Survivors of suicide resources

This page contains resources for people that have lost a loved one to suicide, or school or a community struggling to cope with a suicide loss. These are some of the many resources available designed to help survivors of suicide loss address their challenging practical and emotional needs.

LOSSteams (Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors)

The LOSSteam (Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors) is a volunteer group of suicide loss survivors who are called to the scene of a suicide to provide comfort, support, and local resources to the family and friends of the deceased. The overall goal of the program is for survivors to seek help as soon as possible after their loss.

LOSSTeams

• LOSSTeam Metrowest
  Barbara Brunzell
  Chapter Founder & Team Leader​
  [e-mail] or [phone]

Metro Boston

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
(AFSP) - Greater Boston Chapter
1-800-979-AFSP (2377)
[e-mail]
www.afsp.org

Survivor Outreach Program

Through AFSP's Survivor Outreach Program, trained local volunteers are on hand to meet with newly-bereaved survivors and their families, listen with compassion and offer reassurance that surviving a suicide loss is possible, recommend helpful things to read, provide information about support groups and other local resources.

National Survivors of Suicide Day

Each year in November, over 250 simultaneous conferences for survivors of suicide loss take place throughout the U.S. and around the world. This unique network of healing conferences helps survivors connect with others who have survived the tragedy of suicide loss, and provides an opportunity for them to express and share their experience.

• Samaritans, Inc.
  With locations in Boston and Framingham
  41 West St. 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02111
  Business line: [phone]
  Samaritan’s Statewide Toll Free Line: 1-877-870-HOPE (4673)
  Samarateens: 1-800-252-8336
  24 hrs. Helplines: [phone] or [phone]
  www.samaritanshope.org

Grief Support Services

Safe Place is an open group of caring people who have experienced the loss of a loved one to suicide. SafePlace is not a professional therapy group; rather it is peer support. SafePlace provides an atmosphere of acceptance for exploring feelings that are often not understood by others. It offers a chance to share helpful resources, and to give and get support through the long grief process.

Samaritans in Boston offers virtual SafePlace groups every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening via Zoom from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM and an in person meeting in Boston the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of every month from 7:00 PM until 8:30 PM.

To register for either group please visit Samaritans' Request Grief Support Services.

The Survivor to Survivor Network is a program in which trained volunteers who have lost a loved one to suicide are available to visit those who are experiencing a new loss to listen, to talk and to provide support and resources. Volunteers who have had time to regain their strength and balance after a suicide loss are carefully screened and trained by Samaritans to offer trustworthy support to those who most need it. They visit in pairs, offering emotional strength and practical information.

Interested in more information? Contact the Director of Grief Support Services at: [e-mail].

• The Good Grief Program
  Boston Medical Center
  91 East Concord Street
  Boston, MA 02118
  Phone: [phone]
  Contact: www.bmc.org/programs/good-grief-program#contact-information
  Visit BMC's Good Grief Program for details
  Based on the premise that with crisis comes an opportunity to develop, strengthen and master coping skills, our mission is to train adult professionals, support families and children so that they may become resilient in the face of loss. We can help in a number of ways. Please call us to find out more about our program.
• The Children’s Room
  1210 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington 02476.
  Tel. [phone]
  Visit Children's Room for more information
  Contact: [e-mail]
  The Children’s Room helps grieving children, teens and families to go on living fully. They serve families from over 75 cities and towns in Massachusetts. They provide education for teachers, counselors, youth workers and other professionals about how children and teens grieve.

Southeast

• Samaritans of Fall River/New Bedford
  PO Box 1333
  627 State Road
  Westport, MA 02790
  Business Line: [phone]
  Toll free: [phone]
  Statewide Toll free: (877) 870-HOPE (4673)
  Visit Samaritans of Fall River for more information

Safe Place is a peer support group of caring people who have experienced, and are still experiencing, the pain of a suicide. It provides an atmosphere of acceptance for exploring all the emotion and feelings that are often not understood by others. Safe Place offers a chance to share helpful resources, and to give and get support through the long grief process.

Meets the first and third Wednesday of each month.

Cape Cod

• The Samaritans on Cape Cod and the Islands, Inc.
  P.O. Box 65, Falmouth, MA 02541
  E-mail Address: [e-mail]
  Web Address: www.capesamaritans.org
  Crisis Lines:
  [phone]
  1-800-893-9900 (Toll Free)
  Statewide Toll-Free Number:
  (877) 870-HOPE (4673)
  Business Office:
  [phone]

Safe Place is a support group for those who have lost someone to suicide. The facilitators of this group are Samaritan trained and are suicide survivors themselves. Safe Place is a place for dealing with a unique grief that is often not understood by others. It honors and respects the need of those who have lost someone to suicide, it provides unconditional emotional support and it helps survivors gain strength and courage from one another. It is confidential, ongoing, and free to participants.

Ongoing Safe Harbor Support Group on Nantucket and Safe Place Support Groups at Falmouth Hospital and Hyannis Youth and Community Center. Call [phone] for details.

Western Massachusetts

• Forastiere Family Funeral Home
  220 North Main Street
  East Longmeadow, MA 01028
  Contact: Mary Pat McMahon
  Phone: [phone]
  Peer-led support groups mainly for survivors of suicide, operating free of charge, meet twice monthly, on the first and third Mondays of the month from 6:45–9 p.m.
• Hospice Care in the Berkshires
  877 South Street, Suite 1W
  Pittsfield, MA 01201
  Phone: [phone]
  Fax: [phone]
  www.hcib.org
  Various support groups are available with professional leadership at no cost. The types of bereavement groups and the number of meetings per month vary according to need. Groups are available for the loss of spouses, children and more. One-on-one sessions are also available. Please call or visit our website for more information.
• No More Silence Massachusetts
  Contact name: Terri Tracy
  Phone: [phone]
  Email: [e-mail]
  Meetings last Wednesday of each month at 7–8:30 p.m. We are a facilitator trained peer led support group for all adults 18+ and who are suicide loss survivors. Meetings will have people in all stages of their loss. Address location of support group varies, email for intake form and location of monthly support group.
• The Garden: A Center for Grieving Children and Teens
  168 Industrial Drive, #1
  Northampton, MA 01060
  Phone: [phone]
  [e-mail]
  www.vnaandhospice.org
  www.cooleydickinson.org/programs-services/vna-hospice/the-garden
  To learn more about The Garden, contact Shelly Bathe Lenn at The Garden at [phone] or email us: [e-mail]
  The Garden c/o Shelly Bathe Lenn
  168 Industrial Rd.
  Northampton, MA 01060
  The Garden provides support to grieving young people ages 5-18 years, and their families following the death of someone close. There are no limits on how, where, or when the death occurred. Grieving families participate in small groups on Sunday afternoons and can join a program in the fall or spring.
  The Garden also partners with area schools to support grieving students and staff. All programming is free of charge, but it is not a free program to run. We rely 100% on donations from individuals, and businesses.
• Suicide Loss Support Group
  Healing after Suicide Loss
  (In-person and on zoom)
  Please contact us before attending: [e-mail]
  Contact
  Bertha Connelley
  [phone]
  In-person Meeting Location:
  Unitarian Universalist Church
  175 Wendell Ave
  Pittsfield, MA 01201
  Meeting Day(s)/Meeting Time:
  FIRST Tuesday of every month,
  6:00–7:30 p.m.
  Facilitator: Peer
  Fee: None
  Zoom Meeting:
  Contact for [e-mail]
  Meeting Day(s)/Meeting Time:
  THIRD Tuesday of every month,
  6–7:30 p.m.
  Facilitator: Peer
  Fee: None

Northeast

• Family Services of the Merrimack Valley
  A program of Family Service, Inc.
  430 North Canal Street, Lawrence, MA 01840
  Business Line: [phone]
  Confidential Crisis Hotline:
  1-866-912-HOPE (toll free)
  OR [phone]
  Teen Help Line:
  [phone] (TEEN)
  Samaritans Statewide Help Line:
  1-877-870-4673 (HOPE)
  www.fsmv.org
  Email to: [e-mail]
  Samaritans of Merrimack Valley, a program of Family Service, Inc, offers the following suicide survivor services:

Safe Place Support Group for Adults

Safe Place is a suicide survivor support group for adults (over 18) who have lost a loved one to suicide. Safe Place is a place for individuals to grieve, share difficulties and feelings, and find support from others who are grieving in the wake of a suicide death. Meetings are facilitated by a peer suicide survivor and are confidential and free.

https://fsmv.org/suicide-prevention/support/

Statewide

• Hospice and Palliative Care Federation of Massachusetts
  The hospices listed on this website offer bereavement care for parents grieving the loss of a child and/or bereavement programs for grieving children.
  Please contact the individual hospice for program details and schedules.
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
  (AFSP) - Eastern Division Office
  PO Box 129, Hudson MA 01749
  Phone: [phone]

AFSP is a leading national not-for-profit organization dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research, education and advocacy, and to reaching out to people with mental disorders and those impacted by suicide.

National

• The Compassionate Friends
  PO Box 3696
  Oak Brook, Illinois 60522
  Toll free number: 1-877-969-0010
  www.compassionatefriends.org
  Compassionate Friends is a non-profit, self-help support organization with chapters in Massachusetts offering understanding and friendship to grieving families following the death of a child of any age from any cause. Contact TCF’s National Office at 877-969-0010 or email [e-mail]. They will provide a customized packet of bereavement materials and provide contact information to the nearest TCF chapter, one where the parents, siblings, and grandparents can gather with others who understand, because they, too, are mourning the death of a child.
• SOS: A Handbook for Survivors of Suicide
  Written by Jeffrey Jackson
  The handbook is written by a suicide survivor and can be downloaded free of charge from the
  American Association of Suicidology at www.suicidology.org
• Reaching Out After Suicide: What’s Helpful and What’s Not
  Linda H. Kilburn, M.S.W. Available from KP Associates, LLC, [e-mail], 2008. The author, a clinical hospice social worker and survivor of her daughter’s suicide, offers practical advice for well-meaning friends and family who want to reach out and be supportive after a suicide, but aren’t sure what to do or say.