Drawing on years of clinical experience with adolescent suicide patients, registered nurse Vickie Marie Swafford, MS, RN offers parents actionable strategies in her newly published book from Palmetto Publishing.
Still Here
Charleston, SC, Aug. 21, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Palmetto Publishing has released Still Here, a new book by Vickie Marie Swafford, MS, RN, that provides parents with concrete tools for recognizing, responding to, and preventing teen suicide. The book draws on Swafford’s three years of frontline clinical work with adolescent suicide patients and their families.
Still Here opens with a reality most parents dread but few prepare for: the moment something shifts in a teenager’s behavior and a parent does not know whether to speak up or stay silent. Swafford walks readers through the warning signs that are most commonly missed, including the hidden logic behind why teenagers conceal their pain. The book provides specific language for starting difficult conversations, with scripts parents can use when a child expresses hopelessness. It also details step-by-step crisis response planning, guidance for navigating hospitalization, means safety measures inside the home, and strategies for supporting siblings throughout every stage of a crisis.
At the center of the book is a tension familiar to countless families. Parents who lose a child to suicide frequently report that they did not see it coming and did not know what to do. Swafford confronts this gap directly, arguing that a parent’s presence is itself a form of intervention. The book addresses what happens before, during, and after a suicidal crisis, filling a space that most existing resources leave open. It does not require readers to have clinical training. It asks only that they be willing to show up.
Vickie Marie Swafford, MS, RN stated, “There is a particular kind of silence that fills a hospital room when a teenager has tried to end their life. I stood in that doorway more times than I can count. What I learned is that what teenagers face in a suicidal crisis is temporary, and parents are the most powerful force in making it so. I wrote this book so that parents have the understanding and tools to truly make this temporary.”
Suicide remains the second leading cause of death among individuals aged 10 to 14 and the third among those aged 15 to 24 in the United States. Still Here is positioned alongside titles such as Untangled by Lisa Damour and The Explosive Child by Ross Greene, serving parents of preteens and teenagers who are anxious, proactive, or already navigating crisis. The book is written for a general adult audience, ages 30 to 55, who are searching for compassionate, clinically informed guidance from someone who has stood in the room when it mattered most.
Still Here is available for purchase online at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com. For more information about the author, please visit any of their social media platforms.
About the Author: Vickie Marie Swafford, MS, RN, is a master’s-prepared registered nurse whose career has been defined by some of the most critical moments in adolescent mental health care. For over three years, she worked directly with teenage suicide survivors and their families, sitting with them during their darkest hours, navigating crisis alongside them, and helping guide them toward healing. That frontline experience gave her an unshakable conviction: what teenagers face in a suicidal crisis is temporary, and parents are the most powerful force in making it so.
It was through her clinical work that Vickie recognized a devastating pattern: parents overwhelmingly did not see the crisis coming, and once it arrived, they did not know what to do. That realization compelled her to write Still Here: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding, Preventing, and Talking About Teen Suicide. Drawing on both professional expertise and extensive research, the book equips parents with the understanding and practical tools they need before, during, and after a suicide crisis. Vickie’s writing balances clinical authority with a deeply empathetic, hope-centered voice, reflecting the same grounded compassion she brought to every patient encounter.
Vickie lives in Rockwall, Texas, where she continues to champion adolescent mental health. Her work is driven by the belief that hope and human connection are transformative, but that they must be paired with real knowledge and actionable guidance to save young lives. Follow Vickie Marie Swafford, MS, RN for updates on new releases.
Media Contact: [email protected]
Available for interviews: Author, Vickie Marie Swafford, MS, RN
Attachment
- Still Here
CONTACT: Leah Joseph Palmetto Publishing [email protected]
