About this event

Suicide Bereavement: Narratives of Blame; risks and opportunities - Dr Rachel Gibbons and Dorit Braun

A death by suicide can devastate those left behind. This seminar explores the psychoanalytic aftermath of suicide: how delusional blame narratives rapidly form in the minds of the bereaved—including clinicians—and how these narratives can obstruct mourning, distort memory, disturb organisation and society more broadly. Dr Rachel Gibbons draws on over 1500 testimonies to trace the unconscious forces that emerge after suicide, including splitting, projection, and identification with the aggressor.  The seminar also examines how organisations themselves become gripped by fear and defensiveness, often scapegoating clinicians rather than supporting them. Drawing on her critique of “zero suicide” policies, Dr Gibbons challenges the assumption that suicide can be reliably predicted or eliminated, and instead calls for a more compassionate, sustainable postvention approach grounded in understanding.

Dr Dorit Braun thought she had retired from paid work in 2019, having worked as a Charity Chief Executive and in a variety of senior management and governance roles in the social care and family support sectors. Following a very traumatic family bereavement in 2016, Dorit became active in trying to improve mental health care and the ways NHS staff and organisations learn from deaths.  In 2020. Dorit volunteered with Making Families Count to coordinate a mental health focused project: ‘Life beyond the cubicle’ which co-created, tested, published and disseminated eLearning materials.  These materials aim to contribute to improving patient care and reducing harm, might occur during mental health crisis. In Autumn 2025 Dorit agreed to become Chief Executive for Making Families Count in order to lead the organisation with a renewed energy. Making Families Count is a small not for profit that works to improve the way health and care services involve, support and learn from families, especially after serious harm has occurred. Dorit is also an artist, exhibiting from time to time.

Dr Rachel Gibbons is Vice Chair of the Psychotherapy Faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a leading voice on the emotional impact of suicide and homicide in clinical practice. She chaired the RCPsych Working Group on the Effect of Suicide and Homicide for six years and previously led the College’s Patient Safety Group. A psychoanalyst, group analyst, and consultant psychiatrist, she has worked in the NHS for over 20 years, developed national guidance on staff support, and received the RCPsych President’s Medal in 2024.

This lecture will be recorded and available for 7 days after the lecture takes place.

© Image: Matthew Kolakowski, 'Storm Inside' 2010

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