Iris Bolton to lead third annual grief seminar on suicide Oct. 26 at Goshen College;

First Annual Ryan’s Place Memory Walk on Oct. 8

 

GOSHEN, Ind. – Iris Bolton, a nationally-recognized expert on the topic of suicide, will offer an all-day seminar, “Suicide: Out of the shadows, into the light,” at Goshen College on Oct. 26. The event, scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Church-Chapel Fellowship Hall, marks the third year that the Goshen College Social Work Department and Ryan’s Place are hosting this annual grief seminar.

 

Bolton will focus her speaking on the three areas of suicidology: prevention, intervention, and postvention (aftercare).

 

Bolton’s 20-year-old son, Curtis Mitchell Bolton, died by suicide in 1977. A year later she started one of the first survivor support groups in the country. Her 1983 book, “My Son, My Son: A Guide to Healing After Death, Loss or Suicide,” describes in detail the journey she made from the devastation of losing her son to the step-by-step healing that took place.

 

As executive director of The Link Counseling Center in Atlanta, Ga., Bolton’s work culminated in the creation of the center’s National Resource Center (NRC) for Suicide Prevention and Aftercare. She is a member of the National Council for Suicide Prevention and has worked tirelessly in the field of suicide prevention for the past 28 years. She is co-founder of the North Atlanta Chapter of Compassionate Friends, a national, self-help organization for bereaved parents. She is a nationally known grief counselor, lecturer and crisis intervention consultant, speaking at conferences and meetings held across the United States and Canada, and has appeared on many national radio and television programs, including “Good Morning America,” CBS’s “Morning Show” and numerous talk programs.

 

“Betsy,” a local woman whose family has experienced a suicide, said, “The importance of the seminar is to bring awareness of the effects of suicide – a word people do not want to talk about. Suicide is more common than we think. Teen suicide rates are high. Suicide is a mental health issue and needs to be treated as an illness. It is important for people to get help after the death and Ryan's Place is able to give that help and hope.”

 

When suicide happens, questions often linger for families. One Goshen couple who lost a family member to suicide stated, “The question we have is what could we have done to prevent the suicide? How could we have put pressure on the family member to get help so the pain he experienced could be lessened and life have a brighter outlook?”

 

The seminar is open to the general public and Continuing Education Credit is available for social workers, mental health counselors, marriage and family therapists, nurses, law enforcement officers, funeral home directors and psychologists.

 

The seminar is made possible through the partnership of the Goshen College Social Work Program and Ryan’s Place, a nonprofit grief center established in 2002. The current executive director of Ryan’s Place is Goshen College senior social work major Aileac Deegan. The mission of Ryan’s Place is to provide emotional support in a safe environment where grieving children, teens, young adults and their families can share their experiences as they move through the healing process.

 

Carol Jarvis, adjunct professor for Goshen College and seminar committee co-chair, said that there is significant community interest for this event, with agencies and institutions including Madison Center, Bowen Center, Shire Pharmaceuticals, The Learning Society and Goshen Health System sponsoring the event at the platinum level and making the seminar affordable to area professionals. “The support from the community indicates how important this topic is,” said Jarvis. “The fact that in Elkhart County alone there were 12 deaths by suicide last year points to the critical need for continued efforts toward suicide prevention,” she adds.

 

Morning registration begins at 8 a.m. For more information, contact Marge Brandeberry at (574) 535-7400 or margemb@goshen.edu.

 

 

 

Editors: For more information about this release, to arrange an interview or request a photo, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or jodihb@goshen.edu.

 

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Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu/.