Support Group

Jeanne Adams,-SOS Group Facilitator- January 1995

About 15 years ago, the Mental Health Center's Emergency Services counselors started to contact friends and surviving family members of those who had died by suicide. To facilitate this, they made arrangements with the Coroner's Office to have access to reports of all Dane County suicides in order to contact those listed as survivors and offer supportive services. Wisely, they saw the value and need of inviting these survivors to talk with each other about their losses.

Initially, a number of families and individuals met monthly with a Mental Health Center crisis therapist. In 1982, the group started to function with a survivor as facilitator along with the crisis therapist. At this time, survivor support groups were still quite a new idea. However, this format had proven to be successful in several parts of the country.
With no set agenda, the discussion/support group provides a safe place for survivors to discuss fears, anger, sadness, guilt, future plans and challenges. The opportunity to retell the story of the suicide is helpful in working through the grief process. The uniqueness of a suicide death can be discussed with the goal of gaining surviving skills.
After using several different meeting places, the Survivors of Suicide Support group has settled into the Mental Health Center, 625 W. Washington Avenue, a few blocks from the Capitol Square. Meetings are held on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Parking is available.

Survivors may attend any time the need arises. There is no fee for participation. The lending library and other resources are specific to a suicide loss. Many people who come to the group with the question, "WHY", are able to find some comfort in discussion and the support of others. It indeed seems true that "Grief Shared is Grief Diminished."

For more information about SOS, (608) 280-2600

SOS Newsletter Article, Mental Health Center of Dane County, Inc.