September Is Suicide Prevention Month--But What If We Focused on Teaching Happiness Instead?
PR Newswire
MIAMI, Sept. 3, 2025
September Is Suicide Prevention Month—But Experts Suggest a New Approach: Teach the Skills of Happiness
MIAMI, Sept. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- September is Suicide Prevention Month, but psychotherapist and Triumph Steps® founder Beatriz Martínez-Peñalver, LMHC believes the conversation should expand beyond prevention to focus on teaching happiness as a life skill.
"What we focus on the longest grows the strongest," says Martínez-Peñalver. "If all we talk about is suicide prevention, we may unintentionally reinforce despair. What if instead we gave people the ABCs of happiness — skills like vision, purpose, and emotional literacy — so they can build lives they're excited to live?"
With more than 30 years of experience sitting face-to-face with clients, Martínez-Peñalver has seen what works in real life: when people learn to create a vision of a future they would love, their energy, resilience, and sense of hope grow stronger. Triumph Steps®, her eight-step framework, equips children, teens, and adults with tools to cultivate joy and resilience before crisis strikes.
Unlike therapy that often only begins when someone is struggling — and is limited by what insurance will cover — Triumph Steps® is designed for prevention and growth. "Insurance pays for treatment when someone is sick," Martínez-Peñalver explains. "But once people feel better, support ends. That's when they most need tools to build dreams, purpose, and vision."
Free Resource for September
To mark Suicide Prevention Month, Triumph Steps® is offering a complimentary video resource that demonstrates the science and practice of visualization, followed by a guided exercise to help participants envision a brighter future.
"Vision for a Life You Would Love: A 3-Year Guided Practice."
This short audio walks listeners through a visualization exercise to imagine a future full of meaning and possibility — and gives them a tool they can return to again and again.
Download it at [TriumphSteps.com/VisionAudio]
About Beatriz Martínez-Peñalver, LMHC
Beatriz Martínez-Peñalver is a licensed psychotherapist with over 30 years of experience and the creator of Triumph Steps®, an evidence-based framework for emotional literacy and resilience. She has presented nationally on mental health and professional wellness, including continuing legal education (CLE) programs that address the high rates of stress and suicide in the legal profession. In September she will present on suicide prevention with TRTCLE, and in October she will lead a retreat for lawyers focused on ethics, resilience, and mental wellness
Contact:
Beatriz Martínez-Peñalver, LMHC
Founder, Triumph Steps®
305-306-2779
Media Contact
Beatriz Martínez-Peñalver, Triumph Steps, 1 3053062779, beatriz@triumphsteps.com, https://triumphsteps.com/
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SOURCE Triumph Steps
