.webp?width=50&height=50&name=pa-icon%20(1).webp)
About Today’s Guest
Garra Lloyd-Lester is the Coordinator of the New York State Suicide Prevention Community and Coalition Initiatives for the Suicide Prevention Center of New York State (SPCNY). As Coordinator, he works with State and County partners, local governmental units, local coalitions, and other systems to build capacity to help reduce suicides across the lifespan. This work is accomplished through systems level planning, coalition building, program development and training among other activities.
He facilitates the Lethal Means Safety workgroup as part of the Governors Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans and their Families (SMVF). He has previously facilitated a statewide steering committee to address suicide prevention among first responder disciplines and led the statewide taskforce to develop recommendations on addressing suicide prevention among rural communities in NYS.
He has 40+ years of experience in the field of social services including working with the developmentally disabled, working in the child welfare system and within the mental health system.
PsychArmor Resource of the Week
This week’s resource of the week is the PsychArmor course, course, Suicide Prevention and the Secure Storage of Firearms: Conversations for Everyone This course provides critical information for members of every community about the safe storage of firearms. When people are in crisis, honest conversations about accessibility to lethal means for suicide are vitally important. You can find the resource here: https://learn.psycharmor.org/courses/suicide-prevention-and-the-safe-storage-of-firearms-conversations-for-everyone.
Provide Feedback:
As a dedicated member of the audience, we would like to hear from you about the show. Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts about the show in this short feedback survey. By doing so, you will be entered to receive a signed copy of one of our host's three books on military and veteran mental health.
Episode Partner:
This week’s episode is brought to you by Humana, a leading health and well-being company that has joined forces with PsychArmor to develop campaigns and courses that support veterans and their families in achieving their best health. To learn more about how Humana honors and serves veterans visit healthequity.humana.com/veterans”
Join Us on Social Media
PsychArmor on Twitter
Theme Music
Our theme music Don’t Kill the Messenger was written and performed by Navy Veteran Jerry Maniscalco, in cooperation with Operation Encore, a non profit committed to supporting singer/songwriter and musicians across the military and Veteran communities.
This Episode Sponsored By:
This episode is sponsored by PsychArmor, the premier education and learning ecosystem specializing in military culture content. PsychArmor offers an online e-learning laboratory with custom training options for organizations.
Producer and Host Duane France is a retired Army Noncommissioned Officer, combat veteran, and clinical mental health counselor for service members, veterans, and their families. You can find more about the work that he is doing at www.veteranmentalhealth.com