Why have we developed this model?

One of the most difficult questions following a suicide is often simply:

Why?

When someone we love dies by suicide, we can find ourselves searching through their life and the events leading up to their death, trying to understand what happened.

Why did they do it?
Why didn’t I see it?
Was there something I missed?
Could I have done something differently?

For some people, this search for answers can become deeply connected with guilt and responsibility.

Yet decades of suicide research have shown us that suicide is extraordinarily complex. There is rarely one event, one experience, one person or one explanation that can adequately account for someone’s death.

We have developed the Integrated Model of Suicide Risk to provide another way of looking at that complexity.

What is the Integrated Model of Suicide Risk?

The Integrated Model of Suicide Risk is a new conceptual framework that brings together the many different factors that can contribute to a person’s vulnerability to suicide.

Rather than searching for a single cause, the model encourages us to look at the wider picture and consider how different influences may interact with one another over time.

Our hope is that the framework may help people bereaved by suicide develop a broader understanding of what may have been happening in their loved one’s life.

In doing so, we hope it may also create space for meaning-making and a more compassionate exploration of some of the guilt, responsibility and what ifs? that so often accompany suicide loss.

The model cannot tell us exactly why an individual person died by suicide, nor can it determine whether their death could have been prevented.

Why are we inviting you?

The Integrated Model of Suicide Risk is still being developed.

Before taking it further, we believe it is important that it is explored not only through psychological theory and existing suicide research, but also through the experiences of people who have actually lived through suicide loss.

That is why we are inviting people bereaved by suicide to join us for this free consultation webinar.

We want to hear what you think.

What do we want to learn?

During the webinar, we would particularly like to understand whether the model:

  • makes sense to you;

  • reflects aspects of your lived experience;

  • helps you see the complexity surrounding suicide differently;

  • helps with making sense of your loved one’s death;

  • changes the way you think about guilt or responsibility;

  • appears to be missing anything important; or

  • contains anything that feels uncomfortable, unhelpful or potentially blaming.

There are no right or wrong answers.

We are not looking for people to agree with the model. Critical feedback is just as important to us as positive feedback.

Your feedback will help us decide how the model needs to change and develop.

What will happen during the webinar?

The webinar will last approximately 90 minutes.

Dr Sue Egan and Mike Davidson will introduce the Integrated Model of Suicide Risk and talk through its different elements.

There will be time to reflect on what you have heard and opportunities to contribute comments and thoughts.

Following the webinar, you will also be invited to complete a feedback form where you can tell us more about your experience of the model.

Do I have to talk about the person I lost?

No.

You will never be required to tell the group about your loved one or explain the circumstances surrounding their death.

You are welcome to simply come and listen.

You can choose whether or not to contribute to discussions, and you do not have to answer any question you would prefer not to answer.

We recognise how personal suicide bereavement is and want everyone attending to remain in control of how much, or how little, they share.

Please consider your emotional wellbeing

This webinar will involve discussion of suicide, suicide risk, psychological distress and suicide bereavement.

Thinking about the circumstances surrounding someone’s death can understandably bring up difficult memories, emotions and unanswered questions.

Please consider whether this feels like the right time for you to participate.

During the webinar you are welcome to take a break, turn off your camera, choose not to participate in a discussion or leave the webinar at any point.

You do not need to explain your decision.

What this webinar is – and isn’t

This is a consultation and feedback webinar designed to help us develop the Integrated Model of Suicide Risk.

It is not therapy or a bereavement support group and should not be considered a substitute for psychological, psychiatric or medical care.

The model is not designed to retrospectively diagnose someone who has died.

Most importantly, it should never be used to determine who or what was responsible for an individual’s suicide.

Recording and confidentiality

The webinar will be recorded.

Because people may discuss highly personal experiences during the session, we take privacy and confidentiality seriously.

Before registering, you will be provided with further information explaining:

  • what will be included in the recording;

  • who will have access to it;

  • how it will be stored;

  • how long it will be retained;

  • whether and how any part of it may subsequently be used; and

  • what options are available if you do not wish to appear or be heard in the recording.

We will also ask everyone attending to respect the privacy of other participants and not share another person’s story or personal information outside the webinar.

How will our feedback be used?

Feedback will be collected through a feedback form and through comments made during the webinar.

This feedback will help us review, refine and further develop the Integrated Model of Suicide Risk.

We will provide more detailed information before you register explaining exactly how feedback and personal information will be collected, stored and used.

We will not publicly attribute a personal experience or quotation to you without your explicit permission.

Who is running the webinar?

The webinar will be facilitated by Dr Sue Egan and Mike Davidson, Directors of Suicide Grief Support CIC.

Suicide Grief Support CIC was established to improve understanding and support following suicide bereavement, bringing together professional knowledge, contemporary research and lived experience.

Who can attend?

This webinar is open to anyone who has lost someone they love to suicide.

You do not need any previous knowledge of psychology or suicide research.

The webinar is completely free to attend.

Join Us

Monday 7 September 2026

7pm BST – UK & Ireland, 2pm Eastern, 11am Pacific

90 minutes | Online | Free

If you would like to help us shape the Integrated Model of Suicide Risk, we would be very grateful to have your voice in the conversation.

REGISTER BELOW

Before registering, please read our Participant Information & Consent, which provides further information about participation, recording, confidentiality, safeguarding, feedback and how we will protect your information.

Hi my name is Sue. And I get it.

If you’re reading this then it’s because you’re living with a kind of pain few truly understand. I’ve been there too.

When my brother took his own life in 2015, it felt like everything I knew was shattered. He wasn’t just family – he was my friend, the big brother who knew everything, the person I relied on most.

His loss left me dealing with guilt, confusion, and a silence so heavy it felt suffocating. Even as someone training to become a psychologist, I felt lost – completely unequipped to face this kind of loss.

So, I did what many of us do: I kept moving forward. I stayed strong, held myself together, and tried to ignore the pain. For a while, it seemed to help. But eventually, the grief caught up, and I found myself exhausted, disconnected, and questioning everything – who I was now, what life could offer, and if healing was even possible.

But now I now that healing is possible. And it begins with small, intentional steps.

Now, I work with those navigating the complicated path of suicide loss. Together, we move beyond merely surviving to build lives filled with meaning and hope. You don’t have to face this alone – and you don’t have to erase your love or your grief to heal.