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 childhood acquaintance to suicide and how this event stayed with her for decades.
The strongest buffer for kids is a relationship with at least one loving, caring, responsive adult - a family member, a teacher, a coach, a mentor.
Having a source of reliable nurturing protects them from further harm and helps them develop self-regulation skills. In addition a healthy child-adult relationship gives them a sense of safety in the storm and a glimmer of hope for things to come.
In this episode I speak with Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Kimberly O’Brien about how our youth can feel “emotionally naked” and how caring adults can help provide does of support that fuel resilience and self-esteem, and ultimately prevent suicide.
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 health, personalized wellness plans and stress management tools are becoming increasingly popular for large employers.
In addition, workplaces are starting to shift away from reactive, downstream approaches to more proactive prevention. They are focusing on building caring cultures and psychological safety and they are connecting the dots between DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) work and mental health.
In this conversation, I speak with Mike Veny, a man who has been living these connections and is now training workplaces on how best to support their workers.
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 areas of:
Workplace suicide
Unemployment and mental health
Psychosocial job hazards
Interventions that help people live through suicidal intensity
Socio-economic determinants of suicide
Women in research
People with disabilities and social justice
Indigenous people and social justice
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. Craig Bryan about his evidence-based “Crisis Response Planning” intervention…
In this episode, I interview Laura Stack, a well-known “Hall of Fame” speaker for the National Speakers Association. Before November 20, 2019, the speaking topic she was best known for was productivity. After that day, however, her focus shifted. It was on that day, she lost her son Johnny to suicide after he became psychotic from dabbing high-THC concentrates. In this conversation she shares her story, the science behind her work to prevent youth marijuana use, and the strategies she and “Johnny’s Ambassadors” are using to change these concerning trends.
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 bias, they have a desire to help others, and they will change the word.
In this episode I speak with John MacPhee, Executive Director for The Jed Foundation about his thoughts on best practices for engaging young people and schools in the work of suicide prevention and mental health promotion.
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 University of Melbourne in Australia. She is co-designing youth suicide research and prevention programs like “Chat Safe” with youth as her active partners. Their shared mission is to help young people feel better equipped to communicate safely about suicide on-line.
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 of partnership. In this podcast, I speak with the world renowned Bronwen Edwards, a global authority on the power of lived experience to drive large scale change in suicide prevention. We talk about how we can approach our partners — who may have different values, priorities and points of view — with “compassionate curiosity” so we can “collaborate the big collaboration” (instead of “fight the good fight”).
In this conversation I speak with Kate Eckman, an elite college athlete, broadcast journalist and TV personality and recent author of “The Full Spirit Workout: A Ten-Step System to Shed Your Self-Doubt, Strengthen Your Spiritual Core, and Create a Fun and Fulfilling Life.” We talk about the neuroscience behind our understanding of well-being — and what gets in our way of achieving and maintaining well-being. We discuss the curious versus the anxious brain and the learning versus the judging brain. We explore the questions of “when is enough, enough?” and “who do we really want to be?” We close with specific strategies on how to tip the scales from immobilizing fear to the ability to “stretch the comfort zone” and “build the emotional muscles.”
In this interview, I speak with Dennis Berry, a man 18 years sober. He defines serenity as “not drinking today.” In our conversation he shares his story of he transitioned from his addiction to being on a life mission to help others “shorten their learning curve” to recovery. We talk about the brain science behind addiction and the “H.O.W.” approach to achieving a healthy vibrant life.
In this conversation, I meet with a nationally recognized expert, Dr. DJ. Ida, Executive Director of the National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association about how these issues and many more impact the wellbeing of the AAPI communities, and what are some additional approaches -- beyond traditional talk therapy — that may promote healing.
“I can breathe. I can think.”
When J’Anmetra was imprisoned in her home under the threat of her husband, this was her mantra. One that kept her alive and ultimately allowed her the ability to escape.
According to SAMHSA (Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration) survivors of intimate partner violence are twice as likely to have multiple suicide attempts, according to a study published in the Journal of Injury & Violence Research, intimate partner problems were identified as a precipitating circumstance in 30% of all suicide cases in the National Violent Death Reporting System. And yet, the connection between intimate partner violence and suicide is under-addressed on many fronts.
In this episode, we bear witness to the inspiring story of J’Anmetra Waddell and her courage to break free from the bonds of her abuser — her husband and the Pastor of her church. She shares her how her near-miss with suicide transitioned to her journey to becoming an advocate for other survivors of domestic violence.
There is a growing scientific field called “ecotherapy” that has demonstrated a strong connection between time spent outside in nature and improved well-being. Shifting our attention to the sounds, smells, and beauty is calming for many. On brain scans we can actually see reduced activity in. the parts of the brain that are linked to rumination — or repetitive negative thoughts. In this episode, I speak with Sebastian Slovin, author of Experience Nature Unplugged: A Guide to Wellness in the Digital Age, a new book on how connecting with nature helps reset our brains. We discuss the ways our digital lives are negatively impacting our mental health and how nature is the perfect antidote.
When it comes to overcoming mental and emotional challenges, we have a problem. In fact, according to Cope Notes we have several:
PROVIDERS: Our mental health providers are often overwhelmed with demand, that accessing services in a timely way can be challenging. Once we find an available provider, we often can’t afford the level of service we need, and, even if we can, we find that many providers are not culturally or linguistically aligned with the people who need the support the most. Medicalization, jargon and pathologizing can keep us in a mindset of “sickness.”
PEOPLE IN NEED: In many instances the process of finding the right services is overwhelming, confusing, and exhausting. This level of perseverance is difficult for people who are functioning well, let alone for people who are feeling hopeless, unseen and unknown. Once people do find their way to support services, they often worry about privacy, judgment, and losing control.
COMMUNITIES: Generally speaking we seem to be focused more on responding to crises than we are on preventing them in the first place. Our approaches, therefore are reactive instead of proactive and big splashes of effort instead of slow drips over time.
In this conversation I speak with the brilliant and inspiring Johnny Crowder. We talk about how we can gain the upper hand on our complex and mysterious brains by short-circuiting negative thoughts. We explore how faith, creativity and community helps us gain new perspectives and forms of expression. We discuss the questions of how do we replace old thought patterns with healthier ones? How do we build a better brain? Stronger friendships and families? More resilient communities?
Historical trauma is often understood to be multigenerational wounding caused by the cumulative impact of major events inflicted upon a specific cultural, racial or ethnic group. When it comes to research about health and well-being, Western modalities of understanding human experience are limited and biased, further driving disparities and truncated views that can cause even more harm. By contrast, a strength-based, Indigenous framework of understanding resists the narrow view and on-going trauma of colonialism and focuses on restoration and healing. In this interview I speak with a “Storyteller of Health” and epidemiologist Abigail Echo Hawk about her vision of an anti-racist approach to data collection and recovery among tribal communities.
While many non-gamers might have only heard of some of the potential negative consequences of excessive (mostly video-based) gaming (e.g., desensitization, sleep deprivation, and neglect of other life priorities like academics, work and exercise), those inside the gaming community (especially board and role play-based games) have come to realize there are many well-being benefits:
Often radical acceptance and unconditional regard
A virtual community that is highly accessible and inclusive
A reprieve from the toxicity of bullying, harassment and discrimination
Opportunities to learn and excel in problem-solving and communication
A chance to envision and experiment with ideal versions of themselves
In this episode, I speak with the amazing Fenway Jones, a high school student who is changing the world. We talk about the psychological benefits of being a part of a positive gaming community. We also discuss how she has made meaning after losing two friends by engaging the gaming community in suicide prevention.
When it comes to the field of Suicidology, we often work in silos. The researchers, clinicians, public health practitioners, advocates, and crisis service stakeholders often focus primarily in their own communities, finding comfort and validation in joining with others who share similar culture, values and priorities. When it comes to groups implementing best practices, collaboration with researchers is essential. In this interview I speak with internationally renowned expert on suicide and self-harm, Prof. Nav Kapur from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. We discuss some of the tensions and opportunities that we face as we bridge research to practice.
