January 13, 2019 9:00 pm ET  (please note change to Eastern Time!)

Marginalized: adjective

1. (of a person, group, or concept) treated as insignificant or peripheral.

Unpleasant word. Unpleasant feeling.

The aftermath of a catastrophic event – a tornado, a hurricane, an earthquake, tends to bring out the best in humanity. Neighborhoods and entire communities come together as never before. Complete strangers reach out to help each other through the challenging, emotional darkness.

But when the perceived catastrophe is a personal tornado, hurricane or psychological earthquake as the result of a loved one’s suicide attempt or other suicidal/self-harm crisis, there is no outpouring of compassion and support.

You stand alone. Terrified. Silent.

And as the impacted friends and families of suicide attempt survivors and others who experience any suicidal crisis, you struggle to find your way free from the anxiety and stress, darkness and anger, frustration and a sense of helplessness – crushed by a sense of being dismissed and marginalized when you do reach out for help to find the path to freedom from that paralyzing fear.

Welcome to the world of millions of emotionally #impacted families. In July 2014, the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention published The Way Forward: Pathways to hope, recovery and wellness with insights from lived experience which included the caution that we need to create programs to support the “care-givers” – aka #ImpactedFamily of attempt survivors. A local project in southeastern Massachusetts began in December 2013 before that paper was released. A self-care workbook and companion workshop were developed for #impactedfamily – Is This the Night: Finding Inner Peace during the post-production of the attempt survivor documentary, A Voice at the Table (2014).

 There was no national response. There is now.

Join us for the launch of #SPSMCHAT 2.0 Reboot! Join the Call to Action! And learn who are #impactedfamily members. What resources exist? Why should you care? Because the odds are, that until we turn the tide of suicide attempts & losses, you may one day find yourself sharing the journey with other #impactedfamily…

Annemarie Matulis chairs the American Association of Suicidology’s new Impacted Family & Friends Committee (IFFC). She is an #impactedfamily member, a loss survivor, a trainer and educator, curriculum developer, public speaker, author, documentary producer, Founder of A Voice at the Table, the movement – her public health advocacy and activism span more than 30 years and include domestic violence, substance abuse and suicide prevention.

Did you know that there are some new kids on the block at the #SPSMCHAT 2.0 Reboot! table? Joining Annemarie Matulis in this adventure is Tracey Pacheco Medeiros.

Tracey is a suicide attempt survivor who loves motorcycles and Minions. As a certified peer specialist, she shares her lived experience with those who are voluntarily admitted  to  a crisis response unit in southeastern MA. An avid gamer, public speaker, and youth advocate, Tracey is also the co-author of a self-published, conversational memoir, Embracing Imperfection, the healing journey of a suicide attempt survivor that she dedicated to teens. Tracey co-developed and facilitates a monthly wellness check workshop series that brings attempt and loss survivors further along the healing path to the same table. An AAS member, she was awarded 3rd place in the 2017 Paul Quinnett Essay Contest with her “Wicked Awesome Wish List.”