a trusted adult friend, a counselor, or find a support group.
There is only one you. If you left us, we'd be robbed of your potential, all your gifts, and what you could contribute to suicide prevention.
Crisis Hotlines
If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, please reach out.
US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 (By July 26, 2022, it will be simplified to the 3-digit crisis number 988.)
US and Canada Crisis Text Line: Text “help” to 741-741
US Trevor Project Crisis line for LGBTQ Youth: 1-866-488-7386
US Trevor Project Crisis text line for LGBTQ Youth 678-678
US Trans Lifeline 1-877-565-8860
Canada 1-833-456-4566
United Kingdom 116 123
Australia 13 11 14
For other countries: Search “suicide crisis lines”
UK: text 85258 | Ireland: text 50808
About the Authors
Anne Moss Rogers is an emotionally naked® TEDx storyteller, the 2019 YWCA Pat Asch Fellow for social justice, NAMI Virginia board member, and author of the award-winning book Diary of a Broken Mind. Despite her family's best efforts, Anne Moss's 20-year-old son, Charles, died by suicide June 5, 2015, after many years of struggle with anxiety, depression, and ultimately addiction. She chronicled her family's tragedy in a newspaper article that went viral and her blog, Emotionally Naked, has had millions of visitors. After receiving a message from a young lady who wrote that one of her articles saved her life, she sold her digital marketing business and followed her purpose of motivational speaking on the subjects of suicide, substance misuse, coping strategies, and grief. Originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina, and a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in journalism, she currently lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, Randy. Her surviving son, Richard, works in Los Angeles as a screenwriter and filmmaker.
Kimberly O'Brien, PhD, LICSW, is a clinical social worker in the Sports Medicine Division and Female Athlete Program at Boston Children's Hospital, as well as a research scientist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She received her BA from Harvard University, MSW and PhD from Boston College, and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University. Her research focuses on the development and testing of brief interventions for suicidal adolescents with and without substance use and their families, with an additional specialization on interventions that utilize technology. She has co-authored over 50 articles and book chapters related to adolescent suicide, substance use, and mental health, and was awarded the Young Investigator Research Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in 2019. She is also the founder and director of Unlimited Resilience, LLC, a private mental health practice for athletes by athletes.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to all who accepted our invitation to be interviewed for this book. These life-saving contributions, examples, and sharing are what makes this book a truly helpful guide. Special thanks to a few we emailed, reinterviewed, and called multiple times to review some of the worksheets and scripts, and to provide extra materials and images, including Jennifer Hamilton, LEP; Jessica Chock-Goldman, LCSW; Jim McCauley, LICSW; James Biela, LCSW; Desmond Herzfelder; and Lea Karnath.
We are grateful to the following people for the contributions and content from interviews conducted for this book (listed in alphabetical order).
Quoted Interviewees:
Melissa K. Ackley, LCSW (She/Her/Hers), Prevention Services Manager, Chesterfield Mental Health Support Services, Chesterfield Suicide Prevention Coalition
James Biela, LCSW (He/Him/His), Itinerant School Social Worker, Lower Kuskokwim School District, Bethel, Alaska
Sam Brinton (They/Them/Theirs), Vice President of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project, Rockville, Maryland, TheTrevorProject.org
Doris (She/Her/Hers), Science Teacher, Colorado Public School
Dawn Gallagher (She/Her/Hers), Mother of Kiernan Gallagher who approved Kiernan's written excerpt about her father's suicide
Kiernan Gallagher, 14, middle school student, suicide loss survivor, Ocean, New Jersey
Jessica Chock-Goldman, LCSW (She/Her/Hers), Doctoral Candidate, School Social Worker, Stuyvesant High School, Manhattan, New York, JessicaChockGoldman.com
Jennifer Hamilton (She/Her/Hers), School Psychologist, Director of Psychology and Counseling at Noble and Greenough, Independent School, Dedham, Massachusetts
Desmond Herzfelder (He/Him/His), Student Mental Wellness Club Founder, Psychology Major at Harvard University, Graduate of Noble and Greenough, Independent High School, Dedham, Massachusetts
Lea Karnath (She/Her/Hers), SOS Signs of Suicide Senior Program Manager, MindWise Innovations, SOSSignsofSuicide.org
Michelle Fortunado-Kewin, LCSW, PPSC (She/Her/Siya), School Social Worker and Program Coordinator, San Francisco Unified School District
Nora (She/Her/Hers), Ninth Grade Dean, East Coast High School
Scott LoMurray (He/Him/His), Executive Director, Sources of Strength, SourcesofStrength.org
James Mazza, PhD (He/Him/His), Professor, University of Washington, Author of DBT Skills in Schools, MazzaConsulting.com
Jim McCauley, LICSW (He/Him/His), Co-Founder and Associate Director of Riverside Trauma Center, Needham Heights, Massachusetts, RiversideTraumaCenter.org
Sheila McElwee (She/Her/Hers), Chemistry Teacher, Noble and Greenough, Independent School, Dedham, Massachusetts
Keygan Miller, MEd (They/Them/Theirs), Senior Advocacy Associate at The Trevor Project, Washington, DC, TheTrevorProject.org
Mr. Nigro, Public High School Teacher, World History II and Economics, Chester, Virginia
Tammy Ozolins (“Ms. Oz”), Middle School Health/PE Teacher, Pocahontas Middle School, Henrico, Virginia
Shirley Ramsey (She/Her/Hers), Founder of Virginia Chapter AFSP, Retired School Counselor, More Than Sad Presenter, Co-Facilitator of suicide loss support group
Mike
