TAUNTON, MA, USA, July 19, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- “It’s 2022, and suicide attempt survivors, those with chronic suicidal thinking or any form of suicidality are still in the shadows. Fears of judgement, discrimination, and prejudice – aka stigma – or getting locked up in a psych unit for being open and honest about how they feel, are still rampant,” stated activist and advocate, Tracey Pacheco Medeiros, co-founder of the A Voice at the Table/Impacted Family & Friends grassroot movement.

Medeiros, a suicide attempt survivor, and author, returns to her advocacy efforts to bring the lived experience voices of attempt survivors & their impacted family/close friends out of the shadows and into a safe and accepting environment.

Frustrated that there has still not been a more national response to support resources and to bring the lived experience of suicide attempt survivors and their impacted families’ voices to all tables within suicidology, Medeiros began to take her coffee cup to a virtual, livestream setting and host simple chats about topics that might be helpful to others. Her hope is to encourage others to come to the table and join the conversation or start conversations of their own – to step into the light.

In 2014, Medeiros was invited to participate in a documentary, A Voice at the Table, https://vimeo.com/92330799
which was a call to action to bring the voices of attempt survivors to all prevention, intervention and postvention tables.

Medeiros and the documentary producer, Annemarie Matulis, then created peer-to-peer wellness workshop series for attempt survivors and their impacted family members.

In 2017, Medeiros published a conversational memoir, Embracing Imperfection: The healing journey of a suicide attempt survivor.

https://www.amazon.com/Embracing-Imperfection-healing-journey-survivor/dp/0997423951

Several hundred copies have been donated to middle and high schools in Bristol County MA. Medeiros and Matulis co-presented an informational overview of their workshops at the 2019 International Association for Suicide Prevention’s Congress (IASP) in Derry-Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

With the onset of the pandemic, the workshops went virtual and a “Coffee & Me” virtual chat from home or on the road evolved for Medeiros.

In 2021, A Voice at the Table http://avoiceatthetable.org/index.html was formally recognized by the IRS as a nonprofit. The monthly wellness workshops have been delivered across the country.

Pull up a chair, grab you’re a morning drink and join Tracey on YouTube at https://youtu.be/kiq_eIP66ws
or Facebook live at 10am, Friday, July 22, ET. This morning chat will broadcast from Indiana, overlooking the Ohio River.

Within the national celebration of the release of the 3-digit 988 to simplify reaching out for crisis help, Tracey will share what she knows are some of the reasons why many in suicidal crisis will hesitate to make what might be a life-saving call. The “will they lock me up?” question.

“There needs to be an equally aggressive campaign to clarify what does and does not happen when a person in crisis dials 988,” said Medeiros.

“I know how it feels to wonder if I’ll get locked up for telling the truth,” she added.

Now 23 years from her last attempt, Medeiros dedicates herself to educating and training others by delivering the psycho-educational Re-energize & Re-Connect peer-to-peer wellness workshops in addition to sharing her lived experience at local and state events. In April 2022, she presented a workshop at the American Association of Suicidology’s (AAS) conference in Chicago.

“I sincerely hope that the field of suicidology can better recognize the value of peer-to-peer, lived experience and do more to incorporate and include us and our impacted family members and close friends in all aspects of recovery resources,” Medeiros reflected. “That is the key to everyone finding a life worth living.”


For the Media: Responsible reporting on suicide, including stories of hope and resilience, can prevent more suicides.

Please visit the Suicide Reporting Recommendations for more information. For additional information, please visit SuicideReportingToolkit.com.

About A Voice at the Table: A Voice at the Table nonprofit was founded in 2014 as a companion to the documentary, A Voice at the Table, a call to action to bring the lived experience voices of suicide attempt survivors to all tables within suicide prevention, intervention and postvention. As a grassroots movement, it has since expanded and become the national "home base" forum for the family & friends emotionally impacted & traumatized by the suicidal experiences of loved ones. A movement: a group of people working together to advance their shared ideas. A forum: a place, meeting or medium where ideas and views on a particular concern can be exchanged, in this case, nationally and internationally.

For more information: director@avoiceatthetable.org
Annemarie Matulis A Voice at the Table
+1 5089227278
director@avoiceatthetable.org

Annemarie Matulis
A Voice at the Table
+1 508-922-7278
director@avoiceatthetable.org
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