Saving LGBTQ+ Lives: Why The Trevor Project Matters More Than Ever
The Survivors PodcastJune 25, 2025x
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29:2827.42 MB

Saving LGBTQ+ Lives: Why The Trevor Project Matters More Than Ever

This powerful Pride Month episode dives deep into the lifesaving work of The Trevor Project. Hosts Lisa and Gretchen get real about crisis support for LGBTQ youth, the importance of validation, and what it truly means to show up as an ally.

 

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A video version of this episode is available here: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSurvivorsPodcastChannel

 

🎙️ Episode Sponsored by TheHelpHUB.co
This episode is proudly brought to you by https://www.TheHelpHUB.co
Struggling with your mental health? Feeling lost, overwhelmed, or just… alone? Well, you're not. Welcome to The HelpHUB—your online destination for mental health resources, content, and tools to help you navigate whatever mental health challenges you face. With over 16 tailored categories, you’ll find crisis support, lived-experience blogs, videos, and more to help you feel seen, supported, and safe. 💙Because your mental well-being matters. 💙

📖 Episode Summary

In the Season 2 premiere, Lisa and Gretchen celebrate Pride Month by spotlighting The Trevor Project—one of the most vital lifelines for LGBTQ youth. They share raw, emotional stories from the crisis lines, discuss how even a single supportive voice can reduce suicide risk by 40%, and emphasize how every person can play a role in showing up for queer youth and adults alike. Whether you're a parent, ally, or part of the LGBTQ community, this episode is a heartfelt reminder: you are not alone, and help is always within reach.

💡 Lessons Learned
  • One compassionate listener can reduce a queer youth’s suicide risk by up to 40%.
  • You don’t need professional training to be an effective ally—just show up without judgment.
  • Lifelines like The Trevor Project and 988 offer free, 24/7, confidential support that saves lives.
  • Inclusive resources like Free Mom Hugs and Trevor Space are essential community anchors for those without family or local support.
⏰ Chapters

00:00 – Trigger Warning & Intro
01:30 – Why Pride Conversations Matter All Year
03:00 – The Trevor Project Lifeline: Who It Serves
05:00 – The Crisis LGBTQ Youth Face Today
08:00 – Supporting Queer Kids: Parents, You’re Needed
10:00 – Trevor Text Line & Online Safe Spaces
13:00 – Real-Life Lifeline Stories
18:00 – Allyship in Action
20:00 – Lifelines Are in Danger—Why We Must Act
26:00 – Final Thoughts: Keep Showing Up
28:00 – Gratitude & Resources

📚 Resources for Mental Health & Support

🔹 The Survivors Podcast Website – https://thesurvivors.net/
🔹 The HelpHUB™ – Mental health resources, tools, and support networks – https://www.thehelphub.co/
🔹 Schoser Talent and Wellness Solutions – Mental wellness coaching & support – https://schosersolutions.com/
🔹 Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads – A raw, award-winning mental health podcast – https://goesoninourheads.net/

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🎙️ See You Next Week! Stay strong, keep going, and remember: You are enough. 💜

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00:00:02
The Survivors is brought to you by our friends at the Help Hub. This

00:00:05
podcast mentions suicide, mental illness, grief and loss and may be

00:00:09
triggering for some listeners. So please take care of your mental well being

00:00:13
by pausing or skipping any sections that feel uncomfortable to you. And if

00:00:17
you or someone you know is struggling, please call 988 for support.

00:00:22
I love the fact that when you're talking about

00:00:26
recognition months, like we just came out of Mental Health

00:00:29
Awareness Month, now we're in Pride Month, we have a whole month. We

00:00:33
should be talking about all these things all 12 months. But I love the fact

00:00:36
that we have a dedicated month. So this is still Pride Month. We're

00:00:40
nearing the end of it. But you and I were talking a little while

00:00:44
ago about what we can offer people

00:00:48
who are listening in our community, what we can offer the queer

00:00:52
community that relates to suicide, that relates to

00:00:55
wellness during Pride. And it was kind of a no

00:00:59
brainer in my opinion. And you totally agreed, because you do everything I

00:01:03
tell you to do anyway,

00:01:07
that it really makes the most sense for us this week to

00:01:10
be talking about the Trevor Project. Not just because

00:01:14
I am a crisis counselor on the Trevor lifeline, but,

00:01:18
but for so many reasons, because it's Pride number one, because

00:01:22
you and I are both a part of the queer community, number two, and number

00:01:26
three, those things all combine to create

00:01:30
a great conversation focused on Pride Month. So

00:01:34
this is the time to elevate resources like the Trevor Project.

00:01:37
So I think it probably makes the most sense to have the quick

00:01:41
conversation about what is the Trevor Project if

00:01:44
people don't know, because there are a lot of people out there who don't know

00:01:48
what the 988 crisis lifeline is. So we like to

00:01:52
educate people about that. And now we can talk to people about Trevor. So

00:01:55
the Trevor Project is the largest

00:01:59
crisis and suicide lifeline for at risk

00:02:03
LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24 in

00:02:07
this country. And they've been around for almost 20,

00:02:10
27 year, I think 27 years at this point. And I've been involved

00:02:14
for the last three years. And it functions just like any other lifeline.

00:02:18
You pick up, you call the number. In the case of the Trevor project,

00:02:22
it's 866-488-7386. But we'll have that

00:02:25
in the show notes and you get a counselor who is trained

00:02:29
to listen and hold space and offer resources and

00:02:34
create safety plans and all of those things geared

00:02:37
toward members of the LGBTQ community.

00:02:41
And so Pride Month is. It's a time to obviously to

00:02:45
celebrate LGBTQ and identity and all those things, but it's also this

00:02:48
powerful reminder of ongoing mental health struggles

00:02:52
and this disproportionate suicide risk that our

00:02:56
community faces, especially youth. 100%. And, you

00:03:00
know, the thing that we have going on right now is the world's literally

00:03:03
on fire. Our community is being attacked left, right, and center.

00:03:07
And, you know, there's a lot of times, like, parents and kids don't know where

00:03:10
to turn. Like, they have so many

00:03:14
hard feelings about their self identity, and

00:03:19
the world's just a really crappy place right now. And we. We need to

00:03:22
let people know that, you know, that you're not alone, especially if you're a kid

00:03:26
and you're trying to, like, figure out, you know, kind of what's going on with

00:03:29
your own body, like, who you love, how you want to present,

00:03:34
and with the world just attacking you left and right, it

00:03:37
makes it really difficult. And, you know, I wish that the

00:03:41
Trevor project had been around when I came out because, you know, I came out,

00:03:45
like, I don't know, it feels like 100 years ago.

00:03:48
Probably because it was a hundred thousand years ago. No offense. Probably was.

00:03:52
But, I mean, speaking of just the crisis

00:03:56
that we're all facing in this world and then the crisis that is layered on

00:04:00
top of the LGBTQ community. Did you know know me, I'm not like a super

00:04:04
number oriented person, but certain things stick with me.

00:04:07
And the statistic that LGBTQ

00:04:11
young people are more than four times as

00:04:15
likely as another youth who is not queer

00:04:19
to attempt suicide. And it's

00:04:22
heartbreaking, it's crushing. And that's why things like

00:04:26
visibility and affirmation and access to support, support platforms

00:04:30
like Trevor are literally saving people's

00:04:33
lives. Did you know there's one other statistic I have to toss out because it's

00:04:36
the perfect time to toss it out. Did you know that in the case

00:04:40
of the LGBTQ community and in the case of Lifelines, did

00:04:44
you know that if one single person is

00:04:47
there to listen to someone in crisis, do you know, it reduces

00:04:51
the likelihood of that? Let's say use cause. That's what we're talking about.

00:04:56
Reduces the risk of that youth trying to take their life by 40%.

00:05:00
Wow. I did not know that. But that gives me hope.

00:05:05
But I just. I feel so bad for these kids today.

00:05:10
A lot of them don't have a supportive family environment.

00:05:14
They are getting bullied at school. They're watching social

00:05:18
media, which has its own pros and cons, more cons

00:05:21
than pros. And then we have all

00:05:25
this other outside noise coming in and they don't know

00:05:29
how to process it. They're not adults. They don't know what those

00:05:33
resources are. And so if we can get these resources out

00:05:37
and let them know that there's actually somebody they can talk to and make them

00:05:40
feel better or at least get them someplace that they can, you

00:05:44
know, talk to somebody, get a group, whatever that you're.

00:05:48
They're not alone. They're not alone in this. Oftentimes they feel very

00:05:52
isolated and what they're going through, I mean, you

00:05:55
think. About normal people who are not, let's say,

00:06:00
dealing with being members of a marginalized community. Any

00:06:03
normal person right now is feeling stress, whether it

00:06:07
be political or whether it be

00:06:11
mental health related, just because of all the stress in the world.

00:06:15
Everyone's feeling it. And then you take any marginalized community

00:06:19
and you layer all the shit that they have to deal with on top of

00:06:22
all the normal day to day shit, and it becomes incredibly overwhelming.

00:06:25
So you're right. We need to be offering

00:06:29
these lifelines. And especially during a month like Pride where everybody's amplifying

00:06:33
everything, which is amazing. I'm glad that we can have

00:06:37
this conversation. I'm glad that we can do our part because hopefully there's a parent

00:06:40
out there and maybe there's a kid out there who comes across our podcast

00:06:44
who is struggling. Maybe it's with identity, maybe it's with

00:06:47
sexuality, maybe it's with just their peer

00:06:51
group or coming out, or they're just dealing with

00:06:55
depression for other reasons not related to sexuality. And they

00:06:58
don't know where to go and they don't know where to turn. And regular lifelines

00:07:02
don't seem appropriate because you want someone who gets you

00:07:05
right. And right not just get you, but understand that you're

00:07:09
a kid and that you're trying to deal with all these big

00:07:13
emotions that maybe life hasn't prepared you for. And

00:07:16
you know, another resource I wanted to, wanted to talk about with all

00:07:20
the pride parades and everything going on this month,

00:07:24
there's a group called Free Mom Hugs. And if you were

00:07:28
at a parade and you see somebody with a Free Mom Hug

00:07:32
shirt on them and you want to hug, go see, go see

00:07:36
these people. Is the most comforting,

00:07:39
compassionate hug you will ever get. We see you.

00:07:43
We, we all see you. I see you. Fortunately, like, when

00:07:47
I came out, I didn't have a problem. I kind of knew

00:07:50
that I was gay or I was a lesbian. But like, a lot of

00:07:54
people don't understand. Wait, you're gay? Yeah, Imagine that.

00:07:59
Yeah. A big old lesbo gay. I love you. I just love you.

00:08:03
Ain't turning back. I'm 61 years old. Don't think I'm going back to the

00:08:07
closet. But, like, you know, with me, I had

00:08:10
really supportive parents. I had a supportive community. I had

00:08:14
family. But for a lot of these kids, they don't have anyone. And having

00:08:18
the Trevor Hotline is huge for them. Huge.

00:08:22
Just being able to pick up the phone and call someone and walk through those

00:08:26
feelings. Or maybe you need a different resource. Maybe,

00:08:29
you know, you might think you're trans, but you. You don't

00:08:33
have the resources and you don't want to go to the library and look that

00:08:36
up or look it up on your family computer. Call the. Call the

00:08:40
Trevor Hotline. And Lisa, my question for you is, because,

00:08:43
I don't know, is have a text line also, or is it only

00:08:47
phone? I'm so glad you asked. And they do have a texting

00:08:51
platform as well. And anyone who

00:08:55
maybe just needs a little bit more of a buffer, like, sometimes people just don't

00:08:58
feel comfortable talking directly to another human. They need a little

00:09:02
bit of something in between. Just for peace of mind, they can text

00:09:06
678-678-START, and they'll

00:09:09
go directly to a Trevor Lifeline counselor

00:09:13
in a texting format so they can communicate that way.

00:09:18
I love that. And then, like, I had another question, because I don't know, can

00:09:21
parents call the Trevor Hotline if they have concerns about their

00:09:25
kids? Yes. Yes, yes, yes. I'm so glad. God, you're so good at

00:09:28
asking appropriate questions. Yes. That's actually

00:09:32
a really important point to bring up for a number of reasons.

00:09:35
For parents as a lifeline. Yes. We have something in our

00:09:39
database that's accessible to anybody who visits us. At

00:09:42
trevorproject.org, it's called the Coming Out Handbook. It's for

00:09:46
parents, it's for kids, it's for allies. It's for anyone who

00:09:50
wants to have language that can help them

00:09:53
have those hard conversations, navigate what to say and in those moments.

00:09:57
And it's. It's such a valuable

00:10:02
platform. There's also something called Trevor Space, which is like

00:10:05
an online support group. I don't even know if you'd call

00:10:09
it a support group, but it's a platform within the Trevor Project where people can

00:10:13
go, it's safe, it's protected, it's moderated, and it's confidential.

00:10:17
And people can go on and just talk to people who are dealing with what

00:10:19
they're dealing with. Maybe it's other teens who are dealing with coming out, maybe they're

00:10:23
dealing with a whole host of mental health related challenges and you've got now

00:10:27
a whole community of people, thousands of people are on Trevor

00:10:31
space. And all you do is just create an anonymous profile for yourself if you

00:10:34
want it to be anonymous and you just go on and have conversations. But back

00:10:38
to your point about parents, yes, we have a lot of

00:10:41
parents calling on behalf of their kids and that's what we

00:10:45
call a third party call. And I think you and I have talked about that

00:10:49
in the context of the 988 Crisis Lifeline and it works the same

00:10:52
way at Trevor Project. So if you are calling

00:10:56
for, let's say a sibling or your partner

00:10:59
or a friend or a coworker, someone else, because for whatever reason,

00:11:04
maybe they don't have the capacity to call and you're kind of the

00:11:08
intermediary, that's called a third party call where you're calling on

00:11:11
behalf of someone else. And we take those calls all the time. And then

00:11:15
sometimes the person who they're calling for gets up the

00:11:19
either the courage or has the bandwidth to have the conversation

00:11:23
so they jump in. And it happens that way often.

00:11:26
But yes, absolutely, parents can utilize, take advantage of

00:11:30
Trevor Project. And we have great conversations with parents all the time.

00:11:35
That really warms my heart because, you know, I can think of, when

00:11:39
I came out, we didn't, like I said, we didn't have these types of crisis

00:11:42
hotlines. We didn't have anything like, go figure it out.

00:11:47
But you know, in today's age, kids are getting so much different information.

00:11:51
Same with parents. And just giving them the resources

00:11:55
that they need to maybe just some, some days just make it to the next

00:11:58
minute because they're getting bullied, they're getting crap from

00:12:02
home. You know, society's treating them like dirt. You're

00:12:06
not dirt. The world needs you. And it

00:12:09
just, it makes me really sad. It makes me sad that we have to have

00:12:13
these conversations. Struggling with your

00:12:16
mental health? Feeling lost, overwhelmed or just alone?

00:12:21
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00:12:24
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00:12:28
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00:12:32
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00:12:36
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00:12:39
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00:12:43
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00:12:47
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00:12:51
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00:12:54
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00:12:58
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00:13:01
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00:13:05
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00:13:09
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00:13:13
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alone. Visit the Help Hub co today.

00:13:23
Yeah, I know. You know what, though? On the other side, because there's

00:13:27
always a flip side, you know that we are so lucky that

00:13:31
we have resources like 988 and we have resources like the crisis text line and,

00:13:35
and Mom Hugs. I'm actually part of the Mom Hugs organization here in

00:13:38
Massachusetts, so I go to pride parades and I give a million

00:13:41
hugs. And I love that so, so much. So, yes, it

00:13:45
sucks that people have to be dealing with so many of these issues.

00:13:50
But on the other side, there is a community. If you're out here and you're

00:13:53
listening to us and this community and, and you're feeling

00:13:57
hopeless or you're feeling scared or whatever it is that you're

00:14:01
feeling either for yourself or someone that you care about, just know

00:14:04
you are not alone out here. Like, we're. We're

00:14:08
here and I are here. Obviously you and I are here creating a community

00:14:12
of survivors, but we're also both queer and,

00:14:15
and we're creating an inclusive

00:14:19
community for people who are struggling with what it means to

00:14:23
survive in general. And yeah, you and I talk a ton about suicide and grief

00:14:27
and loss because that's where both our experience is. But we're

00:14:30
not just talking about that. We're going to be talking, as time goes on, seasons

00:14:34
go on about all different kinds of surviving

00:14:38
and surviving being queer. It's

00:14:41
one big part of what people have to survive in

00:14:45
this world. So we're lucky that we have places like the Trevor Project, which

00:14:49
is. It's more than a lifeline, it is a support system. And it's

00:14:53
designed that way. It kind of meets young people exactly

00:14:56
where they are. Not only young people, but everybody. Even though our demographic is

00:15:00
age 13 to 24, we never turn anybody away. I mean, I've.

00:15:04
I've talked to people younger than 13 and as old as

00:15:08
70, and it's. It's all about just validation.

00:15:11
It's interesting, something you said about just being able to show up as your

00:15:15
true self made me think of a call that I took recently. And it's one

00:15:19
of those calls that is such a gift to me. This person

00:15:23
was calling and they were

00:15:26
acknowledging for the first time that they're trans and they are

00:15:29
in a hetero presenting relationship and they have

00:15:33
children and they were

00:15:37
sure that they are trans, but not sure what to do about

00:15:41
it. If I come out it, it will potentially

00:15:44
ruin my life and my relationship and family and all, you know, all the things

00:15:48
that everybody's so afraid of. But one of the things that we always

00:15:51
do when we start a conversation with someone, no matter who you are, we

00:15:55
ask, what name can I call you? What name are you comfortable

00:15:59
with? And in some cases someone may, like in the case of this call,

00:16:02
someone may give the name that they would love to be called but have

00:16:06
never ever heard anyone say. And this person

00:16:10
asked me to call them by that name and they had never heard anyone

00:16:14
say it to them before. And they almost cried. They were so

00:16:18
overwhelmed and so touched and so grateful to

00:16:21
be seen for who they really are for the first time and be validated. And

00:16:25
that was like, what an honor for me to, to take a phone

00:16:29
call like that. It was just such a privilege to take a phone call like

00:16:32
that. And so we do stuff like that all the time. And all these lifelines

00:16:36
are, in addition to holding space, it's all about just

00:16:40
validating our own experiences and who we are in the world.

00:16:44
Yeah, I compare that a lot to like the 988 crisis

00:16:48
line. Like I said the day I ended up calling. So much compassion,

00:16:52
giving a voice to what was going on in my head. Like,

00:16:56
I can't think of the words that I'm trying to say, but, like, they didn't

00:17:00
make me feel any worse about myself than I already had when I made that

00:17:03
call. Meaning judgment. Yeah, no judgment. It was a

00:17:07
judgment free zone. And I think that's so important

00:17:11
for kids, especially, like kids young, like 13, 14 years

00:17:14
old, they're being judged every single day by their

00:17:18
parents, their peers, kids they go to school with, teachers, society.

00:17:22
And giving them that ability to, to just be

00:17:26
themselves is huge. Yeah. And that

00:17:29
actually makes me think a lot about just the nature of

00:17:33
allyship in general. So

00:17:37
we're talking about, obviously resources here during

00:17:41
Pride Month to help people navigate

00:17:44
any kind of emotional crisis. And that kind of crisis can be related

00:17:48
to coming out and being queer and feeling different and

00:17:52
feeling alone. But there's so much that

00:17:55
relates back to being an ally. And how do you

00:17:59
help support someone? How can we all help support

00:18:03
the people around us who we care about, who are being

00:18:07
challenged right now by, like you said, the world being on

00:18:10
fire? How do, how do we stop, drop and roll

00:18:14
onto those people who are? You know what I mean? How

00:18:17
do we protect those people? And it's like, you don't need to be a

00:18:21
counselor to help save someone's life. You don't need

00:18:25
to be trained, necessarily. I mean, sure, it's great if you are,

00:18:29
but you don't need to be trained in crisis intervention or

00:18:33
risk assessment to be able to help somebody. A lot of it is just

00:18:37
like, show up, show up with an open mind. And look, if you're an ally,

00:18:40
people call Trevor Project and get involved and go online and search our

00:18:44
website and our databases for way more than just help for other people

00:18:48
sometime. Sometimes people are just looking to be educated. What we have

00:18:51
directories on there. We have what you would probably consider to be a

00:18:55
glossary of terms. There's so many terms

00:18:59
out there relating to the LGBTQ community.

00:19:02
And, I mean, I'm queer, and I don't know half

00:19:06
of what they are. And you can go on and just

00:19:10
learn and understand and

00:19:13
different talking points to be able to share with people that you

00:19:17
want to be able to support. Know how to support your people

00:19:21
better. And that's another reason to go to Trevor. That's another reason

00:19:25
to utilize either our website or our Lifeline

00:19:29
or our texting platform. Just listen

00:19:32
without judgment. Learn what you can about the

00:19:36
person you're trying to help, and then share resources like

00:19:40
Trevor, like 988. And continue

00:19:44
to show up in that role as an ally and continue to.

00:19:47
To become a stronger one as you. Go for,

00:19:51
like, the parents out there that are listening and maybe your kids are coming

00:19:55
out and you don't understand. There's other organizations like

00:19:58
pflag, an amazing organization. All these

00:20:02
organizations work together to help not just the

00:20:06
kids out there, but the adults, the teenagers, the people later in life.

00:20:11
We are valued. We're needed in this world. And I don't want anybody to

00:20:15
ever feel so terrified that they can't talk about what's going on in their head.

00:20:18
And isolating yourself and not being your true self.

00:20:22
There's nothing worse than not being able to show up every day as your true

00:20:26
self and use these resources. Know that

00:20:29
it's okay to feel the way you're feeling. Like we all have messy minds,

00:20:33
you know, My mind is messy every day. Every day.

00:20:37
Your mind is like a. Like a hoarder. No, it's

00:20:40
not. It is. I have the hoarder's mentality in

00:20:44
my head and probably in my office still. But

00:20:48
I've learned through life that if we can lean on the people

00:20:51
that really mean the most to us. They don't

00:20:55
pass judgment. They just listen. That's what these

00:20:59
crisis hotlines can do for you. There's no judgment. You are free

00:21:02
to be you. And as we continue to

00:21:07
fight for our rights and make sure that the next generation

00:21:11
is taken care of, use these numbers. Be okay with who

00:21:14
you are. And every day when you go to bed, like, you wake up, you're

00:21:18
still the same person. But the more you lean

00:21:22
into the resources that are out there and available to you,

00:21:26
the better you're going to feel. That's right. And the more supported you're going to

00:21:29
feel, the lighter you're going to feel and reason. All of these

00:21:32
platforms exist for a reason. And the beauty is they're

00:21:36
24 hours a day. The Trevor Project is 24 hours a day, 365

00:21:40
days a year, just like the 988 Crisis Lifeline. And

00:21:44
no one is going to turn you away. Everything is completely confidential. I

00:21:48
mean, maybe it makes a little bit of sense right now. I know in a

00:21:50
previous episode last month, when we talked about the 988 lifeline in

00:21:54
particular, I kind of ran through. Cause I'm Also a certified

00:21:58
988 crisis counselor, I ran through what to expect. I

00:22:01
think it might be very helpful. Do you think we should talk about

00:22:05
that? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Like, in the context of the Trevor

00:22:09
Project in particular, all of these lifelines are structured very

00:22:13
similarly. So everyone's doing what's called a risk assessment.

00:22:17
Everyone is holding space. There is a resource component.

00:22:20
There's a de escalation process. So all of those things are

00:22:24
pretty much the same. But obviously the difference with the Trevor Project

00:22:28
is, is that we are targeting the LGBTQ

00:22:32
community and when someone calls. And again, I

00:22:36
want to say this before I even talk about how a call goes

00:22:40
when you are in crisis. A place like the

00:22:44
Trevor Project is not just for people who are experiencing

00:22:48
ideation, who don't want to live anymore, who are on the edge.

00:22:51
It's not what any of these lifelines are just exclusively for. That

00:22:55
is a big part of why they exist. That is a big part of

00:22:59
our role and responsibility as counselors is deescalating people like that.

00:23:03
But that's not the only reason why people call lifelines and Trevor Lifeline

00:23:06
is exactly the same. People might be

00:23:10
terrified that if they come out, they're going to lose their family, or you maybe

00:23:13
experienced some kind of abuse, or maybe you're dealing with

00:23:17
homelessness, or maybe you've had a really, really bad breakup or Your dog

00:23:20
died or you're in jeopardy of losing your job. Like

00:23:24
anything that is a crisis to you is relevant

00:23:27
for you to pick up the phone and call us. So that being said, just

00:23:31
know that whatever's. Whatever's on your mind, whatever's

00:23:35
de. You know, causing you stress, that's worthy of a phone call. And when

00:23:39
you call, we are. We're going to try and be as compassionate as

00:23:43
we possibly can. We're going to validate every single thing that you're going through. And

00:23:47
we hear a lot of things on these lifelines that are

00:23:50
extreme. We hear, you know, people have very,

00:23:54
very, in a lot of cases, chaotic situations.

00:23:58
And sometimes something may seem, when it's coming out of your mouth on a lifeline,

00:24:01
like, they're not going to believe me. This sounds outrageous.

00:24:05
They're going to think this is a prank call. We take

00:24:09
every phone call and every situation at face value.

00:24:13
So if you're calling up saying X, Y and Z, well, then it's X, Y

00:24:16
and Z as far as we're concerned. And that's exactly how we're gonna treat you.

00:24:20
And eventually, in the very early stage of the call, we're gonna give somebody

00:24:24
what's called a risk assessment. We're gonna find out if you are

00:24:28
actively suicidal. And be prepared for that. Be prepared for that,

00:24:32
because we're gonna ask you, are you thinking of killing yourself? Are you thinking of

00:24:36
harming yourself? Have you done anything today to try and harm yourself?

00:24:40
So those are big parts of the conversation. And then we're just. We're just

00:24:43
gonna talk like, what made you call today? Who do you go to when you're

00:24:47
feeling dysregulated like this? What are some of the things that help you? Let's

00:24:51
figure out some more things that can help you. Let's do a safety plan. How

00:24:54
are you gonna take care of yourself after this call? So that. That's how a

00:24:57
call kind of spins up and plays out in most cases.

00:25:01
And our goal is to. To just de. Escalate however

00:25:05
you're feeling and get you the help and the resources and support that you need.

00:25:08
So that's. That's what it's like on our end.

00:25:12
And on that note right now, because like I said, I'm going to keep saying

00:25:16
this until it's not true anymore. The world's on fire. Crisis hotlines like

00:25:20
the Trevor project and 988 are in crisis right now. There.

00:25:23
There's a threat of them being defunded. So if you see somebody reaching out and

00:25:27
looking for A donation. We need these folks, we need these phone

00:25:31
lines because when I came out 40 plus years ago, probably

00:25:35
closer to 50 now, I didn't have something like this. And we

00:25:38
need this. We. We need to have these numbers available,

00:25:43
24, 7 for everyone. And

00:25:48
it's just a really crucial time right now. And, you know,

00:25:51
I just want to see the next generation be a little bit more. More

00:25:55
successful and more equipped to handle the future than most

00:25:59
of us adults are now. Yeah, that's a really good point. I'm really, really

00:26:02
glad that you mentioned that particular point about

00:26:07
our lifelines. In particular, our LGBTQ

00:26:11
focused lifelines like the Trevor Project are on the chopping

00:26:15
block for this fall. And it's terrifying. And I'm saying that speaking not only

00:26:19
as I'm queer, I have a daughter who is part of the

00:26:22
queer community, and I'm on the crisis lifelines. So

00:26:26
for me as a human, thinking about the lifelines

00:26:30
going away is absolutely terrifying. It

00:26:34
is. It is terrifying. And we need to

00:26:38
do whatever we can do to preserve that. Because remember one thing too, and it's

00:26:41
worth mentioning that there are a lot of people out there in the

00:26:44
world who do not have healthcare coverage. There are people who are paying out of

00:26:48
pocket for their healthcare. There are people who don't have the capacity to

00:26:52
just like, oh, I'm gonna go into my directory and pick my self a

00:26:55
therapist and pay my $10 $20 co payment. It's prohibitive and

00:26:59
they cannot afford care. And so places

00:27:03
like these lifelines are. I mean, they are exactly that. They

00:27:07
are a lifeline for people who a don't

00:27:11
even have the financial means to support their mental

00:27:14
health because they don't have insurance. And then there's the whole population and we have

00:27:18
a ton of them on the Trevor lifeline who are people who are.

00:27:21
They're using the lifeline every day, maybe calling at the same time every day.

00:27:25
And I know that they have 9 and 88 lifeline people who are doing the

00:27:29
same, people who just don't have community. They don't have partners or

00:27:32
spouses or families or friends. And their only human contact

00:27:36
every day is calling something like a lifeline, whether it be Trevor or

00:27:40
988. And that's their outlet, that's their

00:27:44
10 minutes of talking to an actual live human being. So for

00:27:48
so, so many reasons, we need to be

00:27:51
prioritizing the preservation of these

00:27:54
lifelines for everybody from all walks of life who

00:27:58
are taking advantage of them because they truly, truly. And now I'm actually like

00:28:02
getting super Emotional. Wow. I did not even feel that coming, but I'm like totally

00:28:05
getting emotional because it's a difference between life and death is what I'm getting

00:28:09
at. It really is. It is. And since this is the

00:28:13
last week of pride, I hope everyone out there is

00:28:17
loud and proud. You are wanted, needed and loved.

00:28:20
And let's just keep making the world better. Yeah. Yeah, I like

00:28:24
that. That's a good way to end. I wish I could hug you right now

00:28:27
in person. So thanks for. Thanks for listening. Thanks for just being part of our

00:28:30
community. Go check out the trevor project@trevor

00:28:34
project.org and don't forget about the 988 crisis

00:28:38
lifeline. And we'll be back. We'll be back in just one

00:28:41
more week and we have a lot more to talk about and share in

00:28:45
the weeks and months and hopefully decades ahead. So I love you,

00:28:49
G. Love you, man. Bye. Bye.

00:28:54
Thanks for joining us on the Survivors. Remember, no matter how tough things

00:28:58
feel, you are enough and the world needs you just the way you are.

00:29:02
You're not alone in this journey. There's a community here and every step forward

00:29:05
counts. We're so grateful you took the time to listen and we hope you'll

00:29:09
take one day at a time. Just know there's always more light ahead.

00:29:14
Thanks for being here. Friends, just remember, help is out there

00:29:18
in so many different places. So if you or someone you know is struggling,

00:29:22
please call 988 and a trained crisis counselor like me will be

00:29:25
there to help. You can also find an inclusive and comprehensive directory of

00:29:29
mental health resources, tools and

00:29:31
content@thehelphub.co. just remember that help,

00:29:35
help is always just a call or a click away. We'll catch you next week.

00:29:39
In the meantime, keep surviving.
season 2,