Storybook Project Virtual Book Launch
On World Suicide Prevention Day 2021, we hosted the official launch of What It Takes to Make It Through: Stories of Suicide Resilience and Loss, a collection of personal stories about suicide published through the Storybook Project. Supported by the Ontario Brain Institute, this free virtual book launch included a panel discussion and Q&A with several of the book’s authors.
The Storybook Project is an outreach initiative of the Arthur Sommer Rotenberg (ASR) Suicide & Depression Studies Program at St. Michael’s Hospital. It aims to amplify the voices of those with personal experience with suicide, decrease stigma, and foster connection through storytelling. At the ASR, we put out a public call inviting people who have been touched by suicide through contemplation, attempt, or loss to share their unfiltered, personal journeys. We received dozens of powerful submissions from across Canada and have worked together with the authors to compile them into the printed collection, What It Takes to Make It Through.
The book is now available for purchase from the publisher’s website, Amazon, Book Depository, and Caversham Booksellers. All proceeds go back to the ASR Program to support suicide research and education initiatives.
Amanda Ceniti, PhD
(she/her/hers)
hear my name
Assistant Instructional Professor
I am an Assistant Instructional Professor of Psychology in the Master of Arts Program in the Social Sciences (MAPSS) at the University of Chicago. My research interests include community-based suicide prevention focused on building social support capacity among family/friends of those at risk, the neurobiology of depression and suicide risk, and the psychiatric impact of traumatic brain injury. I’m also passionate about mental health advocacy and science communication.