Understand Suicide

Frank King is one of those perfect examples of the saying “don't judge by the cover.” For over twenty years, he wrote comedy for the Tonight Show, but while world audiences laughed at his jokes, he struggled with chronic suicidal ideation. No one knew of his pain. In 2012, while talking to an older cousin about their great-aunt’s death, it was revealed to him that the story he knew about her, whic...

I wanted the one-year anniversary episode to be a special one, so I reached out to a person I admire deeply for his work with people who are at risk for suicide. John Sommer-Flanagan is one of those individuals who can get anyone to open up and truly feel listened to. I came across his name when taking an online course for therapists on how to treat suicidal patients and developed immense respect...

I talk about the things I've learned with the podcast and ask the listeners if they would be interested in having a monthly group to share our stories. Doing the podcast is great, it gives me purpose but it is quite solitary, so I would love to be able to hear more from my audience. Thank you for a fulfilling year and the chance to honor my dad's memory. Check my YouTube Channel, the interviews ar...

Have you ever felt disconnected from the things that are important to you? This may be a strange question when thinking about suicide, but I assure you, it is central and should be assessed in different phases of our lives because when we are out of touch with what we believe in and from whom we want to be, life feels meaningless. To talk about values, I invited the clinical psychologist Jenna LeJ...

For many years of her life, Shari felt like a misfit, which was quite confusing and hurtful for her because she could not understand where all that pain came from. She had a hard time building relationships, was haunted by self-doubt, and struggled with suicidal ideation. When she finally decided to explore her story, she sought treatment with a therapist, and what she found out was that she had r...

Esly Carvalho is a Brazilian/American clinical psychologist with decades of experience treating trauma patients. Her specialty is the technique EMDR, which stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (she is a trainer of trainers). In this interview, I wanted to invite my audience to reconsider some of their misconceptions about trauma because we tend to see it only as something that...

This is part two of my interview with Tamara Webb, a professional counselor in Portland/OR who specializes in grief. In this episode, we focus on the impact of guilt, shame, and religion on suicide loss. I also pose myself as a client and ask her a few common questions regarding suicide grief:  1. what to say when feels their loved one's death was their responsibility?  2. How about when...

Tamara Webb is a professional counselor who specializes in grief. Her approach to therapy is what caught my attention because she doesn't just focus on talking therapy. She presents herself as a holistic counselor, which means that  when clients come into her office, they will be assessed on what she calls the "five bodies common to the human experience: the physical, energetic, mental/emotio...

American clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst Dr. Steven Reisner is a human rights activist; this gives him a very unique perspective on how the mental health profession interacts with culture and society. I start this conversation by asking him whether or not he believes that COVID-19 will constitute a traumatic experience for most of us. Through a social justice lens, he argues that this will...

American clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst Dr. Steven Reisner has fought tirelessly to improve the ethics of his profession. During more than a decade, he denounced the participation of psychologists in designing programs of torture for the US government, which resulted in a shift in the policies of the American Psychological Association, APA. He is also critical of his colleagues for the wa...

Jill Johnson-Young knows grief profoundly and from many perspectives. She was widowed twice before the age of fifty; as a medical social worker, she has worked with dying patients; she has run grief support groups; she has created the Your Path Through Grief program , and she is married to a funeral director. In part 2 of our conversation, Jill focuses on the peculiarities of suicide grief. One of...

Catherine is a victim of child sex abuse, and as it often happens with children, she grew up believing it was her fault. There were times when she tried to warn her parents about her contact with pornography but they often dismissed her claims. Later, as an adolescent, her internalized shame and distorted self-image - one that shouted ‘you are ugly, dirty, and chronically bad,’ - pushed her toward...

Jonathan Singer is a clinical social worker, the president of the American Association of Suicidology, and co-author of the book “Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner’s Guide to Multi-level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention.” In this interview, he explains how schools can be ready to address suicide in a holistic and effective way.  All the resources (programs) mentioned by...

Jonathan Singer is a clinical social worker and the president of the American Association of Suicidology. In this interview, we discuss how the pandemic has impacted individuals, families, work relations, and communities. He talks about the challenges we all face to maintain a healthy routine, how mental health workers are dealing with the demand, the effect of losing social connection with others...

Sally Spencer-Thomas is an award-winning speaker in mental health. After losing her brother Carson to suicide, in 2004, she focused her work as a psychologist to fighting the stigma surrounding suicide.  In this interview, she tells her Carson's story, how it impacted her family, and how she dealt with her own mental illness, which was partially caused by the trauma of losing him.  Sally...

John Nieuwenburg is an award-winning business coach from Canada with a supportive family and wife, but this is only one side of his story. For years, he hid from everyone his feelings of hopelessness, until his depression took its toll and he attempted suicide.   In this interview, John told me that when he looks back, it's hard for him to recognize the man from that past, particularly the pe...

Psychologist Dr. Patrick Corrigan has struggled with mental illness all his life and has dedicated his profession to fighting the discrimination experienced by those with psychiatric conditions. In this eye-opening interview, I asked him what we can do to help society fight the stigma associated with mental illnesses, which leads so many people to suicide. He said that contrary to general belief,...

For the past 3 years, Norine Vanderhooven has been the Chair of the Youth Suicide Prevention Committee of the American Association of Suicidology. As a clinical social worker, she has vast experience in treating trauma and suicide-related issues.   In this interview, she helps parents understand the main factors associated with youth suicide, identify signs, and take action to protect th...

Suicide has a devastating impact on families, especially if blaming is present and the individual ways of grieving are not respected. In this conversation, I talk to my older sister Renata about the ways we see dad's suicide and our personal grieving processes. We go through some of the emotions both of us experienced (or not), such as sadness, anger, guilt, memory loss, and mental confusion, as w...

Brian Goff is a Clinical Psychologist with a private practice in Portland, OR. In this interview, he talks about the natural responses we experience when grieving, particularly when the death is by suicide.  We discuss emotions, society's expectations of what is "healthy," what differentiates suicide grief from other types of death, and ways to go through it in a more compassionate manner. If...

Heidi Lindman has struggled with suicidal ideation since her teenage years, but she has found a compassionate way to deal with them. In this interview, we talk about when these thoughts first came up, their impact on her life, and how she has developed a relationship with them. Heidi says that her recurrent ideation has taught her how to recognize and welcome emotions. Today, she works as a therap...

Steve has lived a life of adversity. Some of the struggles he deals with on a daily basis would make most of us question the meaning of life, including being paralyzed from the neck down, having experienced a painful divorce, and bankruptcy. In this interview, we talk about the day he planned to take his life, and what made him change his mind. In his own words: "I have found ways to have freedom,...

We tend to believe that trauma is a "thing of the mind," but that is not true. Part of this experience is stored in the body, which should be incorporated into one's healing journey. In this interview, I talked to author Danielle Rousseau, who teaches at Boston University and works as a counselor, and a certified yoga teacher. She discusses the many ways in which trauma expresses itself in the bod...

There are many misconceptions regarding the US Military, PTSD, and suicide. In this episode, Timothy Wienecke - who was in the Air Force for five years and now works as a counselor - talks about the struggles surrounding the military community, how they deal with mental health, myths that need to be combatted, and how to support this population.  For the Veterans Crisis Line, call 1-800-273-8...

Losing someone to suicide is a traumatic event, and trauma can lead to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, but how can one know the difference? In this episode, therapist Casey VanHoutan explains how PTSD affects people, its symptoms, the various types of treatment available for patients, and how to address it without judgment in a society that tends to rush through trauma as a way to avoid pain...