Description
Suicide presents challenges that threaten to overwhelm the physical, emotional and spiritual
well-being of survivors, leaving them to experience isolation, shame, and the painful struggle to
redefine themselves in its aftermath. While it?۪s important for the therapeutic process to
address the traumatic experience, it?۪s also critical to explore the client?۪s potential for resiliency.
In this workshop, participants will explore the long-term effects of suicide on survivors,
(traumatized brain, guilt/ shame, existential shattering) while nurturing the client?۪s potential for
exploring new possibilities of healing through post-traumatic growth (PTG). Using my story as a
survivor, participants will explore how planting seeds to instill hope can make all the difference
in moving trauma survivors forward.
Presented by: Rita Schulte, M.A.
Learning Objectives
Participants will:
- Identify the three areas of impact survivors face after traumatic loss and the meaning making that’s necessary to move them toward PTG
- Identify common emotional and spiritual issues that survivors of complex trauma face, and discuss evidence-based strategies to help them rediscover personal strengths, self-compassion, and the resiliency to move forward
- Explore a list of specific strategies that foster adaptation and resiliency, including how to use somatic resourcing, remembered resources, art, writing and mindfulness to cultivate personal and spiritual growth
