Videos Dealing With Suicide Grief and Survival


Survivors of Suicide Loss Support Group - Madison, NJ

Below are a selection of videos to help you understand suicide and how survivors regain control of their lives after the suicide of a loved one. They range from survivors telling their journey of healing to professionals discussing the grief process as well as the causes and challenges of suicide.

Coping with the Aftermath of a Suicide (Compassionate Friends)

    • A 59 minute video presentation by Dr. Doug and BJ Jensen who lost their adult son Jay to suicide. They walk survivors through the grieving process based on their experiences. This video is a educational presentation that touches on the causes and impacts of suicide. The Jensens are authors, international speakers, dramatists, and sign artists with LOVE IN MOTION Signing Choir. They add some selected religious beliefs and how they impacted their healing

Survivors of Suicide Loss sharing their journey

    • This is a 97 minute of a group discussiona among a group of 6 suicide survivors. The survivors all discuss the challenges they faced dealing with the loss of their loved one. The setting of the video is similar to how a support group generally operates. These survivors of suicide loss each share their journey of grief through the loss of a loved one to suicide. It was most touching and inspiring to see so much hope that each survivor shares to all. A day of healing and coming together to share and reach out to others and say "you are not alone. You will survive this tragic loss"

A Mom Talking about Her Life After Her Daughter's Suicide

    • This 3 minute video is by international motivational speaker Jenny Wolpert talking about her struggles and death of her teenage daughter Grayson by suicide. Her daughter struggled with OCD, depression, anxiety and self injury. Jenny is out to break the silence and to educate people about healing and helping others.

Life After Loss

    • This 7 minute video tells the story of three different families whom have lost a teen aged child to suicide. The parents share their loss and grief and how they have moved forward since the death of their children.

Rick Warren - Six Stages of Grief

    • This 2 minutes video by Pastor Rick Warren discusses the six stages of grief. The Warrens lost their adult son to suicide after a 20+ year battle with mental illness. Pastor Warren discusses his journey through grief and his insights about how we process grief.

Grief After Suicide: Walking the Journey with Survivors

    • This 89 minute video is by Dr Jack Jordan. While it shares some of the characteristics of all traumatic losses, suicide often presents unique challenges for mourners and for those who would help them. People mourning the loss of a loved one to suicide (known as suicide survivors), face a complex set of recovery tasks. These include making sense of a death that often makes no sense, sorting out responsibility for and preventability of the death, dealing with shock and horror at the manner of death, dealing with the impact on family relationships, and coping with the stigma that often surrounds suicide. Likewise, the process of counseling for suicide survivors is often more complex and prolonged than after most other types of losses. In this workshop, we will address the central concerns that most survivors bring to therapy, and the themes that caregivers must help survivors address.

How to comfort a grieving teen

    • This 6 minute video by 16 year old Bridget Park, a high school senior from Reno, Nevada. Inspired by the tragic loss of her brother, Bridget wrote her debut memoir at the age of 15 in the hopes that her story would encourage others to find healthy ways of grieving. In this talk, Bridget shares her insight on how to comfort a grieving teen. This video is part of the award winning TED series of motivational and informational speeches.

Survivors of Suicide Loss - Nick's Sisters

    • A 48 minute video where survivors of suicide loss sisters speak out about their grief after the loss their brother to suicide. Marsha Knapp Dunleavy lives in Burlington, On and is the eldest. Melanie McLeod is the middle daughter and lives in Dutton On. Both sisters have unique knowledge and experience with their loss and articulate it very well for other survivors of suicide loss to connect with and understand they are not alone

International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day

About Survivor Day

In 1999, Senator Harry Reid, who lost his father to suicide, introduced a resolution to the United States Senate which led to the creation of International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day. Also known as Survivor Day, the day was designated by the United States Congress as a day on which those affected by suicide can join together for healing and support. It was determined that Survivor Day would always fall on the Saturday before American Thanksgiving, as the holidays are often a difficult time for suicide loss survivors.

Each year, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention supports hundreds of large and small Survivor Day events around the world, in which suicide loss survivors come together to find connection, understanding and hope through their shared experience. While each event is unique and offers various programming, all feature an AFSP-produced documentary that offers a message of growth, resilience and connection.

In 2018, 370 total events too place, including 32 international sites in 19 countries.

During Survivor Day there are numerous small breakout groups, videos and various training sessions depending on the specific site. Here is a collection of the videos shared during prior meetings.

2019 International Survivors of Suicide Day Video

    • 14 minute video

    • Pathways to Healing: Hope after Suicide Loss follows the family and friends of Chris Taddeo, a young adult who died by suicide. Together, they show the individual experiences a community of people can have after a shared loss: from confusion and denial, to isolation and finding support. Through their various approaches to grief and healing, each journey shares a message of hope, connection and resilience.

    • Discussion Guide

2018 International Survivor of Suicide Loss Day

  • 11 Minute video "A Daughter's Journey"

  • A Daughter’s Journey follows Sarah, a young adult, through her story of milestones, family, coping and positive growth after the loss of her father. She shares her story of hope, connection and resilience in the aftermath of a suicide loss.

  • Discussion Guide

2017 International Survivor of Suicide Loss Day

  • 20 Minute video "The Journey Revisited"

  • In The Journey Revisited, a follow-up featurette to The Journey that was produced for Survivor Day 2017, six of the original film’s participants gather three years later to reflect on their grief and healing journey with the insight and perspective that their continued experience has afforded them.

  • Discussion Guide

2016 International Survivor of Suicide Day

  • 28 minute video "Life Journeys: Reclaiming Life After Loss"

  • Life Journeys, the third in AFSP’s Journey series of films about suicide loss, traces the grief and healing journey that follows a suicide loss over time. Drawing on stories and insights from long-term loss survivors, the film shows us that through resilience and support we can achieve hope and understanding in our lives while celebrating the lives of those we lost.

  • Discussion Guide


2015 International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day Program (AFSP)

    • 30 minute video "Family Journeys: Healing and Hope After a Suicide"

    • Family Journeys traces the ripple effects of a suicide through the eyes and experiences of three families. It is an emotionally compelling and inspiring film that shows how the members of each family—together and as individuals—are weathering the loss of their loved one, how they’re healing, and how they’re finding meaning again after living through a suicide.

    • Discussion Guide

2014 International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day Program (AFSP)

    • 29 minute video "The Journey"

    • AFSP’s documentary The Journey, which was produced for Survivor Day 2014, tells the stories of a diverse group of suicide loss survivors. It’s a compelling film that shows how each survivor is weathering the loss of a loved one, and how they are finding their way back to a life rich in meaning—and even joy.