A six-week Child Loss to Suicide Support Group is starting on Thursday, April 25, in Damariscotta. Parents and guardians who have survived the loss of a child to suicide recently or years ago are invited to join. The group will help participants find understanding, strength, comfort, and a sense of community. The group is free of charge to participants thanks to a sponsorship from LincolnHealth’s Coulombe Center for Health Improvement.

“The loss of a loved one by suicide results in a grief experience that is unique and often consuming,” commented Lisa Beth Hammer, MTS, LCSW, who facilitates the group. “When a parent experiences the loss of a child to suicide, the complexity and intensity of grief is compounded and often results in profound suffering. Parents often long for a setting in which to explore feelings particular to child loss that will help address isolation and uncertainty over their grief. Suicide loss can result in complex emotions that can be intense and long term.”

The support group was started by the Hope & Resiliency Coalition, a group of concerned and committed community members who gather regularly out of concern for those struggling with hopelessness, mental health challenges, and suicide loss. Since forming in 2016, regular Survivors of Suicide support groups have been offered three times a year in a six-week session format. The SOS groups have taken place in Lincoln County and the group has hosted awareness raising and training events on these topics, mostly in the Boothbay region.

Lisa Beth Hammer, MTS, LCSW, who has a private psychotherapy practice in Damariscotta and who specializes in complex grief & loss, facilitates the support group. Her grief facilitation training started at the Portland Center for Grieving Children in 2015, continued by facilitating numerous grief support groups in the state, including starting a bereavement group at the Maine State Prison.

The SOS support group is a closed session group and pre-registration is required. The facilitator does ask that those who are interested in joining the group make an effort to attend all six meetings in this session.

To register, or for more information, please call group facilitator Lisa Beth Hammer at 978-853-1950.