The podcast series featured over 50 guests from diverse backgrounds including subject matter experts, survivors, caregivers, and resource providers. Three main emergent themes were genuine connectedness saves lives, the importance of reducing stigma around mental health, and adopting a public health approach to suicide prevention. The series highlighted how small acts like checking in on others and encouraging help-seeking can make a difference, while broad collaboration is needed across all sectors to address the complex issue of suicide.

1. Talking About What Works
Emergent Themes from a Military-Affiliated Suicide
Prevention Podcast Series
Duane K. L. France, MA, MBA, LPC
Shauna Springer, PhD

2. Learning Objectives
Using communication technology to share suicide
prevention concepts
Identify and discuss emergent themes from over
50 conversations from a diverse group of guests
Demonstrate the impact and uses of a series of
recorded interviews related to suicide prevention

3. HOSTS
Dr. Shauna Springer, PhD
• A licensed psychologist and nationally recognized expert on initiatives that
benefit the military community.
• Known as “Doc Springer”, she is a trusted advisor for a vast network of
veterans, military families and fellow thought leaders.
• A frequent media source, Dr. Springer’s work has been featured on CNN,
VICE, NPR, NBC, CBS Radio, Business Insider, Psychology Today, Military.com,
Forbes, Military Times, and multiple news stories about current events.
Duane K. L. France, MA, MBA, LPC
• A retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and Licensed
Professional Counselor practicing in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• Manages community and government relations for a large multi-site
outpatient behavioral health clinic specializing in supporting service
members, veterans, and their families.
• Author and digital media producer, Mr. France has developed and hosted
a range of podcasts focusing on service member, veteran, and military
family mental health

4. The appearance of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
Concept
• A limited-series podcast highlighting a wide range of guests which
include subject matter experts, loss and attempt survivors, caregivers,
and resource providers
• Highlight work being done at the local, state, and national level by
individuals and organizations in the public, private, governmental, and
nonprofit sectors
• Based on a holistic approach to suicide prevention using a public health
approach and across the military affiliated population: currently serving
military, veterans, and their family members
• Each show is approximately 30 minutes long
• Features an introduction of the guest, the guest interview, and topic
recap and reflection conversation following the interview
• Research and resources highlighted by the guests provided in show
notes linked to each podcast episode
• Each episode available on all
podcast players, through your
desktop / mobile web browser,
and as a stand-alone app for
Apple and Android

5. Development

6. MEDIA AND
DISTRIBUTION
PARTNER
The Hosts of the Seeking the Military Suicide Solution have entered into an agreement with Military Times to
promote and distribute the podcast as part of their news and information to the military community
The Military Times group comprises Army Times, Navy Times, Air
Force Times and Marine Corps Times. Established in 1940, Military
Times has earned its role as part of the fabric of the U.S. military
community, playing an important role as the premier,
dedicated, independent news source for the active-duty
military, their families, veteran and retirees.
The Military Times brands serve a vast digital, mobile and social
media audience, as well as strong print readership. Each of the
Military Times brands are specifically focused for the needs,
interests and culture of their particular military service. Other
national media have come to rely on Military
Times for groundbreaking journalism about the
military community, and frequently pick up
news first reported on our media platforms.
Media Partner

7. • Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen: PREVENTS Task
Force
• Dr. Craig Bryan: National Center for Veteran
Studies
• Dr. Matt Miller: VA Office of Suicide
Prevention
• Cicely Burrows-McElwain: VA/DOD
Collaboration
• Dr. Eugene Lipov: Stellate Ganglion Block for
PTSD
• Joe Chenelly: AMVETS
• Kayla Williams: Center for a New American
Security
• Kacie Kelly: Warrior Wellness Alliance
• Dr. Rajeev Ramchand: Suicide Prevention
Research
• Howard and Jean Somers: Suicide
Prevention Advocacy
• Mark Divine: Unbeatable Mind
• Dr. Nick Polizzi Warriors Campaign
• Kim Ruocco: Tragedy Assistance Program for
Survivors
• Cheree Tham: Operation Deep Dive
• Sarah Verardo: Operation Resiliency
• Terri Tanielian: Suicide Prevention Research
• Erin Esquer: Military Leadership and Suicide
Prevention
• Dr. Keita Franklin: Systems Approach to
Suicide Prevention
• MG(R) Mark Graham: Vets4Warriors
• Dr Kate Hendricks Thomas: Resilience
Development
• Betsey Mercado: Objective Zero
• Dr Karin Orvis: Defense Suicide Prevention
Office
• Dr. Tina Atherall: PsychArmor
• RADM Matt Kleiman: Suicide Prevention in
the National Guard
• Sue Freeth: Combat Stress UK
• Dr. Barbara Van Dahlen: PREVENTS Update
• Mat Bergendahl: Stack Up Overwatch
Program
• Tom Cruz: Attempt Survivor and Suicide
Prevention Advocate
• Rear Adm(R) Tony Kurta: Policy Approach to
Suicide Prevention
• Rick Trimp: Gatekeeper Suicide Intervention
Training
• Akshay Nanavati: Fearvana
• Michelle Zook: Suicide in Military and
Veteran Spouses
• Dr. Matt Mishkind: Reducing Barriers to Care
through Telehealth
• Joe Bartozzi: National Shooting Sports
Foundation
• Mike Richardson and Dr Roger Brooks:
Wounded Warrior Project
• Sgt Maj Bryan Battaglia: Suicide Prevention
at the Senior Enlisted Leader Level
• Dr Pete Gutierrez: Research on Community
Based Suicide Prevention
• Congressman Scott Perry: Legislative and
Policy Approach to Suicide Prevention
• Dr Jeff Smith and Dr Michael Doidge:
Historical Aspects of Military and Veteran
Suicide
• David Bachmann: Peer Support in Suicide
Prevention
• Kim Donohue: Suicide Prevention at the
State and Local Level
• COL(R) Rob Swanson: Life Worth Living After
a Non
• Cpt Michael Kanaan: Artificial Intelligence
and Machine Learning in Suicide Prevention
• Dr. Amy Taft: Suicide Prevention in Children
of Military Families
• Danica Thomas: Suicide Loss Survivor and
Advocate
• Dr Harold Kudler: Historical Perspective on
Suicide Prevention
• Michael Sugrue: Similarities Between
Veteran and First Responder Suicide
• Dr. Bridget Matarazzo: Risk Identification and
Clinical Consultation for Suicide Prevention
• Chris Jachimiec: Listener Response to STMSS
Series
• Jamie Mustard: The Way Forward
Guests

8. Genuine
Connectedness
Saves Lives
Overview
• Suicide is a complex issue
that requires a coordinated
community response
• Every individual and
organization has a role to play
in preventing SMVF Suicide in
their community

9. Risk Factors and
Warning Signs
(32 quotes)
By the time a service member gets to the point where they're suffering
so much that they come forward and say, “I'm not okay,” It’s very
common for a lot of other things in their lives to be negatively
impacted by their struggles, right? Their relationships, their work, , their
friendships, and other things. And then it's like a snowball effect.
We've got to get it way, way, way ahead before it's negatively
impacting their whole world, and then it's more difficult to recover
when you're falling apart in all areas of your life
I think it's more of like the perfect storm scenario. I think most people go
through this and they have this grief in them, and then there's little bitty
things that just work up to create this perfect storm.
And then, you know, Marines, aren't scared to pull the trigger. So kinda is
what it is. But I think people seek help from, from people who can't relate.
I think lots of time guys try to talk to their wives or a family member or
somebody that hasn't been where we've been.
Emergent Themes

10. Importance of
Connectedness
(14 quotes)
I truly believe in my heart of hearts that every single Airman who has
been a part of my circle needs to have at least one person they feel
like they can rely on. If that person is not you, that's okay.
At least encourage them. If it's not going to be you that they trust to
talk to, encourage them to speak to that one person, and maybe you
connect with that one person that they can support them. But
connection is huge because like I said, in my experience, most of it
has been people want to be heard without being judged.
Everybody plays a role in suicide prevention, and that. It's everybody's
responsibility too. So it's not just our behavioral health or mental health
providers. It's not just our chaplains or spiritual leaders. It is you. It is me. It is
our supervisor. Everybody has this role. And we can do simple things…a
critical thing we can all be doing is staying connected with one another.
Being there for each other, checking in with each
other. There's so many different mechanisms in which
we can do that. The phone call, a text, doing a zoom
video, just so many options. So that's the first thing we
can all do is be connected with one another. Ask if folks
are doing okay.
Emergent Themes

11. Reaching Out
To Support
(21 quotes)
So often when we get phone calls, the caller will think that they're the
only one that struggled with this. So they do feel isolated… So we help
them, we say, “Hey, look…this is pretty normal with what you're going
through, so let's figure this out together. Let's work together on this.”
And then we connect them to resources, we follow up and see how
that's going.
And we continue to work with them. Cause one thing we want them
to know is that there is help. And there's hope. We don't want folks to
feel like they're all alone and isolated and by themselves because
they're not.
A very, very important question. Everybody you says, you know, you see
somebody and say, “Hey, how you doing?” And you're not really asking,
how are you doing? So one of the things that we asked our family and
friends after we lost Daniel was to ask us, “how are you doing today?” It's
an entirely different question.
Emergent Themes

12. Reducing
Stigma
(25 quotes)
I work with firefighters paramedics, law enforcement, and there is a
large percentage that are prior military. And I immediately go back to
when I was getting out of the military and I wanted to go into law
enforcement.
And when you're doing that, you're applying for new jobs, you're
going through background processes. You're going through medical
screenings, maybe psychological screenings. And oftentimes you
don't want to share or relive what happened in the military, because
you're trying to forget about that. And you're trying to move on and
get this new career and basically have a fresh start. But the reality is
there is no fresh start.
It's okay not to be okay. I heard that first from my own Commandant
General Amos. I believe it's significantly helped overcome this stigma
which still raises its ugly head. To say that, it gave me as a Marine some
reassurance with my own injuries and knowing that I can no longer
operate at a hundred percent. It reassured me that I was able to function
at, still enabled me to contribute and be on this team called the joint
team or the U S MC team. And knowing that it's okay not to be okay.
Emergent Themes

13. Coordination
and
Collaboration
(19 quotes)
Community collaboration, coordination, collective impact, it has to
happen all the way up the line. And it's challenging because
everybody has their work to do. And so unless there is a coordinated
effort, which is what PREVENTS is trying to ensure that yes, do your
good work over there in your space, but let's make sure we have the
doors open so that silos don't prevent us from sharing and interacting.
I would love to see the big organizations, like you mentioned, like SAMHSA
and all of these guys that are supposed to be policy and procedure
makers, just like we did in the military. You always had your higher chain
of command, of your orders and who tells you what to do.
And it gets all the way down to the little guy who’s got to do it on the
ground. And there's always a disconnect in between there. What's really
got to get done and who gets what done?
Emergent Themes

14. Public Health
Approach
(19 quotes)
People, I hear people talk about wanting to get left of boom, but I’m
not sure that folks know how to do that or what to do. Perhaps that’s
one of the reasons that VA can be beneficial is that VA, if you get into
the VA system there are a lot of types of support within VA across it’s
different administrations and types of programs that you’re not going
to get from standard health insurance or at a standard doctor’s
office, right? If you ask and sometimes have to ask again, but you can
get connected with not just medical care, not just mental health
care, but in a growing number of VA medical centers have like
medical, legal partnerships. So you can get linked up with pro bono
legal services. If you have legal problems, you can get help with
financial issues if you get disability compensation
or access to your GI bill. Right? So these other things that
are getting at your overall quality of life.
That public health approach is particularly helpful because I think that
brings in all of those social determinants of health and we get beyond just
to focus on mental health care, but the whole person health, which I think
resiliency and the whole person health and the public health viewpoint
all kind of fit together pretty well.
Emergent Themes

15. Lethal Means
Safety
(11 quotes)
Personally. I really think there's a sense of relief that we're actually
talking about this. We know the statistics, right? Two thirds of all
firearms related fatalities in this country, two thirds suicide. Not
homicide. Accidents are at the lowest point since they've been
keeping records for 115 years. Accident deaths by firearms is three
tenths of a percent, homicides have been going down, but suicides
have not been going down.
We see the amount of interest amongst, for example, firearm retailers
on this topic…it's extremely gratifying and shows that, you know
what? There's an appetite for this education.
What struck me most coming along to the conference was that
the means were so very different in the UK, when people finally get
to that point, than they are in the States. Kind of the elephant in
the room bit, I guess.
The lack of or reduced access to firearms clearly has a significant
difference with UK veterans than it might do in the States where
they're much more widely available. The highest likelihood is
suffocation or hanging in the UK for those who take their own life,
as opposed to firearms, a considerably greater number in the
States.
Emergent Themes

16. Treatment
(16 quotes)
That’s the importance of the additive model of the public health
approach. It’s important that you do have those clinically based
interventions available and access to those clinically based
interventions. But you know what, although there’s a relationship
between depression and suicide, there’s not always a relationship
between suicide and depression.
So you need to be able to have the clinically based interventions that
address depression, that address substance use disorder that address
relationship problems and issues. But you also need to have the
community based intervention approach where all of us are looking
out for each other and all of us are ready to engage when we see
something.
When you're talking about suicide, you're typically not dealing with a
population that you have a lot of people in crisis at any one time. So it's
really about getting care in place early and often. So when someone's
starting to experience the stress that may come from the multiple hats
they wear within the National Guard the stress of the mission, balancing
all that with what may be happening at home in their personal life,
You really have to look at having that person get access
to services and care within their community
that they can leverage.
Emergent Themes

17. Impact of
Suicide Loss
(15 quotes)
I said, you know, all right guys, well we'll talk soon. And my husband
would essentially say, and I'm paraphrasing, but started to say, “well,
I'll see you guys at the next one.” And he didn't finish his sentence, but
the only time they were gathering really was to send another
paratrooper to heaven. And it was devastating to understand that.
We should never stop listening to the families, the surviving families. I never
miss an opportunity to stress this to every new and up and coming leader.
I tell them, do not miss an opportunity to listen to the families and listen to
their stories and learn from their stories and apply what you can based on
what you're learning to improve the policies that we make, the trainings
that are put in place, the research agendas that we design. That should
always be our starting point.
Emergent Themes

18. Impact

19. • Academic Settings: College courses
on military and veteran culture
assign as additional material
• Advocacy and Awareness:
Educating communities and
stakeholders on suicide prevention
• Therapeutic Settings: Clinicians have
shared episodes with clients to
normalize experiences
• Research Settings: Identify future
areas of interest for further research
• Supervisory Settings: Share with
interns and new professionals for
developmental concepts
• Healing Insights: Accessible format
for members of the military affiliated
community
Stone, D. M., Holland, K. M., Bartholow, B. N., Crosby, A. E., Davis, S. P., & Wilkins, N. (2017). Preventing suicide: A technical package of policies, programs, and practice.
Alignment and Potential Uses

20. Scan here to access this
resource
Resource https://mailchi.mp/suicidology.org/milvet-case-study-series.

21. Medal of Honor Recipient Forum

22. Questions and Contact
@dklfrance
duane@veteranmentalhealth.com
www.drshaunaspringer.com
@docshaunaspringer
@Doc_Springer
@docshaunaspringer
@ThCounselingVet
www.veteranmentalhealth.com
@head_space_and_timing