Neighbor to Neighbor: A series of articles to raise awareness of suicide prevention and support resources available in our community. Sponsored by your local Hope & Resiliency Coalition.

The Hope & Resiliency Coalition is a group of committed community members who gather regularly to support the both enhancement of suicide prevention as well as those impacted by suicide loss. We sponsor this series of articles to invite our neighbors to take advantage of the services and supports available in our community to assist those struggling with any number of challenges that could include hopelessness, loss, substance misuse or mental health related concerns.

Since forming in the summer of 2016, the Coalition has hosted multiple community and professional events in collaboration with others: Congregational Church of Boothbay Harbor, Boothbay Harbor Rotary Club, Boothbay Harbor Region Chamber of Commerce, Boothbay Harbor Police Department, The Family Care Center, The Community Center, Boothbay Region Community Resource Council, Miles & St. Andrews Home Health & Hospice, New Hope for Women, Coulombe Center for Health Improvement, St. Columba’s Episcopal Church, LincolnHealth, as well as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI Maine) and Maine Center for Disease Control.

This is the sixth in a series of articles intended to share resources which are available to our neighbors.

Six-week Survivors of Suicide Support Group to start June 1

The period of shock and disbelief that follows a death by suicide can extend for months or for many years. After a suicide, families and loved ones often begin an endless search to answer painful questions: “Why did he choose suicide?” “Why didn’t we know how she was feeling?” “Was he trying to punish us?” Family members frequently feel deeply isolated and experience a complex form of grief, which may include intense feelings of guilt and self-reproach. Last year, in response to a request from the Hope and Resiliency Coalition, Miles & St. Andrews Home Health & Hospice (MSAHHH) offered three support groups for family members who have lost a loved one to suicide. The first six-week group was offered last year in the Coulombe Center for Health Improvement and it quickly filled with residents from throughout Midcoast Maine.

The support group’s name, “Survivors of Suicide” was chosen because it is understood that the emotional survival of group members depends upon how well they learn to navigate the bewildering course of healing after suicide loss. All of MSAHHH survivors of suicide groups are co-facilitated by a professional and a volunteer who have extensive training and experience in this specialized field. The role of the facilitators is to help guide members as they develop a caring support network and learn healthy coping and healing skills.

Medical Social Worker, Lisa Hammer who serves as one of the group facilitators said, “Group members soon discover that others in the group have similar problems, concerns, feelings, and experiences. They also learn they are not alone, and that they share a very important part about their survivor experience: how their lost loved one died. This information bonds them together and it creates an opening and a safe space to share concrete ways to cope with problems and offer hope that the pain will lessen with time. The sessions have been truly profound and my co-facilitator Don Weatherbee and I are spellbound at the end of every night. There is such tremendous growth and healing that goes on.”

MSAHH will be offering a fourth six-week session for family members of the victims of suicide beginning on June 1 from 6 to 7:30p.m. in Damariscotta. All of their support groups are provided free of charge. For more information, or to register please call 563-4592 before May 25.