In this 3-part conversation, "The Cost of Medical System Failures,” NYT best-selling author Andrew Solomon, suicide loss survivor Shirlee Zane and psychologist Dr. April Foreman tell us why the medical system is failing our society due to cost and stigma.
Director Lisa Klein was the guest on a recent Sally Spencer-Thomas podcast about why storytelling is so critical in effective suicide prevention. Intimate, vulnerable, inspiring stories let us know we are not alone. Stories of recovery allow us to see a road map before us that leads us out of our despair. To listen to [...]
When I tell people what I do for a living, I typically get one of three reactions: #1 “Oh wow! I could NEVER do THAT!”; #2 “So, do you get sexual callers?”; or, most commonly, #3 Silence. The conversation is stopped in its tracks. I am one of those mythical creatures that works on a [...]
I tried to kill myself in the summer of 2006. I was 23. I spent a month deeply entrenched in an exhaustive cycle of breaking up and getting back together with Emma*, the girl I'd loved for three years. She was cheating on me, but neither of us could sever ties with the other.
In this 3-part conversation, "Having Hope and Suicide Prevention,” psychologist Dr. William Schmitz Jr., suicide loss survivor, Iden McCollum, and psychologist, Dr. April Foreman, talk about moving past the "suicide zone", and seeing hope beyond pain.
On a chilly evening in late March of 2012, I walked into a room and sat down amongst a group of strangers. The only thing we had in common was we all had lost someone who died by suicide.
When I was asked to speak at Brandon Toh’s memorial service, I had no idea of the journey it would take me on. The speech that I wrote ended up inspiring a full-length production called "Ceiling in the Floor, ” a theater/music/dance piece that tells the story of our friendship and features his incredible music. [...]
Director Lisa Klein was interviewed recently for an article on Mashable.com: “13 Reasons Why’ proves that good intentions aren’t enough when it comes to portraying suicide.” […]
My flip phone says 3 missed calls 2 from home 1 from him I assume her phone died so she used his to call me and I quickly relive the night before up in the wee morning hours listening to her tears telling her it'll be okay get to yoga center yourself you only want to be with someone who [...]
Layer One - Lies The blackness arose from the lies. The layers of blackness slowly turned to grays and browns. Each color representing some new form of deflection, self-preservation, or justification to make sure I never had to face the pain directly. Those layers let in peaks of light and, at very rare times, happiness. [...]
