Welcome to Mind Dive, Menninger's podcast for mental health professionals, with Robert Boland, MD, senior vice president and chief of staff, and Kerry Horrell, PhD. 
Podcast Focus
Each month, they dive into topics that fascinate them as clinical professionals and hopefully fascinate you, too. They examine dilemmas faced by professionals here at Menninger and colleagues across the nation while working with some of the most challenging cases. They explore the latest research and other trending topics on the minds of psychiatrists, psychologists and others who are interested in the treatment and study of the mind. Drs. Boland and Horrell make it a goal to cover information that gets little attention in formal training programs.
Most Recent Episodes
Episode 70: Rethinking Suicidality Treatment
Suicide continues to be one of the most important mental health crises of our time, but with compassionate thoughtful treatment, people struggling with suicidal thoughts can find support and healing. In this episode, Menninger Clinic clinicians, Dr. Patricia Daza and Dr. Adrian Lira, explore Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS), an evidence-based approach to assessing and addressing suicidal ideation.
With decades of experience in both inpatient and outpatient settings, these experts discuss how CAMS shifts the conversation surrounding suicide by focusing on its four pillars: empathy, honesty, collaboration and suicide-focus. CAMS is not an intervention for depression or any other disorder. It is specifically designed for suicide.
Instead of just assessing risk or treating suicidal thoughts as a symptom of depression or another condition, this model puts patients in the driver's seat, helping them identify their own reasons for feeling suicidal and uses those insights to create personalized treatment plans. “And really, the data has shown pretty strongly that even one session of CAMS, like in an emergency department with an assessment and discharge plan, can have significant effects,” Dr. Daza explains.
The conversation looks at the complex nature of suicidal thoughts, showing that people can feel both a wish to die and a desire to live at the same time. Our experts share how recognizing these mixed feelings can spark hope and support recovery, while also addressing common myths about suicide, from the misconception that talking about it increases risk to the belief that it is selfish. As Dr. Lira notes, “The risk might already be there. You're just kind of identifying it earlier on, discussing it and hopefully using some interventions to decrease some of that risk.”
For those supporting someone who is struggling, or anyone wanting to understand how suicide treatment can be handled with care, this episode highlights how thoughtful, judgment-free approaches can lead to improvements in outcomes. Join us as we unpack strategies and tools to navigate moments of crisis.
Listen to Mind Dive podcast wherever you get your podcasts and visit menningerclinic.org for more episodes.
Transcript
Meet the Hosts
Dr. Boland is an educator at heart with decades of experience teaching and mentoring psychiatry residents. In addition to his roles at Menninger, he is the executive vice chair of the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine.
A psychologist on our Compass Program for Young Adults, Dr. Horrell also loves teaching. She completed a predoctoral internship and postgraduate fellowship at Menninger and Baylor College of Medicine.
Both are well read, love canines (and have to resist rescuing too many) and are curious about many subjects.
Join Us
We hope you’ll join us on our podcast journey. And if you have a topic in mind that you would like us to dive into, drop us a note.
Mind Dive is available on all of the places you find your favorite podcasts.
Leave a Review
If you give Mind Dive a try and want to leave a review, we'd appreciate it! On Apple Podcasts, it's easy:
- From a mobile device, click Write a Review, which you'll find under Ratings and Reviews; then add the Title and Review. Finally, click Submit.
- On a desktop, click the Write a Review button. In the pop-up box, add the title, click the rating stars and add a comment in the box. Click Submit.
