OBJECTIVE: to understand the family's experience of losing a family member by suicide.
METHOD: study with qualitative approach with reference of the Constructivist Grounded Theory. The theoretical sample consisted of 20 participants, among health professionals and family members of people who committed suicide. Data were collected through intensive and coded interviews from initial and focused coding.
RESULTS: three categories were obtained: Being in a "state of shock"; Living with the suffering and effects of the loss of the family member; and, Rebuilding life. From the articulation of these categories emerged the phenomenon: "Experiencing the loss of a family member by suicide: from mourning to the quest for overcoming". FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: each category represents a stage in the family's experience of losing a family member by suicide. The results provide support for suicide prevention and postvention actions developed by health professionals.