Lifeline's Australia first suicide support group launched in Port Macquarie

Following the guide of a successful support group in Los Angeles and months of local research and planning, Lifeline Mid Coast is calling for participants for their ‘Eclipse’ group.

Associate Director of Didi Hirsch Mental Health’s Suicide Prevention Centre Shari Sinwelski, who helped establish the support group in Los Angeles, said it was an unbelievable feeling to be in Port Macquarie.

“We’ve been working together for several years via email, doing webinars and phone calls. So it’s a great opportunity to have this vision come to fruition,” she said.

Ms Sinwelski said about five years ago, in LA, she was in a similar place. “We were thinking there was an unmet need in our community and wanted to find a way to make sure we were supporting people who had the experience of surviving a suicide attempt,” she said.

“We weren’t exactly sure how to do it but we knew we needed to do it. It was about creating a place people could be open and honest about what they were experiencing, where they could feel a connection with others who had been in the exact same place,” she said.

The Port Macquarie-based group will see people on the Mid-North Coast who’ve attempted suicide come together for an eight week program to reconnect them with the community and develop a stronger mind set. Lifeline Research Foundation executive director Alan Woodward said his role and the role of the foundation was to support the work of Lifeline and the community towards a vision of an Australia free of suicide.

“We will facilitate access to research and expert opinion, and also assist in the trial of projects such as Eclipse through research and evaluation methods so we will be assured it works as we intend, and have the impact we want,” he said.

There has already been interest from participants for Eclipse which will run on a trial basis. For more on the group call  6581 2800. For crisis or suicide prevention support call Lifeline on 13 11 14.