The Survivors Podcast
Surviving Life, Death and Everything In Between
Survival isn’t just about staying alive—it’s about finding the strength to rebuild, reclaim, and rise.
That’s the foundation of The Survivors Podcast, where three-time suicide loss survivor, author, crisis counselor, and mental health advocate Lisa Sugarman joins Natasha J. Layton—a multiple suicide attempt and loss survivor, advocate, sexual abuse survivor, and former member of the FLDS polygamy cult—to change the way we talk about suicide, survival, and mental health.
Through raw, unfiltered conversations, Lisa and Natasha explore the realities of surviving trauma, grief, abuse, mental illness, and everything in between—with honesty, hope, and humanity. Their unique perspectives—one shaped by profound loss, the other by unimaginable adversity—create a space where the hardest stories are told with compassion, courage, and vulnerability.
By opening up the conversations we’ve been taught to bury, The Survivors invites listeners into a safe, stigma-free community to reflect, connect, and heal. Together, Lisa and Natasha push past stigma, challenge everything we think we know about survival, and reveal that life after darkness can be filled with meaning, connection, and hope.
Subscribe now and join the conversation about surviving life, death, and everything in between.
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- All
- season 1
- season 2
- bonus episodes
Parenting Through Grief: How to Show Up When You’re Shattered
*WARNING: This podcast mentions suicide, sexual abuse & trauma and may be trigger...
Grief During the Holidays: Carrying Loss, Guilt, and Hope Into the New Year
*WARNING: This podcast mentions suicide, sexual abuse & trauma and may be trigger...
Surviving the Financial Stress of the Holidays
*WARNING: This podcast mentions suicide, sexual abuse & trauma and may be trigger...
Life Inside the FLDS: Growing Up in the Polygamy Cult When Your Uncle is Warren Jeffs
*WARNING: This podcast mentions suicide, sexual abuse & trauma and may be trigger...
When Holidays Hurt: Saying No, Setting Boundaries, and Surviving
*WARNING: This podcast mentions suicide, sexual abuse & trauma and may be trigger...
Surviving Family Abuse: Challenges and Healing
*WARNING: This podcast mentions suicide, sexual abuse & trauma and may be trigger...
Watch Us On YouTube
If you’re grieving, let your kids see you cry #grief #parenting #momlife #shorts
When do parents get permission to fall apart without feeling like they’re failing? So many parents carry their grief quietly—holding it together for their kids, showing up through heartbreak, exhaustion, and loss, while convincing themselves they have to stay strong no matter what. In the latest epi...
If you’re grieving, it’s ok to let your kids see you cry #parenting #crying #itsokaytonotbeokay
Parents, here's a question... What do your kids learn when they see you grieve? In the latest episode of The Survivors Podcast, we talk honestly about surviving grief while parenting—showing up on hard days, breaking generational silence, and why being real matters more than being “strong.” If you’r...
If someone’s talking about suicide, they’re asking for help #help #mentalhealth #shortclip #lifeline
*WARNING: This post mentions suicide and may be triggering. If someone's talking about suicide, they’re not asking for attention. They’re asking to be heard. To be taken seriously. To stay alive. So if you or someone you know is struggling, please call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for help.
Meet The Survivors
Lisa Sugarman
Lisa Sugarman is an author and three-time survivor of suicide loss. A passionate mental health advocate, she serves as a crisis counselor with The Trevor Project and as a storyteller with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), where she uses her lived experience to help others find healing through connection and community.
She's the Founder of The HelpHUB™, the most inclusive and comprehensive free online destination for mental health resources, tools, treatment options, crisis hotlines, and content designed to support the diverse needs of every community. Lisa is the author of Surviving: Finding Hope After Suicide Loss (2026), How to Raise Perfectly Imperfect Kids and Be OK With It (2019), Untying Parent Anxiety (2017), and LIFE: It Is What It Is (2014).
Lisa is also a facilitator for Safe Place, a virtual support group for survivors of suicide loss hosted by Samaritans Southcoast in Boston, where she also serves as a board member. She is a contributor to the Mental Health Television Network (MHTN), and her writing has appeared in Calmerry, Healthline Parenthood, Grown & Flown, TODAY Parents, Thrive Global, LittleThings, The Washington Post, and Psychology Today. A former nationally syndicated columnist, Lisa continues to write widely on topics of suicide, grief & loss, and mental health and wellness. Lisa lives and writes just north of Boston. Learn more at TheHepHUB.co.
Natasha J. LaytonNatasha Jeffs Layton is a speaker, advocate, and mother whose life has been shaped by survival in every sense of the word. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse and a former member of the FLDS polygamist cult, Natasha broke free from a system designed to silence her. She has endured multiple suicide attempts and is a suicide loss survivor, having lost five brothers to suicide, losses that have fueled her purpose and her voice.
As co-host of The Survivors, Natasha shares real, unfiltered conversations that explore the raw and often hidden realities of grief, trauma, and recovery. Her presence on the podcast is not just about sharing stories, it’s about shifting the culture of silence and shame surrounding mental illness, suicide, and abuse. Through deep connection and fearless honesty, she invites others into the kind of healing that can only happen when we speak the truth out loud.
“Healing doesn’t happen in silence. It happens when we tell our stories out loud.”— The Survivors
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