Episode #32
Episode 32 - Showing Up for People: A Conversation with Shawna Percy
Episode Summary Bridgette and Lauren sit down with Shawna Percy, a farm-based mental health advocate and suicide prevention trainer, for a candid conversation about how to truly show up for people who are grieving or struggling, without adding to their pain. Shawna shares the story of losing her first husband to suicide, how that loss led her into full-time work training programs like ASIST and safeTALK, and why lived experience and evidence based knowledge together create the most effective support. The conversation covers the practice of "sitting shiva" (being present without trying to fix), why oversharing personal trauma in group settings can retraumatize others, the unique grief challenges facing farm families and farm widows, and why agriculture, despite being slow to talk about mental health is culturally positioned to lead national conversations on suicide prevention. Shawna also introduces Ag Care Connect and its Protective Planning Tool, a proactive safety-planning resource for producers, and shares the story behind her books, Breathe and The Healing Place . How Shawna's path into suicide prevention and mental health training began after she was widowed by suicide The difference between lived experience and evidence-based/evidence-informed knowledge and how both can help or harm Vicarious trauma: what it is and how oversharing details of loss can retraumatize listeners Why grief groups need guidelines and boundaries to stay safe for everyone "Sitting shiva" supporting someone by being present without trying to fix or match their story Prolonged and complicated grief in farm families, and the added burden of keeping a farm running through loss Farm widows who take on the farm business before they've had space to process their own grief Cultural silence around death and funerals, and how naming loss openly helps future generations talk about it Ag Care Connect and the Protective Planning Tool - proactive mental health safety planning, described as "PPE for the brain" Farm stress data from a University of Guelph pandemic-era study (1 in 4 of 1,200 producers surveyed had thoughts of suicide) Why agriculture's close-knit culture is positioned to lead a national suicide prevention strategy The "translation issue" in mental health outreach, why farming communities need sector-specific language and scenarios Closing quote discussion: "The beauty of agriculture is that it is a culture" (Katelyn Duban, The Rural Woman Podcast) About Shawna: Shawna Percy lives on a small farm between Fergus and Guelph, Ontario. After her first husband died by suicide, she trained in ASIST and safeTALK and went on to become a full-time mental health and suicide prevention trainer. She is the founder of Ag Care Connect, a mental health resource platform built by and for producers, and is affiliated with the National Farmers Mental Health Alliance. She is also a TEDxUW speaker and the author of two books drawn from her own experience of loss and healing. Ag Care Connect — mental health resources for producers, including the Protective Planning Tool: https://agcareconnect.ca/ Protective Planning Tool (PPT) : https://agcareconnect.ca/protective-planning-tool/ National Farmers Mental Health Alliance : https://nfmha.ca/ The Rural Woman Podcast (hosted by Katelyn Duban) — source of the episode's closing quote: https://open.spotify.com/show/7KXbU1SMv7A2thoE8miFT4 Breathe: A True Story About Marriage, Faith, and Attempted Suicide by Shawna PercyAmazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Breathe-Shawna-Percy/dp/1627462341 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/228910627-breathe The Healing Place: Navigating Grief and Healing After Suicide (Breathe series) by Shawna PercyAmazon: https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Place-Navigating-Suicide-Breathe/dp/1069350168
