Resources for Families
This page is a starting point, not a substitute for someone sitting with you. If you don’t know where to begin, reach out to us and we’ll help you find what fits.
These lines are answered around the clock, every day of the year, by trained people. You do not have to be at the very edge to call.
Nobody handed me a folder when Malachi died. I had to find my way in the dark. These are the people in our state who do this work.
ohiospf.org•(614) 429-1528•support@ohiospf.org
Statewide postvention support, survivor connections, and a resource guide written specifically for people who have lost someone to suicide.
ohiospf.org/postvention/loss-teams
Two or more trained volunteers — at least one who has lost someone to suicide themselves — who come to families after a loss. They are activated by the coroner’s office or law enforcement, so a team may reach out to you rather than the other way around. Not every county has one yet. OSPF can tell you what exists near you.
In-person groups meet in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, and other Ohio cities. Sitting in a room with people who already understand is a specific kind of relief.
State services including a county-by-county provider finder and counselor referrals.
Dial 2-1-1•fairfieldcounty211.org
Local help finding food, housing, utility assistance, and counseling — the practical things that pile up while you are trying to breathe.
Faith held part of me. It did not reach the parts that needed a professional. Both things can be true, and you deserve every set of hands available to you.
psychologytoday.com/us/therapists
Filter by “grief” and “suicide loss.” Many therapists offer sliding scale fees — it is worth asking directly.
Affordable therapy sessions, roughly $30–$80, for people without insurance or facing financial hardship.
findtreatment.gov•1-800-662-4357
National locator for mental health and substance use treatment. Free and confidential.
At 2am, when the questions come and there is nobody to call, some of these are open.
An online forum staffed and moderated around the clock. A community of people who have been exactly where you are, awake at the same hours you are.
Support groups, survivor outreach programs, and healing conversations. The Ohio chapter runs community programs across the state.
A national directory of support groups for survivors of suicide loss.
They are grieving their sibling. They are scared in ways they may not have words for. And you are trying to hold them while barely holding yourself. You do not have to do that part alone either.
Resources and support groups built specifically for children and teens who are grieving, including guidance for parents on what to say and how much.
Free bereavement camps for children ages 7–17 who have experienced a significant loss.
A searchable directory of children’s grief programs by state, plus guidance written for families supporting a child after a death by suicide.
Faith held part of me. Counseling reached another part. But the body doesn’t grieve through faith, and the brain doesn’t heal through prayer alone — those parts needed other things, and it took me years to understand that. Use everything available to you. None of it is in competition.
Treatments with clinical backing
Medical treatments delivered by licensed practitioners, with research behind them.
EEG-guided transcranial magnetic stimulation — a non-invasive, drug-free treatment using magnetic pulses to stimulate areas of the brain involved in mood and regulation. TMS is FDA-cleared for medication-resistant depression, and Ohio funds this program through state law for veterans, first responders, and law enforcement officers dealing with PTSD, depression, traumatic brain injury, sleep disorders, and substance use. Treatment is free for those who qualify. There are medical exclusions — including seizure history and certain metal implants — so start with a conversation with them and with your doctor.
Find an EMDR therapist on Psychology Today
A structured therapy with substantial research support for trauma, including traumatic grief. Often helpful for people carrying intrusive images from the day of a loss — the ones that arrive uninvited and won’t leave. Filter for “EMDR” and “grief” when searching.
Body-based and complementary practices
Practices that work alongside counseling and medical care rather than in place of them. Many people find real relief here, particularly when grief has settled into the body.
breathingwithklara.com•klara@breathingwithklara.com•708-557-0732
Neo-shamanic breathwork facilitator and certified Jungian coach offering support for individuals and families after suicide loss. Her work includes conscious breathing practices for emotions that are hard to reach through words, a stone release grief ritual, and guided journaling. Her framing is one we share — that grief is an expression of love, something to integrate rather than move on from. Klara has generously offered her services at no cost to families referred through Beyond The Shadows — mention us when you reach out, or contact us and we will connect you.
Gentle, hands-on or hands-near practice that many grieving people describe as calming and restorative. Look for practitioners with experience in bereavement, and ask what a session involves before you book. We are working to build a list of practitioners near Fairfield County — if you offer this work and would like to support loss families, please reach out to us.
Grief keeps you in a stress response for months — elevated cortisol, disrupted sleep, a chest that aches for reasons that turn out to be real. Practices that work with the body directly can ease some of that load. Ask a studio or therapist whether they have experience working with bereaved clients.
We are not a crisis center. We are a community of people who have been there — who know what it is to get the call, and to navigate the months after when everyone else has moved on.
Family care materials. The Still Here booklet, insert cards, and resource guides, written from inside this grief and distributed free to families.
Malachi’s Family Relief Fund. Direct financial help with funeral expenses and the practical costs that arrive in the worst week of your life.
Follow-up care. Calls for children, siblings, and parents — not just in the first week, but in the middle months and the years after.
There is no wrong time to reach out. Not the first day, not two years later.
Phone numbers and links on this page were last checked in August 2026. If you find something out of date, please let us know so the next family doesn’t hit a dead end.