71 | Stitching What Remains: MEND

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MEND – After the Rupture, the Reweaving Begins

After a suicide attempt, survival is not the end of the story — it’s the fragile beginning of another chapter. In this episode, we explore the MEND phase of the STEPS framework:

• Meaning-Making: searching for fragments of understanding in the aftermath.
• Emotions in Motion: navigating the waves of guilt, relief, anger, or quiet.
• New Stressors & Support: facing stigma, disclosure, and the shifting responses of others.
• Direction Forward: beginning to reweave identity, purpose, and values into daily life.

Through Ari’s story, we witness how survival carries both weight and possibility. Healing doesn’t arrive all at once — it is stitched together thread by thread: a sketchbook rediscovered, a message sent, a small gesture of presence.

This is the phase of re-entry into life, where compassion and values-based conversations can guide recovery. MEND is not the conclusion of crisis, but the weaving of a future that holds both scars and strength.

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