66 | From Sunny to Ari: The Story Behind the Song

STEPS 4 HOPE: Suicide Prevention Through Story, Song & Meaning

Welcome to PROTECT (Season 4), a podcast where suicide prevention meets story, values, and the quiet power of music. Hosted by Dr. Manaan Kar Ray, psychiatrist, educator, and creator of the STEPS and HOPE frameworks, this series blends narrative, metaphor, and original music to explore how we can respond with presence and purpose to life’s most fragile moments.

Each episode follows Ari’s story—a tapestry of struggle, meaning, and recovery—and invites listeners into the emotional and clinical landscapes of suicide prevention. Grounded in values-based therapy and ACT principles, STEPS for HOPE is both poetic and practical, designed for health professionals, lived experience advocates, and anyone walking alongside someone in pain.

You’ll hear:

• Story passages from the STEPS for HOPE books
• Original songs created to capture the soul of the story
• Reflections on how to notice, respond, and reweave meaning after distress

This is not a podcast of quick fixes. It’s a space for reflection, compassion, and learning to hold hope—even in the fray.

Visit ATLAS.

Connect with Assoc Prof Manaan Kar Ray on Linkedin
Follow us on www.progress.guide

Transcript

[🎵 Version 1 – Mid Weave]

Welcome back.
 It’s been a little while.

For those who’ve followed this podcast before, thank you for your patience.
 And for those just tuning in—welcome.

This new season of the Protect Suicide Prevention Training Podcast marks a return…
but also a transformation.

Over the past year, I’ve been deeply immersed in writing, reflecting, and reimagining how we support people navigating the edge of despair. Together with collaborators across the globe, we’ve completed four books in the STEPS series—each one exploring a different phase of suicidal distress and how we might respond, not only with safety but with meaning.

Many of you may remember Sunny’s Values Scouts—our values-based resilience series for children. Sunny, a golden retriever, wandered into a magical world called Terra Vale, where he and his animal friends discovered a new value in every story. It was playful, imaginative—and deeply rooted in the same framework we now bring into adult therapeutic practice.

Because the truth is: values are not just for children.
 They’re what hold us in life’s darkest hours.

This podcast is now an extension of that work—STEPS 4 HOPE.
It’s a space where story meets science…
Where metaphor meets method…
And where music meets meaning.

You’ll notice something new this season: songs.
 Each episode begins and ends with an original track, written and produced to accompany a specific theme or passage from the book. These tracks are created using AI, and they bring emotional resonance to the educational journey. Eventually, they’ll be available on Spotify under MKR Studios, MKR standing for Meaningful Knowledge Reimagined.

Why music?
 Because stories stay with us.
 But melodies echo longer still.

I’m doing this solo now—my daughter and former co-host, Mahi, is currently studying medicine in the UK. Her own musical journey continues in a different direction through Medlock Holmes—a playful, fast-paced, rap-based anatomy series that brings medical learning to life through music. What started as a way to make anatomy memorable has quickly grown into something much bigger. The plan is to cover every medical discipline over the next four years—bones, brains, bugs, and beyond.

You can find Medlock Holmes on Spotify and Apple Music—and if you’re enjoying this podcast, chances are you’ll enjoy those tracks too. It’s already sparked some great reactions from doctors, nurses, paramedics, physios, OTs, and even a few psychiatrists I know who’ve said, “I just got a full anatomy refresher—and I didn’t even mean to!”

So if you know someone in healthcare—a colleague, a student, a friend—pass it on.
 Because learning can be lyrical.
 And memory? Sometimes it sticks best when it rhymes.

But here, in this space, I’m doing something quieter.
 Something more reflective.
 Something deeply human.

We begin this season with a story.
 A story that opens Book One of STEPS 4 HOPE.

at the heart of this new journey is Ari—our central character in STEPS for HOPE. Ari’s story is not just one of despair, but of rediscovery—of navigating life’s complexities and finding meaning even in the darkest moments. Through Ari, we explore the nuanced tapestry of human experience, and it’s Ari’s journey that will guide us as we move forward in this podcast.

But before we hear it, let me offer a little context.

 The Bigger Picture: ATLAS

As we journey through Ari’s story, and through the values that guide STEPS for HOPE, I want to take a brief step back… to zoom out and offer a glimpse of the bigger picture.

Because over the past year, this work hasn’t only deepened—it has widened.

We’ve seen the Protect framework translated into Malay and embedded within a national suicide prevention certification program in Malaysia—offered through public universities and community partnerships. It’s been humbling to witness local wisdom interweaving with our shared language of hope.

And alongside the writing, the music, and the teaching… we’ve been building something else.

A global map of life-affirming innovation.

It’s called ATLAS—Analytics for Transforming Life-Affirming Solutions.
A living, breathing digital resource, ATLAS offers a dedicated page for every WHO-recognized country—195 in total—each one spotlighting suicide prevention data, strategies, and innovations unique to that region.

But ATLAS is not just a database.
 It’s an invitation.
 A call to learn from one another—to elevate not only what’s working, but where it’s working.
Because prevention isn’t one-size-fits-all. It’s shaped by culture, by context, by courage.

Some pages highlight national helplines and government-funded frameworks.
 Others uplift grassroots interventions—peer-led safe spaces, culturally anchored rituals, even storytelling circles that reduce shame and rebuild connection.

It’s a project rooted in shared humanity, and it’s still growing.

So if you're listening, and you feel connected to this mission—if you’re a clinician, a policymaker, a survivor, a student, or someone simply passionate about preventing suicide in your part of the world—we’d love your help.

Whether it's translating a page, contributing local knowledge, or keeping your country’s entry current—ATLAS grows best when it’s nourished by many hands.

Together, we can build not just a map of prevention…
 but a mosaic of hope.

 The Frameworks That Guide Us

Before we step into Ari’s story, let me introduce the two threads that will quietly guide our journey throughout this season—three frameworks that weave through every conversation, every reflection, and every song. STEPS, HOPE and VALUES.

The first is the STEPS Framework—a metaphorical map of the suicidal journey. As we delve into the frameworks that guide us, it's important to understand that STEPS—which stands for Steps To Evaluate Progression of Suicidality—is more than just a framework. It’s a tapestry, a woven metaphor that captures the complexity of the human experience. Each element—FABRIC, THREAD, NEEDLE, TIP, MEND, and FLOW—is not just a word but an acronym, each representing a different phase and a different set of questions and steps. Just like a loom brings together threads to create a beautiful, cohesive whole, the STEPS framework weaves together these elements to help us understand and respond to suicidality in a compassionate, values-driven way.

Imagine life as a tapestry—woven not only from joy and meaning, but also from grief, isolation, and silent struggle. The STEPS framework traces this tapestry, not through pathology, but through lived experience.

We begin with FABRIC—the foundational weave of life, where predisposition takes shape. These are the early threads: temperament, trauma, disconnection, overwhelm. Not yet visible distress—but a quiet shift in the loom.

Then comes THREAD—the stage of ideation. Here, thoughts begin to form, often circling inwards. Questions of worth, whispers of escape. Not a plan, but a pull.

NEEDLE follows—the sharpening of intention. A point where thoughts start to cohere. The risk quietens, but it deepens. And the conversation must slow.

TIP is the point of action. It’s the rupture. The moment where internal distress spills outward into the physical world.

Then we enter MEND—the space of postvention and possibility. Here, after the act, the cloth is not discarded, but held. Stitched. Slowly restored, if gently met.

Finally, we come to FLOW—the continuation of life. The rejoining of movement. Where the story doesn’t end in survival, but begins in motion—uncertain, but still unfolding.

That is the STEPS arc. A gentle companion to the path no one chooses, but many walk.

And then, there is HOPE—the framework that guides the gentle reweaving of life after the rupture. Where STEPS maps the arc of suicidal distress and VALUE shapes the conversation in the moment, HOPE invites us into the work of living forward. It is not a formula, but a four-part rhythm: Help or Harm, Own My Values, People and Pursuits, and Enact and Evaluate. These movements help us discern which threads sustain us and which fray us further. They guide us to remember what matters, reconnect with meaning, and slowly stitch those values into action. HOPE is not just the goal—it’s the practice. A way to meet the pain without running from it. To trace distress back to its source in love, longing, and purpose. And to begin, even in uncertainty, to stitch again.

The third and final companion to our journey is the VALUE Method—a five-step process for therapeutic conversation rooted in presence, meaning, and human dignity.

It begins with V: Validate and Reflect—meeting pain with understanding rather than urgency. Letting the person know, “What you’re feeling makes sense.”

Then A: Ask Openly—not just about now, but about before, and what might come after. We explore past pain, present needs, and future fears, through questions that open rather than close.

L: Locate Strengths and Affirm—we highlight what has already held them, what still matters, even in the darkest hour.

U: Unpack the Value—this is the heart of it. We listen beneath the distress for the threads of meaning. What does this pain point toward? What matters so much, it hurts?

And finally, E: End with a Meaningful Reframe—offering not solutions, but shifts. A sentence, a symbol, a small reframing that allows life to feel just a little more livable.

As we journey through this season, you’ll notice that each episode is intricately woven around the STEPS framework. Each letter in FABRIC, THREAD, NEEDLE, TIP, MEND, and FLOW represents not only a phase of the journey but also a deeper exploration of values. For each of these letters, we’ll uncover three core values—sometimes more—that resonate with that specific stage of the tapestry. These values will guide our conversations and reflections, offering therapeutic opportunities to respond with empathy and understanding. And as we move through Ari’s story, you’ll see how these frameworks—STEPS, HOPE and the VALUE method—intertwine, creating a rich, multi-layered narrative that leads us not only to deeper understanding but to meaningful action.

Each episode in this season will follow a quiet rhythm:

🎵 First, a song—to open the emotional space,
 🎙 Then, a story—narrated like a letter or lullaby,
 🎵 And finally, a return to music—letting the second version of the song carry what words have softened.

This is not a lecture. It’s a listening space.
 So, find somewhere comfortable. Breathe deeply.
 And when you’re ready…

Let’s begin.

 🎧 Narrative Segment: Ari’s Tapestry of Life

(Narrated with gentle warmth and deliberate pace)

Every life begins mid-weave.
 Not from scratch. Not from silence.
 We arrive into motion—into a story already unfolding.

We are not blank slates.
 We are born into looms already threaded—
 with ancestry and expectation,
 with culture and circumstance,
 with joy, with pain, with things said and unsaid.
 Threads reach across time, pulled taut long before our fingers ever touch the cloth.

Some weaves shimmer—rich with strength, with safety, with belonging.
 Others are frayed from the start—tugged by trauma, thinned by grief.
 Most?
 They’re a tangle of both.
 Beauty and tension. Colour and strain. Resilience knotted with vulnerability.

This story follows Ari.
 But it could just as easily follow you. Or someone you love.
 Because this isn’t merely a story about suicide.
 It’s a story about being human.

A story of meaning—misplaced, mourned, or momentarily lost.
 A story of pain—carried too long, or spoken too late.
 A story of that quiet, aching pull toward death…
 which, more often than not, is tethered to the things that mattered most.

In Ari’s life, the cloth doesn’t unravel in some dramatic snap.
 It loosens.
 Softly. Silently.
 Not with alarm bells—but with quiet absences.
 Not all at once—but thread by thread.

Sometimes, you can see the wear—a drop in weight, a change in gaze.
 But often, you can’t.
 Because it doesn’t start at the edge of the cliff.
 It starts earlier. Much earlier.

It begins in the moments we tend to overlook—
 The sigh too quiet to notice.
 The pause that lingers too long.
 The dream deferred, the conversation avoided, the thread that slips loose without anyone seeing.

And that…
 That is where suicide prevention truly begins.
 Not in crisis. Not in the leap.
 But in the seam.
 The first shift in the weave.
 The place where something once held—
 and now, gently, does not.

So we begin here.
 With the quiet wear before the visible tear.
 With the earliest change in the FABRIC of life.
Where meaning still lives.
Where presence still matters.
And where hope, if held gently enough, might yet be rewoven.

[🎵 Song Version 2 - Mid Weave]

At Progress Guide, we believe in the power of innovation. Just as Sonny’s Values Scouts brought values to life for children in a playful, imaginative way, we’re now exploring how music—and yes, even AI-generated music—can help us connect, remember, and respond in moments that matter most. We understand that people may have mixed feelings about AI-generated music, and that’s okay. Our goal is to see if these melodies can help professionals remember and retain vital knowledge, so that in those critical moments, they can respond with clarity, compassion, and values that truly make a difference. We’re excited to have you on this journey with us, and we welcome your thoughts and reflections as we explore this new frontier together.

Next time, we’ll begin to trace that first quiet shift in Ari’s story—the loosening thread that often hides in plain sight.

We’ll explore the FABRIC of life:
The conditions before the crisis.
The early signs that go unnoticed.
The ache that begins before the fall.

But before we close, I want to ask you something.

You’ve heard two versions of the same song today—one at the beginning, one at the end.
 Which one spoke to you more?
 Was it the opening version—gentle, perhaps inviting you in?
 Or the closing version—echoing the story you’ve just walked through?

This podcast is an experiment in feeling, not just thinking.
 So I’d love to know:
 What do you make of this musical approach?
 Does it help you connect more deeply?
 Do the lyrics stay with you?

You can write in—share a reflection, a thought, even a single line that resonated.
 Your feedback will help shape future episodes, and I’d be honoured to hear from you.

Because this isn't just about Ari.
 It’s about the stories unfolding in all of us.

So until next time, I invite you to hold this question gently:

“Where might a thread be loosening—in your life, or someone else’s?”

And may the music remind you:
 Even frayed threads can be rewoven.

Stay connected.
 Stay kind.
 And I’ll see you next time.