Passing Reflection Vol 3: Surviving Suicide Loss Through Mindfulness

Passing Reflections is the narrative of discovery over the first two years after a son s suicide. The revised and expanded, Surviving Suicide Loss Through Mindfulness, builds upon the author's journey. These poems are meant to help other suicide survivors see that they are not alone. It is also meant to help those who would be of service to survivors begin to fathom what it is to suffer traumatic loss. The author s greatest hope is to help people learn how to transform suffering into healing, holding all with compassion.

In this extraordinary book, Kristen Spexarth speaks with profound openness and honesty of her overwhelming grief of losing her son Colby to suicide. Her words invite us to understand how deeply foreign is the territory of our grief, and how hard it is for any of us to discover the compassion to turn towards it, moment by moment, without trying to rush the healing. Her story, interwoven with her beautiful poetry, offers companionship to all who face such trauma and find themselves broken-hearted, utterly lost and alone. Without easy answers, she shows how, little by little, she could discern the difference between sensation and story , to allow life to live through her, and to find, very gradually, a rekindling of hope she never imagined she would ever feel again. A powerful book that will be transformative for those who suffer such loss, and essential reading for friends, teachers and counselors who seek to accompany sufferers on their journey. --Professor Mark Williams, University of Oxford Co-author of Mindfulness and the Transformation of Despair: Working with People at Risk of Suicide, 2015.

I fully endorse the reading of this text as a method of healing from a traumatic loss. Mindfulness is a movement in recovery and growth that has found traction in many areas of healing however many survivors will be helped in reading Surviving Suicide Loss Through Mindfulness to find a trail into the process. --Frank Campbell, Ph.D,LCSW, C.T., Senior Consultant, Campbell and Associates Consulting, LLC

Trying to make sense of her own grief, Kristen shares her journey of healing through personal, powerful poetry and prose. All too often, suicide results in feelings of isolation and despair by those left behind. This book is a gift to persons bereaved by a suicide loss - providing comfort, understanding and hope; I will be sharing Surviving Suicide Loss Through Mindfulness with my clients. --Sue Eastgard, MSW Director of Training & Clinical Programs Forefront: Innovations in suicide prevention