Wellness Prescribed Podcast – Episode 13: Behavioral Health & the Holidays
[Music] you’re listening to Wellness prescribed with Fisher Titus Medical Center and here with me now from Fisher Titus Medical Center wellness prescribed I have Laura Butler with me licensed independent social worker with supervisory credentials uh with Fisher Titus medical centers Behavioral Health so thank you so much for joining me today absolutely so um first of all before we get started here um Behavioral Health um I think people maybe get a little bit confused about what that entails uh versus just mental health so that is behavioral health encompasses a lot of things yes it does and I will be more than happy to share the difference so mental health we do shy away from really just saying mental health because there’s a lot of stigma if you think about it when you say mental health it almost makes it sound that there is something wrong with a person going on inside and that it’s all on them um when we look at Behavioral Health what we’re looking at is a holistic approach of the mind body and spirit um and what that means is that when we see outward behaviors even if they’re unsavory or um negative behaviors that is a manifestation of what we call sematic Body based symptoms of what’s going on inside our body and that includes the thoughts of not feeling good enough unworthy um maybe not having a sense of love and belonging so when we say Behavioral Health we it really Encompass in that we’re looking at their medical health um along with other professionals we’re looking at what is going on with their thoughts their feelings and also body based symptoms and that includes um if you take a picture like when you have a panic attack your heart’s racing it’s hard to breathe um you might get earable you might lash out at people because you don’t know fully what’s going on you just feel like something is wrong so we have to look at the whole picture of a person so when we say mental health that to me is very stigmatizing it’s almost blaming the person for what’s going on and Behavioral Health really helps people understand that the behaviors that we’re seeing outward are internal struggles that a person is dealing with so instead of just finding a fix and you know kind of throwing things at it you’re finding the the root of the problem and treating everything that goes along with it yes a holistic approach all right so then when should somebody seek professional help for a behavioral health issue that maybe they’re experiencing how do they know when it’s time to seek help so there is a misconception in our field that you have to be struggling and at your worst and that you’re spiral in to come see a therapist but remember therapists and counselors are utilized to build skills in everyday life so let’s say as a child you weren’t learn um you weren’t taught Financial skills or uh living on your own skills right so if you feel that you are lacking in areas of your life where skill building could be utilized for your emotions being aware of yourself um or that you are going through a tough time because you’re going through transitions you are able to go see a counselor you don’t have to wait till you are in crisis where you’re like I can’t handle my life um we would like to see people to be proactive and there has always been a harsh stigma with therapy because um let’s be honest older Generations weren’t taught to use therapy um we have a society where we truly believe that we’re supposed to do it on our own and pull yourself up by the bootstraps yes and we’re not designed for that we’re designed for connection so therapy counseling can be shortterm it can be longterm so really if someone feels that they could utilize because they have a skill to develop they’re uncertain of things they might just need um someone to help them reflect on their next decisions that’s that’s when the time you can come to see a counselor and um like you said um there’s counselors there are therapists so that is that the difference then so somebody that just might need some short-term care um versus somebody who has maybe a major problem that they need to or want to address that might take uh have a longer term of care then yes this is always up for debate because I want to make it clear that we are all equally important because there are counselors who do long-term therapy but if we look at just like the context counselors are supposed to be for shortterm short-term therapy but they can do longterm um therapists the origination is with that intent of long-term build-in skills family Dynamics things of that most of of us in the field are trained to do both so that’s where it kind of gets confusing and then of course people ask well what’s the difference between you guys and a psychologist right a psychologist is supposed to have a PhD or a psyched and they’re supposed to um really be able to do more of that testing when it comes to psychological um and they can also do counseling so this is where it gets confusing but really what it comes down to is trust if you trust the person you’re with whether they’re a licensed professional clinical counselor licensed professional so social work who does therapy it’s that trust if you feel that person’s helping you and you have that trust with them stick with that person so then you know building off of that with that when you you know you develop that bond with somebody maybe a therapist or social worker or counselor or something then um is that then where they’ll refer you to um more I guess Specialized Care if they see something like maybe you do need to go see a psychologist or maybe you should think about it or see if they can help you you know further that with different things is that how that takes place then it it can so for me because I am trained and certified in trauma um I do eye movement desensitization reprocessing which is like EMDR sematic based therapies I do work with very high-risk clients because I’m trained to and I’m clinically trained in the brain um that’s part of my clinical social work degree and um I have over 26 certifications to continue to work with complex postraumatic stress disorders PTSD so what we look at is the credentials and the background of the therapist and what they’re trained in some specialize in anxiety depression some specialize in trauma so if a referral is warranted because um there is something that you do not specialize in and that person needs yes as a professional you absolutely make that referral it is not ever indicating that you are not good enough or that you can’t understand what’s going on that is professional and ethical decision for the best interest of your client yes and then you know it’s it’s the holidays right now so and I know this can be a hard time of year for many many people um so what are some I guess behavioral health challenges that people might face this time of year and how can they help to you know kind of manage these things that they’re dealing with absolutely the hardest part is let’s just address the elephant in the room is there’s this expect ation of holidays um holidays disrupt routines and holidays are the time that we may revisit family that we had had traumatic events with triggers and we also are supposed to put on a happy face so to speak but the reality is many of us face not only stress Financial concerns loss of a loved one grief um you know and what this can manifest outwardly is more drinking um for people more substance abuse and um more ways of trying to cope with pain so when we talk about the holidays I always say we’re not a Hallmark movie we’re not going to always get that Berry Farm right at the end but what we have to realize is holidays is if we let go of the expectations of what we think holidays should be and if we have people that can meet us where we’re at holidays can be very very wonderful um not everyone’s up for an event or a party and that doesn’t mean that they’re not celebrating sometimes we need time and space and sometimes we need one-on-one connections so when I think of holidays the question really becomes is what’s going to help that person feel at their best not what is expected of them because we have too many expectations put on us and where do they come from that’s something we have to ask ourselves so um what are some things then that people can do to kind of maintain a healthy routine throughout this holiday season so believe it or not routines that make us feel good so I’m a body based therapist so I regulate your body first before I go to your thoughts because if your heart is palpitating you have a hard time breathing there’s no way that I’m going to say okay let’s change this thought to a positive one because your body is disregulated m so I teach my clients what we call the uh Vegas nerve which is v a g s this nerve is connected to every single organ in your body in Latin it’s known as The Wanderer nerve because it will regulate the body once you regulate this nerve and how you do that is through exercise um through connections moments that make you feel good self-care singing dancing things that you do for you that inspire you so throughout the holidays your routines self-care are very important no matter even with the pressures of what our families and friends might think we should be doing these routines are important we’re actually designed to be repetitive as human beings we’re designed to have these routines and we’re also designed to be spontaneous and fun and and I hate to say it impulsive but that’s okay that’s that’s part of The Human Experience so then um now this is all you know great information but there are going to be people you know in your family even maybe that are struggling and that aren’t doing these things to have these healthy routines how can we support them like maybe you have a family member who you see is you know turning to drugs or alcohol to deal with their problems maybe through the holidays what can we do to support them and uh just people that are struggling with their behavioral health in general so this is a very loaded question and I I will be honest I may not be able to answer the full aspect because when we’re dealing with things like substance abuse and addiction that’s pain that is internalized pain that they’re substituting and that they’re using these these devices just like any of us sometimes we have to accept that they might need outside help and outside connections sometimes we have to realize that we may not be the person that can save them and I use that term loosely because there’s so much that goes into that but as a family member um who’s also you know both professionally personally understand these struggles I can tell you we can meet a person where they’re at and we can have empathy for that person and we can validate their experiences and encourage them but sympathy is different than empathy sympathy is feeling sorry for the person where you take on their emotions and you try to save them which can actually do a lot of harm because we have to let the person decide what’s going to be best for them even in the hardest of times because we can’t force someone to do something but empathy is recognizing that you understand their perspective you can validate their experience does not mean that that is your experience or your feelings so that’s again where self-care and knowing that if they’re not ready to go out and do these holiday events or they’re not into it what can you guys do to together but what do you want to do for yourself MH because you have to take care of yourself to take care of other people and that’s the hardest thing we have to learn in this field yes um so I guess what uh resources then are available for people um maybe they don’t know what to do or where to go or how to start what can they do so th this is what’s wonderful hon County um where I’m originally from is a small community and I feel like we really are trying to reconnect with our community so if we look at just resources we know there’s things out there like the Salvation Army we know there’s volunteer opportunities we know that there’s peer support for those who are struggling with addiction and I will tell you our mental health and substance abuse board is phenomenal and I am going to give them a shout out because I work on the um youth Coalition committee with them and I know firsthand what they’re doing out there in the community and I am just grateful that we have more peer support the other things is is those who are dis abled or have a disability a learning disability or developmental disability with the board of DD and um I have siblings who are autistic that I take care of I’m their caregiver and I know that they have a number that’s 741741 that um can be text to and you text for Hope and they will have counselors for emergencies for those who are disabled um the 988 crisis hotline is phenomenal um there’s also the hot for veterans um when they’re struggling as well and I apologize I I don’t know the full one offand so I think that as a community we’re starting to realize that we can have that perspective that if someone’s struggling you know they got to take care of themselves or we know the way we heal from it is that as a community we have to have a community support yeah so all right so um again if uh you want to get inform um maybe reach out to behavioral health make an appointment Fisher titus. org is a good place to start with that to get that information yes absolutely and I would also say Firelands Family Health Services because the truth is I’m at a point in my career where it’s not just who we work for it’s what the community does for the community and that includes sometimes doing a referral base there are times where if we have a waiting list and I can’t get to a client let’s get you to Family Health Services let’s get you to fire lens because really it’s in the best interest of the people that we serve in that’s really great because I know that that is a thing that puts a lot of people off is that well I tried to make an appointment they couldn’t get me in for six months or whatever so what’s the point yeah but so that’s great that you will you know kind of refer people to other places where you know they might have an opening or taking new clients on so um that’s very good thank you so much for you know pointing that out again uh Laura Butler from Fisher Titus Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Department um again to Fisher titus. org if you would like more information or if you want to get in contact with somebody from Behavioral Health so thank you so much for coming in a very important topic that we are very passionate about here so I’m glad that you came in to chat with me today thank you and I’m very appreciative that could be part of this you’ve been listening to Wellness prescribed with fiser Titus Medical Center
This month, Laura Butler, Behavioral Health Clinical Therapist, explains what Behavioral Health is, how stress and anxiety can affect people around the holidays, and what resources are available for those who need support.
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