Latest / Groove with Portia / The Stigma That Keeps People From Getting Help
Transcript
- 0:06Speaker 1: Welcome to grou Porsche, the podcast that uncovers the hidden
- 0:09Speaker 1: treasures within grief. I'm your host, Porsche the Producer, and
- 0:13Speaker 1: I'm inviting you to join me on a transformative journey
- 0:15Speaker 1: where we were exchange laughter, of course, the best medicine
- 0:18Speaker 1: of them all, reflect on cherish memories, Remember that time
- 0:21Speaker 1: that the little boy grabbed my hand instead of his
- 0:23Speaker 1: mother's at the amusement park yikes, And of course, discover
- 0:26Speaker 1: gratitude while navigating one of life's hardest challenges lost. So
- 0:31Speaker 1: get ready to grow with me, Porsche the Producer, let's
- 0:35Speaker 1: dive in. Hello everybody, and welcome back to grou with Porsche.
- 0:47Speaker 1: I am your host, Porsche Booker and has always don't
- 0:49Speaker 1: forget to like, share and subscribe to keep it with
- 0:51Speaker 1: the latest and greatest of all, with grew with Porsche.
- 0:54Speaker 1: As you guys know, March is Women's History Month, and
- 0:57Speaker 1: let's be realistic, there's some career that women take the
- 1:01Speaker 1: lead on that no matter what they do, there's so
- 1:05Speaker 1: much scrutiny and misconception around it. And I'm talking about
- 1:08Speaker 1: the mental health space today, everybody. So today I have
- 1:12Speaker 1: the honor of being joined by an individual who is
- 1:14Speaker 1: the CEO of a local mental health agency here in
- 1:18Speaker 1: Ohio called Generations Behavioral Health. So welcome CEO, Miss Shelby,
- 1:23Speaker 1: as Bill so Shell, be welcome to girl Porsche. How
- 1:26Speaker 1: are you today?
- 1:27Speaker 2: I am wonderful and thank you so much for.
- 1:29Speaker 1: Having me, Shelby. It's an honor because there's so many
- 1:33Speaker 1: things going on in the mental health space right and
- 1:36Speaker 1: there's a lot of misconception and obviously this is Women's
- 1:39Speaker 1: History Month, and a lot of women struggle in silence
- 1:42Speaker 1: because there's so much stigma. There's so much baggage that
- 1:48Speaker 1: we carry, and we don't often feel that we have
- 1:51Speaker 1: a safe space to go or breaking through that silence
- 1:55Speaker 1: of seeking the help that we need. And I'm curious, Shelby,
- 1:58Speaker 1: for our audience, let's be really, mental health is a calling.
- 2:02Speaker 1: We don't just wake up and say, you know what,
- 2:03Speaker 1: I'm going to go and work in the mental health space.
- 2:06Speaker 1: And I'm curious for our audience today, can you share
- 2:09Speaker 1: with us the mission of Generations Behavioral Health and also
- 2:13Speaker 1: what inspired you to take the lead in this organization.
- 2:18Speaker 2: Absolutely so. Our mission here at Generations Behavioral Health is
- 2:23Speaker 2: to provide compassionate care for really anyone that is seeking
- 2:28Speaker 2: assistance with their mental health, whether it be for crisis stabilization,
- 2:33Speaker 2: long term mental health, medication management. We really try and
- 2:37Speaker 2: hit every component to better serve our community. Now, I
- 2:42Speaker 2: am a lifelong resident in northeast Ohio, so I am
- 2:46Speaker 2: very aware that the mental health resources are pretty scarce
- 2:50Speaker 2: and it seems to be a continuing trend. I know
- 2:54Speaker 2: within our community there's very little as far as therapy
- 3:00Speaker 2: and medication, and we are one of very few in
- 3:03Speaker 2: patient behavioral health hospitals. So what we do here at
- 3:06Speaker 2: Generations in Geneva, where I am based out of, is
- 3:10Speaker 2: in patient psychiatric care. So anybody the age eighteen and
- 3:15Speaker 2: older can come to our facility, whether it be via
- 3:18Speaker 2: a referral from an emergency room, you can walk in
- 3:21Speaker 2: the front doors twenty four to seven and get assistance
- 3:25Speaker 2: with crisis. We see a lot of people that are
- 3:29Speaker 2: dealing with suicidality, with psychosis, maybe new symptoms that they
- 3:34Speaker 2: really don't know how to navigate, and we are here
- 3:37Speaker 2: to support our friends, our family, our neighbors and community
- 3:41Speaker 2: to the best of our ability. I've worked in this
- 3:45Speaker 2: field for well over a decade, so I have started
- 3:48Speaker 2: all the way from case management through individual therapy on
- 3:52Speaker 2: an outpatient basis, in patient care with adults, geriatrics, children
- 3:57Speaker 2: and adolescents, and throughout my exp my passion has only
- 4:02Speaker 2: grown so to be able to step into a role
- 4:05Speaker 2: where I can lead a team that that really spoke
- 4:10Speaker 2: to my heart, especially for an organization that is so
- 4:14Speaker 2: focused on efficacy, compassion and really providing all that we
- 4:19Speaker 2: can the best of our abilities. It's been very rewarding
- 4:24Speaker 2: and continues to do so as we grow, not only
- 4:27Speaker 2: in our community but throughout our nation. We have a
- 4:29Speaker 2: lot of really great plans.
- 4:31Speaker 1: You know, Shelby, I'm glad that you touched on that
- 4:34Speaker 1: compassionate care piece, and also thank you for the work
- 4:38Speaker 1: that you do because it's not easy, right. I'm sure
- 4:40Speaker 1: that there's probably knights that you're tossing and turning, like, oh,
- 4:43Speaker 1: you know, this person that I encountered today really left
- 4:47Speaker 1: an imprint on my heart with their story of transformation.
- 4:50Speaker 1: And you know you brought up also about the resources. Right.
- 4:54Speaker 1: It seems that sometimes in Ohio there's a plethora of
- 4:57Speaker 1: some things and then there's a scared some out of
- 5:00Speaker 1: other things. Right. And I'm curious too, Shelby, as me
- 5:05Speaker 1: and you both know, and I alluded to in the beginning,
- 5:07Speaker 1: there's a lot of misconception around mental health care and
- 5:11Speaker 1: behavioral health care just across the board, and I'm curious,
- 5:15Speaker 1: can you share with our audience today what are some
- 5:17Speaker 1: of these myths or misconceptions that you've encountered, and also,
- 5:22Speaker 1: how is it that generation's behavioral health is continuing to
- 5:26Speaker 1: put the true face of compassionate care at the forefront,
- 5:31Speaker 1: you know, especially when there's so many people that are
- 5:34Speaker 1: struggling with compassionate fatigue right now too.
- 5:37Speaker 2: Absolutely so, we see a lot of different misconceptions and
- 5:42Speaker 2: stigmas surrounding mental health care. One that I have encountered
- 5:46Speaker 2: specifically is is people and populations thinking that their problems
- 5:50Speaker 2: don't arise to the level of needing treatment. You know,
- 5:55Speaker 2: we see a lot of people come in with trauma
- 5:59Speaker 2: and and you know, I have spoken with so many
- 6:03Speaker 2: people saying, well, it's really not that bad, I don't
- 6:05Speaker 2: really need treatment, It's just a situation. And I would
- 6:09Speaker 2: really want to promote that nothing is too small to
- 6:12Speaker 2: ask for help. So trauma to one person might be
- 6:17Speaker 2: you know, something that was catastrophic that happened in childhood.
- 6:21Speaker 2: It could be abuse, neglect. It could have been like myself,
- 6:25Speaker 2: I had to evacuate from a hurricane when I spent
- 6:28Speaker 2: a couple of years in Florida. But it could also
- 6:31Speaker 2: be something like losing a job. It could be losing
- 6:34Speaker 2: a pet, you know, anything, a car accident. It could
- 6:39Speaker 2: be something that you would never associate with that, but
- 6:43Speaker 2: getting that treatment could really help open doors and avenues
- 6:48Speaker 2: to different ways to help yourself and you know, identifying
- 6:53Speaker 2: different resources and supports. So I would really encourage you know,
- 6:58Speaker 2: there's no fault in asking for help. There's nothing too small,
- 7:04Speaker 2: and here at Generations we really try, you know, and
- 7:08Speaker 2: I think we're very successful at reiterating that within our
- 7:11Speaker 2: community and making sure that it does not matter what
- 7:15Speaker 2: the issue is, we are here to support you. We
- 7:19Speaker 2: have a wonderful team that is willing to support and
- 7:22Speaker 2: we are all very knowledgeable in our fields. So, you know,
- 7:26Speaker 2: does every single mental health concern or issue require lifelong
- 7:30Speaker 2: medication or you know, intensive dialectical behavioral therapy. It might not,
- 7:36Speaker 2: but there's still something, you know that we can offer you.
- 7:42Speaker 1: And I love Shelby that you reiterated about there's no
- 7:47Speaker 1: small or too big ask for help, right because I
- 7:51Speaker 1: think as adults, we think that right, we should know this,
- 7:54Speaker 1: but we just never know how, you know, just us
- 7:58Speaker 1: losing a job, how that can really set us back, right,
- 8:02Speaker 1: you know, to your point about having to evacuate a hurricane.
- 8:05Speaker 1: I'm glad that you're here, you know, and I thank
- 8:07Speaker 1: you for sharing that, because so many people think that us,
- 8:11Speaker 1: who are, you know, community advocates for others who have
- 8:16Speaker 1: been through their own mental health struggles, don't have our
- 8:18Speaker 1: own because there's this notion that we're kind of like
- 8:21Speaker 1: the ten men right from the Wisdom of Oz. And
- 8:24Speaker 1: I'm curious, Shelby, could you share with our audience a
- 8:28Speaker 1: story that always touches your heart about when you've been
- 8:32Speaker 1: in leadership and have singing that transformation of somebody, whether
- 8:36Speaker 1: on your staff or you know, someone who has been
- 8:39Speaker 1: a patient under your wing.
- 8:41Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, I have so many own goodness, you know.
- 8:45Speaker 2: One of the one of the things that I love
- 8:47Speaker 2: about being in a leadership position is being able to
- 8:51Speaker 2: see other professionals grow in their roles. And I've had
- 8:55Speaker 2: several experiences. So I'm actually a social worker by trade.
- 8:59Speaker 2: I'm a life and independent social work supervisor here in
- 9:02Speaker 2: the state of Ohio. And so I've been able to
- 9:06Speaker 2: also provide supervision for those seeking social work licensure and
- 9:12Speaker 2: being able to see someone come in even as a student,
- 9:15Speaker 2: as a new employee and you know, see that hesitation
- 9:20Speaker 2: or maybe that imposter syndrome and really be able to
- 9:25Speaker 2: grow and flourish and reiterate how they feel they've really
- 9:29Speaker 2: helped someone. And I actually just recently over the fall,
- 9:32Speaker 2: had a staff member who was a very new social worker,
- 9:36Speaker 2: very new in the field in general, sit with a
- 9:39Speaker 2: really difficult patient that a lot of other staff members
- 9:42Speaker 2: had a really difficult time engaging, and they were able
- 9:45Speaker 2: to kind of break through that barrier with this person
- 9:49Speaker 2: and get them to open up and really make some
- 9:52Speaker 2: positive changes and learn and accept some information. And that
- 9:57Speaker 2: staff member came running to me excited about this breakthrough.
- 10:02Speaker 2: You know, we work together to make sure that it
- 10:04Speaker 2: was documented in a wonderful way and I really felt
- 10:08Speaker 2: that was a life changing moment in their career and
- 10:11Speaker 2: it's a wonderful, wonderful thing to see. So, you know,
- 10:14Speaker 2: as a as a mental health clinician, being able to
- 10:17Speaker 2: play a part in the next generation of clinicians is
- 10:21Speaker 2: something that's very near and dear to me and Shelby.
- 10:25Speaker 1: That just made my day, right, because something like that
- 10:28Speaker 1: can make a break or a student, an aspiring social worker,
- 10:33Speaker 1: and you know, make them want to step back from
- 10:36Speaker 1: the field, especially if they encounter that first very difficult
- 10:41Speaker 1: you know patient. You know, nothing's working to get through
- 10:44Speaker 1: to them. All the questions, all the techniques, all the
- 10:47Speaker 1: DBT right, you're following everything in the book. But I
- 10:51Speaker 1: love how there was that leadership from you, right, that
- 10:57Speaker 1: you know, that sense of community, right, because I think
- 11:00Speaker 1: sometimes there's this notion of people being afraid to say
- 11:05Speaker 1: anything because they don't know if somebody in leadership is
- 11:07Speaker 1: going to have their back, right. And I'm glad that
- 11:10Speaker 1: you get to witness this and also be able to
- 11:14Speaker 1: help them develop in this ever changing world right of
- 11:19Speaker 1: mental health care now AI too, And so I'm glad
- 11:23Speaker 1: that you shared that show because I think there's so
- 11:25Speaker 1: many people who need to hear that reminder that there
- 11:30Speaker 1: are leaders out here that have the experience that see
- 11:34Speaker 1: and want to help the new generation of mental health
- 11:37Speaker 1: professionals to be successful. Yeah.
- 11:40Speaker 2: Absolutely, And I will say, you know, I've I've always
- 11:44Speaker 2: been a huge advocate for the notion that especially in
- 11:47Speaker 2: the workplace, you know, whether it's mental health, medical, whether
- 11:51Speaker 2: it's a factory setting, whatever it might be, it's a
- 11:54Speaker 2: leadership team. So we should all be working together and
- 12:00Speaker 2: for one goal of providing the best services that we
- 12:03Speaker 2: possibly can. And that's something here at Generations that really
- 12:08Speaker 2: stands out to me is our our team all the
- 12:10Speaker 2: way from you know, the staff on the front lines
- 12:13Speaker 2: that are in our units really taking care of our
- 12:15Speaker 2: patients all the way up through a corporate team is
- 12:18Speaker 2: just that and we're able to brainstorm and lean on
- 12:22Speaker 2: each other and really come together to problem solve that
- 12:26Speaker 2: we can be a lot more proactive versus reactive, which
- 12:30Speaker 2: I think makes a huge difference not only for our
- 12:33Speaker 2: workplace but for our patients.
- 12:35Speaker 1: Oh one hundred, because everybody's on the same page, right.
- 12:40Speaker 1: The goal is to make sure this person these you know,
- 12:43Speaker 1: not only just the person who's dealing with their own
- 12:46Speaker 1: mental health challenges, but their families are supported, they have
- 12:51Speaker 1: the resources, right because out of nowhere, right, someone who's
- 12:56Speaker 1: struggling with bipolar could have an episode, right, or schizophrenic
- 13:01Speaker 1: or you know, someone who has severe anxiety that can
- 13:04Speaker 1: you know, go into a panic attack.
- 13:07Speaker 2: Right.
- 13:07Speaker 1: Being able to be able to clothe people with resources, right,
- 13:12Speaker 1: support them through the entire step, and then also show
- 13:16Speaker 1: them that you care. Because that's why I brought up
- 13:18Speaker 1: the compassion fatigue, because I think right now there's so
- 13:22Speaker 1: much happening in the world right where people are mentally exhausted.
- 13:27Speaker 1: You know, they're trying to you know, put up if
- 13:31Speaker 1: you want to call it Jedi boundaries of certain things,
- 13:34Speaker 1: whether it's social media, the news, and sometimes you need
- 13:39Speaker 1: that extra layer of support in the form of a
- 13:42Speaker 1: person or an organization. And Shelby, I'm curious too, as
- 13:47Speaker 1: I brought up in the beginning, there's a lot of
- 13:49Speaker 1: misconceptions about mental health. There's also a lot of emerging
- 13:54Speaker 1: new technologies, therapies, modalities, and I'm curious for our audience,
- 14:00Speaker 1: how is Generations standing in that crossroads of being innovative
- 14:05Speaker 1: to meet the demand and needs of these new if
- 14:09Speaker 1: you want to call it mental health challenges because of
- 14:11Speaker 1: you think of COVID, the current political climate. So where
- 14:15Speaker 1: is generations behavioral health standing in that crossroad of innovation
- 14:19Speaker 1: and providing services.
- 14:21Speaker 2: I think a major part of that is remaining educated
- 14:25Speaker 2: and open minded. So here at Generations we are constantly
- 14:30Speaker 2: learning whether it be our providers and clinicians with their
- 14:33Speaker 2: continuing education, even down to just overall having staff you know,
- 14:39Speaker 2: know about the different resources that are available. You know,
- 14:43Speaker 2: as far as things like a I personally, I don't
- 14:47Speaker 2: think that could ever replace, you know, the the experience
- 14:51Speaker 2: of speaking with a person, but you know, being apprized
- 14:56Speaker 2: of it is important and making sure that we are
- 15:00Speaker 2: are remaining unbiased to We're taking it every bit of
- 15:04Speaker 2: information that we possibly can so we can utilize it
- 15:07Speaker 2: to better serve our population and our million on the
- 15:10Speaker 2: units and each other. You know, I think it's you've
- 15:13Speaker 2: brought up compassion fatigue, and I think that's a huge
- 15:15Speaker 2: part of it as well, is making sure that we're
- 15:17Speaker 2: taken care of, and Generations does a phenomenal job at
- 15:20Speaker 2: that across the board with patients and staff. So we've
- 15:24Speaker 2: implemented several different programs in that regard too. We currently
- 15:28Speaker 2: have our Patient Experience program where we have some different
- 15:32Speaker 2: initiatives that occur throughout the days to improve our patients,
- 15:38Speaker 2: you know, experience within our walls and make sure that
- 15:41Speaker 2: they're heard and listen to and that they have information
- 15:45Speaker 2: about things going on in the world and if they
- 15:47Speaker 2: want a staff member to kind of process that with them.
- 15:50Speaker 2: That's available all the way up to staff where we
- 15:54Speaker 2: have our staff Wellness Committee where we are engaging our
- 15:59Speaker 2: teammates and team members and making sure that we're offering
- 16:02Speaker 2: the same to them as well. So I think there's
- 16:05Speaker 2: a lot of different variables and we're doing a wonderful
- 16:08Speaker 2: job at being able to touch on all of them
- 16:11Speaker 2: as well as taking any suggestions. So we value the
- 16:15Speaker 2: input and thought processes of not only our team, but
- 16:18Speaker 2: our community. You know you mentioned families also, we have
- 16:22Speaker 2: a Family Committee where we want families and supports to
- 16:25Speaker 2: be engaged and if there's something that the community is
- 16:30Speaker 2: saying they want or that they need, being able to
- 16:34Speaker 2: take that information and really run with it and do
- 16:38Speaker 2: what we need to do to be able to serve them.
- 16:40Speaker 1: And I love that, Shelby. I mean, I appreciate also
- 16:43Speaker 1: the AI thing because there's, right, there's so much you
- 16:47Speaker 1: know around it. Right, There's different people who are like
- 16:50Speaker 1: yes in the minimal profession. Other people are like no,
- 16:53Speaker 1: But I think it's a tool, right, You use it
- 16:55Speaker 1: for the tool that it is, whether you use it
- 16:58Speaker 1: on a daily basis or however you use it at
- 17:00Speaker 1: the end of the day, it's a tool, but it
- 17:01Speaker 1: still doesn't replace that human to human interaction, right. And
- 17:06Speaker 1: I also love that you have the different committees for
- 17:10Speaker 1: your staff, for the families where you're getting input from
- 17:15Speaker 1: all walks of life, because how can we really make
- 17:18Speaker 1: something health related without all sides of the equation? Right?
- 17:23Speaker 1: There's unique cultural nuances that you know may not come
- 17:27Speaker 1: up immediately, but why not be prepared in advance by
- 17:31Speaker 1: having an open and welcoming presence from the beginning.
- 17:35Speaker 2: Absolutely, you know, diversity is so important and being able
- 17:40Speaker 2: to get that input and that perspective. I think the
- 17:45Speaker 2: perspective is one of my favorite words because it's so
- 17:48Speaker 2: valuable because there's so many different things that people can
- 17:53Speaker 2: bring to the table that you just have to listen,
- 17:56Speaker 2: you know, And diversity it doesn't just have to focus
- 17:59Speaker 2: on ethnicity. It could be age, it could be where
- 18:03Speaker 2: you came from, you know, where you were born, in
- 18:05Speaker 2: the country, where you raised in the city. You're gonna
- 18:08Speaker 2: have different perspectives on things. So to be able to
- 18:11Speaker 2: be within a company and within you know, a place
- 18:15Speaker 2: that services that really takes that into consideration and to
- 18:19Speaker 2: heart and receives that feedback. So well, it has been
- 18:23Speaker 2: a wonderful experience.
- 18:25Speaker 1: And I love that, Shelby. I absolutely love that for
- 18:27Speaker 1: your organization, and Shelby, we're going to be wrapping up
- 18:31Speaker 1: here soon, and again I thank you for coming on
- 18:33Speaker 1: the show and sharing with our audience about Generations Behavioral Health.
- 18:37Speaker 1: Before we wrap up today, Shelby, I'm sure there's going
- 18:40Speaker 1: to be individuals who may want to get involved learn
- 18:43Speaker 1: more about Generations Behavioral Health maybe refer Is there a
- 18:46Speaker 1: website or any upcoming events or something that you would
- 18:49Speaker 1: love to share with us today?
- 18:51Speaker 2: Absolutely, so you can always go on our website. It's
- 18:54Speaker 2: Generations Behavioralhealth dot com. Again, we have several different locations,
- 18:59Speaker 2: so we have where I am based out of here
- 19:01Speaker 2: in Geneva, Ohio, which is our fifty six bed inpatient
- 19:05Speaker 2: psychiatric hospital. We also have an inpatient psychiatric hospital in
- 19:09Speaker 2: Youngstown and two outpatient therapy clinics, one based in Youngstown
- 19:14Speaker 2: and one in Warrensville Heights. If you go on the website,
- 19:17Speaker 2: we have our centralized intake number and you are welcome
- 19:21Speaker 2: to call it for any need. It could be a
- 19:23Speaker 2: referral of question. Right now, we are also opening our
- 19:27Speaker 2: doors for the first time in quite some time to
- 19:30Speaker 2: any aspiring clinicians. So we are accepting applications not only
- 19:34Speaker 2: for employment for several different positions, including social work, nursing,
- 19:40Speaker 2: behavioral health technicians, but for students who may be interested
- 19:45Speaker 2: in coming to learn about the different levels of care
- 19:49Speaker 2: and our different populations. So we welcome anybody that would
- 19:54Speaker 2: also like a tour, or have some questions or just
- 19:58Speaker 2: wants to say hello.
- 20:01Speaker 1: So everybody, as Shelby mentioned, you can go to their website,
- 20:04Speaker 1: Generationsbehavioral Health dot com. If you forget, you can do
- 20:08Speaker 1: a Google search. You know, Google is your friend, or
- 20:10Speaker 1: of course the new AI assistant that pops up, you
- 20:14Speaker 1: can just do voice of some sort. There's a phone
- 20:17Speaker 1: number also on their website. There's multiple locations, Geneva, Youngstown
- 20:22Speaker 1: and also Warrensville, if you know whichever one is closest
- 20:26Speaker 1: to you here in Ohio. Well, everybody, that was the
- 20:31Speaker 1: CEO of Generations Behavioral Health, miss Shelby, Asbill that you
- 20:35Speaker 1: heard from today on grew with Portia. And that concludes
- 20:39Speaker 1: our conversation for today and until next time. Everybody piece
- 20:42Speaker 1: and har grease everyone