Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Active Army Master Sergeant Tom Cruz, a suicide attempt survivor and prevention advocate, joins the show to talk about how his lived experience with suicide has caused him to be a vocal advocate for suicide prevention in the military affiliated community.
Show Notes
About Today’s Guest:
Tom Cruz is an Active Duty Master Sergeant in the United States Army with over 25 years of service. He has deployed in support of Operation Joint Guardian, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Jordan. He has lived experience with suicide prevention and awareness resulting from an attempt in 2010 to take his life. Since his attempt, he became a huge advocate of more awareness and prevention for Veterans. Tom has taken his skills to social media, where he assisted in pioneering two organizations to identify and assist Veterans with mental health issues, suicidal ideations, relationship issues, financial concerns and other Veteran specific issues. With his own recovery breaking the stigma within the military on career status, family life and security clearance myths, he has pushed to bring holistic means to Veterans to the road of recovery.
Tom has been widely sought by military units, military bases, DoD organizations, National Suicide Organizations and the White House for his expertise on Veterans issues and social media. He is Master Resilience Trained Level One, an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) Instructor, Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) trained, and an Army Suicide Intervention (SI) trainer. He is also the Program Director for Suicide and Awareness with Veterans Counseling Veterans, advisor to Animal Rescue & Veteran Support Services, panel member of Center of Innovation on Disability and Rehabilitation Research with University of South Florida, and subject matter expert with White House and Office of the Surgeon General. Tom received the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration (SAMHSA) 2017 Voice Award Consumer/Peer/Family Leadership Award for his work to ensure America’s military and veteran communities have access to the mental health and substance use treatment and services they deserve
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Join our Facebook Group:
Shauna's latest book: Warrior: How to Support Those Who Protect Us
Duane's latest book: Military in the Rear View Mirror: Mental Health and Wellness in Post-Military Life
How to Leave a Podcast Review
Leaving a podcast review at iTunes isn't intuitive. But positive ratings are hugely important: they help the podcast get discovered by new people. Please spend 5 minutes of your time to leave a review using one of the methods below.
How to leave a podcast review using Apple’s Podcast app
1. Navigate to Seeking the Military Suicide Solution on Apple Podcasts on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Click "Listen on Apple Podcasts"
3. Scroll down and click or tap "Write a Review." Enter your iTunes password to login.
4. Rate the podcast using 1 to 5 stars.
5. Submit a brief honest review.
Bonus: get a thank-you note
Your feedback is greatly appreciated. When you leave a review, drop us a line at info@veteranmentalhealth.com and you'll get a message with the warmest appreciation, and a bonus gift!
For Android users, Google Podcasts does not allow for ratings or reviews, but you can certainly let us know how you think we're doing on Spotify, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio
Many thanks,
Duane and Shauna
★ Support this podcast ★
What is Seeking the Military Suicide Solution?
The statistics about suicide in the military affiliated population are alarming, and many are aware of them. Awareness is no longer enough, however. Communities must pair that awareness with meaningful action in order to make a difference. Brought to you by Military Times, join combat veteran and clinical mental health counselor Duane France and nationally recognized suicide prevention expert Dr. Shauna Springer every week as they bring the knowledge of experts on suicide in the military affiliated population to communities that need it.