Starting off my Fellowship with a super informative meeting with Jarrod Hindman, COO of Sources of Strength. Jarrod has also held roles as Vice President, Community Development at LivingWorks and Program Director, Office of Suicide Prevention, Colorado Department of Public Health. It was during this latter period that Jarrod was instrumental in the co-development of Man Therapy.
Man Therapy is an innovative psychoeducational resource for men (and the woman around them) who usually would not access any support to ‘dip their toes into the water’ of mental health care. Jarrod spoke passionately about the dangers of what he termed ‘double jeopardy men’, those that are at highest risk of suicide and least likely to seek mental health treatment. He gave a fascinating account of how Man Therapy came into being and although filming took place in 2012, the material still fresh today. It was informative to hear his comprehensive take on on the multiple ways to address suicide ranging from preventative upstream work to postvention services. We also discussed the importance of building in evaluation processes from the get-go in any project. Funding follows an evidence-base and Jarrod advocates — that at the very least — any intervention should be evidence-informed. He also discussed the impact of guns on suicide rates in the USA where death by suicide is higher with men as they often have the most lethal forms available, literally at hand. As the Harvard School of Public Health notes: "Of the nearly 46,000 suicides in the U.S. in 2020, more than half were from firearm. Suicide rates are highly correlated both with gun ownership rates and living in a home with guns'. A deeply disturbing phenomena. More on 'Man Therapy' to follow when I meet with the other co-developer, Joe Conrad later in the week!
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