George Scott is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist known throughout New Jersey as an energetic
and engaging speaker. Mr. Scott is certified in Post-Traumatic Stress Management and is a state wide
Co-Ordinator for the Traumatic Loss Coalition, New Jersey’s primary youth suicide prevention program.
In addition, he was previously a training and consultation specialist for the New Jersey Youth Suicide
Prevention Project (which was managed by Rutgers University Behavior Health Care), and a former adjunct
faculty member at The College of New Jersey.
Suicide knows no social, racial or economic barriers. A recent CNN quoted report stated, “The number of children and teens in the US who visited emergency rooms for suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts doubled to more than 1.12 million cases between 2007 and 2015”. A follow-up survey in August 2018 highlighted: in the US one child under the age of 13 takes their life every 5 days and this has doubled for boys and tripled for girls. Suicide remains the second leading cause of death for youth aged 10-24 in New Jersey. More teenagers and young adults die every year from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, combined.
Why do some children consider dying is the only way to stop their pain? “Suicide is a topic which can be filled with shame and embarrassment and because it is, we don’t talk about it,” Scott said. “Failing to talk about suicide makes matters worse”, he said, adding, “we need to talk about it.”
In this open, direct conversation George Scott will:
- examine the causes that can sabotage adolescent success
- show what families can do to help recognize risk factors and warning signs of suicidal behavior
- discuss practical options to help mitigate the increased problems that we are seeing today, and
- address the stigma of suicide and discuss how a community can offer support and help to families that have suffered tragic loss.
Princeton Common Ground and Mr. Scott will be joined by community resources including: Good Grief, NAMI, Mind Your Mind Project, Attachment Trauma Network, and school counselors who will be available to answer additional questions throughout the evening.