Writing on the Walls

by Rob Hlavaty

Writing on the Walls features honest and unedited conversations between host Rob Hlavaty and guests who have either lost a loved one to suicide or struggled with suicidal thoughts, as well as leading experts in mental health, suicide, substance abuse, and related fields. A survivor of suicide loss, Rob Hlavaty continues to seek new information to better understand the root causes behind the rising rates of completed suicides an ...   ...  Read more

Podcast episodes

  • Season 1

  • Sarah Gaer - Soul Exhaustion and Soul Care | E20

    Sarah Gaer - Soul Exhaustion and Soul Care | E20

    This episode is brought to you by C&C Resourcing (link below). C&C Resourcing provides one-on-one business coaching, customized training seminars, and continuing education around creating safe spaces for survivors of suicide loss. In this episode, Rob meets with Sarah Gaer. Sarah is an author, speaker, and thought leader. She also speaks very openly about her experience as a survivor of multiple suicide losses. Most recently, Sarah has provided training to first responders about trauma and suicide prevention, and she also is a crisis responder herself. Sarah discusses her experience surviving a “cluster" of suicides including the loss of her best friend, the work she is doing studying the soul and how it is forgotten in modern psychology, the concepts of Soul Exhaustion and Soul Care, the Guts, Grit, and the Grind project, which is focused on men’s mental health, and finally, we talk about some of the unique challenges facing men when it comes to mental health and suicidality. If you're interested in learning more about Sarah or checking out her publications, you can check out the links below. WRITING ON THE WALLS INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/writingonthewallspodcast/ OUR SPONSOR - C&C RESOURCING https://home.ccresourcing.us CREATING SAFE SPACES FOR SURVIVORS OF SUICIDE LOSS TRAINING https://events.humanitix.com/creating-safe-spaces-survivors-of-suicide-loss-09-08-23-and-10-06-23-12-00pm-1-30pm-est?_ga=2.99682203.468101191.1686064207-954483215.1679679113 SARAH GAER WEBSITE https://sarahgaer.com MUSIC BY: Intro by Neon Samurai and Outro by cascreativearts https://www.instagram.com/neonsamurai_beats/ https://www.fiverr.com/cascreativearts

  • Dr. Julie Cerel - Suicide Prevention and Exposure | E19

    Dr. Julie Cerel - Suicide Prevention and Exposure | E19

    This episode is brought to you by C&C Resourcing (link below). C&C Resourcing provides one-on-one business coaching, customized training seminars, and continuing education around creating safe spaces for transgender and gender non-binary folx. In this episode, Rob meets with Dr. Julie Cerel. Dr. Cerel is a licensed clinical psychologist and Professor in the College of Social Work at the University of Kentucky. She is also the director of their Suicide Prevention & Exposure Lab and currently serves as the Interim Associate Dean of Research. Dr. Cerel discusses her extensive career researching suicide, the #not6 campaign which identified the number of people affected by every suicide, the concepts of suicide exposure and suicide bereavement, how suicide differs amongst different cultures, and finally the impact of how suicide is depicted and discussed in the media. If you're interested in learning more about Dr. Cerel or the Suicide Prevention & Exposure Lab, you can check out the links below. WRITING ON THE WALLS INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/writingonthewallspodcast/ OUR SPONSOR - C&C RESOURCING https://ccresourcing.us DR. JULIE CEREL BIO https://kiprc.uky.edu/people/julie-cerel SUICIDE PREVENTION & EXPOSURE LAB https://socialwork.uky.edu/centers-labs/suicide-prevention-exposure-lab/ MUSIC BY: Intro by Neon Samurai and Outro by cascreativearts https://www.instagram.com/neonsamurai_beats/https://www.fiverr.com/cascreativearts

  • Dr. Doreen Marshall - Having Difficult Conversations About Suicide | E18

    Dr. Doreen Marshall - Having Difficult Conversations About Suicide | E18

    This episode is brought to you by C&C Resourcing (link below). C&C Resourcing provides one-on-one business coaching, customized training seminars, and continuing education around creating safe spaces for transgender and gender non-binary folx. In this episode, Rob meets with Dr. Doreen Marshall. Dr. Marshall is a clinical psychologist, the Vice President of Mission Engagement for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and a survivor of suicide loss. Dr. Marshall discusses her experience losing her fiance to suicide in 1995, her trajectory and career path and how she found herself in her current position with AFSP, the training she has provided to various organizations on suicide prevention and awareness, the importance of training schools on suicide prevention and postvention and the toolkit she helped develop, the pros and cons of social media when it comes to communicating about suicide, and finally, we talk about how to talk to and engage someone who may be dealing with suicidal ideation or intensity. If you're interested in learning more about Dr. Marshall or the AFSP, you can check out the links below. WRITING ON THE WALLS INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/writingonthewallspodcast/ OUR SPONSOR - C&C RESOURCING https://ccresourcing.us DR. DOREEN MARSHALL BIO https://afsp.org/bio/doreen-marshall-ph-d AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUICIDE PREVENTION (AFSP) https://www.afsp.org MUSIC BY: Intro by Neon Samurai and Outro by cascreativearts https://www.instagram.com/neonsamurai_beats/ https://www.fiverr.com/cascreativearts

  • Heather Bonner - Mission 34: "A New Type of Tough" | E17

    Heather Bonner - Mission 34: "A New Type of Tough" | E17

    If you are in need of immediate support, you can dial 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, or text "HOME" to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line. This episode is brought to you by C&C Resourcing (link below). C&C Resourcing provides one-on-one business coaching, customized training seminars, and continuing education around creating safe spaces for transgender and gender non-binary folx. In this episode, Rob meets with Heather Bonner. Heather is a survivor of suicide loss and the founder of the Mission 34 Foundation, which was started in honor of her son, Sean, who died by suicide in 2018. Heather discusses losing Sean to suicide in 2018 when he was just 20 years old, the immediate impact Sean's suicide had on his college campus and his family, how undiagnosed concussions may have prompted a shift in Sean's mental health, the stereotypical "toughness" that is associated with sports and athletics, the mission of Mission 34 (which is to eliminate the stigma around mental illness through awareness and education), and finally we talk about some of the events and chapters run by Mission 34. If you're interested in learning more about Mission 34 or making a donation you can check out the links below. WRITING ON THE WALLS INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/writingonthewallspodcast/ MISSION 34 FOUNDATION https://mission34.org/ MISSION 34 INSTAGRAM https://instagram.com/mission34spb NotOK App https://www.notokapp.com/ OUR SPONSOR - C&C RESOURCING https://ccresourcing.us MUSIC BY: Intro by Neon Samurai and Outro by cascreativearts https://www.instagram.com/neonsamurai_beats/ https://www.fiverr.com/cascreativearts

  • The Matias Rosado Foundation - Understanding Treatment-Resistant Depression | E16

    The Matias Rosado Foundation - Understanding Treatment-Resistant Depression | E16

    This episode is brought to you by C&C Resourcing (link below). C&C Resourcing provides one-on-one business coaching, customized training seminars, and continuing education around creating safe spaces for transgender and gender non-binary folx. In this episode, Rob meets with Rafael and Rachel Rosado. Rafael and Rachel are survivors of suicide loss and the founders of the Matias Rosado Foundation, which was started in honor of their son who died by suicide in 2021. Rafael and Rachel discuss losing Matias to suicide in 2021 when he was just 19 years old, how the loss of Matias prompted them to start a foundation in his name, the night of Matias’ suicide and the immediate aftermath, the mission of the MRF (which is support, education, and advocacy around suicide prevention), and finally we talk about treatment-resistant suicide and some of the misconceptions about it, as well as some of the currently available treatments for depression. If you're interested in learning more about the Matias Rosado Foundation or making a donation you can check out the links below. WRITING ON THE WALLS INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/writingonthewallspodcast/ MATIAS ROSADO FOUNDATION http://matiasrosadofoundation.org OUR SPONSOR - C&C RESOURCING https://ccresourcing.us MUSIC BY: Intro by Neon Samurai and Outro by cascreativearts https://www.instagram.com/neonsamurai_beats/ https://www.fiverr.com/cascreativearts