Bristol County Suicide Prevention Blends April's Awareness Campaigns for Stress and Hope Into Grief Support Session
Kitchen Table Grief Support
TAUNTON, MA, UNITED STATES, April 11, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Grief and loss do not just go away. It takes time. Coping with these emotions is very stressful. Equally important, it takes making connections with others who know exactly how you feel and are willing to share the journey and offer some glimmers of hope for recovery and healing.
Steven Palm, Bristol County (MA) suicide education and prevention community advocate and activist continues his efforts to help others transition the “Creating Hope Through Action” theme into a tangible action. The Kacie Project, a Taunton MA based non-profit is hosting monthly Kitchen Table Grief Support sessions for suicide loss survivors with collaborative support from the Bristol County Regional Suicide Prevention Coalition director Annemarie Matulis and Lived Experience Advisor Tracey Pacheco Medeiros.
The next in-person support session will be Sunday, April 14th, and continue the 2nd Sunday of each month. The time is 10:00 to 11:00am at the Trescott Gallery located at 8 Trescott St. in Taunton MA.
On his web page https://www.thekacieproject.org/ Steve notes, “My world was forever changed on July 17, 2014, when my precious daughter Kacie Elizabeth Palm died by suicide at the age of 14.”
Palm continued, “The Kacie Project was born out of the Bristol County Regional Suicide Prevention Coalition. Early on in my loss I was able to utilize the grief support services that are offered by the coalition. It was at the Kitchen Table Conversation Grief Support for Suicide loss Survivors where I met many others that had lost a loved one to suicide. I found it very helpful to be able to talk with others that knew exactly what I was going through. It was through this continuing healing process that I started to volunteer my time to suicide prevention. I have learned that talking about suicide is a big part of prevention. Sharing the story of my family’s loss is something that I need to do.”
He added, “For suicide loss survivors, grief can be all consuming and exhausting. We want to be there for others touched by suicide. It was and is extremely important to me, as well as the peer-to-peer Re-Energize & Re-Connect wellness workshops that we have available for loss survivors, ideation, and attempt survivors and their impacted family & friends. “
“Loss survivors are often uncertain about what to expect at a Kitchen Table, Matulis noted. It’s a quiet, respectful, conversational check-in. It helps to know that you can express how you feel without concerns of judgement. For some in grief, they simply need to be heard. There is no one-size-fits-all to recover and heal from losing a loved one to suicide. Some use the gym, some run, others write, some turn to art, gardening, or hosting support groups like this one. The value of the safe haven within these informal kitchen table-style conversations is to help connect with others who are walking this same path.”
“Steve mentioned the R&R workshops we developed 10 years ago,” Medeiros stated.”
“Those are for survivors further along the recovery and healing journey. The focus is not on what happened but rather on how each of us is finding and sustaining a psychological, emotional, and spiritual balance as we continue to embrace life fully and hold the memory of our loved ones close in our hearts.”.
Steve can be reached via email: Kaciesdad@yahoo.com or cell phone (508) 813-2120. https://thekacieproject.org/
For more information on any of the peer-to-peer workshops, contact Annemarie Matulis at director@avoiceatthetable.org.
Annemarie, Steve and Tracey are certified grief support facilitators.
The Bristol County Regional Coalition https://www.facebook.com/SuicidePreventionBristolCounty is one of 10 regional suicide prevention coalitions that operate under the auspices of the MADPH Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention(MCSP). https://www.mcspnow.com/
Annemarie Matulis
Bristol County (MA) Suicide Prevention Coalition
+1 5089227278
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