Worldwide there about one hundred million new survivors of suicide in any ten year period. In the United States there are several million new survivors in the same period, and about 500 groups that provide them support. SPI is training mental health professionals at qualified social service agencies in the New York Metropolitan Area in a comprehensive program of support for survivors of suicide. When it is fully underway, we hope to extend this Model Program for Survivors to other cities. We have also trained qualified personnel at the Beijing Suicide Prevention Center in China and the program is being implemented there. The Center will be training other groups in China to help survivors of suicide.
Dr. Ed Dunne (left) with participants at a 2009 survivor support training in New York City.
The SPI program is unique in including support for children, who are particularly traumatized by the loss of a parent or sibling to suicide. Dr. Cynthia Pfeffer, Professor of Child Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical, a leader in the treatment of children who are survivors of suicide, heads SPI's support service training for children who are survivors of suicide.