Becoming a Community of Hope with the Anderson Mental Health Collaborative

Anderson Mental Health Collaborative welcomes Denise Meine-Graham, from Postvention Consulting, and Dr. Jennifer Wright-Berryman, an associate professor at UC’s College of Allied Health Sciences and an expert in suicidology, to Anderson Center at 6 p.m. on April 11, 2024. AMHC invites our community to learn how becoming a community of hope for those bereaved by suicide is a powerful resource in preventing suicide. Denise Meine-Graham founded LOSS Community Services after losing her son in 2012 and found the support of a fellow suicide loss survivor to be invaluable. She now serves as the co-owner of Postvention Consulting, LLC, and Director Emerita of LOSS Community Services, to equip and support fellow postvention champions in developing and implementing suicide postvention programs locally and at a state level throughout the world. Dr. Wright-Berryman is a frequent speaker on community and connection as the most important protective factors when it comes to preventing suicide.

Postvention is counseling and other social care given after the experience of a traumatic event, especially to those directly affected by a suicide loss. Denise’s personal experience was a catalyst in her leading postvention care for more than 5,000 loss survivors through support groups, remembrance events, companioning, and suicide postvention and prevention education. She has seen first hand how no single organization can provide hope after suicide; it takes the effort of an entire community, working together, to truly be an installation of hope to those who have lost someone to suicide. 

People easily understand the need to provide comfort and support to family and friends after the suicide of a loved one, but they may not realize how many others are affected by that death, or for how long afterward. Denise Meine-Graham will share the role of “postvention” not only as a response to what has happened, but also as protection against and preparation for what could happen, and Dr. Wright-Berryman will offer her expertise around the importance of paying attention to people who might be struggling and creating connections to foster belongingness, trust, security, well-being, and positive experiences - all of which can lift people out of despair. You can learn more at www.andersonmentalhealthcollaborative.com and you can register for the event by clicking here.