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| Photo credit: @ElevatingtheConvo |
On February 27th at the University of Denver a
historic event took place. Three hundred mental health service providers and
people with lived experience with suicidal thoughts and behaviors came together
at the annual “Elevating the Conversation” conference to have a better
understanding of how to make treatment more effective.
The day began with a panel of suicide attempt survivors
sharing their journeys of recovery from their darkest days. All three had
attempted as youth or young adults, and all three had been written off by their
providers as chronic and deteriorating cases. Today all three are thriving with
national level leadership positions in mental health, intact families, and
stable mental health states. They talked about how for them, “treatment” often
felt like punishment, and how compassion and peer support were often powerful
elements in their healing.
The second panel consisted of three mental health providers
– two psychologists and a psychiatrist – who talked about their lived
experience with suicide loss (family and client) and suicide attempts. Together
they addressed the myth of professional distinction so often reinforced -- “us”
and “them” – and spoke about how all of us are touched in one way or another by
suicide. They talked honestly and openly about how their lived experience
informs their clinical practice today.
Following the panels, the presenters shared three sets of
national guidelines, designed to make suicide prevention and bereavement
support more effective:
- The Zero Suicide Initiative: http://zerosuicide.actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/
- The Way Forward: Pathways to hope, recovery, and wellness with insights from lived experience http://actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/sites/actionallianceforsuicideprevention.org/files/The-Way-Forward-Final-2014-07-01.pdf
- Postvention Guidelines http://www.cliniciansurvivor.org/
Too often fear drives a gap between mental health service
providers and suicide attempt survivors. Being sued and losing a client to
suicide are two of the biggest fears providers have. Losing one’s dignity and
rights are two of the biggest fears people living with suicide intensity have.
By coming together and discussing these fears and how to move past them, a
bridge begins to emerge.
