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1. Brené and Glennon role play through a scenario on how to put boundaries in practice with family members this holiday season. 2. Why Brené insists that starting “a love affair with the thing you're most afraid of” will change your life. 3. Glennon asks Brené the question she's been dying to ask about how a woman's work is defined and received in the world compared to her male counterparts. 4. How understanding that grief and loss are an inevitable part of change helps us navigate toward the decisions that serve us. 5. Brené answers questions from the Pod Squad and our rapid fire session on: tough emotions, tattoos, and her favorite place on Earth. About Brené: Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston where she holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work. Brené is also a visiting professor in management at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business. She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers, and is the host of the weekly Spotify Original podcasts Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead. Brené's books have been translated into more than 30 languages and titles include: Dare to Lead, Braving the Wilderness, Rising Strong, Daring Greatly, and The Gifts of Imperfection. Most recently Brené collaborated with Tarana Burke to co-edit You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience. Her TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 50 million views. She is also the first researcher to have a filmed lecture on Netflix. The Call to Courage special debuted on the streaming service in April 2019. Brené lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Steve. They have two children, Ellen and Charlie. Book: Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience Instagram: @brenebrown Twitter: @BreneBrown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“It's impossible to have healthy people on a sick planet,” says climate and health campaigner Shweta Narayan, on the latest episode of Climate Curious by TEDxLondon. Shweta introduces a new perspective: by viewing climate change through the lens of the Hippocratic Oath — an ancient set of ethical standards sworn by physicians (and no, it has nothing to do with hippos!)— every person has a role to play in the climate fight. Tune in with co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst live from TED Countdown to learn about why how we must focus on “first doing no harm” before anything else, how we cannot put a cost on our ability to simply breathe clean air, and how her four dogs are her secret weapon to avoiding eco-burnout.
Cast:Dr. Tara Egan, hostDanielle Kestnbaum, attorney and liaison for Our Family Wizard, guest expertToday Tara welcomes Danielle Kestnbaum, an attorney at Hampson Family Law in Raleigh, NC and professional liaison for Our Family Wizard. Danielle not only has a law degree, but also a Master's degree in Social Work, and is passionate about supporting families as they navigate separation and divorce. She is here today to talk with us about the Our Family Wizard program, a web-based service that is designed to streamline communication between co-parents.Because this program is for parents going through a separation and divorce, Tara reached out to Danielle due to her strong interest in learning more about it. Tara works with many clients that are already using this program and has had the opportunity to go into it herself. The goal is for the listeners to learn more so they can see if this is a good resource for them.Tune in to learn: - The many features of OFW--such as tracking time, expenses, and important information. - What the "tone-meter" is. - How OFW can help co-parents can minimize their conflict so they can focus on being responsive to their kids. - The way you can consolidate information so that details don't get lost and both parents can be accountable for their parenting responsibilities. - The long-term benefits of committing to a program such as this. - The cost of the program and what discounts are available. Like all resources, OFW is only helpful to those who use it appropriately. This is a not a resource that is going to “fix” the toxicity of an unhealthy ex-parent. However, it is designed to establish boundaries and document the follow-through of a co-parent. To learn more about Danielle's practice go to www.hampsonfamilylaw.com. Our Family Wizard at www.ourfamilywizard.com.If you are a parent going through separation and divorce or have been co-parenting for some time and need support, please reach out to schedule a consultation call, HERE.Website - For CO-PARENTS to learn more about Dr. Tara Egan's books, webinars, public speaking opportunities, and coaching/consultation services, Go HERE.Facebook - learn more HERE.YouTube - learn more HERE.Instagram - learn more HERE.Website - To learn more about Dr. Tara Egan's child & adolescent therapy services, visit HERE.E-Course -To learn more about Dr. Egan's online mini-course called "Managing Your Family's Technology and Social Media", created to help parents eliminate power struggles, keep your family safe from internet misuse, and reconnect with your family, go HERE.Podcast edited by Christian Fox
HEALTH NEWS May be worth adopting plant based diet to ease chronic migraine severity, say doctors Stony Brook University and University of Pennsylvania, November 22, 2021 Prescribed meds, elimination diet, yoga and meditation provided no or little symptom relief Boosting dark green leafy veg intake may be key It may be worth adopting a plant based diet, rich in dark green leafy vegetables, to ease the symptoms of chronic migraine, suggest doctors in the online journal BMJ Case Reports. The recommendation comes after they treated a man who had endured severe migraine headaches without aura for more than 12 years. He had tried prescribed meds (Zolmitriptan and Topiramate); cutting out potential ‘trigger' foods, including chocolate, cheese, nuts, caffeine, and dried fruit; and yoga and meditation in a bid to blunt the severity and frequency of his headaches. Nothing had worked. His headaches were accompanied by sensitivity to light and sound, and nausea and vomiting. On a scale of 0–10, he scored the pain severity as 10–12 out of 10. The report authors advised the man to adopt the Low Inflammatory Foods Everyday (LIFE) diet, a nutrient dense, whole food, plant-based diet. The LIFE diet includes eating at least five ounces by weight of raw or cooked dark green leafy vegetables every day, drinking one 32-ounce daily green LIFE smoothie, and limiting intake of whole grains, starchy vegetables, oils, and animal protein, particularly dairy and red meat. After 3 months his migraines stopped completely, and they haven't returned in 7.5 years. Exercising at the start of fast can help people reach ketosis 3.5 hours faster: study Brigham Young University, November 24, 2021 Now a new Brigham Young University study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise finds that exercising intensely at the start of a fast may help maximize health benefits of temporarily foregoing food. Ketosis occurs when the body runs out of glucose—its first, preferred fuel—and begins breaking down stored fat for energy, producing chemicals called ketones as a byproduct. In addition to being a healthy energy source for the brain and heart, ketones combat diseases like diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. For the study, the researchers asked 20 healthy adults to complete two 36-hour fasts while staying hydrated. Each fast began after a standardized meal, the first fast starting without exercise and the other with a challenging treadmill workout. Exercise made a big difference: when participants exercised, they reached ketosis on average three and a half hours earlier in the fast and produced 43% more BHB. The theory is that the initial exercise burns through a substantial amount of the body's glucose, prompting a quicker transition to ketosis. Without exercise, the participants hit ketosis about 20 to 24 hours into the fast. To calm your emotions, get 15 minutes alone University of Rochester, November 24, 2021 Being by yourself—even for just 15 minutes—may decrease your strong positive and negative emotions, and instead reduce stress and induce calm, a new study suggests. Lead researcher Thuy-vy Nguyen, a doctoral candidate in clinical and social sciences in psychology at the University of Rochester, together with the cofounders of self-determination theory, psychology professors Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, conclude that solitude can lead to relaxation and stress reduction—as long as people actively chose to be alone. In general, solitude, the research finds, has a lessening effect not only on arousing positive emotions but also strong negative emotions, ultimately leaving people calmer, more relaxed, less angry, and less anxious. The researchers define solitude as “a psychological experience of being alone without communications, stimuli, activities, or devices that might facilitate virtual communications such as text messaging or social media.” Fermented tea could help protect the liver from high-fat diet damage Tianjin University (China), November 30, 2021 Water extracts of a fermented tea, known as Pu-erh tea, could help to reduce oxidative stress and protect the liver against damage caused by a high fat diet, research in rats has found. The study, published in Food Science and Human Wellness, investigated the potential of the polyphenol and theabrownin-rich fermented tea to protect the liver after previous studies linked the tea to a raft of health benefits. “Pu-erh tea can be used as a potential healthy drink for prevention and/or treatment of fatty liver disease and many diseases associated with oxidative stress,” suggested Jing and colleagues. After the trial, they found that the Pu-erh extract led to decreases in body weight, fat index, MDA and NOS levels. They suggested that these were linked to increases in hepatic T-SOD, CAT and GSH-Px activities. Furthermore, it was found that the extracts increased production of hepatic glycogen and the activity of PK, and reduced glucose levels, thus potentially protecting the liver from the diseases associated with type II diabetes. Excessive media exposure to traumatic events could harm kids Florida International University, November 20, 2021 FIU scientists investigating the effects of hurricanes and other natural disasters on children's brain development previously found that increased exposure to media coverage of disasters led kids to have post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms regardless of physical proximity. A new follow-up study led by FIU psychologists Anthony Dick and Jonathan Comer confirmed those findings and also showed that individual differences in the response in a key brain region involved in detecting threats—the amygdala—predicted the degree to which viewing storm-related media coverage led children to develop PTS symptoms. "Children are among the most vulnerable individuals during disasters, because they are still developing a sense of security, and have little personal control over their environments," said Anthony Dick, psychology professor and researcher at the Center for Children and Families. "PTS can adversely affect long term health in children, but these findings will help us inform communities and families on how they can better prepare for and respond to disasters in ways that mitigate potential negative long-term mental health effects." Adults with ADHD four times more likely to have generalized anxiety disorder University of Toronto, November 20, 2021 A new nationally representative study published online in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that one in four adults aged 20-39 with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Those with ADHD were four times more likely to have GAD at some point in their life, when compared to those without ADHD. Even after controlling for other relevant factors, including sociodemographics, adverse childhood experiences, and a lifetime history of substance use disorders and major depressive disorders, those with ADHD still had more than double the odds of GAD. "These findings underline how vulnerable adults with ADHD are to generalized anxiety disorders," says lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, professor at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Director of the Institute for Life Course & Aging. "There are many studies linking adult ADHD to depression and suicidality, but less attention has been paid to generalized activity disorders and other adverse outcomes across the life course."
Briona “Bri” Jenkins (she/her/hers) is a 31-year-old Black, queer woman changing the world while living in Austin, TX by empowering people to own their stories through vulnerability. Given the title, “The love child of Oprah, Beyonce, and Michelle Obama,” Briona Jenkins is a public speaker, activist for the LGBTQIA+, female, and people of color communities, and has years of experience using her platform to evoke change.Originally from Hamden, Connecticut, Bri attended Albertus Magnus College, in New Haven, CT., which is where she completed her undergrad as a Sociology major with a concentration in Social Work.Since October 2019, she hosts a podcast called The Tea with Bri where she sits and chats with a different guest every week about whatever topic the guest chooses. On December 4, 2019, she won the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce ‘Rising Star Award'. Released in February 2020, she was the subject for a documentary entitled, “Uncomfortable Spaces”. In May 2021, she was awarded the Premier Achievement Award from her Alma Mater, Albertus Magnus College. When not at work Bri is very involved in the Austin community. She has served on a number of boards. In June 2021, she joined the board of Random Acts and is currently finishing out her second term as Co-Director of New Leaders Council's Austin Chapter Board, and has served on the boards of Keep Austin Fed, Austin Black Pride, and Lone Star Victims Advocacy Project. She also appears on panels and stages all over the city and has spoken at the 2020 Women's March Rally in Austin, BossBabe's Annual State of the Uterus event, Texas State Business Week, on a virtual SXSWEdu panel, and two GISH panels about Racial Equality & Justice.
Mentioned: Instagram: @transforthought Patreon Website OhHeyCoach Podcast HOME AppalachiaMy guest on this episode is Mo Bell, the newest member of the Take Notice team who has already made such an impact on the growth of our podcast. I was happy to have the opportunity to interview Mo for the podcast as a way to not only introduce them to you all but to hear more about their journey. We discussed growing up in Kentucky, family, and their current path towards earning a degree in social work. Mo is a non-binary expressionist, freelancer, medium, traveler, and a MSSW Student at the Kent School of Social Work at the University of Louisville. They were born in Lebanon, Kentucky and currently reside in Louisville, Kentucky. Their work focuses on the abstractions of life and death. They often find solace in life's exploration. They are the Social Media Manager for Take Notice Podcast, OhHeyCoach Podcast, & HOME Appalachia. Their works are published in Loch Norse Magazine and in Queer Kentucky's online columns. You can find them on patreon: www.patreon.com/transforthought or on instagram: @transforthought.
Get on the Fast Track to Grant Writer: www.teresahuff.com/vip Back by Popular Demand: Grant Writer Strategy Call Today's episode is another grant writer strategy call. This one is unique because I'm chatting with Diego Reeb, one of the VIP Fast Track to Grant Writer Alumni! We first met Diego back in Episode 30 when he was finishing up the program. He completed the Fast Track to Grant Writer in early 2021. At the time, he was working part time for a nonprofit and needed support with taking his grant writing skills to the next level. Now as he's nearing the end of his Master's program and looking at graduation in 2022, he's ready to start mapping out a plan for how to be a grant writing consultant. That's what our conversation today is focused on. Discussion on How to Be a Grant Writing Consultant: How to position yourself to convey your value and experience Getting specific about the type of clients you want to work with How to frame your services and requests for better word of mouth referrals Ways to showcase your expertise when you're good at writing - even without a website Where to focus your efforts when there's so much you COULD be doing Meet Diego Reeb Diego Reeb is a Social Impact Consultant for Future Focus Global and a Grant Manager for Community Access Naperville. He collaborates with clients to create the transformation they want to manifest in the world. He helps with grant research, proposal drafting, strategic planning, process and workflow analysis, and program development. Diego will complete his Master's Degree in Social Work in the spring of 2022. How Do We Start? As you can hear from working with Diego, this is exactly what I help my clients with every day. I want you to be a good steward of your money, and I want to help you create a solid future to carry out your nonprofit vision. Let's develop a smart, strategic approach to your nonprofit or freelance grant writing. If you know you're ready to take your nonprofit or grant writing career to the next level in a way that helps you carry out your mission without burning out, I want to invite you to work with me. Nonprofits can go to teresahuff.com/apply where you can fill out my application form and see if we're a good fit to work together. Grant writers can sign up at teresahuff.com/vip and start on the Fast Track to Grant Writer right away. Let me know - what challenges do you have with sorting out your next steps? What takeaways did you find in this episode? Connect with me over in the Grant Writing Simplified Linkedin community and let's continue the conversation. Other Episodes Mentioned: Episode 30 - Why I Became a Nonprofit Grant Writer: Creating a Ripple Effect Episode 40 - Questions to Consider Before Becoming a Grant Writing Consultant Episode 53 - Business Building: Tips for Grant Writer Consulting Contracts Episode 54 - Business Building: LinkedIn Profile Tips for Success And a quick shoutout to our friends at Instrumentl for sponsoring today's show. Remember, if you need a hand with your grant searches and ongoing tracking, go check out Instrumentl's free trial at teresahuff.com/Instrumentl and get $50 off your first month with the code GWSPOD. Connect with Teresa Huff: Website: www.teresahuff.com Take the Quiz: Do you have what it takes to be a grant writer? Social: LinkedIn Community LinkedIn Instagram Pinterest Get on the Fast Track to Grant Writer: www.teresahuff.com/vip Nonprofits, Gear Up For Grants with this free audio workshop: www.teresahuff.com/gearup
1. Why Brené's new book ATLAS OF THE HEART is a game changer for communicating hard emotions more easily. 2. Brené breaks down the difference between stressed and overwhelmed—and gives us tools to navigate both. 3. How our survival strategies from our families of origin can become both our superpowers and our stumbling blocks in our relationships and wellness. 4. How we can make sure our kids experience deep, steady belonging—even if they don't feel like they “belong” out in the world. 5. The one question that Brené now asks herself whenever she's considering a decision—and how it's changed everything. About Brené: Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston where she holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair at The Graduate College of Social Work. Brené is also a visiting professor in management at The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business. She has spent the past two decades studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, is the author of five #1 New York Times bestsellers, and is the host of the weekly Spotify Original podcasts Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead. Brené's books have been translated into more than 30 languages and titles include: Dare to Lead, Braving the Wilderness, Rising Strong, Daring Greatly, and The Gifts of Imperfection. Most recently Brené collaborated with Tarana Burke to co-edit You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience, and the Black Experience. Her TED talk – The Power of Vulnerability – is one of the top five most viewed TED talks in the world with over 50 million views. She is also the first researcher to have a filmed lecture on Netflix. The Call to Courage special debuted on the streaming service in April 2019. Brené lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband, Steve. They have two children, Ellen and Charlie. Book: Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience Instagram: @brenebrown Twitter: @BreneBrown Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As a writer, social worker, and Hebrew school instructor, Aaron Yavelberg has a wealth of experience as a father and father figure to children, adolescents, and young adults all over New York City. On this second night of Hanukkah, we talk about teens and social media, making goals reachable by setting up pragmatic steps, and why it's important to teach kids that anti-Semitism is still a thing. And every so often, his philosophy degree helps him convince kids that existential crises are mostly normal. This episode is supported by GSK's Ask2BSure.com.
Rav Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg zt”l, who passed away in September 2020 at the age of 89, was a towering rabbinic authority who provided halakhic guidance to Jews throughout the world on a panoply of contemporary issues. He possessed a unique blend of phenomenal erudition and real-world perspicacity. When approached for his expertise on contemporary halakhic questions, such as the difficult 9/11 Aguna cases or various mamzerut issues, he would unflinchingly tackle every question, leaving no stone unturned in his rigorous and detailed analysis. One of his legendary traits was to apply the intricacies of halakhic discourse to the practical world of contemporary dispute resolution in the Jewish community. In so doing he brought traditional lomdus down to earth. To help readers gain an appreciation of his sense of practical halakha in the context of the modern beit din, TRADITION recently published a translation of his important essay “Shivhei HaPeshara” (Fall 2021) about the many practical advantages of deciding cases according to principles of equity or compromise, the standard utilized by many rabbinical courts today, and not simply according to strict halakha (din). This essay is an excellent introduction to understand R. Zalman Nechemiah's halakhic thought and offers insight to the mind and heart of one of our generation's most significant halakhists. As“In Praise of Peshara” is somewhat technical in nature we invited R. Yona Reiss and R. Daniel Z. Feldman, of TRADITION's editorial board, to discuss it, unpack its ideas, and enable greater understanding of the issues. They each describe their own personal relationships with R. Zalman Nechemiah, and how this essay reflects larger themes in his worldview and jurisprudence. Subscribers can access “In Praise of Peshara” at: https://traditiononline.org/in-praise-of-peshara Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman is a Rosh Yeshiva at the RIETS, an instructor in the Sy Syms School of Business and the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, and the spiritual leader of Ohr Saadya in Teaneck, NJ. He has authored nine volumes on Jewish law and thought, most recently “False Facts and True Rumors: Lashon HaRa in Contemporary Culture,” and serves as the Executive Editor of the RIETS initiative of YU Press. Rabbi Yona Reiss is the Av Beth Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council and a Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) at Yeshiva University, where he holds the Rabbi L. Katz Chair in Professional Rabbinics. He is the author of “Kanfei Yona,” a compendium of essays and responsa about contemporary issues in Jewish law. (Read R. Reiss' eulogy for R. Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg, “Halakha Down to Earth” on TraditionOnline: https://traditiononline.org/13045-2.)
For most of us in the US, when we join the lucky MS'ers club, the first place we turn is likely to be the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The National MS Society's vision is a world free of MS - something which we can all get behind! But while the bastard refuses to die, they also focus on ensuring that people affected by MS can live their best lives.One of the ways in which they do this is the MS Navigator program. The Navigators exist to connect you with the help you need, wherever and whenever you need it.To tell us more, my guest today is Allison Krehbiel, the Director of MS Navigator Services Delivery. Allison provides leadership to the nationwide team of MS Navigators who receive direct referrals from healthcare providers - utilizing the power of collaboration to improve client outcomes. Allison has been with the National MS Society since 2005 when she started as a contracted Case Manager. She received her Masters in Social Work from the University of Washington and has a certificate in non-profit management and in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.Topics covered in this episode include:The reasons why the program was startedDo the Navigators need to have a connection to MS? Examples of the different ways in which the program can help people with MS - including disability benefits and employment issuesThe training which is involved for NavigatorsHow to connect with the MS Navigator programFull show notes and resources at https://fumsnow.com/fums094/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Breathing is POWERFUL. Seriously, this episode had a few blow-my-mind moments. This week we are speaking with Emily Bunting about using breathwork for focus and for processing trauma. This is just one small part of her larger expertise of teaching social workers and helpers to embody self-care for ongoing wellness. Here is more about Emily in her own words... I worked in social work for 15 years in a variety of settings. For the last 8 years I worked for Santa Clara County in California in Child Protection. Throughout my social work career, I had many bouts of burnout before I found yoga and other embodiment practices which had a profound impact on the way I take care of myself. I have become passionate about helping female social workers use holistic embodiment practices as a form of self care. I want to share my knowledge to help others avoid and cope with burnout that is so common in the social work and mental health fields. Most recently I developed a 6 week 1:1 coaching program called Social Worker Self Care Accelerator which is a program designed for female social workers to go from burnout to balance through embodiment work. Connect with Emily Website: http://www.emilybuntingcoaching.com/ Emily Bunting Coaching IG: emily.dexter.bunting FaceBook: Emily Dexter Bunting _____________________ It's Catherine here; let's get connected and if it feels right, check out these other amazing resources that will help you in your social work career… Follow & say “Hi” on Instagram Connect on LinkedIn RISE Directory - A national directory of Clinical Supervisors who are looking to help the next generation of Clinical Social Workers GROW. Are you a Clinical Supervisor? You're invited to join! Clinical Essentials for the Future Therapist virtual Course ______________________ Did you hear? Social Worker's, Rise! Has been named in the Top 10 of Social Work podcasts worldwide! See the full list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/social_work_podcasts/
Kim and Beth sit down with an incredible woman who is an inspiration to so many. We know you are going to be inspired by hearing how God has been leading in her life and how she has been listening and serving Him. BEATRICE NGUGI: Inspired by her deep walk with God, Beatrice utilizes her experience to ensure students can pursue their calling to serve as student missionaries. She is finishing up her masters in Social Work at Southern Adventist University and has a passion for serving wherever God calls. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.Send us an email: joy@carolinasda.org Recorded in Collegedale, TN.
In today's episode, we speak with Dr. James Herbert, senior research fellow at the Australian Center for Child Protection, the first Children's Advocacy Center (CAC) in Australia. Now, for those of us in the CAC movement or on multidisciplinary teams (MDTs), we sometimes take our work together for granted. The teamwork, the support—the conflict!—and the difficult decisions we make together to protect children. But imagine for a moment coming to that work completely fresh and as a research scientist, as Herbert did, and truly trying to unpack what makes it work.Now, we know that research has established that MDTs create better outcomes in child abuse cases. But what is that secret sauce that does make it work? How do teams make their decisions in these high-stakes cases? And what research is still needed to help us better leverage the combined knowledge and skills of the team? Most importantly, how does improving the understanding of the MDT model help us better serve abused children? Topics in this episode:Getting into child abuse research (1:33)A lack of research on multidisciplinary teams (7:20)Current research on MDT effectiveness (9:34)Barriers to service (what caregivers say vs. what CACs say) (21:35)Government funding for child advocates (27:47)Other research needs (31:24)The EU and the Barnahus model (42:47)Our next episode (45:12)Links:James Herbert, Ph.D., is a senior research fellow at the Australian Centre for Child Protection at the University of South Australia“Better together? A review of evidence for multi-disciplinary teams responding to physical and sexual child abuse,” Herbert, JL & Bromfield, L (2019), Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 228–15.Barnahus modelFor more information about National Children's Alliance and the work of Children's Advocacy Centers, visit our website at NationalChildrensAlliance.org. Or visit our podcast website at OneInTenPodcast.org. And join us on Facebook at One in Ten podcast.Support the show (https://www.nationalchildrensalliance.org/donate-now/)
In today's episode, we welcome my Aunt Mary! The Rev. Mary Moreno Richardson is an Episcopal priest and the first Latina ordained in the Dioceses of San Diego, where she served at St. Paul's Cathedral. Being a delegate to the United Nations on the issue of human trafficking, and Chaplain to survivors of abuse and detention centers for over 30 years, inspirited her to create The Guadalupe Art Program, which uses art to heal trauma. She's worked as a Mental Health Clinician/Forensic Specialist, at LAC/UCS, Violence Intervention Program and Senior Chaplain at Juvenile Hall in East, Los Angeles. She has been a guest speaker at the National Black and Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators on Mental Illness/ Youth in Detention, PBS's “Religion & Ethics News Weekly”, USC's School of Social Work, Human Trafficking Conference and The National Latino Conference on HIV/AIDS. Rev. Mary serves on the Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness Commission, and has a successful Hypnotherapy/Body Energy practice, specializing in trauma recovery. She has done A LOT, and in today's episode, she allows us in on her unique perspective and experiences with her spirituality and how she integrates that into her work with abuse and trauma. CONNECT WITH MARY: Mary's bio from The Guadalupe Art Program; http://www.theguadalupeartprogram.org/rev-marys-bio.html Credentials and Links: The Rev. Mary Moreno Richardson (Retired Episcopal Priest) The Resilience Program - Director - https://just1atatime.org/about/ The Guadalupe Art Program - http://theguadalupeartprogram.org/ Ct. Hypnotherapist (Trauma Specialist) Santa Barbara County Behavioral Wellness Commissioner President of the Board of Directors for Santa Barbara North County Rape Crisis Center - https://sbstesa.org/ Email: larevdamary@comcast.net CONNECT WITH KATHERINE: Insta: @katherine_wehler Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/soulrediscoverycommunity Grab your free Abundant Dream Life Meditation: www.katherinewehler.com The Golden Rose Business Mastermind: https://www.katherinewehler.com/mastermind
On the 89th episode of the VSC Podcast, Education Coordinator Emilie Mitchell is joined by VSC Victim Advocate Danielle Simpson-Baker and VSC Advocate Intern Yael Rivera to chat about Sex Therapy, diverse and common effects that sexual trauma could have on intimacy, and ways survivors can heal and feel empowered. Yael Rivera uses she/her pronouns and attends Florida State University's Master's of Social Work clinical program. She completed her generalist internship at UCF CAPS where she developed a love for group therapy. Her approach is humanistic, person-centered, mindfulness-based, DBT informed (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) and interpersonal. She has a passion for working with the LGBTQ+ community, college students, and survivors of traumatic experiences. Danielle uses she/her pronouns and is a Crisis Counselor and Victim Advocate at Victim Services Center. Danielle recently graduated with a master's in Marriage and Couples' Therapy from UCF and is currently a registered Marriage and Family Therapy Intern. She is also working toward a dual certificate in sex therapy and education. She provides free and inclusive sex education and advice on her Instagram page (@thesexpottherapist). You can listen to this episode on our Youtube Channel: https://youtu.be/jw3ysTA0eV8 You can also listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts! Want to make a difference? Visit Victimservicecenter.org to learn how you can get involved and help the VSC continue supporting survivors of trauma. ----------------------------------- Trigger Warning: In this podcast we will be discussing sensitive topics such as Sexual Assault. It's important to take care of yourself while listening. Some suggestions are listening while you're in a healthy head space or knowing who you can reach out to if you become upset. Our 24/7 helpline for crisis calls based out of Central Florida is 407 500 HEAL, for the Florida state sexual helpline call (888) 956-7273. By contacting the National Hotline at 1-800-656-4673 you can get support and learn about your local resources. There is always someone ready to help.
In the early 2010s, a study was conducted across the U.S. to get a sense of the levels of poverty in the nation. Staggeringly, in the supposed “wealthiest nation on Earth,” 1.5 million households were living on $2.00 a day, including over 3 million children. These were families where people had jobs, often multiple jobs, working their hardest and longest, and still were unable to escape from this extreme poverty, despite doing everything in their power to “pull themselves up by the bootstraps.” Luke Shaefer was one of the conductors of this study and has dedicated his life to educating people about the effects and causes of extreme poverty in America. As the longtime Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy and associate dean for research and policy engagement at the University of Michigan's Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Luke's work has been cited in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Economist, The Atlantic, and Los Angeles Times, and he has been featured on such programs as Marketplace and CNBC's Nightly Business Report. He compiled much of his research into the book $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, co-authored by Kathryn Edin. The book was named one of the 100 Notable Books of 2015 by the New York Times Book Review and won the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism among other awards. Poverty is a full-time job and isn't something that just goes away when a worker clocks in for their job. Luke understands how the effects of poverty permeate every part of a person's life, and ultimately, how that affects our economy, society, and country as a whole. In a time when power is shifting in the labor market, this is something that desperately needs to be talked about, so with that...let's bring it in!
Matthew is a powerful recovery activist who had a dream of opening a sober living program to give back what was so freely given to him in early recovery. He is the Founder and Director of Operations for Learn to Live Recovery LLC which is that dream. Matthew graduated with his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Work from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUe) in May 2019. While attending SIUe he was elected President of the Student Social Work Association and he was the Service Award recipient. He graduated with his master's degree in Social Work from Saint Louis University with honors in December 2020. He has accumulated over 4 years of substance abuse treatment experience at Preferred Family Healthcare and holds a credential for Missouri Associate Alcohol Drug Counselor II. Matthew has been sober since January 3, 2011 which gives him ten years of sobriety and first-hand experience. He was a co-house parent in the Joe's Place Organization which is a non-profit organization that houses homeless boys in the Maplewood-Richmond Heights School District in Saint Louis. LearnToLiveRecovery.com | Facebook | Instagram Find out more at http://www.recoverysurvey.com
Christina Greer, Abbi Crutchfield, and Zainab Johnson visit Friends and discuss democrats message issue, New York's new Mayor and more with host Marina Franklin Abbi Crutchfield is the host of Up Early Tonight on Hulu and co-host of the podcast “Flameout” on Spotify. She's been on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on TBS, Broad City on Comedy Central, and she hosted You Can Do Better on TruTV. Her jokes on Twitter are consistently featured on best-of lists by publications such as Paste Magazine and The Huffington Post, who named her one of the 18 comedians you must follow on Twitter. She has trained at the renowned Upright Citizen's Brigade Theatre, taught at the People's Improv Theater, and she tours nationally with her stand-up. Christina M. Greer, PhD is an Associate Professor of Political Science and American Studies at Fordham University (Lincoln Center Campus). She was the 2018 Fellow for the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research at New York University Silver School of Social Work, and co-host of the "What's in it for Us" podcast. Her primary research and teaching interests are racial and ethnic politics, American urban centers, presidential politics, and campaigns and elections. Her additional research interests also include transportation, mayors and public policy in urban centers. Her previous work has compared criminal activity and political responses in Boston and Baltimore as well as Baltimore and St. Louis. Prof. Greer's book Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream (Oxford University Press, 2013 ) investigates the increasingly ethnically diverse black populations in the US from Africa and the Caribbean and was the recipient of the WEB du Bois Best Book Award in 2014 given by the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. Professor Greer is currently working on a manuscript detailing the political contributions of Barbara Jordan, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Stacey Abrams. She recently co-edited Black Politics in Transition, which explores gentrification, suburbanization, and immigration of Blacks in America. She is a member of the board of The Tenement Museum in NYC, the Center for Community Change, and serves on the Advisory Board at Tufts University. She is also an ardent supporter of FIERCE in NYC and Project South in Atlanta, GA, and a former board member of BAJI (Black Alliance for Just Immigration), the Riders Alliance of New York, and the Human Services Council.She is a frequent political commentator on several media outlets, primarily MSNBC, WNYC, and NY1, and is often quoted in media outlets such as the NYTimes, Wall Street Journal, and the AP. She is the co-host of the New York centered podcast FAQ-NYC and co-host of the Black centered podcast What's In It For Us podcast, is the politics editor at thegrio.com, is the producer and host of The Aftermath and The Contender on Ozy.com as well as their editor-at-large, is a frequent author and narrator for the TedEd educational series, and also writes a weekly column for The Amsterdam News, one of the oldest black newspapers in the U.S.Greer received her B. A. from Tufts University and her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. Zainab Johnson, a stand-up comedian, actress, and writer is quickly being propelled as one of the most unique and engaging performers on stage and screen. In 2019, Zainab was named one of Variety's Top 10 Comics To Watch. Recently, she was one of the hosts for Netflix's new show "100 Humans". You can also catch her as Aleesha on the new comedy series "Upload" on Amazon Prime. Zainab made her first late night stand up appearance on NBC's Late Night with Seth Meyers, and has also had appearances on HBO's All Def Comedy (2017), NBC's Last Comic Standing (2014), Arsenio (2014), BET's Comic View (2014), AXSTV's Gotham Comedy Live! She also just recently starred in a new web series titled Avant-Guardians. Zainab is a regular at the Improv Comedy Club in LA and the Comedy Cellar in NY, and has performed in the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival as one of the 2014 New Faces of Comedy and returned numerous times since. Always hosted by Marina Franklin - One Hour Comedy Special: Single Black Female ( Amazon Prime, CW Network), Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Hysterical on FX, The Movie Trainwreck, Louie Season V, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Conan O'Brien, Stephen Colbert, HBO's Crashing, and The Breaks with Michelle Wolf.
Creating a Family: Talk about Infertility, Adoption & Foster Care
Have you ever thought that it would be a lot more effective if the therapist could really see your child in action? That's the gist of home-based therapy. We talk with Stephanie Glickman, a licensed clinical social worker at the Clinical Director of the Family Centered Treatment Foundation and an adjunct professor at the University of North Carolina Charlotte's School of Social Work.In this episode, we cover:What is home-based therapy?Is it family therapy or child therapy?Why is it so effective for families struggling with behavioral issues?What type of issues respond well to in-home therapy?What does the research show about the effectiveness of home-based therapy vs. residential placement?How does in-home therapy work? How often does the therapist come? How long do they stay? How long does it need to continue?What if the child does not act out while the therapist is in the home?Who in the home participates in home-based therapy? Parents? Siblings? Others?Are their confidentiality concerns with this type of therapy?What are some of the advantages and disadvantages to home-based therapy?How does the cost of this therapy compare to office-based therapy?Does Medicaid cover home-based therapy? How do you find an in-home therapist that is knowledgeable about adoption and fostering and the trauma these kids may have experienced?What are some tips for knowing if you have found a good fit between the therapist and your family?Family Centered Treatment FoundationThis podcast is produced by www.CreatingaFamily.org. We are a national non-profit with the mission to strengthen and inspire adoptive, foster & kinship parents and the professionals who support them. Creating a Family brings you the following trauma-informed, expert-based content:Weekly podcastsWeekly articles/blog postsResource pages on all aspects of family buildingPlease leave us a rating or review RateThisPodcast.com/creatingafamilySupport the show (https://creatingafamily.org/donation/)
Have you ever been curious about what it would be like to take a job in a town you've never lived in to guide trips on a river you've never floated while completing a Master's degree and stepping up to a position as the director of a burgeoning organization? Today, we're going #BeyondFLG with Emma Wharton, the Executive Director for Grand Canyon Youth (GCY), and she knows exactly what that is like. GCY is a non-profit organization that offers educational outdoor expeditions that connect young people to the transformative power of the rivers and canyons of the southwest. Emma, found herself in Flagpole after earning a Master's Degree from the University of Washington (#GoHuskies) in Social Work with an emphasis in Community Development. Emma also earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Utah, where she studied negotiation service-learning and environmental education. Emma became the Executive Director of Grand Canyon Youth in 2003 and has played a pivotal role in the development of the non-profit in terms of its value-based growth. She contributed to the organization's success in working through the effects of the CVD 19 pandemic's effects on the very type of service they engage with. Three words she would use to describe GCY are community, place, and discovery. If Emma could offer any advice to youth, she would say, “Remember to connect with the natural world, your community, and yourself as often as you can.” Emma says her favorite river to float is the one that she is on and this could not be a better representation for how she lives her life generally #comewhatmay. Join Han Solo and Chewie (aka Cody B Nice and Dunny B Mean) as they go #beyondFLG with Emma Wharton. Also check out the links below. Grand Canyon Youth: https://gcyouth.org Emma's Blog Post: https://gcyouth.org/2021/01/14/down-the-great-unknown/ Healing Lands: https://healinglandsproject.com Annette McGivney & Pure Land: https://www.annettemcgivney.com
Erin Keam's Conversations about Closets with my Closest 1000 friends.
Ashley says: I am the founder and Chief Badassery Officer at Flux AF, where I help nonprofits in flux with strategic planning, facilitation, and leadership coaching. I bring a Master's in Social Work and a decade of experience in the mental health field to organizational and people challenges. As both a former nonprofit executive and a current board member, I have a unique understanding of how nonprofits work, the challenges they face, and how we can make change with less burnout. I'm here to help leaders establish their values, set strategic priorities, and hold boundaries that allow them to create meaningful change in the world, without lighting themselves on fire to keep others warm. Find Ashley here: Website: www.FluxAFconsulting.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fontainea/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/smashfontaine ------ About Erin Keam Erin Keam is a Kiwi living in Seattle who works with women solopreneurs to create their ideal life and achieve their vision. She combines her 23 years' experience mentoring and being mentored in the recovery field with her career in marketing, film, media, TV, advertising, real estate and customer service (and a passion for fashion) to be a trusted source for solutions to what is getting between you and the life you want. She offers two paths to progress. One is her unique LifeStyle Statement sessions, in which women uncover their personal themes which are distilled into a one-of-a-kind Statement which can then be taken to every area of their life from wardrobe to relationships to their business to their career and their home. The other are her “pressure relief” mini-intensives where the focus is on moving closer to your vision through exploring and tackling personal and marketing issues which are keeping you stuck, whether clarifying your website's message to your clients, looking at how you spend your time and money, decluttering (mental and physical), dressing as who you want to be, assessing the first impression your media and home office make on your ideal clients and creating action plans to get you the life you want. When she's not doing this, she's interviewing women entrepreneurs on her podcast Conversations About Closets With My Closet 1000 Friends, about what they do, why and what they love about it, with one or two questions in there about clothing (there's that passion for fashion!). Female-identifying (or non-binary) and want to be a guest? Book here! You can find out more on her website erinkeam.comShe would love to connect with you on Instagram or LinkedIn or Facebook. Hey, Koa Club members! Something getting between you and your goals? Often, all we need is someone to hold space while we talk through what's keeping us stuck and the solution presents itself. Book a Talk it Out Call here with Erin. If you want an action step, she'll suggest one. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/erin-keam/support
Nicole Liloia is a business strategist and social worker who helps women entrepreneurs build bigger businesses through multiple income streams so that they can make more money without being glued to their computer 24/7. Nicole's first business was a counseling private practice but she quickly added in new online income streams so that she could travel more while still running her business. She got her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University and spends her free time shopping at Costco and loves a glass of Apothic wine. You can find her online at www.nicoleliloia.com and download her free tool, the Consistent Income Generator, so that you can create a personalized plan to have income growth through multiple income streams in your own business at nicoleliloia.com/consistentincome. Consistent Income Generator Toolkit -- www.nicoleliloia.com/cig Website -- www.nicoleliloia.com/ Therapist Entrepreneurs Facebook Group --- www.nicoleliloia.com/therapistentrepreneurs _____________________ It's Catherine here; let's get connected and if it feels right, check out these other amazing resources that will help you in your social work career… Follow & say “Hi” on Instagram Connect on LinkedIn RISE Directory - A national directory of Clinical Supervisors who are looking to help the next generation of Clinical Social Workers GROW. Are you a Clinical Supervisor? You're invited to join! Clinical Essentials for the Future Therapist virtual Course ______________________ Did you hear? Social Worker's, Rise! Has been named in the Top 10 of Social Work podcasts worldwide! See the full list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/social_work_podcasts/
The Modern Therapist's Survival Guide with Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy
Peer Support Specialists An interview with Kemisha Fields, MSW, Amparo Ostojic, MPA, and Jeff Kashou, LMFT on what peer support specialists are and the value they bring to treatment teams, as well as the challenges and best practices in implementing these roles into clinical programs. Curt and Katie talk with Kemisha and Amparo about their experiences in these positions, exploring how their lived experiences created the successful integration of a more holistic approach to support clients. We also talked with Jeff about his journey in implementing one of these programs from scratch. It's time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age. Interview with Kemisha Fields, MSW, Amparo Ostojic, MPA, and Jeff Kashou, LMFT Kemisha Fields, MSW: Kemisha Fields was born and raised in South Los Angeles, CA. As a former foster youth, she has taken a professional interest in the commitment to serving the needs of children and families as a Children's Social Worker working in Dependency Investigations. She has studied many modalities to bring healing to those in need. Kemisha is a life, long learner inspired by the abundance of opportunities available to enrich the lives of the people she serves. She earned her Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from the University of Phoenix. She received her Master of Social Work degree from the University of Southern California. Currently, Kemisha is a Doctoral Student of Business Administration with an emphasis in organizational leadership. She has extensive experience working with children, families, and individuals as an agent of support and guidance. Kemisha has a strong background in case management for an array of populations inclusive to at-risk youth, individuals with intellectual disabilities, commercially sexual exploited children, victims of trauma, and families within the dependency system. As a lead Dependency Investigator with Los Angeles County Child and Family Services, she has direct practice with assessing for child abuse and neglect in hostile environments. Kemisha works directly with County Counsel to investigate and sustain infractions of the Child Welfare and Institutions Codes. Jeff Kashou, LMFT: Jeff Kashou, LMFT is a manager of clinical product and service design for a mental health tech company that provides telemedicine to those with serious mental illness. Previously, he ran a county mental health program where he helped develop the role fo peers for adolescent programs county-wide and collaborated with peers to create management practices to support their professional development. In this position, Jeff developed a practice guideline for the utilization of peers in behavioral health settings for the County of Orange. Jeff has also served on the Board of Directors for the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, where he helped lead the association to support the field of Marriage and Family Therapy and those with mental health issues. He consults as experts in mental health for television productions, to ensure the accurate and helpful portrayal of mental illness and treatment in the media. Most recently, Jeff and his wife Sheila wrote a children's book, The Proudest Color, that helps children of color cope with racism that will be on shelves this Fall. Amparo Ostojic, MPA: Amparo Ostojic is a mental health advocate with personal lived experience. After working for the federal government for ten years, she decided to pursue her passion in working as an advocate to help promote recovery in mental health. She has worked as a peer specialist for a mental health clinic as well as volunteered leading peer support groups. Amparo has a close connection with the Latino Community and feels it is her duty to do everything possible to prevent and reduce the suffering of individuals living with a mental health condition. Amparo created a Spanish speaking support group in East Los Angeles to offer free peer support to members of her community. Amparo has a bachelor's in business administration and a Master of Public administration. Amparo is a certified personal medicine coach and is working on becoming a National Certified Peer Specialist (NCPS). In this episode we talk about: What a peer support specialist is, how they work What peers can uniquely bring The hiring process, qualifications, and what that means for individuals seeking these jobs The difference in perspective that peer and parent partners can bring to treatment teams The importance of lived experience Comparing holistic versus medical model treatment The medical model and the recovery model complement each other The importance of advocacy for individuals (with the support of the peer support specialist) How peer support specialists are best integrated into treatment teams and programs The potential problems when the peer support specialist role is not understood How someone can become a Peer Support Specialist Certification and standardization of the peer support specialist role SB803 – CA certification for Peer Support Specialists Legislation Ideal training for these professionals How best to collaborate with a peer support specialist What it is like to implement one of these programs The challenges of hiring a peer support specialist Exploring whether there are systems in place to support peer support specialists with their unique needs The recommendation for a tool kit and a consultant to support programs in implementing best practices The Recovery Model and peer support specialists in practice Multidisciplinary teams may have pre-existing bias and prejudice against folks with lived experience, the role of stigma in the interactions The shift that happens when peers become part of the team (specifically related to gallows humor and the separation of “patients” and “providers”) Demonstrating the value of this role and the use of the recovery model Prevention and Early Intervention How to be successful with peer support programs and the benefits at many different levels Our Generous Sponsor: Trauma Therapist Network Trauma is highly prevalent in mental health client populations and people are looking for therapists with specialized training and experience in trauma, but they often don't know where to start. If you've ever looked for a trauma therapist, you know it can be hard to discern who knows what and whether or not they're the right fit for you. There are so many types of trauma and so many different ways to heal. That's why Laura Reagan, LCSW-C created Trauma Therapist Network. Trauma Therapist Network is a new resource for anyone who wants to learn about trauma and how it shows up in our lives. This new site has articles, resources and podcasts for learning about trauma and its effects, as well as a directory exclusively for trauma therapists to let people know how they work and what they specialize in, so potential clients can find them. Trauma Therapist Network therapist profiles include the types of trauma specialized in, populations served and therapy methods used, making it easier for potential clients to find the right therapist who can help them. The Network is more than a directory, though. It's a community. All members are invited to attend community meetings to connect, consult and network with colleagues around the country. Join our growing community of trauma therapists and get 20% off your first month using the promo code: MTSG20 at www.traumatherapistnetwork.com. Resources mentioned: We've pulled together resources mentioned in this episode and put together some handy-dandy links. Please note that some of the links below may be affiliate links, so if you purchase after clicking below, we may get a little bit of cash in our pockets. We thank you in advance! RAND Report: How to Transform the US Mental Health System Los Angeles Times Op-Ed: Our mental health laws are failing Wise U Training for Peers Advocacy through Cal Voices ACCESS Program SB-803 National Certified Peer Specialist NCPS Excellent guides and toolkits on how to integrate peers in clinics: Association of Home Social Rehabilitation Agencies Meaningful Roles for Peer Providers in Integrated Healthcare Toolkit Philadelphia Peer Support Tool Kit Relevant Episodes: Fixing Mental Healthcare in America Serious Mental Illness and Homelessness Psychiatric Crises in the Emergency Room Advocacy in the Wake of Looming Mental Healthcare Work Force Shortages Connect with us! Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapists Group Our consultation services: The Fifty-Minute Hour Who we are: Curt Widhalm is in private practice in the Los Angeles area. He is the cofounder of the Therapy Reimagined conference, an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University and CSUN, a former Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, former CFO of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists, and a loving husband and father. He is 1/2 great person, 1/2 provocateur, and 1/2 geek, in that order. He dabbles in the dark art of making "dad jokes" and usually has a half-empty cup of coffee somewhere nearby. Learn more at: www.curtwidhalm.com Katie Vernoy is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, coach, and consultant supporting leaders, visionaries, executives, and helping professionals to create sustainable careers. Katie, with Curt, has developed workshops and a conference, Therapy Reimagined, to support therapists navigating through the modern challenges of this profession. Katie is also a former President of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists. In her spare time, Katie is secretly siphoning off Curt's youthful energy, so that she can take over the world. Learn more at: www.katievernoy.com A Quick Note: Our opinions are our own. We are only speaking for ourselves – except when we speak for each other, or over each other. We're working on it. Our guests are also only speaking for themselves and have their own opinions. We aren't trying to take their voice, and no one speaks for us either. Mostly because they don't want to, but hey. Stay in Touch: www.mtsgpodcast.com www.therapyreimagined.com Our Facebook Group – The Modern Therapist's Group https://www.facebook.com/therapyreimagined/ https://twitter.com/therapymovement https://www.instagram.com/therapyreimagined/ Credits: Voice Over by DW McCann https://www.facebook.com/McCannDW/ Music by Crystal Grooms Mangano http://www.crystalmangano.com/ Transcript (Autogenerated) Curt Widhalm 00:00 This episode is sponsored by Trauma Therapist Network. Katie Vernoy 00:04 Trauma therapist network is a new resource for anyone who wants to learn about trauma and how it shows up in our lives. This new site has articles, resources and podcasts for learning about trauma and its effects, as well as a directory exclusively for trauma therapists to let people know how they work, and what they specialize in so potential clients can find them. Visit traumatherapistnetwork.com To learn more, Curt Widhalm 00:27 listen at the end of the episode for more about the trauma therapist network. Announcer 00:31 You're listening to the Modern Therapist Survival Guide, where therapists live, breathe and practice as human beings to support you as a whole person and a therapist. Here are your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy. Curt Widhalm 00:47 Welcome back modern therapists. This is the modern therapist Survival Guide. I'm Curt Widhalm with Katie Vernoy. And this is part four of our special series of fixing mental health care in America. And today, we are shining a spotlight on peer support specialists and the role that they have in our behavioral health care system. And a lot of the advantages that these kinds of roles bring in, as well as some of the difficulties of getting peer support implemented despite a lot of very positive evidence in their role in treating mental and emotional disorders that happen in our world. Katie Vernoy 01:27 I'm really excited about this particular episode, we've got two sections. The first one is we're joined by two folks who've worked in the peer support specialist role who are both still in social work and in advocacy. First off, we've got Kemisha Fields, who's a Master of Social Work who is was actually somebody I worked with, and she did a great job in one of the programs I was running. And then also person I was introduced to by one of our amazing friends of the show on Amparo Ostojic, who is an MPA and also someone who works in advocacy specifically about peer support specialists. So I'm really, really looking forward for all of you to listen to that and learn about what that role is. And we recognized also and I, I had a little bit of this, but Jeff Kashou LMFT is someone who has in the past actually implemented one of these programs, and he was able to talk with us about what it was like as a director, putting those things together. So take a listen. Kemisha Fields 02:30 So my name is Kemisha Fields. I enter social services call for like 17 years ago, I took a entry level position at a homeless shelter. So that was my entry into social services. And from there, I've just kind of progress and work my way up. And I've worked with different populations. So I've worked with the homeless population. I've worked with individuals who are struggling with substance abuse. I worked in recidivism. I've worked in community mental health, and now I'm working in the child welfare system. Amparo Ostojic 03:10 So my name is Amparo Ostojic. And I've been in mental health advocacy and peer support. For the last four years, I have worked to increase awareness about mental health, especially in the Latino community. And I worked as a peer support specialist for a mental health clinic for about seven months, I currently still do advocacy in the mental health space. And I work with individuals that want to know more about how to live, a quote unquote, normal life, even with my severe mental health condition. Curt Widhalm 03:50 A lot of mental health clinicians, they may have heard of a peer specialist. I have found that a lot of my travels and talks in therapist communities that many people don't know what a peer specialist does, can you help us understand what a peer specialist does what their role is in the bigger part of the treatment systems. Amparo Ostojic 04:13 So a peer specialist is basically a role model of positive recovery behaviors. So it's meant to give hope to someone living with a mental health condition and help them not feel as alone in this recovery process. So, in essence, a pure specialist will share their personal lived experience of mental health and oftentimes offer examples of what it's like to deal with a condition. And you know, what they've done to get better, such as tips or a really useful tool is, for example, the living successfully plan or the wrap plans, where you go over with a client what it is like to be in a healthy space, what it's like to see warning signs, and when it's time to call your psychiatrist or go to the hospital. So kind of teach them about themselves and guide them in their self determination of managing their their health condition. Katie Vernoy 05:17 So you're really talking about from a place of your own experience and knowledge helping someone to plan for themselves, Amparo Ostojic 05:26 right. And a lot of it is teaching them to self advocate for themselves, and put themselves in the driver's seat of their health condition. So for example, a lot of times, it's kind of directed from the top as if the psychiatrist or therapist is telling them what to do, or kind of teaching them what they should do. Whereas if your specialist is on the same level, and there's no sort of hierarchy of who knows more, there's a relationship of learning from each other, and really sharing what it's like to live through this. I was given the example where it's like, Is it someone that you want to work with, like someone that's like a biologist that knows about like the forest or something or someone that lives in the forest, because that personal lived experience is really key to understanding things that someone else that hasn't experienced them wouldn't really know, or perhaps hasn't dealt with. Curt Widhalm 06:26 When you started in this, you started as a parent partner, how was that process of getting hired? Kemisha Fields 06:34 So the qualification for a peer partner or parent partner would be a life experience in one of the systems of DCFS, Department of Children and Family Services, probation, and I believe education, like do individual education plan. And so my entry into being a parent partner was through my son's IEP, Individual Education Plan. And, you know, it just kind of happened by chance, a friend of mine recommended me for the position and I follow through with it, the interview process, or the application process, they I was asked what my qualification to being a parent partner, so I did have to disclose some important information regarding my own experiences with my son. And we just, I remember asking, like, anybody could have kind of said, like, oh, yeah, I have this child that has a special needs, like, how did they confirm that information? So I was looking for them to kind of want some sort of documentation from me, and they didn't. And so, at the time, the executive director says, usually confirmed based on the series of questions they asked me during the interview about different programs that may have been introduced to, to my son, which I found quite interesting, like, Okay, Katie Vernoy 08:07 how was it for you to disclose personal things to get a job, because that seems like that would be a pretty vulnerable way to enter into a position. Kemisha Fields 08:19 Very much so and because it's the opposite of what we've always been told, typically, in interviewing process, you don't share too much personal information, just your professional history. So it was a little different. But I always been transparent with my struggles with my son. So it was it was just a little different in I didn't know this person, but it was okay. I you know, I feel comfortable through the process. And I didn't, it was okay for me to, you know, share my experiences. Being a parent of a special needs child. Curt Widhalm 09:01 I have to imagine, and this is prior to being hired in this position. Did you have somebody serving in that kind of a role for you, somebody that you relied on while you were going through your child's IEP process and all of the struggles that that usually entails? Kemisha Fields 09:19 That is... I love that question. I absolutely love that question and Yes, but very informal. So I did not have a formal being like, Whoa, this is your parent partner, and she or he's going to help you through this process. What I have was professionals who kind of just stepped up I had one of the very first school psychologists who helped me through the process of my son's assessment, what to look for what questions that I should ask and she helped me not on a professional level but a personal level. She kind of walked me through that process. So I was grateful for that. So I've had a lot of support with my son, just from individuals who cared enough to show me what this looks like and what questions I should be asking. So I appreciate that. Curt Widhalm 10:20 I have to imagine that working with the mental health systems, the people in those roles, there has to be some difficulties in getting integrated into the more professional sides of the organizations, what kinds of challenges to peer specialists end up having, trying to help clients be able to advocate for themselves and fit into this professional system as well. Amparo Ostojic 10:45 The professionals, such a psychiatrist, therapist, they usually operate from the medical model, which is very top down, like I mentioned, and it kind of has this perspective that I no more in teaching the patient how to, you know, work with medications, or live with this condition, where as peer specialists work from the recovery model, that look at everything, the main four points are home, community health, and purpose, that's really important, like your reason to get up in the morning, right? That sometimes the recovery model is not taking us seriously, it's a more kind of holistic approach, looking at the person. And in the medical model, you're looking at the condition like it's a problem to be solved. And I'm looking at the person as the whole and how their whole life could be better. So my focus may be different than a psychiatrist, their focus may be to reduce the symptoms, and let's say get rid of hearing voices, things like that, or as my role is really to make that person as a whole better. So for example, I usually medications is a big thing must take medications, or as my role may not necessarily say that I typically never tell the client, you know, don't take medications, but I really allow the client to the side that and some other parts of the medical team may not like that. But also, my role may not be taken as seriously because, for example, in my experience working with a mental health clinic, they worked with people that were homeless, and I would say extreme cases. So as someone with bipolar disorder, they kind of put me in this category that, you know, I probably couldn't offer as much. And my perspective wasn't as valuable. So it was really hard. Working with therapists or psychiatrist that saw me as someone that was in the space of like, part of the problem. I don't know how to describe it. But it was really hard, because at the beginning, I definitely felt like I wasn't taking seriously. And it took a while to gain trust, and get there super for me clients. And those were one of the challenges, Curt Widhalm 13:01 I have to imagine some of the providers are like, you're just completely undermining all of the treatment by using trust, none of this professional experience that we've learned. How did those conversations go? Because it seems like so much of a treatment plan would be developed from, you know, the scientific and medical model sorts of approaches. And then for somebody to come in with lived experience to be able to be like, maybe the medication thing is something that you want to talk to your doctor about. Amparo Ostojic 13:33 Well, I take medication, and there was five years that I didn't from when I was 20 to 26. And I was fine. I think, you know, I used to run marathons, I was super fit. And there was a time that I didn't think I needed medication. But then having more episodes, I realized that it does benefit me. So I never really tell a client, don't take medication. But I'm not as I guess pushy into that they may need I needed something to happen for me to sort of learn my lesson and realize, you know, it's it's easier, my life is a little easier with medication. And that may not be the case for everybody. So I definitely don't think they see it as me undermining them. But the recovery model and the medical model are supposed to complement each other. And I think that's the hesitation at the beginning. There's no better treatment or a they say they're supposed to complement each other and offer a level of understanding and acceptance and validation that sometimes the professionals can't offer because they haven't lived through that. So for the most part, I'm never, you know, moving them away from medication or therapy and validating their experience but perhaps they may tell me, you know, I didn't like my psychiatrist. And this is what happened. And I will be honest and say I've had psychiatrist that didn't work with me and didn't work for me. And I had to find a different one. Or I had to advocate for myself and say, you know, this side effect is, is not working for me, you know, maybe this is working, like, the symptoms are, you know, improving. But, you know, it's, it's making me sleepy, and then I can't get to work on time, things that are important that sometimes I think clients are afraid to say, because, you know, like, the main symptom that they're after is maybe under control. But other aspects of your life have completely lost balance now. Katie Vernoy 15:42 Yeah, I think for me, and I was that person at one point. So Kemisha Fields 15:46 You were! Katie Vernoy 15:48 But I think the thing that felt very powerful when I entered into that program, and saw how it was set up was that the team had set up this structure to make sure that each member at the table was heard that each person was allowed to share ideas. I had been in other programs where folks were subjected to that hierarchy, where the therapist or the psychiatrist got the most air time, they're the ones that were making the decisions. And to me, I think, whether it was making sure that the parent partners were supervised by the director, and or really having a culture of, we are all here supporting the family. And we all equally bring important things to the table, I think it was really effective. I think we just get worried because I did see even with programs that were and maybe it was because it was intense now that I'm thinking about it, because like less intense programs, sometimes folks were using either parent partners or bachelor level providers to do like, copying and filing. And it's like, no, no, these are mental health providers, these are people who are at the table. And so to me, I think when when people are able to integrate into the team, it can be really good. Kemisha Fields 17:05 My personality type wouldn't have allow for that, if I'm honest. Like no. And I think when you come in and you kind of demand a level of respect, you get that level of respect. So I've never had a problem, I think, in my whole career of value, my experience as a parent partner, it laid the foundation for so much of the work that I do now. So I'm still connected to a lot of those colleagues, who at the time were clinicians and I, at that time, I wasn't even I had not completed my undergrad studies yet. And we're like the best of friends. So my experience as a parent partner is one that is really great. And had you know, a lot of good things have come out of that for me, Curt Widhalm 17:59 I want to change the conversation here a little bit to talking about how people can become peer specialists and what the certification process is like. And I understand that that's quite different in many different parts of the country. Amparo Ostojic 18:15 Yeah, and even within California, each county has different guidelines. So first of all, California just passed SB 803, which is going to allow pure support specialists to have a certification, which will hopefully increase the use of peer specialists in mental health clinics. So 48 states now have peer certification, including California. And the, the principles are pretty much the same. But how a peer support is used in different parts of a state or country is going to vary. So it's difficult if someone moves to another state or another county, and they try to use the same principles. It may not work as effectively. And it's basically it's not standardized right now. So it's hard for someone working in that field to have many options of going to different places, and even like a client that's moving from another county and experiencing pure services in a different way. Katie Vernoy 19:26 So if someone were to want to jump into this, where it sounds like it's starting to become more regulated, there's certification in 48 states, that's great. What does it look like? How does someone become a peer support specialist? Amparo Ostojic 19:39 There's a few organizations that are considered certified to train for peer support. And, for example, the training that I took was an 11 day course, where, you know, like 40 hours a week, and you learn the principles of peer support. And then To become a certified peer specialist, you need 3000 hours of supervised work or volunteer experience providing direct peer support. And you need a letter of recommendation from a professional and from supervisor that has overseen your peer support. And then there's an exam that you would take and pass. And that's how you would become national certified peer specialist. And on top of that, like I said, California is still in the process of creating their peer support guidelines. So in addition to that, you know, whatever guidelines that they'll come up with will be the California guidelines for certification in California, Curt Widhalm 20:45 a lot of research gives you more credit than being a middleman, that when we look at outcomes for treatments, when we look at treatment, we see that peer counselors, we see that parent partners are more effective towards client outcomes than even just working directly with licensed professionals. And a lot of it is due to a lot of the problems that therapists just kind of face and being approachable themselves for the mental health system themselves that there is a down to earth Ness that having that lived experience really does embody that, yes, you can get through this. And I've got some experience to be able to say that not only do I actually demonstrate that I know what you're going through, but that you can get through it, there's a way through this, that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. How do you think that peer partners, peer counselors can be trained should be trained to best exemplify that part of treatment, Kemisha Fields 21:51 I would say they should be trained the same way that any other team members trained in I know, from a clinical perspective, there's a different type of training that comes into play. But for our child and family team specialists that you know, we have trainings, usually agencies are sending you out to different trainings, and I I believe that parent partners should be a part of those trainings, if they are not already a part of those trainings. And that should and will help them in their role as a parent partner with the life experience on top of that, Katie Vernoy 22:32 how can therapists psychiatrists, other people in mental health clinics, support peer specialists? Amparo Ostojic 22:38 one of the most important parts is understanding and learning to see how we can be used. I think, once you collaborate with a peer specialist, and notice the different perspective that they offer, I think both psychiatrists and peers, and mental health professionals, other mental health professionals can learn from each other. And I really appreciated that with one of the psychiatrist that he like, I could see that he really learned from me, and that gave me a lot of confidence. And I learned a lot from him. And it didn't feel like a top down relationship. And it really felt like he valued my perspective as a professional. And that helped a lot because basically just have faith in in something even if you don't understand how it works. You want to try and see how you can work with this person and encourage them to do actual peer support. If at first you don't know what to do as far as how to work with them. There's really good guides. There's one that I really recommend, that is put out by Castro. And they are basically recovery organization. And they have it's called the meaningful roles for providers in an integrative healthcare. And they really break down the different positions that peer specialists could do the different roles so like a peer navigator peer advocate, wellbeing coach is sometimes what they call it. And it really spells out things that a peer specialists can do. And it helps both the pure and the professional because they will say, you know, they could serve as a bridge between the community based organization, they could help clients in enrolling with health insurance programs, they it really spells out things that a client can do with a pure specialist, and that helps both the pier and the clinic. Katie Vernoy 24:53 How about letting us know a little bit about if someone's interested in this I think from many different angles I wanting to advocate for better utilization of peer support specialists within mental health programs advocating for swift implementation of SB 803. For California, you know, or even this advocacy for individuals who are navigating mental health concerns themselves or with their family members, and how they can advocate like, it seems like there's a lot of lot of potential calls to action for our listeners here. What resources would you recommend that they look into, and we'll put all of those in our show notes. Amparo Ostojic 25:33 So definitely the I would guess, I guess, I would say, one of my favorite organizations that I worked with for the past two and a half years is Cal voices. And they have different programs, the advocacy space, is access. So access stands for advancing client and community empowerment through sustainable solutions. So they're kind of a systems change perspective. And they have really great e learning toolkits that give you tools on how you would advocate for yourself and for systems change within your community. One of the great resources that Cal voices has is their Ys program, which stands for workforce integration, support and education. And they have what they call the YZ University. And it's created by peers, it's taught by peers. And this is where I got my training for becoming a peer support specialist. And they basically provide a lot of support in what a peer does. And like they have wise Wednesdays, where they provide information about something related to peer support and learning about how to, you know, either be a peer specialist or work with a peer specialist. And that's everyone's they. And so, it's a great program, because like I said, it's peers that are teaching and creating the curriculum. And I think that's just wonderful because receiving that information for someone with the lived experience is very powerful. Curt Widhalm 27:21 Switching gears here and talking about the implementation of peer support specialists, here's our interview with Jeff Kashou. We are joined by Jeff Kashou, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He's a former Service chief who oversaw collaborative behavioral health program in Orange County, and had opportunities to oversee the implementations of peer counselors into some of the programs. Jeff Kashou 27:51 Yeah, well, first off, thank you for having me on. And I'm very much appreciated that you guys have this podcast and give the opportunity for topics like this to be covered. Katie Vernoy 27:59 The thing that I find very interesting about these roles that I know you and I both have hired these roles, but people have to claim lived experience in order to get these roles. And so it's it's a very interesting line to walk. There's there's very interesting things there. But what do you see as the difficulties that are associated with hiring peer counselors? Jeff Kashou 28:20 Yeah, so I think, very specifically, what makes the role unique and special also makes it kind of a unique challenge in the interviewing process? How do you ask about one's lived experience as a direct, you know, in theory qualification to have that job is what makes it a unique role to a to an organization or an agency. So I would, you know, really encourage anybody who is looking to start a peer program to bring on a consultant who can really help you think the process all the way through and how to have those conversations without inadvertently walking into equal opportunity ramifications or accidently discriminating against someone while also being very mindful that you're bringing into the room into the interview room and process someone's vulnerabilities. And so being able to manage that very tactfully and professionally, while also ensuring that this person, you know, feels comfortable to share that as well. That's your first introduction to somebody and they're interviewing you in that, that process and they want to ensure that your program has really thought through how they're going to be not just added to their system of care, but how your entire system of care embraces and is made better by having peers on board. Oftentimes peers are looked at as very client facing but really in the best situations for them are those for the entire service model is made better by their presence. Curt Widhalm 29:48 A lot of the talk that we've had on this show about how programs barely take care of their mental health professionals within the work systems. Is there any management that is actually being put towards looking after peer counselors in this way without infantilizing them. I mean, if we're not doing this with the brunt of the behavioral health health workforce, are there other implementation problems when it comes to ensuring this kind of stuff or incorporating them into treatment teams, Jeff Kashou 30:19 when I created a practice guidelines of like best practices for the entire Orange County systems, and not just County, but the entire behavioral health system for how to conduct supervision with peers, I leaned very heavily on a toolkit that I found from the city of Philadelphia, that there Department of Behavioral Health and intellectual disability services put together on how to create a peer support system, from the first moment you decide you want to all the way through to supervising them to managing disciplinary things to supporting their growth. And looking at it even from you know, how is the entire system set up to support them, even the interactions that they have within the multidisciplinary team, you know, they face an additional layer of potentially of scrutiny or challenges by constantly having to explain who they are, why they have any authority to work with patients or clients. So there's, there's added stress to the question or the systems in place to actually take care of them. You know, I would really look at that toolkit that the city of Philadelphia put together as sort of a way to evaluate if your system is there, I'd say, it's certainly lacking just to be completely blunt, the county that I worked for, from the children's behavioral health side was not equipped at the time to take them on effectively. And it required a lot of having to build the plane while you fly it, which I think for some roles, it's okay. I think for peers, it can add additional stress. And it means, you know, workplace ambiguity is stressful enough. But when it comes to all the other challenges of integrating them and supporting them and explaining their role, and giving them the right training, and so on, and so on. There's just another level that needs to be thought all the way through. Curt Widhalm 32:11 How are pure counselors implemented into treatment teams, and how are their voices in actual practice, kind of placed into the role where there's a bunch of other potential licensed professionals across a wide variety of interdisciplinary systems? Jeff Kashou 32:30 Yeah, so I can speak to my experience, and then also kind of broadly to and the research that I've done on the topic. So it's often implemented as a top down approach, it's, you know, people in leadership, saying, we're gonna add this program to our larger organization, without ever really embracing maybe the full scope of what it means to engage in a recovery service model, which is really antithetical to the principles of the peer program, you know, which is meeting people where they're at. So a system of care, really understanding from the bottom up what's happening on the ground level, that's really where the entire program began with. But the ways that they're being implemented, we have that additive approach that systems of care will take. And from a very top down perspective, oftentimes, systems need a way to recoup revenue by bringing on this workforce and, you know, supporting the work that they do. And so when it comes to Medicaid, for example, it's involving them in the billing system. So it requires choosing a diagnosis for the person from the list that the other providers have diagnosed the individual with, which is sometimes very new and a bit challenging. I think, sometimes for peers who don't want to necessarily see someone as a diagnosis. But you know, our current system of billing practices and documentation practices requires that also, multidisciplinary teams really don't know about peers, and can have a lot of prejudice as they go in. So systems need to really be thoughtful and do a self assessment before they decide to bring on this very important role, you know, on are this system set up? Or what are the prejudices or preconceived notions that other providers on the team have of people that come in with lived experience? Right, you know, oftentimes, we have that sort of gallows humor as providers when we talk about our patients or whatever. But, you know, now you have to be very mindful of that, not just because you don't want to upset somebody, but due to having that internal shift of like, you know, I actually really maybe need to check myself when it comes to that, and why I engaged in something like that in the first place. So really thinking about decreasing the stigma and helping the rest of the team even before peers come on, understand what it is that they do, the value that they add, and how they're going to be just as important of a member of a treatment team. So really leading with the why through this process. They're often brought a board you know without much structure I Which, you know, leads to them being assigned a lot of admin tasks as well. One of the things that I learned a lot when working with pure forums was that peers are often assigned, you know, a lot of filing tasks or, you know, paperwork kind of tasks, because the program wasn't really trained or made to be aware of what appear is going to do. And so managers will get, you know, assigned X amount of peers and hire them on but not really know what to do or may not have the bandwidth to train them and think through that whole job requirement. Similarly, what I experienced was, sadly, even partway through the interview process, we found out that we were actually interviewing for peers, but the program was set up, they had to find a job title or job classification that they could fit these folks within, so that we can hire them in a timely manner. And so when we were hiring mental health workers were actually supposed to be hiring peers. And so we found out midway, that we were hiring peers, which meant as managers, then we had to shift and reevaluate what we were doing which we put a lot of emphasis and fervor and figuring out and making it a smooth process as much as we could. But it was by no means ideal. And the cohort that we hired, certainly struggled with a lot of the ambiguity and sometimes just having to sit around and wait while we figured things out for them. Katie Vernoy 36:16 You've mentioned a couple of times the the money element of it, that oftentimes these are folks who are hired to do an important service that isn't always reimbursable. And it makes me think about the value. And this speaks to the prejudice as well. But it makes me think of the value that people hold for this role. You know, they're not generating revenue, typically, or not generating a lot of revenue. They're not seen as experts, although they're oftentimes more expert than the folks in the room that are doing the treatment planning. And so what are the ways that you have found whether it's best practices or what you were able to accomplish in your program, of integrating these folks more successfully into, you know, kind of explaining the role? Like, why is it so important? What is the value of this? Because I feel like, and maybe you've already said this, and maybe this isn't needed, but it does feel like there's a case for this role. There's an importance to this role. And I just feel like maybe we need to be more direct and saying it, I don't know. Jeff Kashou 37:25 So yeah, so there's really two directions to think of when it comes to how do you demonstrate the value, there's two those who would be, you know, deciding to bring on this role, which would be those key stakeholders. And then you also have the provider teams as well. And then I guess, there might even be a third group, which are the patients or clientele that you would be serving. So when it comes to demonstrating the value, I think the message needs to be pretty clear all the way through, which is when you're working with, you know, with individuals with serious mental illness, or those with CO occurring disorders, some of these more serious conditions, we know we preach about prevention and early intervention. And this is the rule that really helps with that. And this is the rule that allows us to make that big shift towards a recovery model, and not just pay lip service to saying that, you know, we meet our patients where they're at, and, you know, we want to, you know, improve the quality of their lives and help them reach their full potential. Now, that's, you know, a bit more idealistic and trying to sell it maybe to those that population level into the stakeholder level, but to the provider team, it's also a matter of, you know, recognizing that they will complement the services that, say, a therapist or psychologist or psychiatrist provides as well. And so it's more of like a meshing of gears versus like, people running off into separate directions, you know, where we know that metod here, it's a very important thing. Medications is a very important aspect of treatment. And if individuals, you know, go to their psychiatrist and they prescribe them an antidepressant, we oftentimes know that adherence drops off very quickly, either because the person has some sort of side effects, or because they start to feel better, and they decide they don't want to take the medication anymore. What you know, for multitude of reasons, here, the peer can actually meet with that person, you know, right after they meet with a psychiatrist, or maybe even be in the room with them when they meet with a psychiatrist. And help them ask the questions that are there might be uncomfortable asking, or ensure that they're asking the questions they didn't think to ask, creating that plan afterwards with them for how they're going to fill the prescription, how they're going to, you know, lay out their medications for the week, how they're going to make sure they maintain their motivation to take it or communicate changes that they need with their medications. When it comes to treatment adherence, you know, we assign individuals journaling to do for example, but I don't know about you guys and how often we assign tasks to to patients to do in between sessions, it's extremely hit or miss. And then you end up spending your next session processing, why they didn't do it when you'd rather be processing what they did. And so it's not to say it's 100%. But a specialist can really help with complementing services in those ways. I think ideally, we know that there's attrition, oftentimes with this population. So here's how we keep people engaged in care. I think the other thing is we think about completing goals or completing treatment plans. But that's not really the case. Again, it's not like that broken leg where your leg gets mended, and you don't have to really do anything afterwards, you have to maintain those gains for the long term to allow you then to get to those next levels of functioning, or satisfaction or fulfillment, whatever they might be. And that's where the period specialists can help somebody in the sort of aftercare discharge planning or even long, long term support through their maintenance of their goals. Katie Vernoy 40:56 I think another element for the treatment team, and this is something where, you know, we had the conversation with Kemisha about this, but they're also an expert on the lived experience. I mean, obviously, each person's experience is different. But there's so much that I think my treatment teams anyway, we're learning from our peers, because they just hadn't been in the situation themselves. And so I think there's, there's also incorporating in that way, like here is another member of the team who has really valuable and valid feedback that you need provider. Because I think it's I think it's hard, I think it's hard to understand this. And I think that we've hidden behind a hierarchy that clearly doesn't work, we need to have, we need to have a whole bunch of human beings working on this on a level playing field. Jeff Kashou 41:47 Yeah, I'm really glad you brought that point up, Katie, I remember, and you guys probably had to do this in your grad programs as well, where we were assigned the task of attending a 12 step meeting to understand what the recovery community is like. And we can see what these you know, non therapeutic support systems are like, and it's a way to get that experience. But we were only assigned that at one point in time, and there is so much value that appear can add in terms of to use your your point expertise in these areas, you know, the approach, I think a lot of us take in the recovery systems, you know, I will get asked oftentimes, you know, well, are you in recovery yourself? And I think as a therapist, you make your own call in terms of self disclosure. And I would say the while I can tell you yes or no, it's more important for you to tell me what your experience is like, rather than me telling you all about what your experience is like. But I think there's a way we can sort of fast track that by having peer specialists add that level of detail to us upfront so that we're not always taxing individuals to have to educate us each and every time if that's not something that supports their care in the short term. Katie Vernoy 42:52 Exactly. Curt Widhalm 42:54 There seems to be a lot of mixed evidence on the effectiveness of pure counselor type programs, with the United States in particular lagging behind a lot of other countries when it comes to the implementation of this, some of which is highlighted by some of the funding stuff that you're talking about within things like Medicaid, and we even see some of this going on and private insurance type programs where this stuff can't be implemented. What do you see is the difference between a successful incorporation of pure counsellors versus the ones that kind of fizzle out, Jeff Kashou 43:32 it's going about it with a systematic approach. And that's I'd really emphasize either, you know, utilizing one of those toolkits, like I mentioned, the city of Philadelphia created, which is extremely comprehensive, and very much focused on the existing org and not necessarily on what peers need to be doing. But I think in the absence of that, it's really identifying just like with any big change that you want to make for a business, it's identifying, you know, what, you know, doing your SWOT analysis, and then looking at what is your measure? What's your success metric going to be? And how will you know you got there and then be flexible, to iterate and improve upon things as you move forward? Again, to that authenticity point, it's just like how we work with our, you know, our clientele, it's, you know, we don't expect perfect, but, you know, let's talk about what didn't go well, and let's improve upon it, we need to be able to do that authentically, as well. I think, unfortunately, in healthcare, and especially behavioral health care systems, where we're kind of the afterthought in terms of funding and attention and resources, you know, we just have always learned to make do and stay the course. And then on top of it, you have folks in power, who don't necessarily understand what we do, and they just kind of keep adding more and more stipulations and regulations and so on. And so it's also a matter of like, can you cut through some of that maybe sometimes even through the side door, like in California, we have our mhsaa funding that peer programs are oftentimes Funded there, which is very nice, and that they don't have to be capturing revenue through Medi Cal. This is through funding that has less requirements to it. But it's also pushing back and saying, do they really need to do this level of documentation? You know, so I do think it's a matter of like, thinking things through from bottom to top, like doing that assessment and really assessing yourself like, can we take this on, and being very brutally honest with yourself as a system of care, it's an exciting program, it's an exciting idea. It's one that can bring a lot of benefit. But you have to really understand what it is that you're bringing on. There's other companies that I've worked for that have said, you know, hey, we're, you know, one day down the line, we'll have peers and that way our current clientele can engage and give back, it'll be kind of a lower level service line. I think if you're thinking about it from that perspective, only, and really seeing the dollar signs as part of that image. It's not to say that, you know, money isn't the driver here, but it can't be that upfront. Otherwise, what you're doing is you're commoditizing, a service provider who is designed really to add value simply by them being there and engaging with clientele in that way, without necessarily generating dollars by increasing retention by increasing engagement in services. We know outcomes improve, when systems can demonstrate improve outcomes. Oftentimes, they're the ones that get the next grant are the ones that get the renewed contract, sometimes even a larger contract. So it's really, you know, credenza question in a short way. It's, it's all about approaching it systematically. And not just Yeah, that sounds really exciting. Let's do this. Katie Vernoy 46:43 I think it has to be baked in, it can't be like, let's add this on to the program. It's almost like you have to build it from the ground up, to have these truly integrated into whatever the treatment program is. Jeff Kashou 46:56 Yeah, there's kind of three different approaches that that Philadelphia tool toolbox outlines, just like that additive approach that I discussed, there's that selective approach. And then it's really taking on the one that has the greatest level of success is what's called a transformative approach, which a lot of systems are understandably nervous to take on. But to make a program successful, you have to be willing to transform things, sometimes top to bottom to make it work. Katie Vernoy 47:21 Yeah, it's interesting, because the the program that I had, it was, it was baked in, it was like, my agency decided to do a wraparound program. And at the time, it was called an FSP. Program. And so as, you know, maybe you move clinicians into it, but it was like, here is how you do it. And it was baked in. So it wasn't like, Oh, you're already doing services, let's add this on. Functionally, maybe it looked that way. Because we had clients who then you know, like, followed their therapist, and then got these other services added on. But the program itself was well defined by LA County. And so there was discrete roles, there was training that was required. And like, especially with wraparound, there was like, a week long training where you, everybody went, and there were people from all different roles, and you went when you just first started and all the managers had to go to, so I had to go to it as well. And we would sit there for a full week and interact with other people in our same roles or in the in the peer or the you know, the all the different specialists roles. And so to me, it was, it didn't feel as chaotic because it was like it was completely structured. And it was baked in. Jeff Kashou 48:31 Yeah, and a wraparound program is oftentimes very much set up for that, you know, they traditionally will have either bachelor's level providers as PSCs, or personal service coordinators, which truthfully appear would be phenomenal at which it sounds like that was the role that you had at your program. And because Katie Vernoy 48:47 No we had we had bachelor's level folks, we had peers, we had a facilitator, and we had a therapist, so there was four or five people on the team. Jeff Kashou 48:56 That's a tremendous program. You know, and we're the approach, you know, you've probably experienced this as well, the approach of a wraparound program is like whatever it takes, you know, this is a child, an individual, a family in such a challenging situation that we have to throw everything at this person that they need, and and some to get them to the, you know, to a better place. Katie Vernoy 49:17 Yeah, yeah. I think it just is a good way to think about it as if you actually create a program from the ground up that includes these roles. I think that is stronger. I'm really glad that we're that we did this episode that we're talking about this related to our fixing mental health care in America. I know that it was mentioned in the RAND report, but I also recognize that one of the elements of this is it has been viewed. I think we did this in one of our more recent advocacy and workforce episodes as a way that we take away work from licensed credentialed mental health professionals and I really see this as an important adjunct a positive step forward. And I think we were able to really see that in the conversations that we had with our three guests today. Curt Widhalm 50:08 And I mentioned a couple of times in the show, both this episode and recently about how little using supporting roles, like peer support specialists is actually taught as part of therapists education. Katie Vernoy 50:22 Yeah. Curt Widhalm 50:23 And there's a lot of emphasis on therapists education that's on what we as individuals can do to help with clients, but don't help us to look at the overall workforce system. And I'm echoing your happiness of this episode. And being able to amplify that really good. Mental, behavioral, emotional health treatments, takes a village. And it does take people from a lot of different viewpoints to really help create healing. And especially those people who have that lived experience and have a really great way of helping to help our clients interact with the system to be able to navigate it in ways that makes sense for them. So continuing to emphasize this will be part of our ongoing role in bringing mental health advocacy to the world. And we encourage you to do so as well. Katie Vernoy 51:24 And for folks who were really interested in this, there are a lot of links in the shownotes that will help you with some of the some of these concepts, we've got the the guides and those things both onpattro and Jeff sent stuff over that are very helpful for folks who either want to be a peer support specialist or who want to implement those programs. So definitely feel free to reach out to us if can't find it on our show notes. But those things are just the really amazing resources that we were able to put down there. Curt Widhalm 51:55 You can find those show notes over at MCSG podcast.com. And check out our social media out give us a like or a follow and schrinner Facebook group modern therapist group to further these discussions. And until next time, I'm Kurt Wilhelm with Katie Vernoy. Katie Vernoy 52:11 Thanks again to our sponsor, trauma therapist network. Curt Widhalm 52:15 If you've ever looked for a trauma therapist, you know it can be hard to discern who knows what and whether or not they're the right fit for you. There's so many types of trauma and so many different ways to heal. That's why Laura Reagan LCSW WC created trauma therapist network. Trauma therapist network therapist profiles include the types of traumas specialized in population served therapy methods used, making it easier for potential clients to find the right therapist who can help them. Network is more than a directory though its community. All members are invited to attend community meetings to connect consults, and network with colleagues around the country. Katie Vernoy 52:52 Join the growing community of trauma therapists and get 20% off your first month using the promo code Mt. SG 20 at Trauma therapist network.com Once again that's capital MTS G the number 20 at Trauma therapist network.com Announcer 53:09 Thank you for listening to the Modern Therapist Survival Guide. Learn more about who we are and what we do at MTSGpodcast.com. You can also join us on Facebook and Twitter. And please don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any of our episodes.
Feeling stuck in your career? Need guidance on your career search or need help getting a raise? How do you battle burnout at work? How do you build a prosperous career? How are Kollel families getting by these days? What's happening inside Lakewood right now? What are challenges people face when looking for a first job at the age of 28 and how do they "work" around that?There was so much discussed in this episode! Dr. Tzvi Pirutinsky, a professor at Touro's Graduate School of Social Work, visited the Kosher Money studio, to give an inside look at what he's seeing out there.He trains social workers, teaches courses and is an active researcher. Oh, he is also a psychologist, working in the mental health field and has a clinical practice in Lakewood. If that wasn't enough, over the past 10 years he has been working with professional career services on career counseling. You can reach out to Dr. Pirutinsky on LinkedIn here: linkedin.com/in/stevenpirutinskyTo see more podcasts brought to you by Living Lchaim visit LivingLchaim.comSubscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJHk7NZyFnyphA_jfdK5rvA See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Tips to nurture your relationship with your children and teens...Stay calm and observe/take a breath/ask questions when kids and teens act upBe patient with how many times that it may take for you to teach a lesson to develop a skill or traitHear your kids (Say "YES" when you can...listen to their desires and set up ways for them to accomplish those)Forgive Your Children: messes, smells, etc.Move away from your ideas of perfectionism and accept your kids where they are atEstablish you home as a sanctuary where kids are accepted for being themselves!Aaron Benson, M.S. of Social Work, has worked for over 13 years as a counselor and a coach supporting individuals with mental health challenges. He is the owner of Wellness Simplified and enjoys providing trainings and support for individuals and groups to address challenges, including but not limited to burnout and grief. If you would like to contact him for one-on-one sessions or group trainings you can email him at getwellnesssimplified@gmail.com.Are you ready to upgrade your life and have more success? Join our Vision Board Masterclass for January 2022 and start moving forward and get better results in life. Set a goal, and learn to use visualizing and action to make it happen. Or Join Arise Now where you can learn the mindset you need to bring in success as you set and get goals for 3 months with all the support and help you need to start arising and thriving in your life! Visit ariseandthrivelife.com to sign up!Join our free fun Facebook group to help give you support, accountability and inspiration to help you declutter, organize and beautify your home...Join us on Facebook at "In Order to Thrive". (This facebook group was previously named "Order in October")
Join Sophia, Bri, and Kira on their last Social Work in Progress episode. Join them in conversation on their favorite moments of the pod, memorable episodes, why they started this project, and what their next moves are. It is a bittersweet moment to close their chapter on SWIP, but remember no matter how much we … Continue reading Not a Goodbye, But a Talk to You Later! →
As a young social worker in the 1990s, Danielle Parrish noticed significant gaps in the support provided to young women in the juvenile justice system. She's since dedicated her career to changing that. Dr. Parrish today serves as a professor at the Houston campus of Baylor's Diana R. Garland School of Social Work. In this Baylor Connections, she shares the needs faced by this at-risk population and how advancing beyond siloed care can lead to better outcomes for their future.
Cheryl Cooley & Neyda Becker Cheryl Cooley serves as the Executive Director for the Southern Nevada Children's Advocacy Center. Cheryl has worked in the child welfare arena for the past 16 years. From childhood, Cheryl's desire has been to work in the helping profession. She earned a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Arizona State University and from there went on to work with a variety of populations in need of assistance. Read more
Gloria Romero is a bilingual Latina who has served children, youth and families in the Mission District and San Francisco for over 30 years. She has extensive experience designing, implementing, and managing comprehensive quality programs and services for children, youth, and families of diverse backgrounds. Gloria has committed her career to the strengthening of communities, advancing equity and social justice, and fostering collective impact efforts. As the new and current Executive Director at Instituto Familiar de la Raza, she has led and collaborated with dozens of other San Francisco nonprofit organizations to respond and provide essential services to the vulnerable communities through out San Francisco. She graduated with a Master's Degree in Public Administration from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work with a Minor Degree in Women's Health from San Francisco State University. Gloria is a proud mother of two, her daughter Carina and son Raul.#ifrsf.org#gloriaromero#laculturacura#tueresmiotroyo#sisepuede#healthcareuntold#gentecare
Before she was the Associate Executive Director of New Bethany Ministries, Veronne Demesyeux, LMSW always had a passion for the non-profit sector and lifting others to their highest potential. Take a listen as Ashley and Veronne discuss what inspired her to pursue a career in social work and what she loves about the Lehigh Valley community.
Many fintech companies are offering quality, low-cost services to people who are left out of mainstream banking. But low-income consumers face barriers that technology alone can't solve. Featuring: Jennifer Tescher, President and CEO, Financial Health Network Joseph Bayen, Founder and CEO, GrowCredit Kathryn Petralia, co-founder, Kabbage Jelena McWilliams, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Dan Henry, CEO, Green Dot Terri Friedline,Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Michigan Darrin Williams, CEO, Southern Bancorp.
In these two-part Clinicians Series episodes, we go deeper into the therapist/patient experience and give our listeners an understanding of what occurs within the therapeutic process. In today's first part episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Ragan Schriver, PsyD, MSW. Ragan is an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Tennessee's College of Social Work and director of the MSW program. Together we discuss how trauma causes adaptations in our behavior, the importance of recognizing oneself in the therapeutic relationship, and the significance of doing your own inner work to avoid the vicarious trauma that can mislead our clients. We also talk about how the therapist/client relationship creates a corrective emotional experience opportunity and the importance of trust in that relationship. For more information about the University of Tennessee and its Social Work Program, please visit: https://www.csw.utk.edu/ For more information about What Happened to Me by Bruce D. Perry, PhD & Oprah Winfrey, please visit: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250223210 For more information about The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolb, MD, please visit: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/313183/the-body-keeps-the-score-by-bessel-van-der-kolk-md/
Margo Kelly, MSW, MEd (they/them/theirs) is a course leader/therapist at True North in Vermont. Their journey to wilderness therapy began on a backpacking trip on the Long Trail when they came upon three different people who pointed them in the direction of True North. Margo was intrigued with an offer to be a therapist for the all-gender team and took the job. Margo shares their gender journey, their recommendations for treatment with trans and non-binary youth, and why wilderness therapy works so well. Margo's bio from the True North Website: Margo (they/them/theirs) was born and raised in Chicago. They spent their childhood swimming in Lake Michigan, road tripping with their family, and camping throughout the Midwest. They received a bachelor's degree from University of Washington in Seattle, studying Early Education and Anthropology. Margo then traveled to Romania to work with children living in group homes, gaining insight in how environments influence children's resiliency and practicing a strength-based approach within a different worldview. Margo returned to Seattle and spent 8 years working in public schools to build students' social emotional skills and provide wrap-around services for families. Margo went on to work with clients in crisis who were experiencing sexual assault or domestic violence. This work propelled Margo to earn their Master of Social Work and Master of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University in Philadelphia, PA. In graduate school, Margo gained valuable experience at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia within the Gender and Sexuality Clinic and Adolescent Health fellowship. They have experience supporting adolescents and young adults with anxiety, depression, disordered eating, gender variance, relationship health, and neurodiversity. Margo specializes in gender and sexuality development, identity formation, and sexual and relationship health. Margo approaches therapy from a relational, trauma-sensitive, and strengths-based perspective and believes the wilderness offers experiential learning that cultivates growth within the mind, body, and spirit. Throughout all their work, Margo maintained a strong connection to the outdoors in their personal life, backpacking throughout the pacific northwest, west coast, and now the northeast. Margo continues to enjoy the outdoors through hiking, camping, biking, or snowshoeing. They can also be found puzzling, dancing, rollerblading, cooking, or stooping on their front porch. For more information about Margo and their group at True North, please take a moment to watch this brief video.
In this episode we hear the Unheard Narrative of Childhood Sexual Assault from Samantha Leonard who is a survivor of grooming. Samantha Leonard Carter is an accomplished author, researcher and storyteller who speaks on the topics of protecting communities, empowering survivors and learning to use empathy as a tool to heal. Her dream is to spend her life uniting people and to make the world a more loving place through social work and relationships. As a survivor of sexual abuse, Samantha is passionate about addressing sexual assault and the power of connecting with survivors and communities. Through the power of narrative, her book, Groomed, is a live testimonial to life after abuse and provides hope for those that feel alone. To connect with Samantha, contact her at samanthacarter0515@gmail.com on instagram samantha.csw.author Groomed: Shining a Light on the Unheard Narrative of Childhood Sexual Assault. Linked here on Amazon. "Grooming leaves traumatic scars. It is a malicious form of manipulation used especially in child molestation. It is designed to prepare victims for abuse and then shame them into secrecy." _____________________ It's Catherine here; let's get connected and if it feels right, check out these other amazing resources that will help you in your social work career… Follow & say “Hi” on Instagram Connect on LinkedIn RISE Directory - A national directory of Clinical Supervisors who are looking to help the next generation of Clinical Social Workers GROW. Are you a Clinical Supervisor? You're invited to join! Clinical Essentials for the Future Therapist virtual Course ______________________ Did you hear? Social Worker's, Rise! Has been named in the Top 10 of Social Work podcasts worldwide! See the full list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/social_work_podcasts/
In this episode of Pure Curiosity I speak with licensed therapist Yolanda Renteria about how our childhood experiences impact our wellbeing as adults, sleep training, child development, trauma-informed parenting, and so much more. Yolanda shares from both her personal experience as a mother and her professional experience as a therapist, and addresses some really delicate and potentially very sensitive issues that come up for parents. As an expecting mother, I was grateful to learn from her, and believe her insights would be helpful for anyone regardless of their parenting status. We've all been children, so we've all been impacted by the cultural norms around parenting in one way or another. About Our Guest:Yolanda is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Arizona with a certification in trauma and training in somatic approaches. She works in a community setting in an agricultural community serving predominantly Hispanic clients. She has a Bachelor's degree in Social Work and a Masters degree in Counseling. She is also adjunct faculty Professor for the Social Sciences Department at Northern Arizona University. In her free time she enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family.Follow Yolanda's work on Instagram
We are joined by Dr. Carmen Morano of UAlbany's School of Social Welfare and Dr. Tomoko Udo of UAlbany's School of Public Health. Both Dr. Morano and Dr. Udo are involved as researchers in a new Albany County pilot program, Albany County Crisis Officials Responding and Diverting (ACCORD). The program teams up social workers and paramedics to provide assistance in emergencies where a law enforcement presence is not necessary. Bios: Dr. Carmen Morano is a Professor and Doctoral Program Director at the School of Social Welfare. In addition to being a John A. Hartford Faculty Scholar, Carmen has served as Member and Chair of the HRSA Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary Community Based Linkages and as the Managing Editor of The Journal of Gerontological Social Work. Carmen's research focuses primarily in the areas of Gerontology and Interprofessional Collaboration and Education. He is the PI for several community-based program evaluation projects in Dementia caregiver programming, a multidisciplinary team response to Elder Abuse, and a number of community-based transitional care coordination programs targeting high risk adults. Carmen recently served as Co-Investigator for the Geriatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network. Along with Dr. Tomoko Udo, Carmen is evaluating the Albany County Crisis Officials Responding and Diverting Program (ACCORD). Dr. Morano frequently presents at national and international conferences and has been recognized for developing and providing interprofessional education and collaboration training. Dr. Morano's edited text, Social Work Perspectives on Interprofessional Education and Collaboration is published by NASW Press.Dr. Tomoko Udo is Associate Professor at Department of Health Policy, Management, and Behavior, School of Public Health. She has also been serving as a Health Policy Advisor for COVID for the University since Spring 2020. Her research focuses on identifying ways to improve health care for individuals with various behavioral health issues, including substance use disorder. Her work has been supported by funding agencies such as New York State Department of Health, CDC, NIDA, National Office of Drug Control Policy, and New York State Health Foundation. She also works as an evaluation consultant for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. Along with Dr. Morano, she leads the project to evaluate the Albany County Crisis Officials Responding and Diverting program.
How to nurture your relationship with yourself:Be aware of where you are at by asking "am I loosing or gaining energy and identity?"When you notice you are "numbing out" do activities that bring you joy and pay attention to using your senses.Make conscious choices about who you are, where you want to go and what you want to accomplish.Build personal power so that you are not so influenced by others' negative/heavy energy.Aaron Benson, M.S. of Social Work, has worked for over 13 years as a counselor and a coach supporting individuals with mental health challenges. He is the owner of Wellness Simplified and enjoys providing trainings and support for individuals and groups to address challenges, including but not limited to burnout and grief. If you would like to contact him for one-on-one sessions or group trainings you can email him at getwellnesssimplified@gmail.com.Are you ready to upgrade your life and have more success? Join our Vision Board Masterclass for January 2022 and start moving forward and get better results in life. Set a goal, and learn to use visualizing and action to make it happen. Or Join Arise Now where you can learn the mindset you need to bring in success as you set and get goals for 3 months with all the support and help you need to start arising and thriving in your life! Visit Ariseandthrivelife.com to sign up!"Self-Compassion" Book by Kristen NeffJoin our free fun Facebook group to help give you support, accountability and inspiration to help you declutter, organize and beautify your home...Join us on Facebook at "In Order to Thrive". (This facebook group was previously named "Order in October")
What does ‘sexual citizenship' mean in practice for people with mobility impairments who may need professional support to engage in sexual activity? Sexual Citizenship and Disability: Understanding Sexual Support in Policy, Practice and Theory (Routledge, 2021) explores this subject through empirical investigation based on case studies conducted in four countries – Sweden, England, Australia and the Netherlands – and develops the abstract notion of ‘sexual citizenship' to make it practically relevant to disabled people, professionals in disability services and policy-makers. Through a cross-national approach, it demonstrates the variability of how sexual rights are understood and their culturally specific nature. It also shows how the personal is indeed political: states' different policy approaches change the outcomes for disabled people in terms of support to explore and express their sexualities. By proposing a model of sexual facilitation that can be used in policy development, to better cater to disabled service users' needs as well as furthering the theoretical understanding of sexual rights and sexual citizenship, this book will be of interest to professionals in disability services and policy-makers as well as academics and students working in the following subject areas: Disability Studies, Sociology, Social Policy, Sexuality Studies/Sexology, Social Work, Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Public Health. Julia Bahner is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Social Work, Lund University, Sweden, and was formerly Marie Curie Individual Fellow at the Centre for Disability Studies, School of Sociology, University of Leeds, UK. She holds a PhD in social work and has worked extensively with disabled people's organisations, sexual rights organisations and disability service organisations to develop better policies and practices around sexuality, disability and support. Sohini Chatterjee is a PhD Student in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at Western University, Canada. Her work has recently appeared in South Asian Popular Culture and Fat Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
What does ‘sexual citizenship' mean in practice for people with mobility impairments who may need professional support to engage in sexual activity? Sexual Citizenship and Disability: Understanding Sexual Support in Policy, Practice and Theory (Routledge, 2021) explores this subject through empirical investigation based on case studies conducted in four countries – Sweden, England, Australia and the Netherlands – and develops the abstract notion of ‘sexual citizenship' to make it practically relevant to disabled people, professionals in disability services and policy-makers. Through a cross-national approach, it demonstrates the variability of how sexual rights are understood and their culturally specific nature. It also shows how the personal is indeed political: states' different policy approaches change the outcomes for disabled people in terms of support to explore and express their sexualities. By proposing a model of sexual facilitation that can be used in policy development, to better cater to disabled service users' needs as well as furthering the theoretical understanding of sexual rights and sexual citizenship, this book will be of interest to professionals in disability services and policy-makers as well as academics and students working in the following subject areas: Disability Studies, Sociology, Social Policy, Sexuality Studies/Sexology, Social Work, Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Public Health. Julia Bahner is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Social Work, Lund University, Sweden, and was formerly Marie Curie Individual Fellow at the Centre for Disability Studies, School of Sociology, University of Leeds, UK. She holds a PhD in social work and has worked extensively with disabled people's organisations, sexual rights organisations and disability service organisations to develop better policies and practices around sexuality, disability and support. Sohini Chatterjee is a PhD Student in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at Western University, Canada. Her work has recently appeared in South Asian Popular Culture and Fat Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/gender-studies
What does ‘sexual citizenship' mean in practice for people with mobility impairments who may need professional support to engage in sexual activity? Sexual Citizenship and Disability: Understanding Sexual Support in Policy, Practice and Theory (Routledge, 2021) explores this subject through empirical investigation based on case studies conducted in four countries – Sweden, England, Australia and the Netherlands – and develops the abstract notion of ‘sexual citizenship' to make it practically relevant to disabled people, professionals in disability services and policy-makers. Through a cross-national approach, it demonstrates the variability of how sexual rights are understood and their culturally specific nature. It also shows how the personal is indeed political: states' different policy approaches change the outcomes for disabled people in terms of support to explore and express their sexualities. By proposing a model of sexual facilitation that can be used in policy development, to better cater to disabled service users' needs as well as furthering the theoretical understanding of sexual rights and sexual citizenship, this book will be of interest to professionals in disability services and policy-makers as well as academics and students working in the following subject areas: Disability Studies, Sociology, Social Policy, Sexuality Studies/Sexology, Social Work, Nursing, Occupational Therapy and Public Health. Julia Bahner is a postdoctoral fellow at the School of Social Work, Lund University, Sweden, and was formerly Marie Curie Individual Fellow at the Centre for Disability Studies, School of Sociology, University of Leeds, UK. She holds a PhD in social work and has worked extensively with disabled people's organisations, sexual rights organisations and disability service organisations to develop better policies and practices around sexuality, disability and support. Sohini Chatterjee is a PhD Student in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies at Western University, Canada. Her work has recently appeared in South Asian Popular Culture and Fat Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology
A candid convo with Diane Najm, CEO & Founder, PhotoPad based in Seattle, USA. Diane shares her big pivot from Social Work and into the TECH Digital Marketing space. In this episode we had a great one-one candid conversation about the obstacles she faced developing and building developing PhotoPad; leading her team with authenticity; being a continuous learner and staying true to yourself inspite of difficult times since you have one chance in life therefore you have to keep going. Enjoy this episode! To have your questions and stories featured in future episodes, please send us a message at https://ireniaroussel.org. Remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts or send us a direct message with your feedback. Please do share this episode with a friend since this may be just the positive conversational blessing they have been waiting for to kickstart their career/entrepreneurial journey. Let us collectively spread this knowledge across Canada and around the world. My wish for you is to find your new vibes in our new super normal.
Inflation at 30 year high Newsom warns of rising Covid cases in the state Newsom asked about Daily Mail story about bad vax rumors Karen Bass got a $95 K scholarship to USC 's School of Social Work while in Congress
In this episode, Brittany chats with Miriam Pierce, MSW, who is a School Social worker at Chicago Public Schools. Before becoming a licensed social worker, Miriam graduated from Loyola University Chicago with her Bachelors in Communication Studies: Advocacy and Social Change, and a minor in Education Policy. She received her Masters in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis. Join us as we discuss Miriam's journey to school social work, parallels she sees between the fields of social work and medicine, how we can approach relationship and trust building with students and patients, and her approach on how to show up for yourself so that you can fully show up for others. Episode produced by: Brittany Zelch Episode recording date: 10/7/21 www.medicuspodcast.com | medicuspodcast@gmail.com | Donate: http://bit.ly/MedicusDonate --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/medicus/message
What are eating disorders? What are the signs? How do parents help their children recover? In this episode, Jodi and guest Temimah Zucker discuss the answers to these questions and more, including the differences between eating disorders and disordered eating, how to address the topic using the proper language and the next steps for healing. About Our Guest: Temimah Zucker, LCSW, works with individuals ages 14 and older in New York and New Jersey (virtually at this time) struggling with mental health concerns, and specializes in working with those looking to heal their relationships between their bodies and souls. Temimah is an adjunct professor at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work and a Metro-NY supervisor at Monte Nido. To learn more or to reach her, please visit www.temimah.com or @temimahzuckerlcsw on Instagram. Show Notes: 7:43: Disordered Eating vs. Eating Disorders"Ironically, it's sort of a fun fact, people probably think most of eating disorders and they think of anorexia. And that's actually the least prevalent eating disorder. The most common is what's called other specified feeding and eating disorders, which is kind of like a mix of different symptoms."11:50: How to Identify the Signs of an Eating Disorder"One of the most common misconceptions is you can tell if someone has an eating disorder by how they look. That's completely not true. Even people with raging cases of anorexia nervosa could be at a weight that is quote, unquote, like average or higher than average."18:13: Purging Behaviors"You know, like, movement is great movement is beautiful. But it shouldn't be about compensating for what you're eating."19:13: How to Address Eating Disorders and Next Steps "So that's just like preventative, but also being mindful, forever, kind of going forward. How we talk to ourselves really, really is heard by our kids."22:13: How to Use the Proper Language "So starting off with just very caring, neutral language, meaning, I'm noticing this change has been happening recently. Can you tell me more about what's going on?"25:13: Navigating Resistance to Therapy"Your goal does not have to be I want to like, get through this. The goal could be like, I want my parents leave me alone. I can help you do that. But only if you show up."27:43: Last Pieces of Advice "It has to be equal parts, like addressing the emotional needs of the person, and how this is really just a symptom of whatever it is they're going through. But also knowing that like you, you have to address it behaviorally too."Connect with Temimah Zucker, LCSW: WebsiteInstagramCredits: Host: Jodi FriedGuest: Temimah ZuckerEditors: Iris Nelson and Ilyana Castillo
Dana Ponsky (pictured) began her career in education and advocacy more than 20 years ago. Her first professional experiences were at the University of Michigan, the University of Miami, and Barry University as a career counselor and then as an assistant director and director of orientation, leadership, and first-year programming. After working with first-year college students, Dana began to wonder how students were being supported in their high schools and what they were doing to be prepared for college. After realizing to be successful in college, students need excellent guidance while in high school, Dana transitioned to work as a school-based college counselor. She has served as a high school director of college counseling and has volunteered for nationally-recognized college access programs. You can find her at her website ConsultWithDana.com. Whitney Fisch, MSW started her career working on college campuses as the Jewish Student Life Director at Hillel at the University of Georgia and now as the Executive Director of the Hillel at Miami University in Ohio. She graduated from The University of Michigan School of Social Work and spent the next decade as a school counselor and Director of Counseling working in partnership with teens, families, and administration all in advocacy of the student. Now, she uses her years of training as a counselor and student advocate to help schools + other youth-focused community organizations to build comprehensive health + wellness programs, parent education, as well as helping families successfully navigate the college process from beginning to end making sure the student's needs never get lost in the process. You can find her at her website WhitneyFisch.com.
As a therapist, Virginia Cruse was becoming frustrated with the rumors her clients heard about PTSD that kept them from getting better. Why did so many of them believe that PTSD had no cure? That they couldn't have PTSD because they were not in direct combat? That they didn't “deserve” to have PTSD, or didn't “deserve” to get better? The answer hit a nerve with Cruse: no one had taken the time to explain PTSD to Service Members in a way that made sense. Soldiers were losing their resiliency and optimism in a culture that propagated misinformation and went against the facts about PTSD, facts that are necessary to know in order to recover good mental health and salvage important relationships. Virginia Cruse, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor and National Certified Counselor specializing in Military Issues and Combat-Related Trauma. She provides crisis intervention and evidence-based treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Moral Injury, Depression, Combat Operational Stress, and other diagnoses. To learn more, visit the links below: For Soldiers, Tap here to download your free Soldiers Guide Workbook Connect with Virginia Cruse, LPC: Email: militarycounselingsa@gmail.com Facebook: facebook.com/thesoldiersguide Website: militarycounselingsa.com Blog: http://www.thesoldiersblog.com/ Veterans and PTSD Stats mentioned in the Introduction _____________________ It's Catherine here; let's get connected and if it feels right, check out these other amazing resources that will help you in your social work career… Follow & say “Hi” on Instagram Connect on LinkedIn RISE Directory - A national directory of Clinical Supervisors who are looking to help the next generation of Clinical Social Workers GROW. Are you a Clinical Supervisor? You're invited to join! Clinical Essentials for the Future Therapist virtual Course ______________________ Did you hear? Social Worker's, Rise! Has been named in the Top 10 of Social Work podcasts worldwide! See the full list here: https://blog.feedspot.com/social_work_podcasts/
✅ Learn more about my course here: https://www.topsocialworktestprep.com Hi there, I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and I have been providing individualized and group test prep for the ASWB for over two years. From all of this experience helping others pass their exams, I have created a course to help you prepare for and pass the ASWB exam! Find more from Agents of Change here: ► Agents of Change Website: http://agentsofchangeprep.com/ ► Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aswbtestprep
SUMMARY: There is nothing I love more than sharing the success stories of people who are using ERP to manage their OCD and intrusive thoughts. In this week's podcast, I interview Taylor Stadtlander about her OCD recovery and how she used ERP School to help her manage her intrusive thoughts, compulsive behaviors. Taylor is incredibly inspiring and I am so thrilled to hear her amazing ERP Success story. In This Episode: Taylor shares how she learned she had OCD Taylor shares how she created her own ERP recovery plan and the challenges and successes of her plan Taylor shares how she used ERP School to help her put her ERP recovery plan together and how she now uses her skills in her own private practice. Links To Things I Talk About: Taylor's Private Practice: https://www.embracinguncertaintytherapy.com/ Taylor's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/acupofmindfultea/ ERP School: https://www.cbtschool.com/erp-school-lp Episode Sponsor: This episode of Your Anxiety Toolkit is brought to you by CBTschool.com. CBTschool.com is a psychoeducation platform that provides courses and other online resources for people with anxiety, OCD, and Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors. Go to cbtschool.com to learn more. Spread the love! Everyone needs tools for anxiety... If you like Your Anxiety Toolkit Podcast, visit YOUR ANXIETY TOOLKIT PODCAST to subscribe free and you'll never miss an episode. And if you really like Your Anxiety Toolkit, I'd appreciate you telling a friend (maybe even two). EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION Kimberley: Welcome. I am so excited to have here with me Taylor Stadtlander. Taylor: Yes. Thanks. I'm so excited to be here. Kimberley: Oh, thank you for being here. I am so excited about this interview. You're someone I have watched on social media, and it's really cool because out of there, I realized you were someone who had been through CBT School and I just love hearing the story of how you things get to me. I love that story. So, thank you for being on the show. Taylor: Of course. Thank you so much for having me. Kimberley: Tell me a little bit about you and your mental health and mental wellness journey, as much as you want to share. Tell us about that. Taylor: I'll start with, I am an OCD therapist right now. And I start by saying that because, honestly, if you were to tell me when I was in high school, that I would have become an OCD therapist, I would have laughed at you because I, at that time, was really when my OCD started in high school. Of course, now, knowing what OCD is, I can look back and I can see definitely symptoms back as young as eight or nine years old. But when I was in high school, it was really when I had my sophomore year, pretty intense onset of compulsions. And then, of course, the intrusive thoughts, and it really was all-consuming. But the interesting part, and I'm sure a lot of people can relate to this, is it was something I kept very hidden, or I at least tried to. So, a lot of the earliest compulsions I had were checking compulsions. So, it was these intense, long rituals before I would go to bed, checking that the door is locked, the stove was off, all safety things. I felt this immense amount of responsibility. And I remember thinking like, where did this come from? One day I was just so concerned with safety and all these different things. But no one would have known other than, of course, my family, who I lived with, and my sister, who I shared a room with, who of course saw me getting up multiple times at night to recheck things. But from the outside, it looked like I had everything together. I was the A student, honors classes, volleyball captain, lacrosse captain, and just kept that façade of that picture-perfect high schooler. I did end up going to a therapist and she wasn't an OCD specialist, but I have to say I got very lucky because I actually have some of the worksheets that she used with me back when I was 15. And it is in a sense ERP. So, I was very lucky in that sense that even though I wasn't seeing a specialist, because I don't think any of us knew what was going on, to even see an OCD specialist, I did get to-- and it helped. And that's where I was like, “Okay, you know what, I'm going to go to college and become at least major in Social Work.” So, I went to college, majored in Social Work, got my Master's in Social Work, and my OCD pretty much went away and I thought I was cured or whatever that means. And I thought that, “Okay, that was a chapter of my life. And now for whatever reason, I had to go through that. Now I'll become a therapist and help other people.” I say that because I had no idea what was coming. My first year out of grad school, I began working and I had the most intense relapse of OCD ever. It came back stronger than ever this time. We call it “pure O.” So like mainly intrusive thoughts. And I had no idea what ERP was. It's sad because I went through grad school for Social Work and we never talked about that. I remember this one day, and this is circling back to even how I found you, I had stayed home from work because I was just for like a mental health day, and I didn't want to be on my phone because going on social media was triggering, watching TV was triggering, all these different things. But I was like, you know what, I'm sitting at home. I might as well turn on the TV. So, I turn on the TV, and an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians is on. I am a fan of that show, so shout out to them. And I remember watching and I was listening half not. I think I was trying to take a nap. And one of the family members had this OCD specialist on the show. And I remember pausing the TV because they had the name of the OCD specialist on the TV. And I wrote it down and it was Sheba from The Center of Anxiety and OCD. So I was like, “Okay, let me Google that.” That was the first time I've ever even heard of an OCD specialist. So, I stopped watching the show, went on my phone, Googled her name and her Instagram came up and I just started scrolling. It was like my world, my eyes were just open and I was like, “Oh my gosh, other people have OCD, and there's a treatment, ERP.” Then I just kept scrolling. And then funny enough, I came across your page, Kimberley. And through that, that's where I discovered CBT School. Anyway, long story short, at that time, I wasn't able to afford an OCD specialist. So, I was seeing a therapist, a different therapist from high school because now by this time I was married, on my own insurance, trying to navigate that. In the back of my head, I knew that I needed to see an OCD specialist. I just, again, couldn't afford it. So, I had a conversation with my husband. I'm like, “Look, I'm going to pay for this, the CBTS course.” And I said, “I know it seems like a lot of money, but it's really not. If I was going to see an OCD specialist, this is probably what one session would cost.” And that's how I learned about ERP. That's your course. It's how I learned about ERP. So, it honestly traces back to Keeping Up With the Kardashians. I love telling that story because it's so weird. And honestly, that changed my life because learning ERP, it finally clicked that, okay. Because I was just applying CBT techniques. Like, think of a red stop sign when you have an intrusive thought, thoughts popping, and things like that. And as we know, that was making it so much worse. So, I just dove into your course and taught myself through your course what ERP is, which then led me to seeing that at work, and then wanting to specialize in ERP, and now working with clients who have OCD. So it's really been an amazing journey, to say the least. Kimberley: I'm nearly in tears hearing this story. Oh my goodness, how funny, your story has gone from reality TV to here, and that's so cool. That just blows me away. Taylor: Well, and it really goes to show. I know that there can be negative sides, like technology and Instagram, but for me, most of, if not all of my education, initially about OCD and ERP was from Instagram accounts, like yours or Sheba's. And it was like, again, I knew that, okay, this can't replace therapy, but it was such a good in-between for me, especially being in the place where I was, where I was trying to navigate. Because it can feel like you're stuck when you either can't find an OCD specialist or you can't afford it. And I know what that feels like. So, to have that in between, not as a replacement, but just as a bridging point was so helpful for me. Kimberley: Wow. And for the listeners, I have not heard that story. This is new to me. So this is so cool. So, actually really, I'm so curious. So, when you took ERP PA school, were you like, “She's crazy, I'm not doing that”? Or what was your first take on that? Taylor: I think I was at the point where I was so determined to find relief, I was willing to do anything. And I had researched about ERP before I took your course. I wasn't like, “Oh, I'm just going to trust this randomly.” Kimberley: Random lady. Taylor: Right. So, I did do my own research obviously. And again, I'm in the field and I have a degree in Social Work. It's just so interesting to me that that was not discussed, and I think that's lacking in a lot of programs. So, once I researched it myself, I was like, “Okay, this is the evidence-based treatment. This is the gold standard. It looks like I got to do this.” I just remember I would come home. I was working at the time at a partial hospital program and I would come home from work. And that would be my routine. I would get my little notebook out, I'd pull my laptop out, and I treated it as if I was-- again, I know it doesn't replace therapy, but I treat it as if I was in an intensive program. I would spend an hour or so going through your videos and then printing out the worksheets. And that's just what I did. And I just started to do it. I had had before that a brief, very minimal understanding of exposures. And I think I was trying to do them on my own. But through your course, I was able to understand the response prevention piece. I was just exposing myself to all these things and then leading myself in a tailspin. But yeah, I see this again, even in my own clients now that there's just I think a certain point that you reach, that yes, it's scary to take this step, to start ERP, but because we're so determined to not feel the way we're feeling, it makes it so worth it. Kimberley: Wow. Oh my goodness, I'm seriously close to tears listening to your story. So, thank you for sharing that with me. I mean, wow, what an honor that I get to be a part of your journey, but how cool that you were the journey. You deal with these works. So, what was that like? Okay, so you said you would come home from work and you would sit down and you would go through it. Tell us a little bit about how you set your own. Taylor: I think I mentioned this, I was still seeing a therapist. What was funny is, I would come to my sessions and be teaching her about ERP, because in a way I was becoming this mini expert. And as I think a lot of our clients do, because it is such a unique treatment, you do have to become an expert. So, yeah. I mean, I remember using that worksheet where, okay, identify the what-if fear then list out the compulsions. I remember at the time I was like, “All right, I need to print out 10 of these because I have so many themes right now.” I remember doing that. And then, yeah, I would just pick away-- I would write them and then go through the whole process really as if I was going through ERP treatment. That's what I was doing. Like the same process I do now with my clients is just what I did. And I'm so lucky and blessed to have a background in mental health to have that. And even the resources that I could have had self-taught myself ERP because I know that that's not everyone's situation. And then what was really helpful, and I think this is really important to mention, is my husband. And I think a lot of people can relate to this. We all have our one person who we seek reassurance from. So, when I was still living at home, that person was my mom. Once I got married, it became my husband. And so, he had to learn a lot about OCD treatment and ERP and not providing reassurance. So, the poor thing, I would have him sit down and watch your video, and he would. And he is amazing and just the best support system. But that was really helpful because again, even if you are in therapy and doing this as a supplement to therapy, to be able to have those resources to watch again and again, once you buy the course, you have it. And I still reference it to this day if I am for myself or even if I'm working with something with a client. So, that piece was huge because then I could say, “Hey, look this is the science behind what I'm doing. This is why you can't give me reassurance and things like that.” Kimberley: Right. This is so cool, and it's so cool that he was able to watch it and wasn't intimidated by the whole process. I mean, he probably was, but he still went through with that, which was so cool. Taylor: 100%. Yes. This was about two years ago almost to the date actually. And because now I can look back on it, I think I do lose the anxiety that I had with starting it. And I'm sure him wondering, “What the heck are you doing?” But I think that's so important to have your partner or just your support system understand ERP because it can be very confusing to the outside. If you're doing exposures. What was very upsetting and hard for me that I really had to come to accept is, a lot of my harm obsessions were unfortunately targeted around him. So, I'd be writing these scripts and I would feel this guilt, this horrible amount of guilt and shame, similar to what I felt back in high school when I was trying to hide my compulsions. Here I have this amazing supportive husband and I'm writing these scripts. So, I would want to try and explain that. And him understanding it, I think made the whole process so much easier, for sure. Kimberley: Yeah. And those scripts can be hard, right? I even remember-- Taylor: I think that's the hardest part for me. Kimberley: Yeah. I even remember recording that and looking into the camera and saying, “You need to write a story about this.” And I do these with my patients all the time, but thinking like, “Why would anyone trust me?” That's a hard thing to do when you haven't-- so that's really amazing that you did that. The good news, and I'll tell you this, you're the first person to know this, is we just renewed the whole imaginable script module. They're three times as long now. Taylor: Oh, amazing. Kimberley: Yeah. So, you're the first to know. By the time they start, everyone will know, but yeah, we tripled the length of it because people had so many questions about that process. Taylor: In fact, I had a session yesterday with one of my amazing clients and she's fairly new in the treatment and we were introducing the idea of scripts. And you're absolutely right. When you're describing it, you're like, “What am I saying? This sounds horrible.” I was like, “All right, we are going to pretty much write out your worst fear coming true in as much detail as possible.” And she was like, “What the heck is going on?” And sometimes I have to take myself back to that starting point, especially with working with clients, because now I'm like, “I have an intrusive thought come up. All right, I know I have to go write a script when I get home.” So for me, it's become second nature. But I think remembering how painful it was the first several times to actually write down those thoughts and then not only write down them but say them out loud and look into them, that-- I was reminded yesterday, I can't lose sight of how painful that is initially, but then how rewarding it is once you realize it works. Kimberley: Yeah. You get so much bang for your buck, don't you, when you use those. This is so cool. You're obviously a rockstar. So exciting. I can't tell you how much this brings me such joy to hear. What would you say to somebody who's starting this process? What was important to you? What got you through? Tell us all your wisdom. Taylor: I think the biggest thing would be to know that you're not alone because I remember that was the biggest thing for me. Before I knew what OCD and ERP were, I thought that I was the only person on the planet experiencing these intrusive thoughts, these horrible, violent images or sexual intrusive thoughts or whatever it was. So, first and foremost, knowing that you're not alone, that there are so many of us who have experienced this, not only experienced the pain of it, but have gone through and are now in recovery. And that you don't have to let fear dictate the choices that you make because that's how I lived my life. I avoided things because of my OCD. So, I wouldn't be triggered. I let fear make the decisions for a lot of my life. And when you do go through ERP treatment, you get to be in control again and you get to live again according to your values. For example, I've always wanted to be a mom and I've always dreamed of having kids. And I remember so many times OCD in so many different ways that I can't even get into, say, “Oh, you could never do that.” Actually, I'm in my first trimester right now, which is so exciting and has been such an incredible journey. That's a completely different topic for another day. I'm handling my OCD attached to that. But I was thinking and reflecting about it the other day of just like, wow, I now get to live life according to my values and not let fear and OCD make the decisions. Even though the treatment seems so scary and weird at first, it is so worth it because it works. And that's why I wanted to become really a specialist in this specific field because I fell in love with the treatment. I fell in love with the fact that it gives people their lives back. And that's so cool to witness. So, you're not alone. You're also not a bad person because of the thoughts that you're having. And I'll briefly share, I'm a Christian and I know that a lot of the thoughts that I've had for a long time, I just thought, okay, I'm a horrible person, or I'm a sinner. And whatever your faith is, whatever spirituality or anything, whatever morals you have, just know that you're not your intrusive thoughts. You are just a person with thoughts and that's it. Kimberley: Yeah. That's so powerful. So, number one, congratulations. I just love when people say, “I have OCD about it, but I did it anyway.” Taylor: I know. Talk about facing your fears, it's like-- Kimberley: Right. And then the second piece where you're really, again, speaking from a place of values, even your religion, I'm sure got attacked during that process. And it's really hard to keep the faith when you're being harassed by these thoughts. So, I just love that. What motivated you to keep going? Besides you said just the deep wish to be better and well, how did you keep getting up? Was there lots of getting up and falling down or did you just get up every day? Taylor: Oh my gosh. In fact, there's times where I still feel like I am picking myself up because-- I'm so happy you brought that up because that was something that I wasn't prepared for, the feelings of relapsing I call it, where you feel like, oh my goodness, my symptoms have gone away, whatever. And then it hits you like a ton of bricks. And I always find that it comes back so strong. And it can be really discouraging at first. And I've even experienced that with the first couple of weeks of this pregnancy of just like, “Wow, I thought we were over this.” Even themes coming back from when I was 15 or 16 and like, “Okay, looks we have to deal with this again.” I'm able to laugh about it now, but in the moment, it's really hard. And so, I think the biggest thing for me that I try to keep myself reminded of in those moments where I do feel like I'm-- because it feels like you're taking a step backwards in a sense sometimes. And I always try to remind myself that so much can change in a matter of a day and that this is temporary. And even the worst moments of my ruminating or obsessing or the nights where I would literally spend hours completing compulsions, they always passed, if that makes sense. It sounds so cliché, but the sun always rose again. I always got another chance. And I would say that I am a naturally driven and motivated person. So I think that definitely did help me. But that's not to say that there weren't times where it's a hopeless feeling when you are living in your own personal hell of intrusive thoughts. The way I remember describing it to the first therapist I went to is that I was, and I don't play tennis by the way, but I was like, I pictured myself in a tennis court with a tennis racket and someone just throwing balls at me. And those are the entries of thoughts. And I walk one away and another one comes back. It was exhausting. But being reminded that-- And also now too, and I wrote this down, I definitely wanted to talk about this, was you have to find the community support and that has been so vital for me. And again, thank you, Instagram, I've been able to connect with so many people who have OCD or a related disorder who I text or DM and are now some of my closest friends. And we hold each other accountable on days where it's like-- because OCD can be really weird sometimes. And it's really nice to have people who understand and have been there. So, that's really helpful for me too on days where it's like, man, it just feels like I can't pick myself up. Kimberley: Yeah. It's so important. In fact, I'll tell you a story. A client of mine, who I've been seeing for a while, could do the therapy without me. And she knows it as well as I do. And we hit a roadblock and it kept coming up. I just feel so alone. And not having support and other people with similar issues, it was a game-changer for her. And I think we're lucky in that there are Facebook groups and Instagram and support groups out there that are so helpful. Taylor: Yes, totally. And that's one of the reasons I actually decided about a year ago to create a mental health Instagram because I knew how much Instagram and using that platform helped me. I literally remember saying, “Even if it helps one person.” And at first, it was really scary sharing some of the things, talking about the more taboo themes and different things like that, and thinking like, oh man, what are my coworkers thinking of me or my family members when I post this. But what's been so rewarding is countless people have reached out to me who either I know and I've either grown up with my whole life or people across the globe really of just saying, “Hey, thank you for letting me know I'm not alone.” And to me, that makes it totally all worth it. So, it's so important to find that connection. Kimberley: Yeah. And is there anything else that you felt was key for you? Something that you want people to know? Taylor: I think that it's so important to-- a huge piece of it too was incorporating act, like acceptance and commitment therapy, which I also believe I learned from one of your podcasts. So, thank you. And that was a huge piece for me too, because again, I think that-- to be very honest, I didn't even say the words “OCD” until two years ago. I knew in my head that I met the criteria in the DSM, but I never-- that label for me was so scary. I don't really know why, looking back, but maybe because it was just so unknown. So a lot of the work that I've had to do personally that's been really helpful is just acceptance of any emotion really, especially learning that acceptance doesn't mean that you have to love something, and it ties into tolerating uncertainty. Tolerating, I was talking about this with a client yesterday. Tolerating is not an endearing word. If someone says, “Oh, I tolerate that person,” that's not a compliment. We were not being asked to love uncertainty or love the fact that we have OCD or whatever we're struggling with, but just learning to sit with it and tolerate it has been an absolute game-changer for me. As much as the exposures and response prevention was so new to me, that whole piece too was a game-changer. Kimberley: Yeah, I agree. I think it's such an important piece, because there's so much grief that comes with having OCD too, and the stigma associated. I've heard so many people say the same thing. They had to work through the diagnosis before they could even consider-- Taylor: And I also had a lot of anger in two ways towards the fact that I had to deal with this. I always thought, and of course, I think a lot of us think this about anything else, I was like, “If only I just “had” anxiety and not OCD, or just had depression, that would be so much easier to deal with,” which I know is ridiculous. But in the moment, it's like, I think whatever we're going through seems so impossible. And then the other piece of the anger was just the misuse of people saying, “Oh, I'm so OCD,” or seeing it displayed on TV or on social media in the wrong way. And I'm like, “Oh my gosh, if only you knew what OCD was, you would never say that.” So now, it's been cool because I can turn that frustration more into advocacy and education, but that was a huge hurdle to jump to. Kimberley: Yeah. Well, especially because you're over here tolerating OCD. And then other people are celebrating and it just feels like taking the face. Taylor: Oh my gosh, yes. Kimberley: Yeah. I love all of that. Thank you so much for sharing that story. Number one, it brings me to tears that we get to meet and chat. I think that that is just so beautiful and I'm so impressed with the work that you're doing. So, thank you. Tell me where people can hear more about you or follow you and so forth. Taylor: Sure. So, my Instagram is acupofmindfultea, and there you can also find-- I definitely share my personal story, but just also ERP tips. I'm also very big on holistic findings. So, obviously, medication has been a huge part of my story as well and helpful, but I also love finding natural ways and different ways that have helped my anxiety and just building my toolkit. So, I share a lot about that on there as well. So, yeah, I would love to connect with you guys on social media, for sure. Kimberley: Yeah. I would have to admit, when I saw your pregnancy announcement, I was with my kids and I was like, “Woo-hoo!” And they were like, “What?” And I'm like, “Oh, it's just somebody I've never met, but I'm so excited for her.” Taylor: Isn't that so great? I know, I love it. I feel the same way for other people. Kimberley: Yeah. Well, thank you so much. Number one, thank you for coming on the show. I love how that creates itself organically. And number two, thank you for sharing this because I think this will hopefully give some people some hope. We were overwhelmingly encouraged to have people with stories of their recovery. So, I think this is a really wonderful start of that. Taylor: Awesome. Well, thank you so much. I've been listening to your podcast for two years now, and it's been such an encouragement for me and such a huge form of education and help. So, this was truly special. So, thank you. Kimberley: Thank you.
How to nurture your relationship with time:Clean up your language about time, speak positively about it.Remember time is not the barrier, it is the solution.Team up with time by scheduling out your week to fit your prioritiesJournal what you love and hate about time (pick one per day and alternate every other day).Aaron Benson, M.S. of Social Work, has worked for over 13 years as a counselor and a coach supporting individuals with mental health challenges. He is the owner of Wellness Simplified and enjoys providing trainings and support for individuals and groups to address challenges, including but not limited to burnout and grief. If you would like to contact him for one-on-one sessions or group trainings you can email him at getwellnesssimplified@gmail.com.Are you ready to upgrade your life and have more success? Join our Vision Board Masterclass for January 2022 and start moving forward and get better results in life. Set a goal, and learn to use visualizing and action to make it happen. Or Join Arise Now where you can learn the mindset you need to bring in success as you set and get goals for 3 months with all the support and help you need to start arising and thriving in your life! Visit Ariseandthrivelife.com to sign up!
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