Growth and Hope after loss: How TAPS facilitates posttraumatic growth in those grieving military deaths.

We examined posttraumatic growth for 691 participants of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). Peer mentors of bereaved individuals experienced greater posttraumatic growth (PTG) and reported higher psychological health than those who were non-peer mentors. Active involvement in TAPS and resilience consistently and positively predicted all types of PTG. These prediction models were far stronger (R2, AIC) for the suicide-bereaved sample than those bereaved by other causes, and post-hoc analyses suggest suicide-bereaved benefitted more than those bereaved by other causes from active participation in TAPS.

TAPS Suicide Postvention ModelTM: A comprehensive framework of healing and growth.

The TAPS Suicide Postvention ModelTM is a three-phase approach to suicide grief that offers a framework for survivors and providers in the aftermath of a suicide. This framework proposes guidance on how to build a foundation for an adaptive grief journey and creates a research-informed, proactive, intentional pathway to posttraumatic growth. The Model follows the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors' peer-based model of care and has supported more than 16,000 military suicide loss survivors over the past decade. The Model is applicable to anyone grieving a suicide loss or coping with any associated trauma.

Surviving families of military suicide loss: Exploring postvention peer support.

The United States military began to experience a steady increase in suicide rates across all service branches at the inception of the wars in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003). As the number of suicide deaths increased, so did the number of affected survivors who seek postvention support. Unique issues that accompany suicide death may expose survivors to a more distressing and complicated grief process. Peer support has clinically been observed to be widely utilized by suicide loss survivors. This article explores unique issues accompanying military suicide loss, potential benefits of postvention peer-based support, clinical considerations, and future directions.

Evidence- and practice-informed approach to implementing peer grief support after suicide systematically in the USA.

The landmark report, Responding to Grief, Trauma, and Distress After a Suicide: U.S. National Guidelines, identifies the suicide bereaved as an underserved population and recommends systematic development of peer grief support to help meet the needs of survivors of suicide loss. A widespread array of peer grief support after suicide (PGSS) services exists nationally, but only as a decentralized network of autonomous programs. Some research indicates that peer support is generally helpful to the suicide bereaved, a finding that is reinforced by a large body of emerging research showing that peer support is effective in mental illness and substance abuse recovery. The practice, study, growth, and refinement of peer support in those fields have generated viable ideas about the elements and principles of effective peer support-for individual practitioners and for programs and organizations-that could be used to guide the systematic implementation of PGSS. In addition, a comprehensive PGSS program (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) that currently serves a large population-survivors of suicide in the military-could be a model for national PGSS systems development. Finally, there are several frameworks for systems development-zero suicide, consumer-operated services, recovery-oriented systems of care, and the consumer action research model-that could guide the expansion and increased effectiveness of PGSS in keeping with the Guidelines' recommendation.