Maybe it was a text that didn’t sound like her. A brother who has gone quiet. A friend who keeps canceling plans he used to love. When someone close to you starts to change, you feel it before you can explain it, and the question that follows is hard to sit with: what do I do now?
September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and this guide is for the person standing beside someone in pain. It covers what to watch for, how to start the conversation, and where Charlotte families can turn for help.
If you or someone you love needs help right now
If safety is a concern today, start here before reading anything else. These lines are answered 24 hours a day, every day:
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988, or chat online at 988lifeline.org
- Veterans: call 988, then press 1
- Crisis Text Line: text HOME to 741741
- Mecklenburg County mobile crisis team: 704-566-3410, option 1
- Alliance Health crisis line: 800-510-9132
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911 and ask for a Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) trained officer.
When you’re the one who notices
The people who reach out to us about a loved one rarely arrive with certainty. They arrive with a feeling. A parent notices her teenager has stopped seeing friends. A partner realizes the person beside him has been sleeping through entire weekends. An adult child hears her father say, for the third time this month, that everyone would be doing fine without him.
Changes like these matter: pulling away from people and activities, big shifts in sleep or appetite, talk of feeling trapped or hopeless, giving away possessions, or saying that other people would be better off without them. One of these on its own may mean nothing. A cluster of them, or a change that holds for weeks, is a reason to act.
Acting on concern doesn’t require proof. If your gut says something has shifted, that’s enough to start a conversation.
Starting the conversation
Asking directly about suicide is safe. Research summarized by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) shows that asking someone directly about suicide can open the conversation without increasing risk, and for many people it comes as a relief to be asked.
A few things help the conversation go well:
- Choose a private moment with time behind it. A car ride, a walk, a quiet kitchen after dinner. Somewhere the conversation can breathe.
- Say what you’ve noticed, plainly. “You’ve seemed far away lately, and I’ve been thinking about you.” Specific observations land better than general alarm.
- Ask the direct question if you’re worried. “Are you thinking about suicide?” is a complete sentence, and it tells the person you can handle the answer.
- Listen more than you talk. Your presence is the intervention. You don’t have to fix anything in this conversation.
Leading with advice, comparisons to other people’s problems, or reassurance that things aren’t that bad tends to close the door you’re trying to open. Let the person tell you where they are first.
Staying present without taking on the clinical role
You can be the bridge between the person you love and professional care, and that’s a strong position to hold. Bridges connect people to what they need.
Being the bridge can look like sitting with someone while they call 988, driving them to a first appointment, or helping them look up whether their insurance covers therapy. It can look like a follow-up text two days later, because checking back in after a hard conversation tells the person the care is ongoing.
It also means protecting your own footing. Supporting someone through a dark season takes something out of you, and your own therapist, friend, or faith community can hold you up while you hold up someone else.
Where Charlotte-area families can turn
Montgomery Counseling Group offers trauma-informed psychotherapy in Charlotte, NC and telehealth services throughout North Carolina. Our clinicians work with depression, anxiety, and the intense emotional pain that can sit underneath both.
For people experiencing overwhelming emotion, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches concrete skills for riding out crisis moments and building a life that feels livable. For families concerned about a young person, our therapy for children and adolescents meets kids and teens at their own pace.
If you’re trying to find the right support for someone you love, our intake team can talk through options with you. The first step is a free 20-minute consultation, and you’re welcome to make that call on someone’s behalf while they decide what feels possible.
Two Charlotte walks on November 7, 2026
Community events give people a public way to say this topic belongs in the open, and this fall Charlotte has two on the same day.
NAMIWalks Charlotte, hosted by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Charlotte affiliate, takes place Saturday, November 7, 2026 at the Mint Museum Randolph, 2730 Randolph Road.
The Out of the Darkness Charlotte Metro Community Walk, hosted by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP), is also Saturday, November 7, 2026, with check-in at 11 a.m. and a location to be announced.
Walking beside neighbors who understand, whether you’ve lost someone or you’re supporting someone now, is its own kind of medicine. Isolation feeds despair. The community interrupts it.
Help is close by in Charlotte
If the situation is urgent, call or text 988 first, or call the Mecklenburg County mobile crisis team at 704-566-3410, option 1.
If you’re looking ahead, trying to find steady support for someone you love or for yourself, we can help you sort through the options. Schedule a free 20-minute consultation with Montgomery Counseling Group, in person in Charlotte or by telehealth anywhere in North Carolina.
This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute clinical advice. If you are experiencing distress or mental health concerns, please consult a licensed mental health professional.
John Burns is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and an EMDRIA Approved Consultant at Montgomery Counseling Group in Charlotte, NC. He specializes in complex and developmental trauma and works with adults on the long-term effects of earlier relational experiences. John uses EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Ericksonian Clinical Hypnosis in his practice. The EMDRIA Approved Consultant designation is an advanced EMDRIA credential that qualifies clinicians to provide formal consultation to other EMDR therapists.
Taylor Banner is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate at Montgomery Counseling Group in Charlotte, NC. She works with individuals, couples, and families, with a focus on communication, trust, and emotional connection. Taylor is trained in Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) and Structural Family Therapy (SFT), approaches that help people understand relational patterns and build stronger, more secure bonds.
Michelle Daley, LCMHC, is a therapist at Montgomery Counseling Group in Charlotte, NC, working with children and adolescents. She creates a warm, child-centered space where young people feel safe to express what they are working through and begin to build the emotional skills that support long-term well-being. An EMDR Trained Clinician trained in Play Therapy, Michelle draws on EMDR, play therapy, and person-centered approaches to adapt to each child’s pace and starting point.
Naila McConnell is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate at Montgomery Counseling Group. She is a Certified Dialectical Behavior Therapist and is trained in Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT), a trauma-informed approach designed for families experiencing high conflict or a history of physical aggression. Naila works with adults, children, adolescents, couples, and families, and her practice addresses mental health and substance use concerns.
Javontae Bradley is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate at Montgomery Counseling Group in Charlotte, NC. His clinical focus includes men’s issues, trauma-informed care, and culturally responsive psychotherapy. He works with individuals experiencing anger, relational stress, and the emotional patterns that develop when there is no framework for processing them.
Meredith Turner-Toth is a Senior Clinician and Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) at Montgomery Counseling Group in Charlotte, NC. She works with adolescents and adults and brings experience across crisis intervention, group therapy leadership, and trauma-informed care. Meredith draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing, and trauma-informed approaches to support people working through depression, anxiety, grief, life transitions, and relationship stress.
