaviors to find inner peace. Is This the Night: Finding Inner Peace workshops were designed for and are dedicated to the family and friends of anyone experiencing any form of suicidal crisis.

“When the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention published The Way Forward: pathways to hope, recovery, and wellness with insights from lived experience in 2014, which expressed concern for the family of those who experience suicidal crisis and recommended that ‘coping strategies to avoid burnout, especially in consideration of their vigilance and help-giving efforts’ be developed, we felt that our outside-the-box, peer-to-peer workshop project filled this need,” said, Annemarie Matulis, A Voice at the Table Founder and Co-chair of AAS’s Impacted Family and Friends Committee. “Openly discussing the impact of a suicidal crisis on family and friends is still shrouded in prejudice and discrimination, prohibiting those who need it the most from reaching out to receive the support they deserve,” Matulis added.

In partnership with AAS and the AAS Impacted Family & Friends Committee, A Voice at the Table will provide a digital version of the workshops at www.avoiceatthetable.org for a modest fee that includes three workshop exercises and three conversational coaching videos. As noted, this is the first of several related programs that will be released by the AAS Impacted Family and Friends Committee throughout 2019 and beyond.

For the Media: Responsible reporting on suicide, including stories of hope and resilience, can prevent more suicides. Please visit the Suicide Reporting Recommendations for more information.

About AAS: Founded in 1968 by Edwin S. Shneidman, PhD, AAS promotes suicide as a research discipline, public awareness programs, public education and training for professionals and volunteers. The membership of AAS includes mental health and public health professionals, researchers, suicide prevention and crisis intervention centers, school districts, crisis center volunteers, survivors of suicide loss, attempt survivors, and a variety of lay persons who have in interest in suicide prevention. You can learn more about AAS at www.suicidology.org and www.aas365.org.

Colleen Creighton
American Association of Suicidology
202-237-2280
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