Seeking Hope

Surviving suicide loss is often about telling the story. Each person who dies by suicide leaves behind a life shared with loved ones and a series of events that led to the suicide. Seeking Hope: Stories of the Suicide Bereaved features the stories of fourteen people in their own words of the losses that have forever changed their lives. These stories describe the endurance of traveling through grief. In addition, the proceeds from the book benefit a fund for suicide bereavement research at the American Association of Suicidology. The goal is that the stories shared here will help others who also must travel the same journey seeking hope after a devastating loss.

Surviving suicide loss is often about telling the story. Each person who dies by suicide leaves behind a life shared with loved ones and a series of events that led to the suicide. Seeking Hope: Stories of the Suicide Bereaved features the stories of fourteen people in their own words of the losses that have forever changed their lives. These stories describe the endurance of traveling through grief. In addition, the proceeds from the book benefit a fund for suicide bereavement research at the American Association of Suicidology. The goal is that the stories shared here will help others who also must travel the same journey seeking hope after a devastating loss.

Michelle Linn-Gust, Ph.D., is an internationally known author and speaker about suicide prevention and postvention issues as well as the importance of dog companionship, particularly after loss. She is the author of several books including Ginger’s Gift: Hope and Healing Through Dog Companionship. Her first book, based on the suicide of her younger sister Denise, Do They Have Bad Days in Heaven? Surviving the Suicide Loss of a Sibling, inspired siblings around the world in their survival after a loved one’s suicide. She is the Past President of the American Association of Suicidology. Michelle lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she enjoys floating around her swimming pool with her four dogs: Chaco, Nestle, Hattie, and Gidget. Read more about Michelle at www.inspirebymichelle.com.

Julie Cerel, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist on the faculty in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, attended Kenyon College for her undergraduate degree and The Ohio State University for graduate school. She completed a clinical internship and fellowship at West Virginia University in child clinical psychology and a post-doctoral fellowship in suicide prevention at University of Rochester. She has been active in suicide prevention for over a decade with most of her work focusing on suicide bereavement and postvention. She is the author or co-author of more than twenty academic publications and her research has been funded by the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Nation’s Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), and Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN USA).