This webinar will walk teachers through what to do after a student in the school community has died by suicide.

PowerPoint Slides(PDF)

Further Reading

DVDs

B.C. Council for Families. (2011). When you are left to live: A documentary. [DVD]. [Vancouver, BC]: B.C. Council for Families. Also can be accessed here: http://www.bccf.ca/professionals/Left-2-Live
Through interview and discussion, the video follows the personal journeys of several BC teens who have experienced tragic loss through suicide. The five-part video can be online and a facilitator’s guide with suggestions for setting up discussions before and after viewing the video is available for download.

The Dougy Center. Understanding suicide, supporting children. [DVD]. Portland, OR: The Dougy Center.
Provides insight on the emotions and experiences that children, teens and families affected by a suicide death often go through, and offers ways to help. To preview this DVD, please visit the streaming page.

Websites

Klinic Community Health Centre. After a suicide attempt: A guide for family and friends. Accessed October 21, 2014. https://suicideprevention.ca/resource/after-a-suicide-attempt-a-guide-for-family-and-friends/

Klinic Community Health Centre. After a suicide: A practical and personal guide for survivors. Accessed October 21, 2014. https://klinic.mb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/After-a-Suicide-A-Practical-and-Personal-Guide-for-Survivors.pdf

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2012). Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for High Schools. HHS Publication No. SMA-12-4669. Rockville, MD: Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Accessed October 21, 2014 https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/SAMHSA_Digital_Download/sma12-4669.pdf

Publications

Bartik, W., Maple, M., Edwards, H. & Kiernan, M. (2013). Adolescent survivors after suicide: Australian young people’s bereavement narratives. Crisis 34 (3): 211-217.
Narrative inquiry methodology was used to analyze in-depth interviews with 10 young people. Four themes emerged: meaning making, feeling guilt, risky coping behavior, and relating to friends following suicide loss.

Buus, N., Caspersen, J., Hansen, R. Stenager, E. & Fleischer, E. (2014). Experiences of parents whose sons or daughters had (had) attempted suicide. Journal of Advanced Nursing 70 (4): 823-32.
Being the parent of a child who attempts suicide meant managing a life-threatening situation and the additional moral stigma. Parents were scared of a repeated attempt and would generally interpret the children’s acts as ‘suicide attempts’ and not as ‘self-harm’.

Dyregrov, K. (2009). How do the young suicide survivors wish to be met by psychologists? A user study. Omega 59 (3): 221-238.
Explores the young people’s experiences with and wishes for help from psychologists, and shows that the young bereaved do not receive the psychological assistance they wish for and need. Stresses the need to listen to young people expressing how they want to be approached in the wake of a suicide.

Erbacher, T.A., Singer, J.B. & Poland S. (2015). Suicide in schools: A practitioner’s guide to multi-level prevention, assessment, intervention, and postvention. New York, NY: Routledge.
This book provides the exact kind of practical information school staff need to know, from how to tell a parent his or her child is contemplating a suicidal act to what the school staff member’s responsibility is to the child, the parent, and to the community to address suicidal risk. When combined with the detailed case examples that really bring an extra dimension to the step-by-step guides, this book becomes a must-read for any professional working in a school environment.

Fineran, K. (2012). Suicide postvention in schools: The role of the school counselor. Journal of Professional Counseling: Practice, Theory, and Research. 39 (2):14-28. Accessed October 21, 2014 https://www.txca.org/images/Journal/Volume39Number2.Summer-Fall2012.pdf#page=20
An effective postvention plan may reduce the risk of future student suicides, ensure self-care practices for postvention team members including the school counselor, minimize negative impact on students and school personnel, and promote healing of the entire school community.

Jackson, D., Peter, K. & Murphy, G. (2013). Suicide of a close family member through the eyes of a child: A narrative case study report. Journal of Child Health Care: 1-9. DOI: 10.1177/1367493513519297.
The survivor remains profoundly affected by the suicide of his uncle and the events surrounding it, experiencing flashbacks and intrusive thoughts. The report highlights the need to recognize the acute and longer term needs of children affected by suicidality and suicide.

Jordan, J. & McIntosh, J. (eds.) (2011). Grief after suicide: Understanding the consequences and caring for the survivors. New York: Routledge.
Contains “The impact of suicide on children and adolescents” by Julie Cerel and Rosalie S. Aldrich. P. 81-92; and “Grief counseling with child and adolescent survivors of parental suicidal deaths” by Nancy Boyd Webb, p. 225-248.

Melhem, N., Day, N., Shear, M., Day, R., Reynolds, C. & Brent, D. (2004). Predictors of complicated grief among adolescents exposed to a peer’s suicide. Journal of Loss and Trauma 9 (1): 21-34.
Examines the predictors of complicated grief, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder among adolescents exposed to the suicide of a peer.

All materials in this list are in the CSP Library or available online.