The Role Of The ‘bereaved Through Suicide Support Group’ In The Care Of The Bereaved

‘NOW, HERE, YOU SEE, IT TAKES ALL THE RUNNING YOU CAN DO TO KEEP IN THE same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as= fast as that,’ said Red Queen to the exhausted Alice (Alice through the Looking Glass, Chapter 2). This is the feeling experienced by the majority of those who have been bereaved through suicide which precipitates their coming to the Bereaved Through Suicide Support Group (BTSSG). Bereaved people often describe grief as a bad dream from which they hope to wake. To experience the suicide of a friend or relative is one of the greatest hurts any person may endure. Grief following suicide is unique and so are the needs of the bereaved. It was to cater for these special needs that led two Adelaide bereavement educators: Harold Jones and Sister Veronia Honour to found BTSSG in April 1986. It is the work done in the group by these and others that will be presented here.