Online Zoom Forum: Suicide: Spiritual, Social, and Policy Perspectives.
Date: Wednesday 22 June 2022.
Time: 7pm-9pm (UK time).
Event Description:
Format: There will be four talks, each of 10 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of discussion among the speakers, the chair, and the audience, followed by Q & A.
Chair:
Croilán Greta Pattison MBACP (Snr Accred) has been working as a psychotherapist, bodywork therapist, trainer and yoga teacher for over 25 years. Her early career was in contemporary dance performing and teaching. In her journey of personal healing and search for understanding of holistic health, she has engaged in 25 years Shamanic experiencing, including Dzogchen (Tibetan Buddhism), Atman teachings (Hinduism/Yoga Philosophy) and has latterly found roots in Celtic Consciousness. She is an Initiate of Brigid of Ireland and Guardian of the Teachings from the Cauldron of Brigid. Croilan is known for her sincerity, warmth and dedication to healing and consciousness.
Speakers:
Phyllida Anam-aire:
Title: Suicide.
Description: “Standing at the edge, nothing to live for, I choose the fall” words shared with me by a young man who was determined to “have at least this much control in what happens”.
Question: Is threatened suicide a call for help or a silent sigh of release according to the dear one in agony?
Bio: Phyllida is an elder and has a care for the young and not so young ones who need to be included in the life of their communities, need to be valued, and know that their contribution is of worth.
As a clinical therapist with the Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross Foundation in the 1990s, it was clear that many young men had attempted suicide because of AIDS.
She believes that men need to tell their stories of childhood so that they can be helped to deal, not cope with issues of abuse, out of which such devastating cradling, self-loathing, and lack of self-esteem arise.
Susanna Bennett:
Title: Cultural Norms of Masculinity and Male Suicide Risk.
Description: Suicide is a gendered phenomenon, where deaths by men outnumber those of women virtually everywhere in the world. Suicide rates in men are rising and this represents a global public health crisis. A recent systematic review of male suicide risk factors suggests that cultural norms of masculinity are potentially associated with elevating male suicide risk. In this brief talk we will explore how certain expectations for male behaviour may be putting some men at risk.
Bio: Susie is a 3rd year PhD student at the 'Suicide Behaviour Research Lab' at Glasgow University. Her work explores male suicide. In particular, she is interested in the cultural and social factors that put men at risk of suicidal despair, and the factors that can aid men to recover a meaningful life. Her research focuses on the dynamics of selfhood, interpersonal connections, emotions, masculinity, psychological pain, and suicidal behaviours in male suicide.
Dr Hazel Marzetti:
Title: Suicide in/as Politics.
Description: This talk will reflect on how suicide and suicide prevention is represented in the UK’s suicide prevention policies, parliamentary debates, and charity campaigns, drawing on LGBTQ+ suicide as a case study.
Bio: Hazel Marzetti is a suicide researcher at the University of Edinburgh. She uses qualitative methods of inquiry to think about how suicide is shaped by the psychological, social, economic, and political. She is also interested in how suicide can and is influenced by inequalities, which she has explored through her specialist work on LGBT+ suicide. In her spare time, Hazel enjoys crafts, admiring other people’s dogs, and board games.
Dr Martin Steven Williams:
Title: Two Personal Experiences of Suicide.
Description: I will describe two personal experiences of suicide.
One - My own attempt to take my life in 2004.
A time when my marriage was breaking up after 30 years.
A time when I was extremely depressed.
A time when I was prescribed an anti-depressant medication by my GP which turned out to have a side effect causing suicidal ideation in 15% of adult males who take it! I was one!
Two - my son - Saul’s suicide on May 7 2019 at the tender age of 40.
Saul had Asperger’s Syndrome.
57% of adult males with Asperger’s Syndrome end their own lives.
In my long career as a Consulting Psychologist and Psychotherapist, I have worked with many young adult males with Asperger’s Syndrome and I have helped them deal with depression, isolation, hopelessness, helplessness, and find meaning and purpose in their lives.
I have saved many Asperger’s young men, but I could not save my own son. Believe me, I tried everything I knew!
My head knew this but my heart refused to believe it even though I tried everything I knew! But it was just not enough!
I became very depressed for two years until Saul came to me in a dream and healed me overnight!
Bio: I am an experienced and accredited Consulting Psychologist and Psychotherapist, Supervisor, Trainer, Mentor, Mediator, Life Coach, Lecturer, Facilitator, Author, and Learn-shop Leader.
I worked in Secondary Schools for 15 years and in academia for 35 years.
I am a Dad, a Husband, a Lover, a Soulmate, a Grandad (Opa), a Cousin, an Uncle, a Colleague, a Worshiper, a Quaker, Bipolar, and a Friend.
In 2004, I founded and direct my own Consultancy - ‘Ultimate People Empowerment Consultancy (UP)
www.ultimatepeople.co.uk
NB: There will be no refund if you cancel your booking.
Cost: By Donation. For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
(for late inquiries on the day, then email, do not phone.
If you book on the day of the event you will be emailed the Zoom sign-in details 1-2 hours before the event).