This Friday, Oct 29th, I will interview a psychologist specializing in self-harm and suicide. 

Participate by sending me your voice memo to 541-9463141 (USA, add country code). Let me know if you want me to play using your name or keep the name out.

You can also send an email to: [email protected].

Thanks!

John Siddique is a British author and poet who found answers to existential questions in spirituality. For quite some time, he struggled with self-doubt, negativity, and unhealthy relationships, but he would constantly hit a wall.

John wanted to understand himself: “I didn’t know how to love or how to live this life,” he told me. “I was living through certain objects (work, relationships). We try to move into those things to find meaning and not one of them has sufficient meaning in them.” Then, his path was lit by spiritual awareness, a journey within himself, or “back home,” as he says.

In this interview, John tells us about his discoveries, including his lived experiences with suicide. One of the topics we explored was the different meanings of suicide, which was quite enlightening to me.

If you want to support my work, buy me a coffee. This will help me keep bringing hope to those touched by suicide:  https://bit.ly/3whorPH

Find John Siddique:

https://www.authenticliving.life/

His book: https://amzn.to/3aGfMuy

Watch this interview on my YouTube channel "Understand Suicide:”

https://bit.ly/3AKqVVV

Enroll in my course "How to help suicidal people." https://bit.ly/3klNZ7n 

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com  

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention:”

https://amzn.to/2ANczuR  

Read my blog on Psychology Today:

https://bit.ly/2Y9WdID

Exchange experiences on my Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3h8sIet 

If you need to talk, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on their website or phone:

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Phone: 800-273-8255

On our last episode of the Suicide Awareness Month series, I interview Aaron Wanserski, host of the podcast Center for Suicide Awareness. This US-based organization is dedicated to preventing suicide through proactive education, training, emotional support, collaboration, and intervention.

In this interview, Aaron shares his personal story of suicidal ideation and how leaving his job as a police officer sent him on a different path. At the time, he knew little about mental illness, but with the support of his wife, he decided to change his life around.

If you want to support my work, buy me a coffee. This will help me keep bringing hope to those touched by suicide:  https://bit.ly/3whorPH

Find the Center for Suicide Awareness podcast:

https://bit.ly/2ZGicY7

Watch this interview on my YouTube channel "Understand Suicide:”

https://bit.ly/3ieZg9o

Enroll in my course "How to help suicidal people." https://bit.ly/3klNZ7n 

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com  

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention:”

https://amzn.to/2ANczuR  

Read my blog on Psychology Today:

https://bit.ly/2Y9WdID

Exchange experiences on my Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3h8sIet 

If you need to talk, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on their website or phone:

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Phone: 800-273-8255

Today’s interview is the second in the Suicide Prevention Awareness Month series, an initiative that aims to offer additional resources to my listeners. My guest, Christopher Parker, is a suicide attempt survivor who hosts the podcast Coffee over suicide, which he describes as “a dramedy podcast about mental illness and choosing life over death one cup of coffee at a time.” 

Chris is a remarkable person who advocates for mental health and brings this difficult conversation into people’s homes with his podcast. In this interview, I felt touched by how genuine and caring he was. With a contagious smile, he shared some of his story and the different path he’s found to deal with personal struggles. His underlying message is one of hope, which is what I always want to bring to my listeners. 

If you want to support my work, buy me a coffee. This will help me keep bringing hope to those touched by suicide:  https://bit.ly/3whorPH

Find his podcast: https://apple.co/39hgpKv 

Watch this interview on my YouTube channel "Understand Suicide:” 

https://youtu.be/h78bIqA_RM8

Enroll in my course "How to help suicidal people." https://bit.ly/3klNZ7n 

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com   

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention:” https://amzn.to/2ANczuR  

Exchange experiences on my Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3h8sIet 

If you need to talk, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on their website or phone: 

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org

Phone: 800-273-8255

In light of the Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, I’ve started a short series where I interview fellow podcasters whose podcasts cover the field of mental health. Some of them are specifically about suicide, others are broad but are equally helpful in dealing with a personal crises. My main objective is to offer additional resources to my listeners. 

Today, I talk to Craig Foust, an American licensed counselor, and we explore the theme of teen suicide. His podcast is called “Mental Health Insights,” and you can access it at the link below:  

https://bit.ly/3jP1Vrq  

Craig’s website: https://www.lifecarecounselingstl.com/  

Enroll in my course "How to help suicidal people." https://bit.ly/3klNZ7n  

Watch this interview on my YouTube channel "Understand Suicide:”  https://bit.ly/3tulisP 

Listen to my interview on his podcast: https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-329b5-10d70fb 

Donate to the podcast: https://bit.ly/3maL9RO    

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com    

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention:” https://amzn.to/2ANczuR   

Exchange experiences on my Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3h8sIet  

If you need to talk, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on their website or phone: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ Phone: 800-273-8255

Dr. Srikumar Rao is a speaker, author, former business school professor and the creator of Creativity and Personal Mastery, a course designed to effect personal transformation.

Through beautiful stories, Dr. Rao brings awareness to the negative internal talk we many times nourish in ourselves. “It's a self-reinforcing loop: the more you think about it, the deeper it becomes,” he says. The mental chatter influences how we relate, how we feel our experiences, and most importantly, how we create our reality.

He also sheds light into what he calls our “mental models,” our deep-rooted beliefs about how the world works.

So, how can we break these patterns and build a more meaningful, intentional life? That’s what we talk about in this interview.

If you want to support my work, buy me a coffee. This will help me keep bringing hope to those touched by suicide:  https://bit.ly/3whorPH

Find Dr. Rao:

https://theraoinstitute.com/

Watch this interview on my YouTube channel "Understand Suicide:”

https://youtu.be/jL1FkEJlX68

Are you looking for an online suicide loss support group? Join mine. See details here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://t.ly/qcCC9⁠⁠⁠⁠

Enroll on my course "How to help suicidal people."

https://bit.ly/3klNZ7n

Donate to the podcast: https://bit.ly/3maL9RO  

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com  

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention:”

https://amzn.to/2ANczuR 

Exchange experiences on my Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3h8sIet

If you need to talk, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on their website or phone:

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Phone: 800-273-8255

When Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner was told, twenty five years ago, that he needed to call home, he knew it was bad news, but what he didn’t expect was that later that day, his parents would answer the phone together so that they could tell him that his older brother, Gabriel, who was 36 years old at the time, had died by suicide. What he also didn’t know, because we never do, is that Gabriel’s devastating death would change their lives forever. 

In this interview, Rabbi Kirshner talks about how each member of his family reacted to Gabriel’s death, and how he, as a religious leader, engaged in advocacy so that he could personally open a constructive conversation about mental health and self-inflicted death. When he became the Rabbi of the Temple Emanu-El of Closter, in New Jersey, his opening sermon was about his brother’s suicide because he wanted his congregation to feel that they could come to him and talk about their struggles. 

He also opened up about the fact that, when Gabriel was a child, he had been sexually abused by a Rabbi, which impacted him immensely. Much to my surprise (and limited knowledge about Judaism), Rabbi Kirshner shared that Judaism has evolved from the all-or-nothing condemnation of suicide to a place of understanding.“Today, all the major streams of Judaism - not the extremes -, there is a sense of compassion, empathy, and understanding not only for the victims of suicide but for the survivors and family members,” he said. 

This has been quite an enlightening interview and it’s part of my efforts to bring religious and spiritual leaders to the podcast so that we can learn about these communities and the way they view suicide. 

If you want to support my work, buy me a coffee. This will help me keep bringing hope to those touched by suicide:  https://bit.ly/3whorPH

If you want to listen to Rabbi Kirshner or contact him, visit: http://rabbikirshner.com/ 

Watch this interview on my YouTube channel "Understand Suicide:” https://youtu.be/uIbME8UYBfk 

Donate to the podcast: https://bit.ly/3maL9RO   

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com   

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention:” https://amzn.to/2ANczuR  

Exchange experiences on my Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3h8sIet 

If you need to talk, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on their website or phone: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ Phone: 800-273-8255

“Mom, I want to die.” Within a period of 4 years, my guest Dawn Day heard this from all her three teenage daughters. One of them almost died from 2 suicide attempts; the other suffered from debilitating panic attacks; all struggle with depression. Dawn had the traumatic experience of reading a good-bye letter from one of her daughters. All this pain has transformed her life. Today, she educates parents who have children struggling with mental illness and suicidal ideation.

In this interview, Dawn talks about the individual traumas that her kids have endured, including different types of abuse. “I didn’t even recognize it as abuse at the time,” she says. She talks about her guilt and constant feeling that she should have known better, that she should have seen the signs.

The judgement of others is still present but together with her daughters, she is building a path of healing, one that is based on understanding, support, and love.

If you want to contact Dawn, visit her website:

https://hopefuldawn.com/

Watch this interview on my YouTube channel "Understand Suicide:”

https://bit.ly/3ri6e0w

Donate to the podcast: https://bit.ly/3maL9RO  

Visit my page www.understandsuicide.com  

Find my book "Understanding suicide: living with loss, paths to prevention:”

https://amzn.to/2ANczuR 

Exchange experiences on my Facebook page: https://bit.ly/3h8sIet

If you need to talk, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on their website or phone:

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

Phone: 800-273-8255