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Bear Psychology Podcast

Dr. Anna Baranowsky is a Canadian Clinical Psychologist, CEO of the Traumatology Institute, Founder and President of the Board at Trauma Practice. She is the author of two books on trauma, numerous courses to help train professionals in trauma mental health and the developer of the Trauma Recovery Program for Self-Guided trauma care. She works with trauma survivors and those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on post-traumatic growth and recovery.

Through her work she believes that when we share, dialogue and feel supported, it provides a powerful foundation for forward movement in our understanding and the care needed. In her own words "I have found that the most profound changes occur when a person truly feels heard and understood - I like to think of it as deeply BEARING WITNESS to life evolving. We can feel incredibly stuck when we live with our fears, stressors and troubles in isolation."

Dr.Baranowsky is the host of the Bear Psychology Show, focusing on bearing witness to Evolving Mood, Mind, Health. Her talks revolve around recovery, relationships, work and life adventures.

She is dedicated to assisting organizations and health professionals who help trauma survivors to ensure a trauma informed lens of care can grow in community health networks. With that vision in 1998, the Traumatology Institute Canada (TIC) was established. TIC has trained thousands of individuals nationally and internationally.

Dr. Baranowsky serves on the board of directors of the Academy of Traumatology and is a Board Certified Expert in Traumatic Stress through the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress and is recognized by The National Center for Crisis Management. She has published in the area of Post-Traumatic Stress, Compassion Fatigue, and therapeutic relationships (the Silencing Response).

Copyright:  Dr. Anna Baranowsky, 2020

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  2. Elevating Despair - Suicide Prevention, Grief and Healing

Elevating Despair - Suicide Prevention, Grief and Healing

Aug 27, 2020

Every year on September 10th, individuals and organizations in over 50 countries connect and work together to prevent suicide, by supporting those who are struggling and to help those who are grieving. This year we will address this topic with Barbara Rubel the author of the fictional novel "But I Didn't Say Goodbye – Helping Families after a Suicide".  In her reader-friendly and well researched book, she addresses the loss of her father through suicide in a meaningful and thought provoking read, and discusses WHAT she learned in the process of grieving and healing.

Barbara will share her unique approach to suicide prevention and post-vention, on how can develop personal resiliency and reclaim hope after loss in this month's "Bear Psychology radio show" on Realityradio101.com program.

Whether you know someone who has attempted or completed suicide, or felt so much despair that you have considered it yourself ... we want to open up the dialogue today about this important topic.

Let's start by clarifying that whatever is going on in your life today, the pain of the moment can elevate us to open up and and there are many people and sources of information that can provide relief. We will begin the conversation with two numbers and resource links so we have a safe reference point right from the start:

In Canada:
https://suicideprevention.ca/WSPD 1.833.456.4566

In the U.S.:
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/  1-800-273-8255

We discuss:

  • The WHY of suicide

  • Reflect on feelings of anger, guilt and grief

  • Barbara's own experience of losing her father to suicide and how she was able to reconstruct meaning into her life after such a sudden loss

  • Learn about her unique Dual Process Model and 4 Tasks of Grief and apply them to the impact of suicide loss

  • Does the current COVID-19 Pandemic complicate grief from suicide of someone in your life?

Barbara will reflect from the lens of her own tragic loss and personal experience.

What do you do when your father dies by suicide while you are in the hospital awaiting the birth of your triplets? What do you do when you can't attend your father's funeral because physician orders include complete bed rest? What do you do when you realize that you experienced a devastating loss and that you are not alone in that experience? You write a book and dedicate your life to helping others affected by suicide.

Barbara Rubel's fictional characters in "But I Didn't Say Goodbye" are a compilation of what individuals may experience throughout their lifetime as a suicide loss survivor. "But I Didn't Say Goodbye: Helping Families After a Suicide" tells the story, from the perspective of an eleven-year-old boy Alex and his family, as they are rocked by suicide and reeling from the aftermath. Through Alex's eyes, the reader sees the transformation of feelings after going through death by suicide.

New to the book's 3rd edition, each chapter ends with Alex reflecting 10 years later on his experience, introducing family members and friends in his recollections. Barbara Rubel has combined our modern academic theories of grieving, and the research that supports those theories, and then translated them into a readable story for anyone bereaved by suicide. The revised edition is an evidence-informed and contemporary treatment of a devastating form of loss that uses the artful device of a hypothetical case study to render it in human terms.

Through the story, the reader understands what losing someone to suicide might be like for a family, how to make meaning of the loss, and ways to experience personal growth. This self-help book was revised to provide guidance and education for clinicians and families to help suicide loss survivors.

Links & Resources:

Suicide Postvention Resources

listed in the new and updated edition of

But I Didn’t Say Goodbye: Helping Families After a Suicide (3rd ed.)

by Barbara Rubel