By Will Senar

To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) is the name of a not-for-profit organization that aims to help people struggling with depression, self-harm, thoughts of suicide, and other negative coping mechanisms.

Suffolk’s very own chapter was started by Sunny Jordan Shannonhouse when she was a sophomore but she wanted to start it as soon as she started college. Shannonhouse, now a junior, felt that Suffolk needed a place where people could go to deal with their problems after hearing that a Suffolk student committed suicide prior to her freshman year and another two when she started college.

“People tend to dehumanize self-harm by saying ‘it only happens to these people’ but there are probably people in their class, dorms, apartment buildings, or even their families struggling with these things in silent,” said Shannonhouse.

TWLOHA raises awareness for people with self-harm struggles and raises money to help people get treatment. The organization sells merchandise and sometimes holds fundraisers and events.

“We advocate talking about it, there’s a stigma of talking about self-harm,” said Shannonhouse. “People are afraid and there are a lot of myths because conversations aren’t had. And people talk about it with a very hush tone.”

Shannonhouse discussed that she once suffered from self-harm and tries to help other people overcome those issues. She discovered TWLOHA when her mom showed her a story in a newspaper about Renee Yohe, the inspiration for the name of the organization, and she became interested. Shannonhouse received a grant from TWLOHA to get counseling and it helped her understand her own struggles.

“To Write Love saved my life and I kind of do what I can to either help the organization or other people struggling,” said Shannonhouse.

Suffolk’s TWLOHA meetings are run by students, but because of the sensitive issues they discuss, the officers have to attend seminars or conferences for instruction on how to help their peers. Help can come in many forms, from listening to issues or to guiding students to professionals for treatment.

Suffolk’s TWLOHA is open to everyone and their meetings range from talking about specific issues or sometimes making the session a fun time where members can watch movies or play games. When they do have serious meetings, they discuss how a certain word or issue affects them and how it makes them feel. The meetings are safe zones but are carefully monitored by officers so topics do not become a trigger.

For those uncomfortable in such a public setting, Shannonhouse and other officers offer one-on-one opportunities to talk.

The Suffolk chapter is not exclusive to Suffolk students though. Officers can help students from other schools and even graduate students and professionals. Shannonhouse recently helped a young woman from Boston College. The group also collaborates with other chapters, including BC and UMass Lowell, to spread the word and even just to meet other members.

This semester, TWLOHA will be holding its second annual open mic night where anyone can come and sing songs, perform skits, and even slam poetry. The date has not been set, but they hope it will be successful.

“People donate money to the event and we send it to headquarters and that is how we contribute monetarily to TWLOHA so they can continue helping people,” Shannonhouse said.

TWLOHA’s meetings are held on Thursdays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Sawyer 1128. Students can contact TWLOHA on its Facebook TWLOHA Suffolk University, Twitter @twlohasuffolk, or e-mail at [email protected].