UK to host retreat Saturday and Sunday for people who lost someone close to them to suicide more than three years ago

If you lost to suicide someone who was close to you, more than three years ago, the Suicide Prevention and Exposure Lab at the University of Kentucky College of Social Work has a two-day retreat for you this weekend.

The retreat, which is being offered in collaboration with the Kentucky Interagency Council on Suicide Prevention, the Eastern Kentucky University Psychology Clinic and Brother’s Run, will be held on the UK campus Saturday and Sunday, June 25-26. It The will be led by prominent experts, including three past presidents of the American Association of Suicidology.

“Suicide-loss survivors often receive services in the days and weeks after their loss, but not in the years that follow,” said Dr. Julie Cerel, director of the Suicide Prevention and Exposure Lab. “This retreat is specifically designed to help long-term survivors integrate their grief into the life they continue to build. Suicide loss can be felt by anyone close to the person that died, regardless of their actual relationship.”

Participants in the retreat will create a timeline of their loss and determine what’s next; explore growth after loss and planting a seed of hope; and craft a personal metaphor for their loss and their life after that loss. Suicide-prevention resources available across the state will also be discussed. Participants will also have the opportunity to support future suicide-loss survivors by helping guide the focus of future research, prevention, and service.

Suicide-loss survivors interested in participating in the retreat can register online at https://ceu.uky.edu/product/suicidesurvivorretreat/. Registration is free, but space is limited.