Working with people who have lost the Will to live: Following sudden loss, violence and acute or childhood trauma— Chana Rachel Frumin

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This article explores and researches the experience we could call ‘losing the Will to live’. It is based on narrative conversations the author conducted with a group of 10 clients during the years of 2008-2018 as a practicing narrative counsellor in Jerusalem. These conversations were to give space for the stories of these women to be heard and to discover their personal, expert knowledge on this topic, especially in contrast to cultural attitudes that often influence the way people relate to it. The author’s role was sensitively co-researching both the experience itself and the approaches people use to deal with it and find support ‒ inside and outside of formal therapy. Many of the original perspectives, insights and skills these women shared are presented in this article. The intention of the quotes and poems you will read here is to place their language and their experience at the centre of the research.