Saroni Kandu joins this episode to discuss how her difficult experiences with navigating the mental health system for her family and then the loss of her sister after suicide drove her to open an Ellie Mental Health location in her community. Saroni's franchise is located in Concord, MO.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, and we are highlighting this important topic throughout the podcast this month. As we work together to de-stigmatize the societal beliefs around therapy and increase access to outpatient care, we recognize there's a LOT we can do to bring this often taboo topic into a new light while raising awareness about suicide as a public health concern, educating about prevention, and by supporting the healing of those affected by suicide.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

RESOURCES:

- Podcast episode about talking about suicide with clients

- Three Tips for Asking Someone about Suicide Blog Post

- Episode about how to cope when you lose a client or supervisee to suicide here.

- Why is Ellie franchising and what does that mean? Check out our episode with founder and CEO, Erin Pash, LMFT, here.

Therapist Thrival Guide is a video-podcast by Ellie Mental Health. The intention is to move therapists beyond surviving and into the realm of THRIVING by covering all the things that graduate school didn't teach you! This mental health podcast is hosted by Miranda Barker, MSW, LICSW and rotating co-hosts from the Ellie Therapist network. Each episode features a therapist at Ellie speaking to their areas of expertise, clinical interests, and personal experiences of being a therapist. This podcast covers topics like burn-out, self of therapist, cultural considerations, client retention, session structure, advancing clinical skills, innovations in therapy, and balancing professional relationships with our personal lives. Every now and then, we'll even cover the happenings of how therapists are portrayed in pop culture.

Miranda Barker, MSW, LICSW, has been practicing as a therapist for two years. She previously worked as a child protection investigator, adoption social worker, and case manager. She's new to the therapy game and loves soaking up all of the knowledge from the expert therapists in her life. She's the Executive Producer at Ellie Mental Health's in-house creative agency and believes that creativity is an important aspect of mental health care.

Therapist THRIVAL Guide is one of many creative productions from ⁠Ellie Mental Health⁠. Ellie is a national mental health brand organized around community-based outpatient mental health clinics. It all began with a single office in St. Paul, Minnesota back in 2015, and since then has expanded to over 24 clinics in Minnesota and an explosive number of locations nationwide after franchising our model in 2021. Ellie will be opening over 500 locations in communities nationwide with new clinics opening each week. #therapy #mentalhealth #suicideprevention