Trauma Specialist Dr. Kathleen carterMartinez Brings Expertise a 2nd Time to Groundbreaking Suicide Prevention Series

Dr. Kathleen carterMartinez

Frozen in Time

A Voice at the Table

Series producers Annemarie Matulis & Tracey Medeiros

The Crisis of Suicide: Living in the Aftermath of Trauma, Frozen In Time - The Complexity of Murder-Suicide

What is trauma? How does trauma look? How does trauma feel? What is it like to live with trauma? Do we always understand that “we are living with trauma? Does trauma change us?”
— Dr. Kathleen carterMartinez
TAUNTON, MA, UNITED STATES, June 9, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Crises of Suicide is a “complex ball of wax” that has yet to be completely understood. The one common thread that is consistent with respect to understanding suicide attempts, murder-suicide, and the loss of life by suicide, is that of trauma. How can we hope to understand those who struggle to live and survive in a life that is deeply embedded in the Crisis of Suicide if we do not recognize “trauma” as an essential element in this experience? How can we hope to understand what it means to be a family member who has become the “First Responder in Residence” to provide care, intervention, and support for a loved one who struggles if we do not understand that the impact of trauma is on everyone in the family?

Dr. Kathleen carterMartinez, D.A.A.E.T.S., CRT, CSA is a Compassionate Mindful Life Recovery Practitioner, a trained trauma specialist, crises of suicide specialist and clinical psychotherapist with 25 plus years’ experience in hospitals, psychiatric emergency service, emergency departments and behavioral health systems. She is the NY State A Voice at the Table/Impacted Family & Friends Coordinator. As a content expert in compassionate suicide awareness, she advocates for lifelong recovery from personal traumatic events for those who struggle to live in the challenging realm of consistent suicidal thinking. She advocates for impacted family members who serve in the role of the “First Responder in Residence” who provide intervention and support for their loved ones who live within the crises of suicide. Dr. carterMartinez is a Diplomate with the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. She holds a Doctoral Degree (Ed.D.) from Nova Southeastern University in Healthcare. A master’s degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Clinical Psychology. A bachelor’s degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Forensic Psychology as well as an associate degree in Law Enforcement where upon post-graduation she was the first woman on a 95-man private industrial police department. She is a member of the Impacted Family & Friends Division of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS).

The United States is still reeling from the trauma of mass shootings. Within that violence were a number of murder-suicides that left too many voices still unheard, too many stories still untold, and too many families buried under neighborhood, community and national prejudice,
discrimination and judgement. It’s long passed time to bring this public health issue out of the shadows and shatter that taboo laden silence. Talk saves lives, so let’s talk. In response and for the second time, Dr. KC will livestream a second educational conversation on Thursday, June 10th, 7:00 pm EDT titled: “Trauma: Frozen in Time.” The description is that “When we begin the journey from trauma to healing, we find ourselves at the very moment in time when the traumatic event has ended. We find ourselves at the moment in time when the aftermath of trauma began. We found ourselves in a place we never wanted to go, to a place that we never asked to be.”

In the first of her three livestreams on May 15th, Dr. KC’s focus was on building a basic understanding of “what Trauma is” because the basics are very important. “We need a foundation that we can build upon going forward, but first, we must create a solid theoretical and practical foundation. What is trauma? How does trauma look? How does trauma feel? What is it like to live with trauma? Do we always understand that “we are living with trauma?” Does trauma change us? How would we know? What can we do?”

Dr. KC began to thread the needle to create the connection between trauma and the crisis of suicide with her May 15th session. Within this 3-part series, there is a very unique opportunity to shed light on the presence of trauma within the realm of the crisis of suicide and the family that is affected. It is through this awareness that she will show the pathway to recovery from living in the aftermath of trauma.

When asked how she sees herself as a trauma specialist, Dr. KC responded, “First and foremost I am a compassionate listener and a therapeutic storyteller. Taken together with my work as a Compassionate Trauma Recovery Practitioner is my passion for working with those fractured spirits who have been wounded by personal traumatic events in a manner that invites all, on the journey from trauma to healing through empathy and compassionate trauma recovery, always holding space for the Voices of Silence among us.”

Dr. KC’s June 10th livestream follows a June 7th 90-minute livestream roundtable conversation moderated by Kevin Hines, an award-winning brain/mental health and suicide prevention activist, entrepreneur, multiple award-winning filmmaker, best-selling author, international educator and speaker who reaches audiences with his story of an unlikely survival and his strong will to live. Dr. KC and the other presenters in this 8-part groundbreaking series on “The Complexity of murder-Suicide” came together to identify areas of action and next steps to tear down the barriers of judgement around murder-suicide and marginalization of the families impacted. We must do better. Suicide prevention is everyone’s business. We must bring this public health topic out of the whispering shadows of discrimination and prejudice (aka stigma) into the light to save lives. To achieve that goal, we need more people willing to step up and join the conversation.

Dr. carterMartinez will wrap up the 8-part series with the June 10th “The Trauma of Suicide: Frozen in Time” and another on June 24th, 7:00pm.,“Trauma: Fractured Spirits – How do traumatic events happen in our lives?” on June 24th.

To access Dr. carterMartinez’s livestream on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xevi7tp0VtM

Contact: director@avoiceatthetable.org for the links (YouTube and Facebook).

For more details on the additional webinars and livestreams:
http://www.avoiceatthetable.org/tapestryofvoices.html

“The Complexity of Murder-Suicide – A Tapestry of Voices” is a production of A Voice at the Table, a grassroots movement for families impacted by the suicidal experiences of loved ones.
Producers are Annemarie Matulis and Tracey Medeiros.


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 A Voice at the Table: A Voice at the Table http://www.avoiceatthetable.org/index.html was founded in 2014 as a companion to the documentary, A Voice at the Table https://vimeo.com/92330799 - A call to action to bring the lived experience voices of suicide attempt survivors to all tables within suicide prevention, intervention and postvention. As a grassroots movement, it has since expanded and become the national "home base" forum for the family & friends emotionally impacted & traumatized by the suicidal experiences of loved ones. A movement: a group of people working together to advance their shared ideas. A forum: a place, meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular concern can be exchanged, in this case, nationally and internationally. For more information: director@avoiceatthetable.org

Annemarie Matulis
A Voice at the Table
director@avoiceatthetable.org
Visit us on social media:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn