About The Semicolon Group

Our Story

The Semicolon Group PLLC was founded in 2019 to respond to the rising public health issue of young people considering, attempting, and dying by suicide. We are the only practice of its kind working exclusively with suicide in the United States.*

We are fully inclusive to all gender expressions and orientations, to all ethnicities, to all faiths and no faiths, to all bodies, and to all education and income levels; suicide does not discriminate and neither do we. Please come however you are, in whatever way you are most comfortable. We will do the same! We keep our presentation and environment relatable so that coming to therapy is comfortable and welcoming for all of us.

* We searched for a year for something similar to serve as a model for this launch but could not find anyone anywhere treating suicide exclusively. We’d love to be proven wrong and to have a partner in this fight! If you are or know of anyone else working exclusively with suicide, please contact us so we can connect!

About Our Brand

semicolonA semicolon indicates a pause in a sentence that has more to say. It has been adopted as a symbol for hope and motivation for those with suicide experiences, symbolically saying “Your story is not over yet.” (See Project Semicolon for more background on the movement). We adopted the semicolon in our name to pay homage to the movement, to be recognizable to those with lived experience, and to signify our dedication to work exclusively with suicide.

“For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out, and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.”

– Cynthia Occelli

We view suicide similarly: in order for growth to come out of suicide, suicide must be unraveled; it must come out in order for everything to change; for most people, suicidality looks like complete destruction; to those experiencing it, it can feel like complete destruction. We believe that your experience with suicide is just another crack in your acorn, and that you too have greatness within you.

Our Founder

Whitcomb Terpening, MSW, LCSW

Check out Our Team page for more information!

Find relief here.

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