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

As we approach National Suicide Prevention Week, it sometimes feels like a multitude of voices are clamoring for attention with various (and sometimes conflicting) messages. How can we cut through the clutter and be heard? One place where we can learn lessons is from is big business. A recent article by Peter Gasca in Inc. magazine called “Get Your Message Heard With This Simple 5- Step Checklist”...

If you are thinking about getting involved in suicide prevention or suicide grief support, we need you. You have a place and your voice matters. Learn more in this interview about how to get involved in my interview with Colleen Creighton, Executive Director of the American Association of Suicidology. Overview Social movements tend to follow predictable phases in their development. In a paper I co...

Faith community leaders are often first responders after a suicide death. Sometimes, as in my family’s situation, faith leaders do an amazing job in supporting a highly traumatized and confused family through their grief journey and facilitate a memorial service that both honors the life that was lived without shying away from the tragedy of suicide. Other times families feel compounded shame and...

All over the globe, young Indigenous men have some of the highest rates of suicide. When we take a closer look at this trend, we understand it is much less about individual mental health issues and much more about the consequences of historical trauma. Programs addressing suicide prevention in these communities are promoting culture and community connectedness through storytelling, ceremony and re...

In the US, the construction industry is the top industry with the highest suicide rates and largest numbers. Historically, mental health and suicide have not been considered safety priorities, until now. In this podcast a global safety expert helps us connect the dots. Safety professionals are well-versed in “the fatal four” — falls, followed by struck by object, electrocution, and caught-in/betwe...

“Be vocal, be visible, be visionary. There is no shame in stepping forward, but there is great risk in holding back and just hoping for the best.” ~Higher Education Center When it comes to suicide prevention in the workplace, we need bold leaders — leaders who are willing to take a stand and say, “suicide prevention matters to me, and it matters to our workforce.” We need leaders with a vision to...

Did you know? Approximately 30% of ALL ER visits end with a prescription for a opioid. (Teater, 2015) Approximately 60% of patients going to the ER with back pain will get an opioid prescription. (Teater, 2015) Primary care doctors give opioids to about 35% of their patients presenting with back pain. Pain is the most common reason for people to go to the ER or to their primary care doctor. (Teate...

For the past century, the science of suicide prevention has not revealed much that is highly promising; however, innovations coming from the research lab of Dr. Matt Nock are quite exciting. Join us as we talk about his work with electronic diaries, attentional bias, ketamine, and much more. Findings that are helping us be able to better predict suicide risk and find more effective ways to prevent...

Well before we had writing and certainly before we had powerpoint, people were sharing stories. When it comes to suicide, we must “tell a more powerful tale” — one of resilience and redemption. When we cultivate stories that describe experiences of coming through unimaginable suicidal despair or suicide grief, storytellers “make meaning” and broader societal changes are possible. In other words, s...

" target="_blank" class="SocialLinks-link itunes" style=""> Suicide & The Workplace -- Globalization, Job Strain, and the Dark Side of the New Economy: Interview with Dr. Allison Milner | Episode 30 NOTE: This podcast will air on 2/26/19 at 10:00AM ET https://soundcloud.com/user-225414284-842732102 Overview Too often when we talk about mental health promotion and suicide prevention in the workplac...

While peer support and peer specialist efforts have long existed in areas of mental health communities and post-critical incidents, their role in suicide prevention has been more recent. Some feared that peer support might increase vulnerability through the “copycat” phenomenon. Others were concerned that suicide was just too complicated of an issue for peers to try to take on. Then we listened to...

After listening to many people describe their experiences with suicidal intensity, I and others have come to think about the clash between the will to live and the desire to escape unimaginable emotional pain as an “epic battle” between fierce forces. On one side is the warrior fighting to live, continuing to make future plans and persevering toward health and vitality. At the same time the pain t...

I first became aware of the power of humor in wellness through my involvement with Cactus Inc. and our Man Therapy initiative. In this program, we used humorous outward facing media to draw men into the website portal and then self-assess for depression, anxiety, anger and substance use issues. When we evaluated the program, the humor was the #1 thing the guys told us they liked because it helped...

While only 2% of suicides are murder-suicides, the narrative of this tragedy dominates public consciousness. Due to the fact that the circumstances are horrific, and the media reports on these stories more frequently and with more details than most other community tragedies, it’s not surprising that we feel overwhelmed. What is often not discussed is the unimaginable grief and trauma left behind i...

“I don’t expect my friends to understand what I’ve been through. When I’m around Veterans, like-minded Veterans, I don’t have to explain myself. They already know.” ~Male Veteran In this podcast, Master Sergeant Christopher D. Jachimiec shares the tragedy of losing his brother Adam to suicide. We explore our shared grief experiences as sibling survivors of suicide loss and the making meaning proce...

When we talk about suicide bereavement, we often think about the grief part of the response, but sometimes we forget that the experience of losing a loved one to suicide is also traumatic. When a parent loses a child to suicide, the complications of traumatic grief are frequently unparalleled. For many, their core beliefs about the world and themselves are shattered and the pieces take a while to...

In this podcast I interview Sebastian Slovin, author of “Ashes in the Ocean: A Son’s Story of Living though and Learning from his Father’s suicide. We touch upon themes of survival, stigma and safe space and how he was able to grow up in the shadow of suicide and piece together a narrative and a life worth living. Sebastian shares to other men, “Not feeling does not work” in the grief healing jour...

Mental health crises occur when our ability to cope is overwhelmed by the internal and external stressors in our life. Sometimes crises are related to inner experiences like worsening depression, mania, psychosis or other symptoms of a mental health condition. Sometimes they are in reaction to an external stressor like trauma, divorce or intense grief. Often times it’s many things coming together...

In many societies we are predominantly youth-focused and overlook the healthcare and policy needs of our elders. This ageist perspective often leads to cultural scripts that prevent us from listening better to alleviate suffering and increase reasons for living, and ultimately help us all live well into our golden years. In the podcast our panel includes two experts a leading researcher of geriatr...

When it comes to engaging a wider circle in our suicide prevention and mental health promotion movements, we need to take a page from the playbook of other social justice movements. How do we “make the message stick”? How can we bring the call to action to life? How do we create a tipping point of change? Successful agents of change are able to connect the dots and “bake in” tactics within a broad...

Early in his career Dr. John Draper had a lightbulb moment when he was on suicide watch for patients while they were being "treated" with isolation and restraints; he thought "we can do better." Today, John is one of the global leaders transforming crisis care for people on their worst day. He has helped spark an evolution through his leadership of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by using...

What does it mean to "promote the positive" in suicide prevention? When we are inundated with discouraging data about increasing suicide rates and tragic stories of suicide loss, our hearts are moved to the urgency of the need to "do something;" however, sometimes we feel hopeless that we can ever get in front of this daunting issue. The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention put forth gu...

How do we communicate about suicide with teens? Perhaps, they are the ones in the best position to tell us. framework_w309.png The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention recommends strategy, safety and a positive narrative when messaging about suicide. Messages and images that encourage hope are better than ones that imply "nothing can be done." Messages that celebrate resilience, healing...

When people experience suicidal thoughts, a helpful best practice is to find collaborative ways to build "safety agreements" or "safety plans" (Stanley & Brown) or to engage with apps that help people cope with suicidal intensity like the "Virtual Hope Box." These tools can be very useful in keeping the suicidal thoughts at a safe distance as time passes and their intensity lessens. The Harvard Sc...

With high profile celebrity suicides dominating the headlines in June, the topic of suicide was on the mind of many. While we still have a ways to go to undo the misperceptions, prejudice and discrimination that surrounds suicide and suicidal intensity, we need move beyond just "raising awareness" in our efforts. We need to take action. My recent blog "From Awareness to Action: We All Need to Figh...