Healing from recurrent suicide attempts: the impact of being a peer facilitator

ABSTRACT

This paper presents findings of a phenomenological study entitled: Healing from Recurrent Suicide Attempts: The Impact of Being a Peer Facilitator. The study examined the impact of being a peer facilitator (PF) in the Skills for Safer Living: A Psychosocial/Psychoeducational Intervention for People with Recurrent Suicide Attempts (SfSL/PISA) group on the PFs’ healing journey. Using eight semi-structured interviews, the study privileged the lived experience of participants. The results identified four themes in survivors’ healing: new identity formation, navigating stigma, developing agency in the activation of personhood, and achieving personal mastery: skills and competencies.

KEYWORDS:

• Recurrent suicide attempts
• healing
• peer facilitation
• group interventions

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).