Grief is a complex emotion, and for many people, it can often be accompanied by feelings like shame or guilt. But grief can also co-exist with positive emotions like joy — and that’s okay. Everyone grieves differently, and grief can look different from moment to moment. It can also be a motivator to take action.

In today’s episode of Strong Talk, passionate mental health advocateApril Simpkins opens up to host Vic Armstrong about losing her daughter, former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst, to suicide. April shares her difficult and inspiring journey through loss, which included shame, guilt, and even reclaiming experiences of joy along the way. She also discusses turning her pain into purpose by publishing her late daughter’s posthumous memoir framed with her own perspective as a mother, founding the Cheslie C. Kryst Foundation, and becoming the CEO of Paragon Strategy Partners, an HR consulting firm with a focus on mental well-being in the workplace.

Check out April Simpkins and Cheslie C. Kryst’s book By the Time You Read This here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/By-the-Time-You-Read-This/April-Simpkins/9781637633007

To learn more about AFSP, visit afsp.org

The podcast is produced by Hueman Group Media.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the interviewees and do not reflect the positions or opinions of the producers or any affiliated organizations.

Mental health conversations are becoming more common in the Black community, but systemic barriers still limit access to care.

In this Black History Month episode, host Vic Armstrong speaks with Shahem McLaurin — a Black, genderqueer, licensed clinical social worker, therapist, and influencer — about the root causes of mental health disparities, and how a strong community can solve them.

Shahem also shares their journey through graduate school, where they confronted the inequities baked into social work, and turned an insult into a brand: Dr. Durag.

To learn more about Shahem, visit https://www.5hahem.com

To learn more about AFSP, visit https://afsp.org

The podcast is produced by Hueman Group Media.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the interviewees and do not reflect the positions or opinions of the producers or any affiliated organizations.

When parents and children are raised in different cultures, they often have very different relationships with mental health—a generational gap that can make communication and understanding difficult. In this episode, host Vic Armstrong speaks with three members of UCA WAVES Youth Mental Health Collaborative, an organization dedicated to bridging these divides in AAPI communities.

Dr. Lily Chen is a first-generation Chinese immigrant, public health nurse, and mother of five who founded UCA WAVES based on the mental health struggles she experienced and observed in her community.

Dr. Jennifer Tu is a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow at UCLA and secretary of the UCA WAVES board. Her passion for mental health advocacy was sparked by the loss of a friend to suicide during college.

Naialie Lor is a pre-nursing student at UNC Chapel Hill, majoring in medical anthropology and a former summer intern at UCA WAVES. She brings the perspective of second-generation AAPI youth navigating cultural expectations and generational differences.

In this roundtable discussion, they share their own experiences, explore the unique mental health challenges facing AAPI communities, and discuss how UCA WAVES is using both data and storytelling to solve them

To learn more about AFSP, visit https://afsp.org

The podcast is produced by Hueman Group Media.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the interviewees and do not reflect the positions or opinions of the producers or any affiliated organizations.