Building Wellness: Transparency & Resilience

One thing I learned through my experience is that resilience and transparency are learned skills. Each time I was fired from a job (yes, I have been fired before) I thought that my life was coming to a screeching halt. No one really teaches us how to tolerate failure, how to take the next step, and what transparency looks like in practice. To be clear, transparency does not mean letting the world know about your deepest, darkest, secrets. This speech is designed to leave you with understanding the importance of transparency, how to use it effectively, and how to build resilience with something that we will ultimately all experience: failure.

Intercepting the stress cycle

From rising costs, climate change, to global instability we are experiencing stress at a level we never have before. We know that stress impacts not only our mental health, but our physical well-being. I understand that the "just deal with it" attitude isn't effective (it never was) and people need access to skills to start navigating stress effectively now. This speech gives listeners practical skills needed to intercept the stress cycle and apply it to their daily lives the day you leave training .  

How to Improve DEI Efforts in Mental Health

Despite efforts to diversify the mental health field, substantial gaps persist. As of 2021, nearly 81% of the psychology workforce identified as White (Source: American Psychological Association). As mental health professionals, many of us are aware of how this alarming stat negatively impacts the field, we just seem unable or unwilling to move the needle in an intentional way. As a DBT therapist and ISITDBT board member, I have personally experienced the challenges of creating sustainable and meaningful change. I continually ask, "how does this impact those I serve", "what does this look like in practice," and "is this sustainable." This speech is designed to answer these questions and discuss 3 specific and targeted ways we can begin to shift the landscape of the field and offer more opportunities of engagement for our clients and future colleagues.

Note: This speech is directed to the mental health community and those with an interest in DEI efforts within the mental health field.