Anne Moss Rogers - Emotionally Naked

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available:

ISBN 9781119758303 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781119758297 (ePDF)

ISBN 9781119764823 (ePub)

Cover Design: Paul McCarthy

Cover Art: © Getty Images | A. Martin UW Photography

Anne Moss Rogers: To Randy, Richard, and my Emotionally Naked tribe, whose love and support helped keep that pilot light of hope burning after my youngest son Charles's suicide .

Kim O'Brien: To the loves of my life—Kevin, Taylor, Mac, Kelly, and Doug. You are the reason my life is full of purpose, love, and happiness .

This book tackles a tough topic and contains some emotional content. Most chapters that mention suicide method have a “trigger warning.” Teachers and other educators suffer from mental illness and have thoughts of suicide, too. So if you are struggling with mental illness and/or thoughts of suicide and if this is triggering, please stop or take breaks. There are a few instances where method is mentioned briefly in a story but there are no graphic details.

Your life is important. If you do experience thoughts of suicide, reach out to the prevention lifeline, a crisis text line, a trusted adult friend, a counselor, or find a support group.

There is only one you. If you left us, we'd be robbed of your potential, all your gifts, and what you could contribute to suicide prevention.

If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, please reach out.

US National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 (By July 26, 2022, it will be simplified to the 3-digit crisis number 988.)

US and Canada Crisis Text Line:Text “help” to 741-741

US Trevor Project Crisis line for LGBTQ Youth:1-866-488-7386

US Trevor Project Crisis text line for LGBTQ Youth678-678

US Trans Lifeline1-877-565-8860

Canada1-833-456-4566

United Kingdom116 123

Australia13 11 14

For other countries:Search “suicide crisis lines”

UK:text 85258 | Ireland:text 50808

Anne Moss Rogersis an emotionally naked ®TEDx storyteller, the 2019 YWCA Pat Asch Fellow for social justice, NAMI Virginia board member, and author of the award-winning book Diary of a Broken Mind . Despite her family's best efforts, Anne Moss's 20-year-old son, Charles, died by suicide June 5, 2015, after many years of struggle with anxiety, depression, and ultimately addiction. She chronicled her family's tragedy in a newspaper article that went viral and her blog, Emotionally Naked, has had millions of visitors. After receiving a message from a young lady who wrote that one of her articles saved her life, she sold her digital marketing business and followed her purpose of motivational speaking on the subjects of suicide, substance misuse, coping strategies, and grief. Originally from Fayetteville, North Carolina, and a graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with a BA in journalism, she currently lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband, Randy. Her surviving son, Richard, works in Los Angeles as a screenwriter and filmmaker.

Kimberly O'Brien, PhD, LICSW, is a clinical social worker in the Sports Medicine Division and Female Athlete Program at Boston Children's Hospital, as well as a research scientist and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She received her BA from Harvard University, MSW and PhD from Boston College, and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University. Her research focuses on the development and testing of brief interventions for suicidal adolescents with and without substance use and their families, with an additional specialization on interventions that utilize technology. She has co-authored over 50 articles and book chapters related to adolescent suicide, substance use, and mental health, and was awarded the Young Investigator Research Award from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in 2019. She is also the founder and director of Unlimited Resilience, LLC, a private mental health practice for athletes by athletes.

Thank you to all who accepted our invitation to be interviewed for this book. These life-saving contributions, examples, and sharing are what makes this book a truly helpful guide. Special thanks to a few we emailed, reinterviewed, and called multiple times to review some of the worksheets and scripts, and to provide extra materials and images, including Jennifer Hamilton, LEP; Jessica Chock-Goldman, LCSW; Jim McCauley, LICSW; James Biela, LCSW; Desmond Herzfelder; and Lea Karnath.

We are grateful to the following people for the contributions and content from interviews conducted for this book (listed in alphabetical order).

Quoted Interviewees:

Melissa K. Ackley, LCSW (She/Her/Hers), Prevention Services Manager, Chesterfield Mental Health Support Services, Chesterfield Suicide Prevention Coalition

James Biela, LCSW (He/Him/His), Itinerant School Social Worker, Lower Kuskokwim School District, Bethel, Alaska

Sam Brinton (They/Them/Theirs), Vice President of Advocacy and Government Affairs at The Trevor Project, Rockville, Maryland, TheTrevorProject.org

Doris (She/Her/Hers), Science Teacher, Colorado Public School

Dawn Gallagher (She/Her/Hers), Mother of Kiernan Gallagher who approved Kiernan's written excerpt about her father's suicide

Kiernan Gallagher, 14, middle school student, suicide loss survivor, Ocean, New Jersey

Jessica Chock-Goldman, LCSW (She/Her/Hers), Doctoral Candidate, School Social Worker, Stuyvesant High School, Manhattan, New York, JessicaChockGoldman.com

Jennifer Hamilton (She/Her/Hers), School Psychologist, Director of Psychology and Counseling at Noble and Greenough, Independent School, Dedham, Massachusetts

Desmond Herzfelder (He/Him/His), Student Mental Wellness Club Founder, Psychology Major at Harvard University, Graduate of Noble and Greenough, Independent High School, Dedham, Massachusetts

Lea Karnath (She/Her/Hers), SOS Signs of Suicide Senior Program Manager, MindWise Innovations, SOSSignsofSuicide.org

Michelle Fortunado-Kewin, LCSW, PPSC (She/Her/Siya), School Social Worker and Program Coordinator, San Francisco Unified School District

Nora (She/Her/Hers), Ninth Grade Dean, East Coast High School

Scott LoMurray (He/Him/His), Executive Director, Sources of Strength, SourcesofStrength.org

James Mazza, PhD (He/Him/His), Professor, University of Washington, Author of DBT Skills in Schools, MazzaConsulting.com

Jim McCauley, LICSW (He/Him/His), Co-Founder and Associate Director of Riverside Trauma Center, Needham Heights, Massachusetts, RiversideTraumaCenter.org

Sheila McElwee (She/Her/Hers), Chemistry Teacher, Noble and Greenough, Independent School, Dedham, Massachusetts

Keygan Miller, MEd (They/Them/Theirs), Senior Advocacy Associate at The Trevor Project, Washington, DC, TheTrevorProject.org

Mr. Nigro, Public High School Teacher, World History II and Economics, Chester, Virginia

Tammy Ozolins (“Ms. Oz”), Middle School Health/PE Teacher, Pocahontas Middle School, Henrico, Virginia

Shirley Ramsey (She/Her/Hers), Founder of Virginia Chapter AFSP, Retired School Counselor, More Than Sad Presenter, Co-Facilitator of suicide loss support group