Keynote Topics
I Don't Know What to Say
This was by far the phrase I heard most frequently after losing my son to suicide. Suicide is incredibly difficult to discuss, but that needs to change.
It’s time we learn what to say to support suicide survivors in their grief.
In this presentation, I will talk about my experiences, and share the things that were helpful, and the things that should never be said to someone suffering a loss.
A Sense of Urgency
My son had a cancer scare in his junior year of high school, and we were getting blood work, referrals, and MRI’s immediately. There was a tremendous sense of urgency.
When we brought him home from college with severe depression, and suicidal ideation, the sense of urgency was nowhere to be found, and we struggled to get treatment.
In this presentation, I will share the story of his medical and mental health journeys, and the stark contrast in the way each of them were treated.
Family Secrets
My father suffers from mental illness, and alcohol addiction, but we never spoke of it. In fact, I was nearly an adult when I discovered he had been diagnosed with three different mental illnesses as I was growing up. He viewed mental illness as shameful, and a sign of weakness. He kept his illness a secret.
When my son began suffering with depression and suicidal ideation, I thought that things were different now – that we had made strides in being open about mental illness. When we lost him to suicide, I was shocked to find that his best friend knew nothing of his illness. He too felt he had to keep his illness a secret.
In this presentation, I will talk about both of their mental health journeys, and how things have improved, but we still have much work to do.
Improv & Grief
I began formally studying and performing improv over a decade ago, and moved into teaching. I loved sharing how the guidelines of improv could improve our daily lives.
When I lost my son, I began applying those same guidelines to my grief journey, and found them to be incredibly helpful.
In this presentation, I will talk about how applying the guidelines of improv, such as learning to truly be in the moment, accepting emotions, and finding human connection in a time of intensely isolated feelings can help us move forward in our journey with grief.