I was on Paula Fontenelle’s podcast Understanding Suicide on March 26th 2020. I was honored to be asked to be on this podcast. I shared part of my perusal story of living with suicidal ideation, how I have transformed my relationship to suicidal parts, and how I support others who live with suicidal thoughts. The experience on her show was deeply satisfying and important. If there’s one thing I have learned through my journey with suicidal ideation it is talking openly about what I”m experiencing to someone who is open and receptive to hear deeply matters. Talking about suicide helps to end the stigma and to support people with what’s really going on. Suicidal thoughts are a very normal human experience.

For those of you who live with suicidal thoughts here are some of the tops learnings I have gathered from my suicidal parts:

  • Suicidal thoughts and urges are a part of me, it is not ALL of me.

  • A suicidal part or parts are working hard to protect me, they want to HELP me.

  • There ARE messages in suicidal thoughts that are not about physically killing myself.

  • There are some people in life who are not able to hold me when I talk about suicide.

  • There ARE people who can listen openly to suicidal parts: I have a choice of who I talk to for support.

  • Leaning in to listen to suicidal parts, while holding internal boundaries, creates safety.

  • There’s no one right way to be with suicidal parts, being with what is happening inside unfolded my path.

  • Yes, it can be painful to be consumed with suicidal thoughts AND there is hope, there is a way to be with suicidal parts differently.

  • Deep gratitude for suicidal parts changed my life and I believe it can change your life!

Here, you can find Paula Fontenelle’s Podcast Episode 17 Dealing with Suicidal thoughts: Heidi Lindeman. You can watch the Youtube of the episode below.