Touched By Suicide

Tuesday 4 April 2017

West Australian Aeticle 05/10/16

Saturday 25 February 2017

Artist's Impression

It's four months since the first Touched By Suicide workshop. It's been a pretty eventful time since then for a whole lot of the usual life-as-a-freelance-artist reasons and a few other events, conundrums and brouhahas thrown in for good measure. Despite all that has gone on in the intervening period, one thing about the workshop that day has remained very present in my mind.

It would be hardly surprising for anyone who works or has 'played' in this kind of professional art/community art/art therapy space to know that I have my own deeply held motivations and convictions about this kind of work. The desire to make this workshop was born out of an many often painful but ultimately clarifying experiences over many years in and around suicide and suicidal ideation. Yes, I imagine it is also no surprise for me to confess that subscribe to those oft repeated maxims in art and education: "Talk about what you know", and "Teach what you want to learn". Those two ideas are a big part of who I am as an artist and teacher. They are more often than not my starting points for the work I do. Naturally, that's where I started out with this workshop and that's pretty much the way it was designed and presented. My wonderful co-faciliator Zoe Warrick know's me well enough to be able to accommodate my approach seamlessly into her own inimitable style and consulate delivery skills and so together we progressed.

What I didn't expect at all was the profound almost core-rocking experience that enveloped me at the beginning of the workshop. It was almost overwhelming. To explain further I have to set the scene so to speak...

For most of my adult life I looked for a sense of belonging and community in a variety of social settings and recreational contexts that never really delivered or sustained me as I had hoped they would. I remember they were entertaining, sweaty and sometimes mind numbing, but never really, if I am being honest, did they engender in me a strong sense of connection or belonging. Part of my own journey through depression and suicidal behaviours in my 20s and 30s was around my inability to find or sustain connection or a deep sense of belonging...

So it's the day of the workshop, Zoe and I have configured the space to our liking - the Studio of the State Theatre Centre of WA - Annette Eassie from CAN is here too providing support and marshalling. Our physiologist has arrived in case any of the participants are in need to support. All that remains is for the workshop attendees to arrive. And they do. As luck would have it they enter the dim space of the studio one by one, making their way down the aisle past the empty seats and onto the stage where we have the tables set up.

One by one I look into the eyes of each participant and welcome them to the workshop. I do not know anything about them except the context for their being here. I have never met any of these 24 people before. But I am looking into their eyes and they are looking directly back into mine and the strongest feeling of being home washes over me. I know this. I can do this. I am home...

It has to do with suffering and empathy. That's the best I can surmise at this point. I had the strongest feeling of being where I need to be of belonging or maybe of some kind of kindred spirit. That hasn't happened that often in my life and it was a shock. A good one but kind of shocking no less.

Needless to say the hour and a half flew by and by the end there was the sense of a great journey undertaken by a room full of brave and generous souls and also of a pretty fine start made and what else can we do? Couldn't we do this more often? How many other places could we do this?

Walking back up those dim stairs in the studio with Zoe after everyone had gone I felt drained but sort of elated. "That was really something, huh?" "Sure was."

Monday 6 February 2017

Kitt's Vlog

Kitt posted this blog to YouTube after the workshop. I have linked it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2ShpTOL4c8

Participant feedback

After the conclusion of the workshop, CAN the producing partner received some feedback about the event and the presenters James Berlyn and Zoe Warwick:

I thought it was excellent – both content and venue,

Thank you for the opportunity.

Lawrence

Thank you for this rare and life enhancing opportunity.

I believe the workshop forum was well worth it, perhaps allowing more time (with an included break might help for future workshops)

I say this as it took a good hour before people seemed to relax into sharing and as it was noted just before 3pm - we’d just gotten started! This may have left vulnerable people in a vulnerable space …alone after opening up to the great group.

The facilitators were fantastic and the food and drinks were good for often emotional expression needs a little sustenance, especially of a muffiny nature!

Loved the content, but again it may have helped participants to have a little longer to consolidate the experience.

I feel it ‘touched the surface’ really well and hope there’ll be more in the not too distant future.

Nicola

Loved the day and the interaction. Both presenters were fantastic in maintaining such an open , free speaking event…

One thing I would like to add is that it was questions where rather general and maybe that’s what it was meant to be , for example one of the questions was “how do you offer meaningful support without making it worse:. I believe it needs to be more specific almost a scenario or a case study.. I suppose it may act as a trigger but the original question is too vast for me to answer well.

The venue and refreshments provided were quality, what I would like to see is making it more central, almost like breaking bread and chatting however the typewriters were a great success and connected the process with others across all table . I do hope you understand my thoughts.

All in all I enjoyed the workshop and the diverse group.

Charlie

I appreciated Touched by suicide a creative workshop. I appreciated the 2 facilitators, their energy & the exercises / activities they shared with us on the day - i especially liked the continuum line where we could visually see how we wer all so different with our likes / dislikes / experiences, i also appreciated reconnecting with the old skool type writers, it helped me express my thoughts and feelings in another medium that i haven't used in such a long time & the dated paper gave it a whole other feel to it too. I also liked meeting new people that have been been touched by suicide & the thread / community we appear to be connected to. I felt it was very symbolic being down in the dark 'theater' considering the journey ive been on these last few yrs with my deepression, breakdowns & mental health challenges - considering people go into hospital theater to have surgical work done on their physical bodies i felt this workshop was like some sort of mental, emotional energetic theater that is helping me on my healing & recovery journey - i really appreciated coming up the stairs and being greeted with so much light & beautiful artistic design in the state theater.

I think it would be awesome for such workshops to be shared at the next mental health conference, mental health awareness week / suicide prevention week / homelessness week - At various events that facilitate more healing.

I look forward to being involved in future workshops & events.

Kitt

Personal reflections

The origin of this workshop was a conversation that began between artist James Berlyn and then CEO of CAN Jo Metcalf after a performance of James's show I Know You're There which he performed in the 2016 Perth International Arts Festival. A pitch was subsequently made to Community Arts Network and WA Association for Mental Health (WAAMH) and the workshop was included as part of WA's events for National Mental Health Week.

At the beginning of the workshop James and Zoe outlined their roles as artists and facilitators to a room of 23 anxious strangers who had come to the workshop from a diverse range of ages, cultures and experiences. James explained his reasons for creating the event briefly detailing the stories of two family members who had taken their lives (his paternal grandfather and a maternal cousin) and his own period of suicidal ideation and attempts on his life nearly 20 years ago. Zoe detailed her comprehensive experience in anxiety depression and ideation.

If you have struggled, suffered and overcome a terrible thing or perhaps have managed to continue to live with something that has at times felt unsurvivable or too enormous to cope with, what have you learned in that long fraught process, what skills have you developed that you could offer up to others who may also be struggling or suffering and in desperate need of help?

What if you have to go through it again or someone close to you has to?

What are the questions I will ask this time that I didn't ask or didn't know how to ask last time? What will I do for someone this time that I didn't do last time?

This blog is intended to be a record of the anonymous contributions of workshop participants in the hope that their wisdom and experience which they have so generously shared here may benefit others dealing with similar life (and death) experiences.

When I need help but can't ask

For workshop participants who have struggled or might well be struggling with suicidal ideation and associated issues, how might they better advocate for themselves and find assistance? How does one ask for help when the very idea of asking for help feels utterly counterintuitive?

How to help someone you are worried about without doing harm

Workshop participants were challenged to provide examples of strategies for the care and management of people struggling with issues related to suicide and or suicidal ideation: