AFSP Podcast Channel
Welcome to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Podcast Channel, the official podcast home for Strong Talk, Ask Dr. Jill, and Elevating Voices—three unique series focused on mental health, suicide prevention, and health equity.
Strong Talk is hosted by Vic Armstrong, AFSP’s Vice President for Health Equity and Engagement. Each episode features in-depth conversations with mental health experts, advocates, and leaders about the challenges and solutions to making mental healthcare accessible to all.
Ask Dr. Jill features Dr. Jill Harkavy-Friedman, AFSP’s Senior Vice President of Research, answering real mental health questions with the latest scientific research and help from fellow experts in the field.
Elevating Voices is a roundtable discussion series hosted by Vic Armstrong. Each episode brings together members of diverse communities to uncover the unique mental health challenges they face, and discuss strategies for solving them.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is America’s leading suicide prevention organization and the largest private funder of suicide prevention research, with local chapters in all 50 states., D.C. and Puerto Rico. AFSP offers education, loss support, and advocacy programs and events nationwide, including the Out of the Darkness Walks. You can learn more at AFSP.org.
For other forms of support, including resources for survivors of suicide loss, what to do if you’re worried about someone, and guidance if you’ve survived a suicide attempt, visit AFSP’s Get Help page: afsp.org/get-help
If you or anyone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 for free, 24/7, to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
AFSP Podcast Channel
Strong Talk: Bringing Faith-Based Suicide Prevention to Africa
In this episode of the Strong Talk, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Vice President for Health Equity and Engagement Victor (Vic) Armstrong, MSW, speaks with Pastor Dr. François Tchidjé about their shared experience in a unique suicide prevention training conducted in Africa by AFSP and Soul Shop for Black Churches.
In March of 2022, AFSP partnered with Soul Shop Movement to convene a group of mental health experts with expertise in suicide prevention and connection to the Black and African American faith-based community. The group encompassed lived experience, as well as research, policy, and pastoral expertise. The result was the creation of Soul Shop for Black Churches, an eight-hour curriculum that teaches faith leaders in the Black community how to minister to congregants who may be experiencing suicidal desperation. Since its inception, SSFBC has trained faith leaders across America, including a training in Asheville, North Carolina, in October of 2023, which was attended by Dr. François Tchidjé, who traveled from Cameroon, Africa, to participate.
Returning to Africa, Dr. Tchidjé began conducting trainings on his own, but recognized the need for additional trainers, whom he was not certified to train. In response, AFSP’s Vic Armstrong, along with Soul Shop CEO Michelle Snyder, joined Dr. Tchidje in Cameroon, where they spent six days training 92 faith leaders in suicide prevention.
In this episode, host Vic Armstrong talks with Dr. Tchidjé about his motivation for traveling to America, the impact of his suicide prevention work utilizing his training with AFSP and Soul Shop and how it relates to the “African experience,” and their shared experience conducting the training in Cameroon.
