Our Journey Continues Presenter Bios
Iris Bolton, MS is an international lecturer and consultant who offers hope to people bereaved by death, loss and suicide. She is Director Emeritus ofThe Link Counseling Center, Atlanta, Georgia, where she served as full-time Director for 36 years. She co-authored her book, My Son...My Son...A Guide to Healing after Death, Loss or Suicide, written after her twenty-year-old son, Mitch, took his own life in 1977. Her co-author was her father Curtis Mitchell. It is now in its 22nd edition. Iris Bolton’s upcoming book, Voices of Healing and Hope: Conversations on Grief after Suicide, addresses phases of grief after suicide. Iris’s commitment is to provide guidance and hope to others, so that they may find a peace born of learning to survive, thrive and flourish afterloss and trauma.
Rev. Laura Biddle is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She graduated from Episcopal Divinity School in 1986. As a trained grief counselor and local minister, in 2009 she became the Spiritual Advisor to military families who were grieving suicide. Working with the staff of an organization called TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Project for Survivors). She continues to be committed to helping military families advance their spiritual health after a suicide and leads local support groups for suicide survivors. She is currently the Chaplain at Salem State University, leading one of the first embedded spiritual life programs at a state university in Massachusetts.
Frank Campbell, Ph.D., LCSW, C.T is the former Executive Director of the Baton Rouge Crisis intervention Center and the Crisis Center Foundation. He is currently Senior Consultant for Campbell and Associates Consulting where he consults with communities and on Forensic Suicidology cases. It was due to his more than twenty years of working with those bereaved by suicide that he introduced his Active Postvention Model (APM) most commonly known as the LOSS Team (Local Outreach to Survivors of Suicide). Dr. Campbell is a past president of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) and has received the Roger J. Tierney award for service and the Louis I Dublin Award in 2010 for his contributions to the field of Suicidology. Campbell was also selected by the International Association of Suicide Prevention to receive the 2009 Dr. Norman Farberow award for his international contributions on behalf of those bereaved by suicide.He was Social Worker of the year in Louisiana and the first John W. Barton Fellow selected in his hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. To find out more about his work in the field of Suicidology you can visit
Franklin Cook, MA, CPC, began his career as a peer helper in addiction recovery in 1981 and in suicide grief support in 1999. A professional in the fields of community-based suicide prevention and postvention (support in the aftermath of suicide) since 2001, he presents, trains, and advocates nationally on behalf of people bereaved by suicide. His expertise covers both grief after suicide and other kinds of traumatic death, and he is a Certified Professional Coach and founder of Personal Grief Coaching, a telephone support service for bereaved people after a traumatic loss. He is co-lead of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention Survivors of Suicide Loss Task Force, which created community guidelines titled Responding to Grief, Trauma, and Distress After a Suicide (bit.ly/supportpriority). He currently serves on the board of directors of the Alliance of Hope for Suicide Loss Survivors (bit.ly/hopeall), and he manages a statewide men’s suicide prevention project (MassMen.org) for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. He blogs at Grief after Suicide (bit.ly/suicidegriefblog) and is a survivor of his father's suicide in 1978 (bit.ly/joecook).
Carla Fine is the author of the internationally best-selling book No Time to Say Goodbye: Surviving the Suicide of a Loved One,now available on audio narrated by Carla Fine. The book is currently in its 19th printing and is also available in Japanese and Korean. No Time to Say Goodbye is a personal story—Carla’s husband, a prominent New York physician, killed himself in 1989 at the age of 43. Carla is also the author of Touched by Suicide: Hope and Healing after Loss, co-written with Dr. Michael Myers, a psychiatrist who is one of the leading clinicians in the field of suicide. Touched by Suicide offers compassionate guidance for anyone affected by suicide from the dual perspectives of both a survivor and a mental health professional. Carla is the author or coauthor of seven other books and her work has appeared in leading publications throughout the world. She frequently appears in the media on national and local television and radio programs. In addition, she also offers workshops on writing as a path to healing when coping with the death of a loved one. Her website is
Robert Gebbia serves as the CEO of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the leading suicide prevention nonprofit organization and largest private funder of suicide research in the United States. Gebbia is a founding member of the National Council for Suicide Prevention, serves on the National Lifeline Advisory Committee, the Executive Committee of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, and the Board of Directors of the National Health Council. Prior to joining AFSP, Gebbia had a successful career with the United Way and served as a Public Health Advisor for the City of New York. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Hofstra University and a master’s degree in Sociology from the New School for Social Research. He completed the Harvard Business School’s Human Services Management Executive Program and IBM’s Leadership Commitment Program for nonprofit executives.
Nicole Gibson, MSW is AFSP’s Director of State Policy & Grassroots Advocacy. In this role, Nicole oversees AFSP’s state and local advocacy efforts, which includes managing a rapidly-growing nationwide grassroots network of over six thousand Field Advocate volunteers and helping AFSP Chapters across the country develop their state and local advocacy presence. Nicole’s academic background includes a master’s degree in macro-level social work and an undergraduate degree in psychology. She began her involvement with AFSP back in 2005 at her first Overnight Walk in Chicago. Nicole lost her younger and only brother Gregory, age sixteen, to suicide in 2004.
Mariette Hartleyhas established herself as an enduring star on stage, screen and television for more than forty years. Her first film was Sam Peckinpah’s classic wester, Ride the High Country, with Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott. , followed by Marooned with Gregory Peck, Skyjacked with Charlton Heston and James Brolin and 1969 with Robert Downy Jr. and Kiefer Sutherland. An Emmy winner and five-time nominee, her TV credits range from the original Star Trekto MASH, Peyton Place, Goodnight Beantown, to multiple acclaimed TV movies such as M.A.D.D. The Candy Lightner Story, Silence of the Heart, My Two Loves, 4 episodes of Gunsmoke, the classic Twilight Zone episode The Long Morrow, and of course, those Polaroid commercials. She has multiple other TV and Broadway credits. Mariette has been a mental health advocate since 1987 when she co-founded the AFSP. For the past fifteen years, she has been blessed to co-facilitate 8 week survivor groups through Didi Hirsch and speaks all over the country. Her autobiographical bestseller, Breaking the Silence, is a deeply personal, revealing and funny look at her life and career, a must for film buffs.
John R. (Jack) Jordan, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist in private practice in Pawtucket, Rhode Island where he has specialized in work with survivors of suicide and other traumatic losses for more than 35 years. He is the Clinical Consultant for Grief Support Services of the Samaritans in Boston, Massachusetts, and the Professional Advisor to the Loss and Healing Council of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). He is Co-Chair of the Survivors of Suicide Loss Task Force of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Jack has published over 50 clinical and research articles, chapters, and full books in the areas of bereavement after suicide, support group models, the integration of research and practice in thanatology, and loss in family and larger social systems.
Shirley Kaminsky lost her son David to suicide in 1987.His death catapulted her on a path of personal growth and a determination to be of service to other individuals and families touched by suicide. A nurse, Shirley started a support group for loss survivors in 1991 that she continues to facilitate today. In 2004, she co-founded the San Francisco Chapter of AFSP, organized SF’s first Community Out of the Darkness Community Walk, and organized the first Survivor Conference in the Bay Area. Shirley currently serves on AFSP’s National Board of Directors and is Chair of the National Loss & Healing Council.
Doreen S. Marshall, PhDis AFSP’s Vice President of Programs and a licensed psychologist. Dr. Marshall’s experience working with loss survivors began in 1997 , first through volunteer efforts and then later working with Iris Bolton at The Link Counseling Center as the Associate Director of the NRC for Suicide Prevention and Aftercare from 2000-2005. Her clinical and professional experience spans university, non-profit and community settings and she has been a trainer and consultant in suicide prevention and aftercare for over 15 years. She has served on several national task forces and councils and is a past-chair of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of Georgia. She is also a suicide loss survivor, having lost her fiancé Chris to suicide in 1995.
Peggy Marshall, MA serves on the national AFSP Loss and Bereavement Council. She started the first AFSP Survivor Day Conference in North Texas in 2009, which is the largest conference in the country and has provided innovative program components and materials used as a resource for other Survivor Day Conferences. Attendance at the local conference for the past two years has been around 200 and feedback from attendees has been extremely positive. She is also the founding Chair of the North Texas Chapter of AFSP and today continues to serve on the Board of Directors. Studying suicide loss & bereavement, she creates platforms for sharing insights and building communities for survivor healing. Peggy began her grief journey in 2005 after her husband died by suicide. She has experienced Post Traumatic Growth as a result of her struggle with the grief process and searching for insights for healing.
John L. McIntosh, PhD is Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Professor of Psychology at Indiana University South Bend. Prior to his appointment as Interim Executive Vice Chancellor, he served as Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences for 4 years, Chair of the Department of Psychology for 5 years, and Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for 8 years, and Interim Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for 1 year. He is the author, co-author, or co-editor of 8 published books on suicide and has contributed chapters to several books and articles to many professional journals. He has made well over 100 professional presentations and many keynote addresses at professional conferences. He is a Past-President of the American Association of Suicidology (AAS; served as President in 1993-94) as well as a past member of the AAS Board of Directors and has served as Secretary of the AAS Board of Directors. Dr. McIntosh was also the 2011 recipient of the Charles T. Rubey LOSS Award (recognizing extraordinary impact on the lives of survivors of suicide) given by the Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide Program of the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Melinda Moore, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Kentucky. She is part of the core clinical faculty in the Clinical Psychology doctoral program there and is in private practice in Lexington, Kentucky. Dr. Moore became a suicide prevention advocate and clinical psychologist after having lost her husband to suicide twenty years ago. This experience informs her work to this day. At Eastern Kentucky University, she trains doctoral students and other clinicians in suicide focused treatments, conducts suicide bereavement research with an emphasis on Posttraumatic Growth ( ) and is engaged in suicide bereavement treatment development.
Christine Moutier, MD, AFSP’s Chief Medical Officer, knows the impact of suicide firsthand. After losing colleagues to suicide, she dedicated herself to fighting this leading cause of death. Since earning her medical degree and training in psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, Moutier has been a practicing psychiatrist, professor of psychiatry, dean in the medical school, medical director of the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit at the VA Medical Center in La Jolla, and has been clinically active with diverse patient populations, such as veterans, Asian refugee populations, as well as physicians and academic leaders with mental health conditions. She has testified before the U.S. Congress on suicide prevention, and has appeared as an expert in The New York Times,The Washington Post,Timemagazine,The Economist,The Atlantic, theBBC,CNN, and other print and television outlets.
Michael F Myers, PhD is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and immediate past Vice-Chair of Education and Director of Training in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. He is the author or co-author of seven books the most recent of which are “Touched by Suicide: Hope and Healing After Loss” (with Carla Fine) and “The Physician as Patient: A Clinical Handbook for Mental Health Professionals” (with Glen Gabbard, MD). He is a specialist in physician health and has written extensively on that subject. Currently, Dr Myers serves on the Advisory Board to the Committee for Physician Health of the Medical Society of the State of New York. He is a recent past president (and emeritus board member) of the New York City Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and a member of the Clinician Survivors Task Force of the American Association of Suicidology. Dr Myers became a survivor of suicide at the age of 19 when he lost one of his medical school roommates to suicide.
Father Charles T. Rubey is the Founder and Director of a program called LOSS (Loving Outreach to Survivors of Suicide). He created this unique ministry that brings together people to support one another at a time when they feel irreparably broken. LOSS is one of Fr. Rubey’s greatest contributions to Catholic Charities, the mental health field and to the thousands of people who have participated in this unique counseling and self-help program since he started it in 1979 at the request of three families who had lost loved ones to suicide. He has held a number of positions since joining Catholic Charities in 1972. Upon earning his Master’s degree in social work in 1977, he became Director of Mental Health Services, a post he held from 1978 until 1989—while concurrently holding other roles including Manager of the Division of Family and Community Services, now known as the Division of Family and Parish Support Services. From there, he moved to Director of Programs in 1993 and then Associate Director of Programs in 2004.
Joshua Rivedal moved from New Jersey to New York City at the age of 21 to tackle the world of fame, fortune, and the Broadway stage...in what he thought would be a stepping stone to Hollywood and a star on the walk of fame.Eight years later and through a series of remarkable life events, Josh reinvented himself as an international public speaker, author, playwright, theatre producer, educator, marketing consultant, and arts entrepreneur.He has writtenThe Gospel According to Josh: A 28 Gentile Bar Mitzvah(book), and a one-man showKicking My Blue Genes in the Butt(based on his bookThe Gospel According to Josh. As founder and executive director of The i'Mpossible Project, he provides advocacy, entertainment, seminars, and peer-to-peer education on suicide prevention, mental health, storytelling, and diversity. He has previously served on the board of directors for the New York City chapter of theAmerican Foundation for Suicide Preventionand is currently an advisory board member forElijahʼs Journey: A Jewish Response to Suicide Prevention.
Kim Ruocco, MSW is the Chief External Relations Officer for the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS). In this role, Ms. Ruocco develops comprehensive, peer-based programs that offer comfort and care to all those who are grieving the loss of a service member to suicide.
In addition to her postvention work Ms. Ruocco contributes to suicide prevention efforts in civilian as well as military organizations. She is a national speaker who uses her education, personal experience and information gathered from 1000’s of service members and bereaved military families to help others more fully understand suicide. Kim holds a BA in Human Services and Psychology from the University of Massachusetts and a Masters degree in Clinical Social Work from Boston University. She is also the surviving widow of Marine Corp Major John Ruocco, who died by suicide in 2005.