Advocate for lived experience
Heidi Bryan is a field leader at the forefront of robust public health efforts focused on survivors of suicide attempts in our nation.
An author, advocate, public speaker, trainer and non-profit executive manager, Ms. Bryan is an attempt survivor who says she doesn’t recall a time in her life when she hadn’t thought about suicide. She remembers a time when she was in second grade and wanted to disappear and get away, and “the only way I could get away was to die.”
Ms. Bryan is the founder of Feeling Blue Suicide Prevention Council, a nonprofit organization based in Pennsylvania. She has facilitated survivor of suicide loss support groups, and has served on the Board of Directors for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Suicide Prevention Action Network (SPAN) USA. She was also awarded the SPAN USA Sandy Martin Grassroots Award in 2005.
Ms. Bryan is a member of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Consumer Survivor Subcommittee, and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention Suicide Attempt Survivor Task Force. Ms. Bryan is the author of the 2012 book, Must Be the Witches in the Mountains, an irreverent guide for knowing what to say when someone dies by suicide. Ms. Bryan also authored the booklet, After an Attempt: The Emotional Impact of a Suicide Attempt on Families, and has co-authored the booklet Now What Do I Do? Surviving a Suicide Attempt with Amy Cunningham, Ph.D. She has also written the book, Must Be the Witches in the Mountain, an irreverent guide for knowing what to say after a suicide.