Military suicide survivors help each other heal at seminar

Stars and Stripes

In St. Petersburg, Florida, the National Military Survivor Seminar recently convened for its seventh annual session. Coordinated by a nonprofit called the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), the Seminar is a gathering for individuals and families who have lost a servicemember or veteran to suicide. Many attendees have struggled to find support in other venues. Kim Ruocco, a founder of the organization whose husband died by suicide 2005, described sometimes being shunned at events for military loss survivors: “I felt like a zebra in a herd of horses,” she said. “It increased my shame around his death and it increased my fear that his death had wiped out the way he had served.” The TAPS organization spends several days before each Seminar training staff at the conference hotel in what to expect and how to respond to attendees’ sometimes open grief. Sessions at the conference offer peer support, presentations by mental health counselors, and opportunities to try alternative therapies based in art and music. Children’s programming is offered through the conference’s Good Grief Camp.

Spark Extra! Download SPRC’s collection of suicide prevention resources for survivors of suicide loss.