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

In light of the “Zero Tolerance Policy” that is forcibly separating children from their families at the US/Mexico border, childhood trauma is a hot topic. We know that child separation from family increases risk for suicide, especially when the separation is traumatic. Averse childhood experiences have a massive impact on future risky health behavior, chronic health conditions, and early death in...

41% of adults who identify as transgender have attempted suicide (versus 4.6% of U.S. general population and 10-20% of LGB adults). The issues driving this despair are usually best understood through a lens of social justice. Discrimination, trauma and the consequences of minority stress are often at the root of suicidal despair within the trans community (AFSP). Rejection by friends and family is...

Many of us consider "Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training" to be similar to CPR. Before we knew the ABCs of CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver, people would just watch on helplessly as someone choked in front of them. Today, we give millions of people every year a relatively brief training so that they will have the competence and confidence to step up and save someone's life. Just like CPR, suicide...

In order for mental health promotion and suicide prevention to be successful, leadership must be bold and engaged. The leaders who are most successful in creating change are those who address these seemingly taboo subjects head-on, in a matter-of-fact way. They find ways to “bake in” tactics into other places where healthy and safety are priorities. Leaders who are most influential in creating a c...

About 350 years ago, philosopher René Descartes took the brain out of the body – and we’ve been trying to put it back ever since. Descartes believed that the immaterial mind was separate from that matter of the body, and this dualism started many down a path of treating mind and body differently. In this episode, we work to reunite the two to explore how their interconnectivity affects well-being....

Employers are often challenged recruiting and retaining top talent. How can you address this problem? A resilient workforce and a mindset of a wellness culture at work. This strategy also helps promote mental health and prevent suicide. In this highly engaging interview, Judge (Ret.) Mary McClatchey makes the business case for emotional well-being at work. She concludes by sharing three take-aways...

In this episode I have this distinctive honor of interviewing Kim Ruocco from TAPS who shares her personal and professional journey after suicide loss. We discussed the challenges of suicide grief -- how we balance honoring the lives our loved ones lived with fears of contagion in the community. How do we support children -- especially young children -- left in suicide's wake? The paradox of traum...

For people who are in the midst of a mental health or suicide crisis, the focus is often “how do we survive this?” How do we get through each day? Sometimes it’s an effort just to get by moment to moment. It’s hard to consider how to integrate these experiences into the narrative of our lives. In this episode, we hear a powerful story of a man who has been a role model for so many in showing us ho...

I have long believed that peer support is an underappreciated link in the chain of survival for suicide prevention. Trained peer specialists can not only help hold the pain for others, they can also help advocate for them and connect them to trusted resources. These helping relationships offer compassion and kinship and can augment and even replace other forms of professional care. We rise by lift...

When people are in the depths of a mental health crisis the last thing they need is a response that is based in fear. Having a crisis response strategy that is rooted in dignity and compassion can make all the difference. Join me in my interview with international visionary David Covington, who shares with us his journey in implementing crisis services from many leadership perspectives. David shar...

Meet my dear friends Kevin and Margaret Hines. Theirs is a true partnership, and I feel very honored to witness their love. Being a caregiver for someone living with a major mental health condition like bipolar disorder is not easy. Let's be honest, our mental healthcare system is challenging -- even when people are mentally well, let alone when they are in the grips of a mental health crisis. Fri...

Jorgen Gullestrup's LinkedIn profile lists him as a plumber and suicidologist; a Danish man from Brisbane, Australia. The truth is since 2007, he has helped revolutionize how the construction industry addresses suicide prevention, and his innovative strategies are now recognized internationally. Listen to his 9 top take-away tips from a decade of discovering best practices in moving an industry fr...

Effective storytelling is critical to the suicide prevention and suicide grief support efforts. Intimate, vulnerable, inspiring stories let us know we are not alone. Stories of recovery allow us to see a road map before us that leads us out of our despair. For more information on this and every episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/3 Speaking the word itself is...

Episode 1: Why are Men So Lonely? Preventing Deaths of Despair with Dr. Thomas Joiner This podcast answers the question: “why are so many men of working age finding themselves in unbearable psychological pain that leads them to deaths of despair?” in a conversation with international thought leader and psychologist Dr. Thomas Joiner. Dr. Thomas Joiner Dr. Thomas Joiner Dr. Thomas Joiner, author of...

Seems every day there is a new app designed to support some angle of well-being. Many are seeing great opportunity in the integration of technology and mental health. With technology we have awareness of mental health issues and ease of access to resources like never before. Many cost effective supports found on-line are great supplements to in-person therapy, some work just fine by themselves (I’...

A recent Scientific American article entitled is “Cannabis Good or Bad for Mental Health?” suggested that if you think you understand cannabis and its impact on our well-being, you probably don’t. With over 500 chemical constituents, interacting at different doses and ingested by different means, there are endless permutations of complexity for the ways cannabis can impact our emotional health. We...

5 Ways the Arts Can Play a Role in Healing While you may know me as a psychologist, what you may not know is that I was also a Studio Art major in College, and the arts have always played a big role in my life. Over my career, I have continually tried to connect the dots between emotional recovery and the power of the arts, sometimes downplayed by researchers who claim there is a lack of evidence...