Have you asked yourself: 

Can I stay safe, alive, and avoid personal injury when my brain demands suicide?

Can I better understand and help a person challenged by depression and suicidal thoughts? Can I strengthen my clinical practice, deepen  rapport, and better use best practices to help clients reach goals and objectives? The answer is YES.

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How I Stayed Alive When My Brain Was Trying to Kill Me: One Person's Guide to Suicide Prevention offers practical guidance, life-saving strategies, and hope to people throughout the world.

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Reviews and praise​

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"With neither hollow platitudes nor medical doublespeak ... Blauner provides an extremely valuable and much-needed tool for both suicidal thinkers and their loved ones."

Publisher's Weekly

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"... This vital resource is recommended for all public libraries."

Library Journal

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"This is one of the finest, most useful books on suicide prevention I have ever read."

Michael Palmer, M.D.

New York Times best-selling author of

Extreme Measures

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"Susan Blauner ... offers insight and understanding to anyone who has been touched by this subject."

Joan Anderson

New York Times best-selling author of

A Year by the Sea

 

Part memoir and part survival guide, How I Stayed Alive ... provide[s] practical and immediate advice for those who are contemplating suicide ..."

Michael J. Cholbi, Ph.D

Professor of Philosophy of Death and Dying

University of Edinburgh, Scotland

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"The best suicide prevention manual for the suicidal thinker, suicide attempter, layperson, or professional."

Iris Bolton, MSW

Founder and Director Emeritus,

The Link Counseling Center

 National Resource Center for Suicide Prevention and Aftercare

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"How I Stayed Alive is vulnerable and resilient, deeply personal and profoundly practical. ... an important resource for those suffering from suicidal ideation and mental illness ..."

Patrick J. Kennedy

Former U.S. Representative,

Founder of The Kennedy Forum

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"Blauner knows her topic is serious, but approaches it honestly and openly. [How I Stayed Alive] ... takes us out of the dark ages where we feel shame over depression and suicidality.

David L. Weene

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal

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"Like a Fodor's Guide that gets you from the depths of the hell of depression to the paradise of  a balanced life."

Reese Butler II

President and founder,

Kristin Brooks Hope Center

 

"I am convinced that if my sister had read this book, our family history would have been changed."

Anne D. LeClaire

Best-selling author of Listening Below the Noise: The Transformative Power of Silence

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"For many of my clients, this book is their first go-to resource when they are ready to help themselves feel just a little bit better."

Dialectical Behavior Therapist

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Online Reviews​

"Without the words and comfort offered by the author of this book, I would have been dead on this day at about 11:00 a.m. from a shotgun blast to the head."
 

"Despite great attempts at seeking help, no professional had ever encouraged me to take control through a Crisis Plan."

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"This book is the first to truly give me insight into my daughter's condition."

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"[How I Stayed Alive] seemed like a condensation of most of the things we learned in ... a twelve-week course sponsored by the [The National Alliance on Mental Illness]."

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"I think this book should be required reading for all therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and students studying in those fields."

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"My therapist agrees with me that [How I Stayed Alive] is a must-have for anyone searching for tools and coping mechanisms to deal with constant suicidal and self-injurious thoughts."

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"Written in a layman's prose, the book stands out in making complicated concepts such as neuron and electrochemical transmission more understandable ..."

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"[How I Stayed Alive] ... helped me through some really DARK days. It's written in a down to earth style ... in a way that you can identify with."

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"[Susan Blauner] makes you feel that you are not alone in your sufferings."

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"[How I Stayed Alive] tells me how to talk to a person who expresses the wish to die."

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"I wish I had found this book for my husband when he first told me he was suicidal. I don't know if it could have saved him, but this is a must read for anyone touched by suicide."

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"[How I Stayed Alive] is insightful, supportive and even humorous."

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"This book totally saved my friend's life."

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"[How I Stayed Alive] spoke to me, as if I was the only person in the world."

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"[How I Stayed Alive] is tough, funny, frightening, eye-opening, honest, harrowing--and ultimately, inspiring."

 

"I love this book. I sleep with it next to my bed." 

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"How I Stayed Alive would also be a useful self-help book for people who self-injure."

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"When I need help and won't ask for it [How I Stayed Alive] has been my life saver."

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