PROTECT | Values Guided Suicide Prevention
HEALING WITH HOPE | A Journey of Mental Wellbeing, Resilience, and Connection
Welcome to PROTECT, a transformative podcast dedicated to nurturing mental well-being, building resilience, and fostering hope. At its core, PROTECT is about the power of human connection—exploring how values like compassion, belonging, and loyalty can become lifelines for those facing challenges. Founded on the principle of Relational Safety, this podcast moves beyond traditional perspectives, asking not “what’s the matter with you?” but “what matters to you?”—empowering both professionals and individuals in their journey to chip away at pain and build strength.
Hosted by Dr. Manaan Kar Ray, an innovator and leader in mental health crisis care with over a decade of experience at Oxford and Cambridge, and now the Director of Mental Health Services at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, PROTECT is changing the way we think about suicide prevention. Each episode blends leading-edge research with person-centered practice, bringing insights that promote hope, purpose, and resilience.
In our new focus, we introduce the STEPS 4 HOPE podcast series—an intimate exploration of suicide prevention through story, metaphor, and values-based connection. This season follows Ari’s Tapestry, a narrative journey through the six STEPS of suicidal distress: FABRIC, THREAD, NEEDLE, TIP, MEND, and FLOW. Each episode blends poetic storytelling, clinical insight, and emotional resonance to help listeners better understand what risk feels like—and how to respond with presence, curiosity, and care. Grounded in the HOPE framework, this series is a companion for anyone seeking to support others through pain, or to reweave their own path forward.
Whether you’re a clinician, caregiver, educator, or someone walking your own recovery journey, this podcast is an essential resource for all those who care deeply about mental health, suicide prevention, and building communities that thrive on connection and kindness.
Further information at www.PROGRESS.guide.
PROTECT | Values Guided Suicide Prevention
Creating Hope Through Action – Commemorating World Suicide Prevention Day
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A Song for World Suicide Prevention Day
Released on 10 September 2025 for World Suicide Prevention Day, this original song captures the heart of this year’s theme: Creating Hope Through Action.
Hope has been described by poets as the thing with feathers, fragile yet enduring. But hope is more than a feeling — it is something we create together through the choices we make, the questions we ask, and the care we offer one another.
This song is our tribute to those we have lost, to those who are struggling, and to those who continue to work each day to build safer, kinder communities. It reminds us that prevention is not about prediction, but about presence. That dignity lies not only in survival, but in reclaiming connection, meaning, and agency.
May this song be a reminder that hope is not abstract. It is actionable. And each of us, in our own ways, can take part in creating it.
Lyrics:
Creating Hope Through Action
Verse 1
We remember the names, the lives, the years,
Stories carried through silence and tears.
No label, no number can capture their song,
Their voices remind us we all belong.
Verse 2
Hope, Emily said, is a bird in the soul,
A feathered companion that sings and consoles.
But hope is not only a whisper or rhyme,
It lives in our actions, it grows over time.
Chorus
Hope is not waiting, it’s what we create,
In each small action, in love we demonstrate.
Together we carry the flame through the night,
Creating hope through action, in each other’s light.
Verse 3
The past is a teacher, but the future’s our thread,
Woven in moments, in words we have said.
Not just what is broken, but what still survives,
The ember of meaning that keeps us alive.
Bridge
From silence to speaking, from shadows to sight,
We find in each other the courage to fight.
Not one hand alone, but all hands combined,
A circle of safety, a thread redefined.
Chorus
Hope is not waiting, it’s what we create,
In each small action, in love we demonstrate.
Together we carry the flame through the night,
Creating hope through action, in each other’s light.
Outro
For the lives we’ve lost, for the lives we save,
Hope is the thread we choose to brave.
Final Chorus
Hope is not waiting, it’s what we create,
In each small action, in love we demonstrate.
Together we carry the flame through the night,
Creating hope through action, in each other’s light.
Connect with Assoc Prof Manaan Kar Ray on Linkedin
Follow us on www.progress.guide
