Mental Health Is Wealth

This is an episode and topic that is very important and near and dear to us. We finally get to sit down with the amazing Benny who is a founding member of Da'aro Youth Project which is a UK based community-led youth project supporting young asylum-seekers and refugees from the Horn of Africa. This is an important conversation that we need to be having more often as a community, about the realities of the refugee and migrant communities and the direct impact of migration and displacement on their mental health. --- In this episode we talk about: - The genesis of Da'aro youth as a community organisation. - The reality for newly arrived migrants in the UK. - How does mental health affect young asylum seekers? - The story of Alex, a young asylum seeker that committed suicide in 2017 - How the more established diaspora community can support newly arrived migrants. - How can people get involved with this community work? --- Get in involved with Da'aro Youth and support the project: Website - Daaroyouth.org.uk Donate - Support the program IG - @daaroyouth Volunteer - Click here Twitter - @daaroyouth Article - The story of Alexander Tekle, Osman Hamed Nur, Filmon Yemane, Mulubrhane Medhane Kfleyosus --- Help us grow this podcast by word of mouth so please send this episode to your sister, friend, aunt, brother, your partner…..Let's grown in wellness as a community. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, REVIEW AND RATE THE PODCAST. Follow us on IG and send questions via DM. INSTAGRAM @eriwellbeing NEWSLETTER Sign up here --- The Eriwellbeing podcast is a mental health and wellbeing podcast, healing black and brown communities through open and honest conversations about our mental health. Hosted by Ruthie Zerai and Mikal Woldu. Produced by Ruthie Zerai, Mikal Woldu and @purecreationmedia edited by Emmy K --- Disclaimer: While we hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, please note this is not a substitute for seeking professional help from licensed mental health professionals. Ruthie and Miki are not Mental health professionals, we are holding this space as community builders. We encourage you to seek professional help in your local area for any mental health concerns that you may be experiencing.

In today's episode, we are joined by Mental Health Personal Trainer (PT) Fiyory Ghezae. We learn more about what it means to work as a Mental Health PT and the importance of physical activity. --- In this episode we talk about: - What is a Mental health Personal Trainer? - Fiyory's experience with Mental health. - The importance of physical activity in general and particularly for our community. - Tips for encouraging your parents to incorporate more exercise and movement. - How to start seeing physical activity as something positive and how to make it more fun. --- Get in touch with Fiyory and follow her work: Instagram @pt_fiyory FREE physical activity booklet - Download here Linktree to all of Fiyory's offerings - Click here --- Help us grow this podcast by word of mouth so please send this episode to your sister, friend, aunt, brother, your partner…..Let's grown in wellness as a community. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, REVIEW AND RATE THE PODCAST. Follow us on IG and send questions via DM. INSTAGRAM @eriwellbeing NEWSLETTER Sign up here --- The Eriwellbeing podcast is a mental health and wellbeing podcast, healing black and brown communities through open and honest conversations about our mental health. Hosted by Ruthie Zerai and Mikal Woldu. Produced by Ruthie Zerai, Mikal Woldu and @purecreationmedia, edited by Emmy K. --- Disclaimer: While we hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, please note this is not a substitute for seeking professional help from licensed mental health professionals. Ruthie and Miki are not Mental health professionals, we are holding this space as community builders. We encourage you to seek professional help in your local area for any mental health concerns that you may be experiencing.

Part 2 of the Culture of Healing conversation with Bethlehem Bekele, Founder of Kinetbet which is a platform dedicated to shifting culture for the better through the lens of healing. --- In this episode we talk about: - The importance of healing for black and brown communities - How we can start creating a culture of healing - Practical ways that we start healing as a community - The importance of community vs individual healing --- Get in touch with Bethlehem and follow her work: Instagram - @Kinetbet Clubhouse - @bethlehembekele Website - Kinetbet.com Gratitude and Mindfulness Journal in Amharic - Journal --- Help us grow this podcast by word of mouth so please send this episode to your sister, friend, aunt, brother, your partner…..Let's grown in wellness as a community. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, REVIEW AND RATE THE PODCAST. Follow us on IG and send questions via DM. INSTAGRAM @eriwellbeing NEWSLETTER Sign up here --- The Eriwellbeing podcast is a mental health and wellbeing podcast, healing black and brown communities through open and honest conversations about our mental health. Hosted by Ruthie Zerai and Mikal Woldu. Produced by Ruthie Zerai, Mikal Woldu and @purecreationmedia edited by Emmy K --- Disclaimer: While we hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, please note this is not a substitute for seeking professional help from licensed mental health professionals. Ruthie and Miki are not Mental health professionals, we are holding this space as community builders. We encourage you to seek professional help in your local area for any mental health concerns that you may be experiencing.

Part 1 of the Culture of Healing conversation with Bethlehem Bekele, Founder of Kinetbet which is a platform dedicated to shifting culture for the better through the lens of healing. --- In this episode we talk about: - The importance of healing for black and brown communities - How we can start creating a culture of healing - Practical ways that we start healing as a community - The importance of community vs individual healing --- Get in touch with Bethlehem and follow her work: Instagram - @Kinetbet Clubhouse - @bethlehembekele Website - Kinetbet.com Gratitude and Mindfulness Journal in Amharic - Journal --- Help us grow this podcast by word of mouth so please send this episode to your sister, friend, aunt, brother, your partner…..Let's grown in wellness as a community. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, REVIEW AND RATE THE PODCAST. Follow us on IG and send questions via DM. INSTAGRAM @eriwellbeing NEWSLETTER Sign up here --- The Eriwellbeing podcast is a mental health and wellbeing podcast, healing black and brown communities through open and honest conversations about our mental health. Hosted by Ruthie Zerai and Mikal Woldu. Produced by Ruthie Zerai, Mikal Woldu and @purecreationmedia edited by Emmy K --- Disclaimer: While we hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, please note this is not a substitute for seeking professional help from licensed mental health professionals. Ruthie and Miki are not Mental health professionals, we are holding this space as community builders. We encourage you to seek professional help in your local area for any mental health concerns that you may be experiencing.

The EWB podcast is back after a summer hiatus with a brand new episode. This episode features a special guest, Winta Desta, a Canadian - Eritrean physiotherapist. Winta shares from her experience and expertise as a practitioner in physiotherapy and sports. We also get insight into Winta's community engagement through her own platform MayeHealth which provides health education for Eritreans in both English and Tigrinya. If you're looking to expand your definition of wellbeing, inspiration to move your body more or if you deal with a lot of physical pain that might affect your wellbeing then this episode is for you. In this episode we talk about: - Wellbeing and movement/exercise as a lifestyle - What is physiotherapy? - Living with chronic physical pain - The connection between chronic pain and mental health - Community care for us by us: MayeHealth --- Get in touch with Winta and follow her work: Instagram @mayehealth Website MayeHealth.com --- Help us grow this podcast by word of mouth so please send this episode to your sister, friend, aunt, brother, your partner…..Let's grown in wellness as a community. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, REVIEW AND RATE THE PODCAST. Follow us on IG and send questions via DM. INSTAGRAM @eriwellbeing NEWSLETTER Sign up here --- The Eriwellbeing podcast is a mental health and wellbeing podcast, healing black and brown communities through open and honest conversations about our mental health. Hosted by Ruthie Zerai and Mikal Woldu. Produced by Ruthie Zerai, Mikal Woldu and @purecreationmedia, edited by Emmy K. --- Disclaimer: While we hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, please note this is not a substitute for seeking professional help from licensed mental health professionals. Ruthie and Miki are not Mental health professionals, we are holding this space as community builders. We encourage you to seek professional help in your local area for any mental health concerns that you may be experiencing.

Hey EWB Fam, Tune in to this short episode to find out how you can support the mission of Eriwellbeing to grow and reach more people in our community. Crowdfunding campaign: LINK: www.gofundme.com/f/support-the-work-of-eriwellbeing You can also access the link via our Instagram bio. Thank you for listening and if you find our mission and content valuable please do join in and support us and share this campaign with a friend. We appreciate you so much! Team EWB ------ Eriwellbeing is a non-partisan and non-religious community-based platform co-founded by Mikal and Ruthie in 2018 to fight the stigma around mental health that exists within the global Eritrean diaspora. The need to create an initiative such as Eriwellbeing became apparent in the summer of 2018, where as a community we witnessed the devastating effects that poor mental health coupled with a culture of silence had on members of the community across generations. What started off as a campaign to raise awareness around mental health ended up becoming a community platform, and a safe space for us all to have those difficult conversations around our mental health. You can check out our work by following our IG page, listening to our podcast The Eriwellbeing Podcast available on all major platforms and by signing up to our monthly newsletter. Along our journey, the support and positive feedback we’ve received time and time again from our community has been incredible and it has kept us motivated to continue this work! We have collaborated with some amazing members of our community who were so generous to share their mental health journey with us! And collaborated with like minded organisations and mental health professionals to push the conversation forward. Today we’re here to ask you to support us by donating to our crowdfunding and by sharing our campaign with your friends, family and network. The money raised would help us cover the costs for our digital tools, hosting services, new equipment for our podcast and the podcast production costs for the year. We do this work, and will continue to do this work from a place of love for our community and a commitment to empower all of you to take ownership over your wellbeing. Every donation counts and it would help us ensure that the quality of our work continues to be high. We want to thank you for your continuous support and we’re excited to continue to normalize the mental health conversation in our community with you all! Stay well, The Eriwellbeing team

In this episode, we talk to The EastWesterner about a very important and much-needed topic for our community; the connection between Sexuality & Mental health. For many LGBTQ youth and adults from our communities, embracing and being open about their sexual identity is difficult because of the stigma, fear, ignorance and taboo that exists within our culture(s) against anything outside the "norm" of heterosexuality. The fact that we don't talk about sexuality culturally, can leave a lot of people who identify as LGBTQ vulnerable and often isolated with their sense of identity and belonging, which can and often does impact their mental health. This conversation aims to break down some of those barriers by sharing the EastWesterner's story and experience with navigating her sexuality, & mental health while creating her own story of belonging and acceptance for herself by living her truth, while also holding the door open for others. *We encourage you to keep it respectful when engaging on this topic on our platform. Any comments that may create harm or are unproductive will be removed. Please note that we will also block anyone from this platform that may have a negative, harmful or derogatory approach in this conversation. In short, please come correct if you want to join this conversation. It is really important for us to keep this space safe for all of our community members by having respectful meaningful discourse. --- In this episode we talk about: - Spectrums of sexuality and correct acronyms - How cultural stigma around sexuality can impact someone who identifies as LGBTQ - Why LGBTQ youth suffer from mental health issues more than others - Outdated cultural taboos around the topic of sexuality - The EastWesterners story of coming out to her family - Tips for youth on how to approach coming out to loved ones from the EastWesterner - The layers of oppression that LGBTQ youths/adults from our culture navigate on a day-to-day basis - Accepting yourself as you are --- Get in touch with The EastWesterner Instagram @theeastwesterner --- Help us grow this podcast by word of mouth, please send this episode to your sister, friend, aunt, brother, your partner…..Let’s grown in wellness as a community. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, REVIEW AND RATE THE PODCAST. Follow us on IG and send questions via DM. INSTAGRAM @eriwellbeing NEWSLETTER Sign up here --- The Eriwellbeing podcast is a mental health and wellbeing podcast, healing black and brown communities through open and honest conversations about our mental health. Hosted by Ruthie Zerai and Mikal Woldu. Produced by Ruthie Zerai, Mikal Woldu and @purecreationmedia --- Disclaimer: While we hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, please note this is not a substitute for seeking professional help from licensed mental health professionals. Ruthie and Miki are not Mental health professionals, we are holding this space as community builders. We encourage you to seek professional help in your local area for any mental health concerns that you may be experiencing.

We are back with another episode of the podcast with fan favourite Dr Yacob Tekie! We're thrilled to bring back Dr Yacob to the podcast and share more of his wisdom and very important culturally competent perspective and experience as a mental health professional. In this episode, we talk about all things therapy and why we should consider it as an important tool when it comes to taking care of our mental health. This episode will give you a better understanding of what therapy actually is and some of the cultural stumbling blocks that prevent us from going to therapy as well as tips for overcoming those. --- In this episode we talk about: - Defining therapy - The importance of therapy as a fundamental mental health "tool" - Why it can take us so long to actually seek out a therapist - Individual vs group therapy - How to find a therapist? What to look for? - Barriers that get in the way for us when it comes to seeking therapy (talking to a stranger about our stuff/shame/lack of trust/fear) --- Get in touch with Dr Yacob and follow his work Instagram @dr.yacobtekie Website Tesfa House Psychotherapy Racial Literary Project - Lions Story --- Help us grow this podcast by word of mouth so please send this episode to your sister, friend, aunt, brother, your partner…..Let’s grown in wellness as a community. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, REVIEW AND RATE THE PODCAST. Follow us on IG and send questions via DM. INSTAGRAM @eriwellbeing NEWSLETTER Sign up here --- The Eriwellbeing podcast is a mental health and wellbeing podcast, healing black and brown communities through open and honest conversations about our mental health. Hosted by Ruthie Zerai and Mikal Woldu. Produced by Ruthie Zerai, Mikal Woldu and @purecreationmedia --- Disclaimer: While we hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, please note this is not a substitute for seeking professional help from licensed mental health professionals. Ruthie and Miki are not Mental health professionals, we are holding this space as community builders. We encourage you to seek professional help in your local area for any mental health concerns that you may be experiencing.

Our first episode of 2021 is with no other than Luwame Tesfaye, fitness influencer, personal trainer, coach and Founder of the popular wellness platform and community Luwame. We got to sit down and talk to Luwam about how to start off 2021 right when it comes to our fitness and nutrition habits. It is more important than ever for us to really take care of our health, in this episode Luwam shares her story to becoming a fitness influencer and many practical tips for how you can get started with putting your health first this year. Luwam is a powerhouse of a woman with a wealth of knowledge, she dropped a lot of gems in this episode to get you on the right frame of mind to level up your fitness this year. --- In this episode we talk about: - How to start off 2021 with healthier habits. -How Luwam pivoted into fitness from a 9-5 office job. - Luwams health philosophy, physical exercise and nutrition. - How to create and set achievable goals for yourself, and how to do the work that comes with the big goal and dreams. - Small vs big action. - Advice for beginners. - Health as a lifestyle vs quick changes. - Accountability. -Cultural misconceptions when it comes to health and fitness. --- Get in touch with Luwam Instagram @luwame_ Website luwame.com Podcast Inspired by Luwame --- Help us grow this podcast by word of mouth so please send this episode to your sister, friend, aunt, brother, your partner…..Let’s grown in wellness as a community. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, REVIEW AND RATE THE PODCAST. Follow us on IG and send questions via DM. INSTAGRAM @eriwellbeing NEWSLETTER Sign up here --- The Eriwellbeing podcast is a mental health and wellbeing podcast, healing black and brown communities through open and honest conversations about our mental health. Hosted by Ruthie Zerai and Mikal Woldu. Produced by Ruthie Zerai, Mikal Woldu and @purecreationmedia --- Disclaimer: While we hope you love listening to and learning from the podcast, please note this is not a substitute for seeking professional help from licensed mental health professionals. Ruthie and Miki are not Mental health professionals, we are holding this space as community builders. We encourage you to seek professional help in your local area for any mental health concerns that you may be experiencing.

We are so excited to share our very first wellness edition of the podcast with Weini Smon, founder of @yogawithweini. Weini is a Vinyasa and Ashtanga yoga instructor, in this episode we talk to her about the importance of breathing properly and how paying attention to our breath can improve our health and wellbeing in so many ways. This is especially important in these times when we're experiencing lot of tension and stress, to keep focusing on our breath to ground and release anxiety and stress. Weini shares some great insight on this topic from the expert perspective of a wellness practitioner. This episode really hone sin on that we need to learn how to breathe properly to thrive in all areas of life. _______________________________ In this podcast, we explore: The power of breathing Why 9/10 of us don't know how to breathe properly Weini's story to taking space in the wellness industry as a black woman The importance of breathing to support your wellbeing and mental health How breathing better can improve your performance when it comes to physical exercise ______________________________ Get in touch with Weini: IG @yogawithweini Wim hof method ______________________________ PLEASE SUBSCRIBE, REVIEW, AND RATE THE PODCAST. Get in touch with us on IG @eriwellbeing. Thank you for listening and be well. /Eriwellbeing

For our 12th episode of the Eriwellbeing podcast, we have Mikal with us! Mikal is the Co-founder of EWB and is making her first appearance on the podcast in this episode. Mikal has been busy completing her Phd (#bossbabe), now that she's finished we're thrilled to be welcoming her to the podcast where she will be putting her anthropology hat on to drop gems on the regular on all things mental health and wellness related. This is an episode with a very hot topic. We discuss the common fear-driven behaviour in our cultures that can best be described as  'What will people say'. Wetalk about how the fear of what other people think of us, or what other people might say about us governs our behaviour and often gets in the way of us doing what's best for us, especially when it comes to seeking help for our mental health. This is a problematic and layered fear based behaviour that still has a stronghold on our communities, we talk about the complexities and layers of these behaviours and discuss where it comes from.   _______________________________ In this podcast we explore: The genesis of Eriwellbeing as a community platfom The notion of 'What will people say" as a collective group limiting behaviour Being pre occupied with worrying about how we are perceived by others as cultural phenomena ( as it relates to illness and mental health) Culture of silence Shame Not talking about our problems Roles Allowing each other our full humanity ______________________________ Get in touch with us on  IG @eriwellbeing. Thank you for listening, if you enjoy this podcast then please share the episode with a friend, share it on social media with #eriwellbeing and please give us a review on your platform of choice. /Eriwellbeing

We're so excited to be back with Season 2 of the EWB podcast, thank you so much for rocking with us! For our 11th episode of the Eriwellbeing podcast, we have the lovely Nadya Van Der Sluis from the Netherlands joining us to share her experience of living with Bipolar condition. Nadya was diagnosed with Bipolar condition in 2009 and has since learnt how to live with this diagnosis while also not letting it limit her identity and opportunities. Nadya invites us into her reality in this conversation in a very generous and enlightening way, which we think will help many people challenge the stigma that they may have of what's its really like to live with Bipolar condition. Nadya's personal experience with Bipolar condition has influenced a lot of the Mental health advocacy work that she does today which includes interviews, writing a book, non-profit work and a dance initiative (all details below). Nadya is a dynamic, and brave community-oriented woman with a big heart, we are so happy and honoured that we got to speak with her so intimately about her experiences with mental health. _______________________________ In this podcast we explore: What is Bipolar condition/disorder? Myths about Bipolar condition. How to manage/live with Bipolar condition. The role of family support in the recovery process. Shame and stigma about mental health. Not letting a diagnosis limit who you are. ______________________________ Get in touch with Nadya Instagram: @bipoetry__ @down2dance Link to all of Nadya's work: https://instabio.cc/Bipoetry ______________________________ Get in touch with us on IG @eriwellbeing. Thank you for listening, if you enjoy this podcast then please share the episode with a friend, share it on social media with #eriwellbeing and please give us a review on your platform of choice. /Eriwellbeing

For our 10th episode of the Eriwellbeing podcast (YAY), we have a special guest that we did our very first in-person podcast recording with, Semere Araya. Semere reached out to us and asked how he could contribute to the EWB community so we recorded this episode with him to share his personal experiences with mental health as well as share insight about his work as a Mental health nurse. Semere's personal experiences with mental health since a young age has not only informed his profession but also his advocacy for mental health within our communities and beyond. We loved meeting Semere in person and are so grateful to him for making time to record this while on his holiday, we love how you all keep showing up for this community! * Please excuse the noise background noise, we recorded the episode in a public space as this was a quick turnaround episode. We've done our very best to adjust the sound with the help of @ryan.nile.show who edited the sound on this podcast. _______________________________ In this podcast we explore: Black male mental health. Semere's personal story with mental health and how it informs his mental health advocacy. Mental health as a professional/career track. Semere's experience with therapy and much more. ______________________________ Get in touch with Semere Instagram: @sem_bodysson ______________________________ Get in touch with us on IG @eriwellbeing. Thank you for listening, if you enjoy this podcast then please share the episode with a friend, share it on social media with #eriwellbeing and please give us a review on your platform of choice. /Eriwellbeing

This is a quick turn-around episode as a response to what’s going on worldwide with the riots and protest that we’re set off by the murder of #GeorgeFloyd and so many other innocent black people whose names we don’t know. As black people, we feel that its important to recognise this moment and share some perspective on how to use this global momentum that we now have regarding race relations. We also want to highlight the connection between Racism & mental health and explain how it affects us. And we hope to empower our listeners to take action in a way that makes sense for you with your wellbeing as the first priority. Our special guest in this episode is Karim Perrineau, the Founder & Director of New Beings. New Beings is a civic & social organisation with a mission to empower, educate and inspire. New Beings create and deliver bespoke development workshops on diversity, equality and inclusion. Please do share this episode with your loved ones or anybody that you know that might need to hear this conversation. ______________________________ Get in touch with Karim & New Beings Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/new_beings/?hl=en Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewBeingsUK/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/new_beings?lang=en Organisations that Karim mentioned: Operation Black Vote - https://www.obv.org.uk/ Black Lives Matter - https://blacklivesmatter.com/ Stand Up To Racism - https://www.standuptoracism.org.uk/ Black, African, Asian Therapy Network- https://www.baatn.org.uk/ ______________________________ Get in touch with us on IG @eriwellbeing. Thank you for listening, if you enjoy this podcast then please share the episode with a friend, share it on social media with #eriwellbeing and please give us a review on your platform of choice. Be well

We are back again with another Corona special, this time with Dr Kemal Ibrahim, a Psychiatrist from London. In this conversation, we talk about how to take care of your mental health during the corona pandemic if you have a pre-existing mental health condition/diagnosis. This episode will also speak directly to anyone that might be a caretaker of a loved one or a family member that is struggling with a mental health condition. We say this often but it’s worth repeating, we are always so grateful when we get to speak to and learn from Mental Health professionals like Dr Kemal from our community that really understand the complexity of our experience, as Eritreans, as black people and as children of immigrants. Please do share this episode with your loved ones or anybody that you know that might be struggling with the lockdown. ______________________________ Get in touch with Dr Kemal Email: kemal.ibrahim@doctors.org.uk Youtube Channel Eritrea Health - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUjoQfgFAyPsoslopwLHI2w Fitness App that Dr Kemal mentioned, Seven - https://seven.app/ ______________________________ Get in touch with us on IG @eriwellbeing. Thank you for listening, if you enjoy this podcast then please share the episode with a friend, share it on social media with #eriwellbeing and please give us a review on your platform of choice. Be well

We hade the opportunity to speak with Dr Haben Ghezai, a Clinical Psychologist from London. This is an important conversation about how to take care of our mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr Haben shares invaluable advice about how to take care of ourselves during these times, we are always so grateful when we come across Eritrean/Ethiopian/Black mental health professionals that we can learn from. Please do share this episode with your loved ones that might be struggling with the lockdown. ______________________________ Get in touch with Dr Haben Instagram: @drhaben_ghezai ______________________________ Get in touch with us on IG @eriwellbeing. Thank you for listening, if you enjoy this podcast then please share the episode with a friend, share it on social media with #eriwellbeing and please give us a review on your platform of choice.

In this episode, we explore Male Mental Health from an Eritrean male's perspective with our very special guest Adonay Berhe We got to know Adonay through the @eriwellbeing IG community. After having several conversations with Adonay we realized that it would be so beneficial for Adonay to share his story on the podcast since it's so rare that we get to hear in detail about Eritrean men's experience with mental health. This is an open conversation where Adonay shares his story with mental health since his teenage years all the way to present day, where he is currently finishing up his university studies in Journalism and Technology. In this episode, we get an insight into Adonay's experience with navigating two cultures and the stigma around mental health that is common in many immigrant communities. We also touch upon the topics of medication, counselling and therapy which we're very grateful for as we are yet to share these perspectives from a male speaking on these topics. He shares his thoughts on how women can be better allies towards men and create more space and safety for men to be able to open up about their general wellbeing. Adonay is involved in Mental health advocacy work at his university where he organized an event called 'Chill and Chat", to create safe spaces for students to talk about their issues. We talk about mental health advocacy work as part of the healing process. We are so grateful to Adonay for coming onto the podcast to share his experiences and giving us insight and understanding about what it's like for a eritrean/black male to navigate their mental health. _______________________________ In this podcast we explore: Black male mental health Black masculinity/toxic masculinity Navigating two cultures as a child of immigrants The impact of religion on how parents may view mental health How going to counselling and therapy can be really helpful Taking your health in your own hands (not waiting for permission from parents/family/culture) Breaking down stigma around medication Building community, raising mental health awarenes and advocacy work as part of the healing process ______________________________ Get in touch with Adonay Instagram: @adonayounas ______________________________ Get in touch with us on IG @eriwellbeing. Thank you for listening, if you enjoy this podcast then please share the episode with a friend, share it on social media with #eriwellbeing and please give us a review on your platform of choice. /Eriwellbeing

In this episode, we explore how to feel empowered while helping loved ones on their mental health journeys with a very special guest, Viva. Viva is a friend of ours, part of the Eriwellbeing community and amongst many things, she is a mental health advocate. It was important for us to have this conversation with Viva as she has a lot of knowledge and experience when it comes to caring for loved ones with mental health illnesses. This is a topic that we know that some people in our audience are dealing with, so we really wanted to expand on it. Viva not only shares her experience but also valuable insights, resources and frameworks that might be helpful for situations where you might be involved in a loved one's mental health journey/recovery. Viva also does high-level mental advocacy work, she recently joined the mental health board in her county. This has allowed her to not only understand how decisions are made when it comes to mental health care in her area, but it has also allowed her to better understand how resources are allocated and created an opportunity to speak up for the needs of her community. Please tune in to this very special episode, we really enjoyed having Viva on and learned a lot, hope you will too. _______________________________ Links NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness - https://www.nami.org/ (US) LEAP method/approach - https://lfrp.org/about-leap LEAP method videos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjSSmkSYYvM LEAP Method Dr Xavier Amador Ted Talk - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXxytf6kfPM LEAP method book -https://www.amazon.com/Someone-Mental-Illness-Treatment-Anniversary/dp/0967718937/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=leap+amador&qid=1576948138&sr=8-1 ________________________________ Terminology Gravely disabled - Gravely disabled means a condition in which a person, as a result of a mental disorder: (1) is in danger of serious physical harm resulting from a failure to provide for his or her essential human needs of health or safety, or. A Lanterman Petris (LPS) conservatorship is the legal term used in California which gives one adult (conservator) the responsibility for overseeing the comprehensive medical treatment for an adult (conservatee) who has a serious mental illness. ________________________________ In this podcast we explore: Viva's personal story and (direct and indirect) experience with mental health. The impact of taking care of a loved one with mental health illnesses. The importance of understanding the mental health system in the country and city that you live in. How to stay organised when taking care of/being involved in a loved one's mental health journey, LEAP method - a communication tool that encourages a person with a serious mental illness to accept treatment Self-care and finding your own balance. Viva's experience with joining a mental health board in her county. ______________________________ Get in touch with Viva Instagram: @leaveligh Get in touch with us on Instagram: @eriwellbeing ______________________________ Thank you for listening, if you enjoy this podcast then please share the episode with a friend, share it on social media with #eriwellbeing and please give us a review on your platform of choice. With gratitude /Eriwellbeing

In this episode, we explore parental expectations with our special guest Eritrea Ghebrehiwet. Eritrea is a @eriwellbeing community member, we really wanted to have her on the show as she does a lot of mental health awareness work. It's very important for us to be able to make this conversation and platform inclusive so we're very grateful to Eritrea for coming on our podcast to share her story and explore the topic of parental expectations against the backdrop of Eritrean culture with us. Often as children of conservative/traditional/collectivist cultures, we are taught that there's an order of life, based on our parents and cultures perspective. There are certain things that we are supposed to do and don't do, anything from what we chose to study, whether we chose to go to university or not, the right type of career, the right type of person to fall in love with, marriage, children, number of children and so on. There's an expectation for things to happen in a linear fashion, but as most of us know life often throws its own curveballs, so living between two sets of expectation and cultures can be challenging. Life takes us where it takes us, we make the choices that we make and often we're not shown the love and acceptance to navigate the hard stuff, which can be painful for a lot of us. _______________________________ In this podcast we explore: Eritrea's personal story and experience with mental health. Eritrea's mission to raise awareness about mental health. The impact of living between two sets of cultures. Key expectations from parents. The culture clash between parents and 2nd generations kids. We explore whether there is value to some of those expectations. Self-compassion. Forging your own way and creating new expectations for yourself. ______________________________ Get in touch with Eritrea Instagram: eritreag19 Twitter: eritreag19 Facebook: Eritrea Kiflai YouTube: Eritrea Ghebrehiwet Blog: www.eritreag19.com ______________________________ Get in touch with us on IG @eriwellbeing. Thank you for listening, if you enjoy this podcast then please share the episode with a friend, share it on social media with #eriwellbeing and please give us a review on your platform of choice. /Eriwellbeing

By popular demand, we recorded an episode in Tigrinya! Our goal is to reach as many people as possible within the Eritrean community with the message of mental health so an episode in Tigrinya felt very appropriate. This episode is really for all but with a special message for parents on how to relate to their kids, speak with their kids and create space for understanding mental health. Misunderstandings and stigma are connected to a lot of trauma and tragedy in our community when it comes to mental health. Our hope is that if we can start talking about it, agree on the terminology and share what we learn with each other, then maybe we can start creating space for mutual understanding and a path to wellness for all. Please join in on the conversation and let us know your thoughts on IG: @eriwellbeing @dr.yacobtekie @ruthiezerai and Yacob Tekie on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yacob.t.tekie / I am, This is, All is well! Language spoken in episode: Tigrinya (Eritrea)

Another conversation with Eritrean - American psychologist Dr. Yacob Tekie on the topic of mental health. In this episode, we hone in on why it's so difficult to speak to our parents about our mental health? Please join in on the conversation and let us know your thoughts on IG @dr.yacobtekie @eriwellbeing and Yacob Tekie on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/yacob.t.tekie / I am, This is, All is well!

This is a mental health conversation with Dr Yacob Tekie, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania and Ruthie Zerai, Coach & Mental Health & Wellness advocate. This conversation is a continuation of the mental health awareness campaign that we've been involved in, targeting Eritrean, Ethiopian youth. In this conversation we get to know Yacob better and he shares more insights about mental health from an Eritrean perspective. Happy listening and thank you for being here. Contact Yacob Tekie Facebook - Yacob Tekie IG - @dr.yacobtekie Eriwellbeing IG - @eriwellbeing /Eriwellbeing