Glow For Hope: Sparking Conversation on Mental Health
Hosted by Kelly Poelker
About This Podcast
Mental health touches every one of us. It's part of being human. Every day, people quietly carry anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, addiction, loneliness, burnout, and suicidal thoughts often believing they're the only ones. They're not. Glow For Hope: Sparking Conversation on Mental Health breaks through the silence with honest conversations that remind us we're never as alone as we think. In every episode, host Kelly Poelker sits down with mental health professionals, suicide attempt survivors, suicide loss survivors, advocates, first responders, authors, and people with lived experience to explore the realities of mental health, suicide prevention, resilience, healing, and hope. These aren't interviews. They're conversations. The kind that help us better understand ourselves, support the people we love, challenge stigma, and build stronger communities—one story at a time. Whether you're navigating your own mental health journey, grieving someone you've lost, supporting a loved one, or simply believe conversations can change lives, you'll find authentic stories that educate, encourage, and remind you that hope is always worth sharing. Because sometimes the most powerful thing we can do... is start the conversation.
Target Audience
Target audience information coming soon.
Guest Requirements
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Kelly Poelker
Podcast Host
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20 episodes
Dave Raymond: The Man Inside the Phillie Phanatic
Aired⚠️ CONTENT ADVISORY This episode includes candid discussion of grief, depression, hopelessness and suicidal thoughts. For 16 years, Dave Raymond's job was to make people happy as the original Phillie ...
Mariah Sheridan Runions: When Loving Someone Isn’t Enough to Save Them
Aired# Mariah Sheridan Runions: When Loving Someone Isn’t Enough to Save Them Growing up surrounded by mental illness taught Mariah Sheridan Runions how to survive, adapt and take care of other people. It ...
Dr. Calvin Spinks: When Being Needed Becomes Your Identity
AiredWhat happens when being needed becomes the way you prove you are worthy of love? Dr. Calvin Spinks spent much of his life believing that if he could make himself valuable enough, helpful enough, and u...
Rebecca Lazzelle: Functioning Is Not the Same as Being Okay
AiredA person can appear successful, dependable, and completely in control while privately carrying more than anyone around them realizes. They can continue working, solving problems, caring for other peop...
Camille Ellis: Don’t Forget What You Had
AiredWhat if one simple change in perspective could transform the way you carry grief? After losing her 18-year-old son, Wes, to suicide, Camille Ellis believed she would never experience happiness the sam...
Jodi Gardner: Growing Older Doesn’t Mean Growing Invisible
AiredWhen we think about mental health, older adults are often left out of the conversation. Yet they may be carrying a lifetime of grief, caregiving, health challenges, trauma, and life transitions—while ...
Richard Lynch: When the Helper Becomes the One Who Needs Help
AiredRichard Lynch: When the Helper Becomes the One Who Needs Help Addiction recovery, grief after suicide, PTSD, men’s mental health, faith, and the reminder that you are not the worst thing you’ve ever d...
Aaron Burros: Real Men Don’t Cry — Until They Have No Choice
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JD Tremblay: It Doesn’t Get Better — You Get Stronger
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Sean Carey: I Was Holding Everything Together… Until I Wasn’t
AiredWhat happens when the man holding everything together is quietly falling apart inside? In this deeply honest episode of Glow For Hope: Sparking Conversation on Mental Health, Sean Carey shares the rea...
Maliha Khan: Identity, Belonging & Finding Your Voice
AiredMaliha Khan on the good girl blueprint, code-switching, mental health stigma, and what it finally took to stop shrinking and show up as her full self. The post Maliha Khan: Identity, Belonging & Findi...
Dr. Patrick Porter: What Chronic Stress Does to Your Brain and How to Reset It
AiredDr. Patrick Porter joins Glow For Hope: Sparking Conversation on Mental Health for a powerful conversation on what chronic stress is really doing to your brain—and how to take control of your mental h...
Dr. Colleen Saringer: Workplace Mental Health, Suicide Prevention, and How Work Can Hurt People
AiredWhat if the problem is not just what someone is carrying internally, but also what they are walking into every day at work? In this episode of the Glow For Hope Podcast, host Kelly Poelker sits down w...
Megan Hurley: Hope, Identity, and Finding Purpose After Traumatic Brain Injury
AiredMegan Hurley shares her journey as a traumatic brain injury survivor and how life changed in an instant. In this powerful conversation, she opens up about identity loss, depression, survivor guilt, an...
David Granirer: Turning Mental Health Struggles Into Confidence Through Comedy
AiredDavid Granirer shares how stand-up comedy helps people with mental health challenges build confidence and challenge stigma. The post David Granirer: Turning Mental Health Struggles Into Confidence Thr...
Dr Olivia Johnson: Why Silence Gets Trained — And How We Prevent Crisis Before It Starts
AiredDr Olivia Johnson explains why silence around mental health gets trained and how earlier conversations can help prevent crisis before it escalates. The post Dr Olivia Johnson: Why Silence Gets Trained...
Frank King: Humor, Vulnerability, and How to Start the Suicide Conversation
AiredA lot of people want to help — they just don’t know what to say. In this episode, Frank King shares practical, compassionate language for talking about depression and suicide before crisis. You’ll lea...
Matt Benson: Mental Health, Self-Worth, and Pressure for Student-Athletes
AiredSports can build resilience — but for many student-athletes, pressure, injury, and silence can quietly erode self-worth. In this episode, Matt Benson shares his lived experience with grief, depression...
Lawrence C. Harris on Self-Belief, Small Steps, and Taking Ownership as a Teen
AiredLawrence C. Harris shares s practical, teen-focused conversation on self-belief, consistency, and taking ownership—plus a clear explanation of C-PTSD vs. PTSD. The post Lawrence C. Harris on Self-Beli...
Linda Mitchell on the Mental Health Impact of Not Being Able to Read
AiredLinda Mitchell (Metro East Literacy Project) joins Glow For Hope to explore the mental health impact of not being able to read — including shame, stress, isolation, and the hidden ways low literacy af...
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