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Ronnie Walker MS, LCPC
Founder and Executive Director
Ronnie Susan Walker is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor with a personal experience of loss by suicide. Following the death of her stepson in 1995, she focused on helping others suffering similar losses. She holds a master’s degree in counseling as well as post-graduate certifications from the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children, and the American Academy of Bereavement. Prior to founding the Alliance of Hope, she served as Director of Quality Assurance for Methodist Youth Services, clinical counselor for Catholic Charities LOSS program, adjunct faculty for University of Illinois, Chicago, and National Louis University, and maintained a private practice.
In 2020 she was named ‘Loss Survivor of the Year’ by the American Association of Suicidology. In 2019, she received the Editor’s Choice Award for best paper at the Landmark Education Conference for Global Transformation, as well as the Father Charles T. Ruby award from Catholic Charities, Chicago, for her contributions to loss survivors.
If you are reading this, it is probable that someone very important to you died by suicide. First and foremost, I want to extend my heartfelt condolences on your loss.
If you were very close to the person who died, and your grief is new, you may be struggling to get through each hour and each day. With the death of your loved one, you may feel thrust onto a surreal journey, not of your own choosing.
Our website contains information and resources as well as essays, stories, and tips from other loss survivors. There are many people in our community forum who have lost loved ones to suicide. They will understand what you are going through.
Above all, it is important to know that, with time, healing does occur. People endure, survive, and even eventually go beyond “just surviving” to experience happy and meaningful lives. Those who have traveled this path before you will reach out with support. You are not alone.
With prayers for your healing,
Ronnie Susan Walker MS, LCPC
Founder, Alliance of Hope