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

Sara Easterly, the author of “Searching for Mom” once said “I entered a long period of death ideation in adolescence when I began wondering about my birth mother almost constantly. The losses due to adoption began to feel overwhelming, but it didn’t feel like there was room to grieve.”According to a research study published by the journal of Pediatrics , adoptees are four time more likely to repor...

TRIGGER WARNING! This episode shares details of a child’s experiences with domestic violence and suicide and may be activating for some listeners. The research on ”Adverse Childhood Experiences” is clear — The CDC Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study has identified ten types of childhood trauma that can affect people later in life. Five types of trauma are personal, such as physical abuse or...

Anyone who has been a teacher knows the work is hard, and at the same time — when work is working well — immensely rewarding. The work can be purposeful and filled with close relationships a vibrant communities. No one enters the teaching profession to become rich and famous — they enter for the difference they will make. And yet, our nation is facing a mental health crisis among our educators; on...

I’ve lost two people close to me to suicide. In both situations, I saw the signs. We talked about their thoughts of suicide. They got help. And in both cases, their pain and suffering became too much. While I think the survivor guilt is always there — the “if only” thoughts that linger — I have mostly come to peace with my role in trying to support them. Sometimes despite all of our best efforts a...

How meaningful that this episode was recorded during the 18th anniversary of by brother Carson’s death by suicide. His expressed legacy was to help youth thrive and this episode is dedicated to empowering youth to help lead innovative approaches in suicide prevention. The Liv Project , is a non-profit organization founded by the mother and sister of Olivia Ann Kunik , a 19 year old and shining lig...

About Mike Cotayo Mike knows how to handle difficult people because he was one! Surviving a traumatic brain injury, he overcame his own addiction to drugs. He then went on to devote over 20 years of his professional life as a clinical social worker servicing the needs of the mentally ill and chemically addicted. As an expert in treating patients with borderline personalities, he has delivered keyn...

I took a pause. Sometimes life forces you to pause. In this episode, I talk about why I took this four month break from the podcast and what I have learned. Life threw a couple of challenges and transitions that I needed to be present for, and gave me an opportunity to recover, to create space so I could reflect and learn by asking myself key discernment questions: ·What do I need to refuel the ta...

In this “Part 2” episode, he talks about his work helping the energy sector develop a comprehensive mental health promotion and suicide prevention strategy — through the lens of his lived expertise. In the previous “Part 1” episode James Hill shared his story of surviving suicidal intensity and becoming a national change agent for workplace wellbeing. About James Hill James Hill is a passionate Me...

About James Hill James Hill is a passionate Mental Health Advocate, by using his own lived experience and education he has influenced positive change regarding mental ill-health and suicide prevention in both the workplace and broader community. His background was in the electricity industry before he changed his life direction to follow his passion, developing and successfully implementing a work...

Did you know? More than half of all adults know someone who has fought suicidal intensity (Harris Poll). When it comes to caregiving - suicide is different. Ample research about caregiving stress exists, but often this is underestimated when the caregiving role is about suicide. Thus, there is a gap in awareness, support and resources. Our guest, Johanna Louie and her co-founder Daniela Zanich sou...

We all have multiple identity markers that make us uniquely us and that shape our lives and experiences. When it comes to understanding our experiences with mental health, appreciating these influences helps us better understand our strengths in well-being, our disparities in exposure to harm, and differences in barriers to and opportunities for support. When we see mental health in this context,...

Mental Health, Social Justice, Suicide Grief, Suicide Prevention, Well-Being People who live with disabilities (e.g., physical, intellectual, mental health and neuro-divergent) often face a range of social and economic adversaries including discrimination and prejudice that impacts their ability to work, get educated, and live in safe homes and communities. These disadvantages consequently impact...

Burnout - Causes and Cures Burnout is costly to employers in several ways: Employee turnover Increased risk of worker injury or error Deteriorating culture as energy becomes misdirected toward scapegoating Contrary to conventional wisdom, burnout is not solely related to workload, it’s also related to feeling like “a cog in a machine.” When an unsustainable workload becomes even more stressful due...

What do we mean by “disenfranchised grief.” It’s when your experience of grief is different than the general cultural attitudes about “justified” pain regarding death and loss or “acceptable” mourning practices. Being out of “the norm” in your grief experience often tend to exacerbate the pain as people can feel very alone. In this conversation, Candace Opper talks about her experience losing a ch...

Where were you on April 20th, 1999? Many of us watched in horror that day as the news unfolded about of the Columbine School shootings. At the time I was working for a police psychology private practice about two miles from Columbine. What many don’t know about me is that before my brother died, my area of expertise was violence prevention because of this tragedy and our group’s response. My mento...

Did you know “adverse childhood experiences” (otherwise known as “ACEs”), are connected to later life suicide. According to the CDC, the following potentially traumatic childhood experiences are connected to many life threatening health risks: experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect witnessing violence in the home or community having a family member attempt or die by suicide substance use problem...

Did you know? 9 our of 10 employers are investing more in mental health benefits than they ever have before (source: https://www.aihr.com/blog/workplace-wellness-trends/) . Concerns about burnout, employee churn, and psychological emergencies have led workplaces to developing a more comprehensive and proactive mental health and suicide prevention strategy. Benefits like coaching, tele-mental healt...

For this milestone episode of the “Hope Illuminated” podcast, I wanted to celebrate a hero to many of us: Dr. Allison Milner. Allison was a fierce and mighty leader whose work in suicide prevention and social justice was shifting the world’s views when she died tragically in an accident on April 12, 2019. In this episode Professor Tony LaMontagne and I share stories about her global impact in the...

Mental health providers — often well-intended and fearful — have made suicide prevention complicated. “Clipboard counseling,” interrogation approaches and highly restrictive interventions have not worked. What if a 5-step, 30-minute intervention made a huge difference? What if we could train peers to help with firearm safety counseling? In this interview I speak with Veteran and psychologist Dr. C...

Did You Know? Frequent Cannabis Use by Young People Linked to Decline in IQ In the time after first trying cannabis or first misusing prescription drugs, the percentages of young people who develop the corresponding substance use disorder are higher among adolescents (ages 12-17) than young adults (ages 18-25). For example, within 12 months since first cannabis use, 10.7% of adolescents had cannab...

Suicide rates for our youth and young adults have been climbing since 2001. The reasons for this trend is complex but experts suggest it is a perfect storm of historical events, easy access to distressing information, an unhealthy screen time to outside and social time ratio, and compromised sleep, among other things. The good news is, young people are extraordinary. They have lower mental health...

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people in many places around the globe, and many countries are seeing increasing rates of suicidal despair among our teens and young adults. How do we develop a more “youth friendly” suicide prevention strategy? We listen to them and empower them to lead. Come hear about the incredibly ground breaking work led by A/Prof Jo Robinson at the Univ...

Storytellers in suicide prevention have the power to shift culture and change the world in ways other stakeholders are not able to do. Our “voices of insight” have influence and shape others’ understanding on a deep level. People with lived experience seek to stand in solidarity with our research colleagues, policy champions and mental health professionals to embed our deep wisdom in a processes o...

Well-being is a current obsession. When you hear this word, what comes to mind? Fitness? Nutrition? Bliss? A sense of belonging? What is often forgotten in these conversations is our spiritual well-being. For some people this means engagement with their religious traditions and faith communities. For others it is about connecting deeply with nature, the arts or social justice. Still for others, it...

In this episode, I interview Dr. Katie Gordon, a clinical psychologist and the author of the recently published book “The Suicidal Thoughts Workbook.” We talk about her H.O.P.E. approach to helping people cope with and learn from suicidal thoughts. H = Seek help to broaden ideas about how to manage suicidal intensity. O = Find optimism by searching for things to look forward to. P = Change perspec...