Hope Illuminated Podcast: Helping the Helpers Bring Light to Life’s Darkest Moments

What happens when the identity you built over two decades inside one of the world's most demanding companies suddenly has nowhere to go? In this episode of Hope Illuminated, I sit down with John Brown — a former 22-year Apple leader who built a secret second career as a therapist before transitioning full-time into executive coaching, performance psychology, and sports psychology. John shares his...

In this episode of Hope Illuminated, I'm joined by Brandon Wilcox, peer support specialist, community crisis innovator, and suicide attempt survivor, from Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners, a grassroots Colorado organization serving the state for 15 years through a statewide crisis line and innovative community-based support models. Our conversation centers on one of the most evidence-based, underuse...

In this episode of Hope Illuminated, I welcome Laura Putnam, author, speaker, and founder of Motion Infusion, for a rich conversation about what it actually takes to change mental health culture at scale. The central argument: one-off awareness campaigns and individual-focused interventions, while valuable, are not sufficient to create lasting change. What's needed is a tipping point and the key t...

In this episode of Hope Illuminated, I sit down with Julia Hassell to explore what it really looks like to heal after profound loss. Julia’s story is both heartbreaking and deeply inspiring. After losing her father to suicide and navigating multiple losses in her family, she found herself on a path to understand trauma at a much deeper level. What she discovered challenged everything she thought s...

Many men struggle silently with grief, loneliness, identity loss, and moral injury. Social expectations often teach men to stay strong, stay productive, and stay quiet about pain. In this episode of Hope Illuminated, I speak with meaning-centered psychotherapist and logotherapist Baruch HaLevi (“Dr. B”) about how men’s groups help men transform suffering into purpose, connection, and resilience. D...

In today’s polarized social and political climate, leadership has become not only emotionally demanding but, in some cases, physically and psychologically dangerous. From targeted violence against corporate leaders to escalating threats toward public officials, judges, election workers, and lawmakers, leaders are operating under unprecedented scrutiny, hostility, and fear. In this episode of Hope...

What if the warning signs of suicide were present but invisible to everyone around us? In this powerful and deeply human episode of Hope Illuminated, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas sits down with fellow sister-on-a-mission Kim Burditt Bartlett, MSW to explore the groundbreaking findings of the Black Box Project — a first-of-its-kind initiative using donated digital devices to better understand behaviora...

When a suicide, overdose, or traumatic death happens in the workplace, the response in the first 48 hours can either stabilize the organization or unintentionally increase harm. Yet most workplaces have no clear postvention plan. In this Headspace for the Workplace conversation, Dr. John Gaal brings together lived experience, labor leadership, and research to explain why postvention is the missing...

In this special year-in-review episode, I reflect on a year of global travel, impact, and learning across workplace mental health, suicide prevention, clinical training, and lived-experience storytelling. Recorded for both Headspace for the Workplace and Hope Illuminated, this episode weaves together impact metrics, tools developed, global conferences, leadership lessons, partnerships, and deeply...

We tell athletes to “shake it off,” “tough it out,” and “get back in the game.” But what happens when the injury is inside the brain, quiet, cumulative, and deadly? In this episode of Hope Illuminated, Dr. John Gaal shares the devastating story of losing his 24-year-old son to suicide and the painful discovery afterward that his son’s brain showed hallmark signs of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy...

What happens when a child loses someone to suicide — and the adults around them are silent because they don’t know what to say? In this episode, we explore that question through art, science, and story. Australian author and illustrator Ryan Abramowitz joins Hope Illuminated to share how he transformed his own loss — the suicide of his father — into the award-winning picture book Elegy for an Elep...

In this powerful and deeply compassionate episode, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas talks with Monica Kramer McConkey, one of the nation’s leading voices on rural and agricultural mental health, about the silent crisis facing farm families across America. Monica brings both clinical expertise and lived experience—she grew up on a farm in northwestern Minnesota and has spent over 30 years supporting agricu...

Ever wondered how to partner with AI tools without losing the human element, or how to integrate mental health skills into daily workflows? This episode delivers. A former NFL Tampa Bay Buccaneer who once battled the silent pressure of “lonely at the top,” Alex Willis now helps construction leaders build safety cultures where both bodies and minds are protected. Alex shares his personal turning po...

Healthcare workers give their all, but too often, the system gives little back when it comes to protecting their mental health. In this Hope Illuminated episode, I sit down with Corey Feist, Co-Founder & CEO of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation , to talk about moral injury, systemic solutions, and the strategies that actually work. Together, we unpack how confidential peer support, equal...

In this powerful episode, Scott LoMurray, TIME100 Health honoree and CEO of Sources of Strength, shares how his organization has transformed youth suicide prevention through peer leadership, strength-based storytelling, and community-driven culture change. We unpack the evidence, the vision, and the movement that’s shifting suicide prevention from reaction to resilience. for mor einformation on th...

What if the most powerful suicide prevention tool we have… is time? In this groundbreaking episode, suicide prevention expert Dr. Gergö Hadlaczky shares insights from science, strategy, and lived experience about how creating time—even just a few minutes—can change the trajectory of a suicidal crisis. We explore the rapidity of suicidal crises, how emotional intensity and suicidal thoughts often p...

Why do we fear emotions, particularly in cultures where strength is defined by stoicism? What if we reframed emotions not as liabilities, but as essential survival systems? When are get stuck in our emotions like fear, grief, anger, and guilt, we’re not failing. Our emotions are over-functioning. Emotional systems have evolved "fail-safe" systems; they won’t stop to help us survive. And while that...

In this episode, we explore one of the most urgent yet often overlooked crises facing high-risk industries: suicide in construction. Our guest, Sebastian Ison-Jacques, brings a powerful blend of personal experience, academic research, and sector insight to this critical conversation. From digital construction to workplace mental health, Seb’s mission is to expose what’s broken and help build somet...

 In this episode of Hope Illuminated, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas sits down with Dr. Eva De Jaegere from Belgium to explore the stories behind suicide through the lens of psychological autopsy. Together, they discuss Dr. Eva’s research on suicide risk in middle-aged adults, revealing surprising findings about the role of work stress, financial worries, and the importance of open conversations about s...

In this inspiring episode of Hope Illuminated, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas sits down with Sandersan Onie, a global leader in mental health promotion and suicide prevention, for a powerful conversation about the importance of intellectual humility and meeting people where they are. Listen as Dr. Onie shares personal stories of overcoming trauma, highlights the critical role of religion and culture in...

In this powerful episode of Hope Illuminated, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas sits down with Alex Bush, a resilient young advocate who began sharing her story after losing her father to suicide at 16. Together, they discuss the vital role of personal storytelling in suicide prevention, the impact of youth voices on mental health advocacy, and actionable strategies for engaging with both traditional and s...

Join Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas as she sits down with Lyseria Kursave, a resilient trans woman and union electrician, for an honest conversation about living authentically, navigating personal and professional challenges, and the intersection of gender identity and mental health. From overcoming isolation and workplace discrimination to the importance of community and allyship, this powerful episode...

In this thought-provoking episode, I sit down with Dr. Selma Gaily-Luoma to explore the transformative role of agency in suicide prevention. Agency, defined as the sense of control and capacity to influence your thoughts, behaviors, and circumstances, is a cornerstone of psychological resilience. We delve into how fostering a sense of agency can be a powerful antidote to feelings of entrapment and...

Join host Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas in a compelling conversation with Dr. Simon Hatcher from the University of Ottawa. The discuss the intricacies of police suicide, mental health challenges, and how these insights can aid high-risk industries. Discover the importance of involving lived experience in mental health research and the challenges faced by underserved populations. With personal stories,...

In this episode of Hope Illuminated, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas talks with Dr. Holly Wilcox from Johns Hopkins University to explore the transformative impact of the Good Behavior Game. They cover upstream approaches to suicide prevention, emphasizing skill-building in early childhood to improve mental health outcomes. Discover how focusing on education and emotional regulation can mitigate risks an...