Losing a Parent to Suicide ─ Using Lived Experiences to Inform Bereavement Counseling

The suicide of a parent has life-long consequences; few more traumatic scenarios exist, and counselors often struggle for ways to help clients deal with its effects. Few understand the pain and life-altering effects of these tragedies better than children who have experienced the suicide of a parent. Despite this, there are few texts that incorporate and evaluate the first-person accounts of grief following a suicide while advancing a method for helping. Losing a Parent to Suicide analyzes stories of parent suicides and explores the grief and coping processes that follow, discovering the strategies, methods and modes of therapy that have empowered grieving individuals and helped them rebuild their lives.

Marty Loy, PhD, is professor of health promotion and dean of the College of Professional Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He is the author of Children and Stress: A Handbook for Parents, Teachers and Therapists. He and his wife Becky are cofounders of Camp Hope, a camp for grieving children that has served as a model for similar camps around the country.

Amy Boelk, MSSW, PhD, is associate professor and social work field coordinator in the department of sociology and social work at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She is a former hospice social worker whose research and writing have spanned a variety of topics related to grieving and end-of-life care.