Intersectionality and Belonging
Michael Bergland-Riese
Author
12/06/2021
Added
26
Plays
Description
Continuing the Chancellor’s Diversity Commissions’ intersectionality panel series, the Chancellor’s Diversity Commissions are hosting “Intersectionality and Belonging: Shining a Light on Mental Health”.
The panel will feature:
• Trey Andrews, Minority Health Disparities Initiative, Psychology & Ethnic Studies
• Falesa Ivory-Horton, Psychologist, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
• Tierney Lorenz, Minority Health Disparities Initiative, Psychology
• Alice Mitwaruciu, Assistant Director, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS)
• Mariah Bullock, Athletic Psychologist, Athletics
Moderator:
Marianna Burks, Biology Instructor (Biological Sciences), Science Specialist – TRIO
Searchable Transcript
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- [00:00:03.940]Well, good afternoon, everybody.
- [00:00:07.180]I would like to get us started here this afternoon.
- [00:00:10.840]Welcome to our conversation
- [00:00:13.770]and our panelists here today.
- [00:00:15.760]I am Corrie Svehla,
- [00:00:16.593]the chair of the Chancellor's Commission
- [00:00:18.550]on Gender and Sexual Identities.
- [00:00:21.670]We have been partnering for the last two years
- [00:00:24.680]on intersectionality panels,
- [00:00:27.260]and this is another one
- [00:00:29.210]that we are doing today about wellness.
- [00:00:31.310]And we are back in-person
- [00:00:33.070]and I'm glad to see the smiling faces here today.
- [00:00:36.040]And I'm gonna turn this over to Catherine
- [00:00:38.210]to short introduction for her commission
- [00:00:40.020]and we'll get started.
- [00:00:44.100]Good afternoon
- [00:00:44.933]and thank you so much for coming.
- [00:00:46.360]We're just so grateful
- [00:00:47.680]for the overwhelming response to this event,
- [00:00:51.270]intersectionality and belonging,
- [00:00:53.140]shining a light on mental health.
- [00:00:55.280]As Corrie said, the three diversity commissions
- [00:00:58.530]have been working jointly on this series
- [00:01:00.960]over the last couple of years,
- [00:01:02.480]I chair the Chancellor's Commission
- [00:01:04.020]on the Status of People of Color
- [00:01:05.380]and appreciate everyone who has served
- [00:01:08.350]in bringing this to you today.
- [00:01:15.490]Good afternoon, I am Kacey Nelkin Pedersen.
- [00:01:18.130]I'm a staff council member
- [00:01:19.600]of the Chancellor's Commission for the Status of Women,
- [00:01:22.730]whose mission is to enhance the status of all women
- [00:01:25.470]at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
- [00:01:27.170]by advising the chancellor
- [00:01:28.440]on issues pertaining to gender equity
- [00:01:30.857]and specific concerns of women,
- [00:01:32.720]faculty, staff, and students at the university.
- [00:01:35.760]With that mission in mind,
- [00:01:37.670]the CCSW has worked on a variety of projects
- [00:01:40.500]and initiatives in recent years,
- [00:01:42.710]such as updating lactation policy at UNL
- [00:01:45.850]and improving access to lactation spaces on campus,
- [00:01:49.620]as well as continued work on an end-use system-wide
- [00:01:53.070]equitable family leave policy
- [00:01:55.640]and most relevant to today's discussion,
- [00:01:58.560]the recently deployed mental health and wellbeing survey,
- [00:02:01.850]which was sent out via email to all UNL faculty and staff
- [00:02:05.630]just before the Thanksgiving holiday break.
- [00:02:08.870]The purpose of the survey is to assess
- [00:02:10.960]and understand the current status
- [00:02:12.580]of mental health and wellness of employees,
- [00:02:15.340]and to understand how their mental health and wellbeing
- [00:02:18.300]has changed since the start of the pandemic.
- [00:02:21.620]The data collected will inform the development
- [00:02:24.200]and enhancement of initiatives
- [00:02:25.990]focused on addressing these needs.
- [00:02:28.400]The commission will also be able to ascertain differences
- [00:02:31.410]among different groups,
- [00:02:32.730]which may or may not need more specific resources.
- [00:02:36.140]And the commission is also committed
- [00:02:37.750]to sharing survey results with the entire campus community.
- [00:02:42.070]Topics covered include general wellness,
- [00:02:44.920]work performance, work culture,
- [00:02:47.380]work-life balance, safety and violence,
- [00:02:50.740]and emotional and mental wellbeing.
- [00:02:53.940]Some of these survey topics you may notice
- [00:02:56.750]are similar to the recent climate survey
- [00:02:59.060]that was sponsored by Central Administration,
- [00:03:01.700]but this new survey takes a different
- [00:03:03.870]and much deeper approach.
- [00:03:06.500]I encourage any faculty or staff members
- [00:03:09.590]who have not yet taken this survey to please do so soon.
- [00:03:13.130]Your input is very, very important to us.
- [00:03:16.680]So on behalf of the CCSW today,
- [00:03:19.080]I wanna thank you all for joining us at this event.
- [00:03:25.080]Mariana.
- [00:03:26.540]Welcome, I'm Mariana Burks.
- [00:03:28.640]I'll be the moderator for our wonderful panel today.
- [00:03:32.080]This panel features a diverse group of experts from UNL
- [00:03:36.740]who engage us in the impact of gender, race, ethnicity,
- [00:03:41.970]sexual identity, international status,
- [00:03:45.490]and being a student athlete has on a person's attitude
- [00:03:48.820]about mental health.
- [00:03:50.650]I will allow the panel to introduce themselves.
- [00:03:54.660]Hi.
- [00:03:55.493]Hopefully you all can hear me.
- [00:03:56.330]I'm Trey Andrews.
- [00:03:57.860]I'm an associate professor in the department of psychology
- [00:04:01.800]and joined appointed in Ethnic Studies.
- [00:04:04.500]I'm also the co-director
- [00:04:05.970]of the Minority Health Disparities Initiative,
- [00:04:09.610]and I focus a lot of my work on Latinx mental health,
- [00:04:13.840]particularly for immigrants
- [00:04:16.960]and Spanish speaking populations.
- [00:04:20.410]Good afternoon.
- [00:04:21.243]My name is Falesa Ivory-Horton.
- [00:04:23.000]I am a psychologist and DEI coordinator at CAPS.
- [00:04:27.900]I work a lot with our students of color,
- [00:04:31.690]also working with them on issues of identity development,
- [00:04:37.840]transition to college,
- [00:04:44.000]the transition and finding a community on campus,
- [00:04:49.220]work with LGBTQA members,
- [00:04:52.210]also on identity development issues.
- [00:04:56.280]Hi, I am Tierney Lorenz,
- [00:04:57.370]I'm assistant professor in the department of psychology.
- [00:04:59.550]I'm also at the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior.
- [00:05:02.890]And my work is primarily in women's mental and sexual health
- [00:05:07.040]with a special focus on survivors of sexual trauma
- [00:05:09.810]and sexual minority women.
- [00:05:13.180]My name is Alice Mitwaruciu,
- [00:05:15.820]and I am the assistant director at CAPS,
- [00:05:19.380]Counseling and Psychological Services.
- [00:05:21.820]And also I supervise doctoral students
- [00:05:27.180]who are in their internship.
- [00:05:29.420]Also, I oversee all the crisis services for the center,
- [00:05:34.870]making sure we coordinate those services for students.
- [00:05:39.730]And I also walk with international students.
- [00:05:43.950]I'm from Kenya, born and raised.
- [00:05:47.700]And so I walk with international students
- [00:05:49.960]to help them adjust to life in the US
- [00:05:52.620]while they're pursuing their academic careers.
- [00:05:57.340]Hi, I'm Mariah Bullock.
- [00:05:58.960]I am an athletic psychologist.
- [00:06:01.530]I work in the university athletics department
- [00:06:04.890]specifically with football, soccer, softball, and rifle,
- [00:06:08.330]but we kinda share.
- [00:06:10.260]I also was a collegiate and professional soccer player.
- [00:06:13.500]So that's my perspective,
- [00:06:15.183]it is kind of the intersection with the athlete
- [00:06:17.810]and student athlete identity, mental.
- [00:06:21.490]And again, I'm Marianna Burks.
- [00:06:22.970]I'm a biology instructor
- [00:06:24.250]for the School of Biological Sciences
- [00:06:26.620]and also the science specialist for our TRIO programs.
- [00:06:29.810]So would we please give our panel a hand and welcome them?
- [00:06:32.877](audience claps)
- [00:06:39.780]The order in which we will actually proceed
- [00:06:43.460]is that I will prompt our panelists with a question,
- [00:06:48.180]they will each have an equal time
- [00:06:49.990]to actually elaborate on their perspective
- [00:06:53.950]and their expertise
- [00:06:55.820]regarding the topic of the actual question.
- [00:06:59.380]So with that, I will start.
- [00:07:01.630]How do you approach the intersectionality
- [00:07:04.730]of mental health in your work?
- [00:07:08.610]So I'll start and I promise I'll get to the question,
- [00:07:13.520]but I think it's important,
- [00:07:14.860]especially for me to acknowledge
- [00:07:16.430]a little bit of my background.
- [00:07:19.754]You know, I primarily work as somebody
- [00:07:23.610]who is a very phenotypically white man.
- [00:07:26.570]I use he/him pronouns,
- [00:07:29.080]but I work with Latinx immigrants.
- [00:07:33.900]And so when I'm thinking about intersectionality,
- [00:07:38.640]I'm both thinking about the way that all of those identities
- [00:07:41.930]that I just mentioned about myself,
- [00:07:44.020]as well as the identities of the people across me,
- [00:07:47.400]the ways that they intersect for each of us
- [00:07:51.120]and how they're going to be brought into the room
- [00:07:55.050]each time that I worked,
- [00:07:56.420]so, I did not mention, but I'm also a clinical psychologist.
- [00:08:00.740]And I think very often in those terms
- [00:08:03.760]of what is it like to be in the room,
- [00:08:06.010]how do I meet the need of the person in front of me?
- [00:08:09.290]And in much of my work and the training that I do,
- [00:08:12.292]I'll shout out to some of the students here
- [00:08:14.880]who have gone through some of that training with me,
- [00:08:20.290]but it's often thinking about those kinds of things.
- [00:08:25.550]And so when I think about intersectionality
- [00:08:28.130]and mental health,
- [00:08:29.750]for me it's about how does all of those intersections
- [00:08:34.500]of my identities inform the way
- [00:08:36.520]that somebody is going to see me,
- [00:08:39.240]the way that they're going to view me,
- [00:08:41.150]and also the expectations that I might suspect
- [00:08:44.800]that they're carrying into the room
- [00:08:47.650]with a layer of trying to train students
- [00:08:51.500]in the same way while I'm still understanding
- [00:08:53.250]that all of those intersections differ for me,
- [00:08:57.920]relative to the student,
- [00:08:59.020]relative to the client.
- [00:09:00.280]So there's this multiple layers of intersecting identities
- [00:09:05.130]that inform not only our experiences out in the world,
- [00:09:07.670]but how we're going to interact in the room
- [00:09:12.000]and the things that we might need to discuss,
- [00:09:14.470]including acknowledging many of those identities
- [00:09:17.760]from the outset.
- [00:09:22.100]Kind of similar.
- [00:09:22.950]I think that it's impossible.
- [00:09:26.280]And what I do is to help people
- [00:09:28.770]when I see people they're hurting.
- [00:09:30.610]So it's impossible for me to really help
- [00:09:35.370]without understanding who they are.
- [00:09:38.280]And best author
- [00:09:41.970]and the best narrator of who they are is them.
- [00:09:46.010]So I tend to take a more curious observer role
- [00:09:50.740]and asking different questions
- [00:09:52.760]and learning to get to know them
- [00:09:54.650]because you cannot divorce a person's circumstances,
- [00:09:59.010]their environment, their culture,
- [00:10:01.710]from what is happening to them.
- [00:10:04.010]It may affect them all in different waves
- [00:10:06.520]they may not even recognize that it is affecting them.
- [00:10:10.740]And that's part of what my job is,
- [00:10:12.360]is to bring that out and help them to make connections,
- [00:10:16.010]to get to where it is that they wanna be.
- [00:10:21.750]So, I'm gonna take a little bit of a sidestep
- [00:10:24.020]from my perspective as a clinician,
- [00:10:26.730]and instead talk about some of the research that we've done,
- [00:10:30.590]looking at mental health and stress.
- [00:10:33.980]I'm a clinical health psychologist,
- [00:10:35.530]so I'm really interested in understanding how stress
- [00:10:38.300]and particularly how exposure to discrimination stress
- [00:10:42.290]and marginalization kind of gets under the skin as it were,
- [00:10:45.960]how it contributes to some of the long-term chronic mental
- [00:10:49.600]and physical health problems
- [00:10:50.900]that we see in folks with multiple marginalization statuses.
- [00:10:55.100]And one of the things that we know
- [00:10:56.560]about what causes stress in human beings,
- [00:11:00.710]we're very social creatures,
- [00:11:02.620]we kinda know that there are some specific features
- [00:11:05.030]of things that stress us out
- [00:11:06.970]that consistently cause our bodies to respond
- [00:11:10.190]with a physical stress response.
- [00:11:11.690]And so those kinds of criteria include things like:
- [00:11:15.170]stressors that are really social and evaluative in nature
- [00:11:17.690]tend to stress humans out a lot
- [00:11:19.790]because we are very social creatures,
- [00:11:21.280]we rely on social support a great deal,
- [00:11:24.330]and obviously discrimination
- [00:11:25.720]and exposure to negative evaluations
- [00:11:28.810]or perceived negative evaluations from others
- [00:11:31.470]definitely is going to play into our chronic stress.
- [00:11:34.810]And so to the extent that people
- [00:11:36.440]who have multiple different sources of marginalization
- [00:11:42.080]because of their intersecting identities,
- [00:11:44.460]they're gonna be particularly at risk for experiencing
- [00:11:49.350]those kinds of perceived negative evaluations.
- [00:11:51.850]But one of the things that I think is fascinating,
- [00:11:53.820]that's come out of the research literature,
- [00:11:55.290]just in the last few years
- [00:11:57.140]is trying to understand why it is
- [00:11:59.170]that folks with multiple minority identities
- [00:12:02.340]or more minoritized identities
- [00:12:04.350]experience more unpredictability and kind of chaoticness
- [00:12:10.600]in the stressors that they experience,
- [00:12:12.990]because you would think
- [00:12:13.930]somebody who has multiple marginalization statuses,
- [00:12:17.850]over time, they're gonna kinda get used
- [00:12:19.670]to living in a world that is going to,
- [00:12:23.720]is exposing them to a lot of discrimination.
- [00:12:26.190]And yet we see persistently that folks
- [00:12:30.280]with those multiple intersecting marginalized statuses
- [00:12:34.030]tend to perceive the world as more unpredictable.
- [00:12:36.370]And one of the really interesting kind of theories
- [00:12:38.840]that sort of evolved out of that
- [00:12:40.300]is this idea around entitativity.
- [00:12:43.600]So entitativity refers to the degree
- [00:12:46.120]to which we kind of perceive an identity or a label
- [00:12:50.560]as being a very cohesive and defined set of boundaries.
- [00:12:58.150]So group that is highly entitative
- [00:12:59.880]or an identity that's highly entitative
- [00:13:02.390]is really well-defined.
- [00:13:03.720]People who are inside the group
- [00:13:05.100]know that they're inside the group,
- [00:13:06.180]people who are outside the group
- [00:13:07.410]would know how to categorize them, et cetera.
- [00:13:09.710]And the interesting thing
- [00:13:10.590]about having multiple intersecting identities
- [00:13:13.350]is that the way in which identities are shaped
- [00:13:19.460]and the ways that our identities
- [00:13:20.920]tend to be presented back to us
- [00:13:22.930]in the kind of broader mainstream culture
- [00:13:25.580]tends to be in a very narrowly defined way, right?
- [00:13:28.560]So if I as a fem presenting woman,
- [00:13:35.400]I kinda know what the boundaries of my womanhood are
- [00:13:38.560]and what my femininity are.
- [00:13:40.400]And because of that,
- [00:13:41.320]I can make some assumptions
- [00:13:42.910]about how my life is gonna go,
- [00:13:44.360]how other people are gonna treat me,
- [00:13:45.920]how other people are gonna see me,
- [00:13:47.700]what kinds of life experiences I can expect.
- [00:13:52.010]But now let's add on a different layer of identity and say,
- [00:13:55.710]and take into account my sexual minority status.
- [00:13:58.180]And now all of a sudden,
- [00:13:59.650]some of the expectations
- [00:14:00.910]that may be previously had been put forward to me
- [00:14:04.300]as being part of my womanhood,
- [00:14:06.440]you know, expectations around marriage
- [00:14:07.920]or family, or whatever else,
- [00:14:10.320]suddenly are kind of a little bit fuzzier
- [00:14:13.000]and a little bit more unpredictable.
- [00:14:15.330]And so what I think the theory,
- [00:14:18.200]the broader theory of intersectionality
- [00:14:20.470]is really highlighting
- [00:14:21.530]and stress researchers are really coming to grapple with,
- [00:14:24.510]is that the way that identity is constructed
- [00:14:30.180]and the fuzziness around the boundaries of our identities
- [00:14:35.060]can itself be a source of stress potentially.
- [00:14:39.790]If what is constantly being pushed back at you,
- [00:14:42.100]is that the way that your identity should look
- [00:14:44.920]is this really narrowly defined thing
- [00:14:46.490]that you kinda don't fit into
- [00:14:47.820]because of other identities that you hold.
- [00:14:50.860]And so the more that we come to understand,
- [00:14:53.167]and the more that we come to help people
- [00:14:56.030]who maybe have aspects to their identity,
- [00:14:59.050]that don't fit into the common understanding
- [00:15:01.590]of what that identity looks like,
- [00:15:04.000]the more diverse representations
- [00:15:06.270]that we can expose people to,
- [00:15:08.840]the more they have a sense of belonging,
- [00:15:10.540]which I think is a really powerful theme to this panel,
- [00:15:14.250]the more that they can have a sense
- [00:15:15.440]that like I do belong in this identity,
- [00:15:17.380]and I do kind of having a sense
- [00:15:18.780]of where my life is going to go,
- [00:15:20.070]because I have role models,
- [00:15:21.100]because I have people that I look up to.
- [00:15:22.920]And maybe even if I don't have a great idea
- [00:15:25.560]of exactly what's coming down the pike,
- [00:15:27.400]I feel supported, I know where to go for that support.
- [00:15:31.190]Thank you.
- [00:15:33.626]So in my job as a clinical psychologist,
- [00:15:37.270]I think when I have patients in my office,
- [00:15:42.250]first of all, is I know something as their coping mechanism
- [00:15:46.220]has broken down,
- [00:15:47.140]that's why they are seeking help in the first place.
- [00:15:50.010]So first of all is to identify the strengths
- [00:15:53.880]that the person brings
- [00:15:55.500]because often people think,
- [00:15:57.360]when I go to therapy,
- [00:15:58.490]they're gonna tell me exactly what is wrong with me
- [00:16:01.120]and they're gonna fix me,
- [00:16:03.530]which that's the assumption.
- [00:16:06.180]Which on the contrary,
- [00:16:07.990]when I am working with individuals,
- [00:16:10.800]I'm looking at the strength they bring as people,
- [00:16:14.600]because even though they're struggling
- [00:16:17.170]or they're in a crisis in this moment,
- [00:16:19.560]it doesn't mean that's the way they have lived their life
- [00:16:22.210]before coming to seek for help.
- [00:16:24.540]There are things that they have put in place,
- [00:16:26.600]whether it is support systems,
- [00:16:28.380]whether it is a specific coping mechanisms,
- [00:16:31.330]but then something happens
- [00:16:33.940]and something changes all of that.
- [00:16:36.430]So then my job is to seek what has worked in the past
- [00:16:40.050]and why is it not working now?
- [00:16:43.000]It could be,
- [00:16:43.833]especially when I work with international students
- [00:16:46.260]is I was doing great in my country of origin,
- [00:16:49.770]I was on top of my classes
- [00:16:51.500]I got a wonderful scholarship because I was on top
- [00:16:54.980]and I'm here now at UNL
- [00:16:57.240]or whatever college they are at and I'm struggling.
- [00:17:00.500]So then we started looking at adjustment.
- [00:17:03.190]How is your culture colliding with the American culture?
- [00:17:09.434]If you are an international student,
- [00:17:12.090]is your family here?
- [00:17:13.340]Oh, no, I could not bring my family.
- [00:17:15.430]I'm here all by myself.
- [00:17:16.910]How is that affecting your mental health?
- [00:17:19.630]So I'm looking to their story that they bring,
- [00:17:24.780]which is full of a lot of resiliency,
- [00:17:27.410]but also now I'm looking at what has broken down,
- [00:17:31.160]where is the disconnect
- [00:17:32.750]and how can I help you find those resources here
- [00:17:37.880]so you're not disintegrating.
- [00:17:39.420]You can be successful as a student, as a father,
- [00:17:43.680]'cause some of them already parents,
- [00:17:47.090]and you can also be successful the classroom.
- [00:17:49.850]How do you also communicate with your professors
- [00:17:52.970]so you get your needs met?
- [00:17:54.990]Do you need some flexibility?
- [00:17:56.950]Is there a language barrier?
- [00:17:58.710]Is there a cultural barrier?
- [00:18:00.230]So I'm looking at all of those things
- [00:18:02.230]that sometimes they may not identify,
- [00:18:04.730]all they know is, I can stop crying.
- [00:18:07.150]That's what we get sometimes.
- [00:18:08.900]Then, okay, let's see what has changed.
- [00:18:11.700]Let's see what we can put in place for you.
- [00:18:14.180]We are also looking at their identity, cultural identity.
- [00:18:18.560]We are looking at gender identity, sexual identity,
- [00:18:21.730]all of those pieces have to be put together
- [00:18:25.500]so then you can empower them to say that, you know,
- [00:18:29.560]you are a normal person
- [00:18:31.790]who has faced a challenge in this area,
- [00:18:34.550]so let's figure out how to bring all these pieces together
- [00:18:38.790]so you can function.
- [00:18:40.440]If they are not sleeping sometimes,
- [00:18:42.530]I'll say, let's talk maybe to a psychiatrist
- [00:18:45.330]to see if you need a little help with some medication
- [00:18:48.770]to help you manage stress,
- [00:18:50.314]depression, lack of sleep and all of that.
- [00:18:53.250]So, when I'm treating the person in terms of mental health,
- [00:18:58.440]we are looking at them in totality.
- [00:19:00.867]We are not just looking at this one problem
- [00:19:03.160]that is presenting,
- [00:19:04.660]you're looking at their story.
- [00:19:06.580]You're looking at the strengths they bring as people
- [00:19:10.620]and what they need then to boost that
- [00:19:12.960]and may be sometimes also change a few things.
- [00:19:16.420]So when we talk about intersectionality of mental health,
- [00:19:20.490]especially for people who are adjusting to whatever it is,
- [00:19:23.626]'cause think about it, college life is about adjusting.
- [00:19:27.530]I mean, you are adjusting to a new environment,
- [00:19:30.430]new professors every semester,
- [00:19:32.450]you're adjusting to research,
- [00:19:34.340]you're adjusting to who you are as a person
- [00:19:37.120]'cause you are growing at the same time.
- [00:19:39.670]All of these things are parallel processes
- [00:19:42.320]and you wanna make sure
- [00:19:43.290]that the person is moving in the right direction.
- [00:19:46.532]So, that is the way I view my work when I have clients
- [00:19:52.270]it's from that strength-based approach
- [00:19:56.740]and also looking at how resilient they are,
- [00:19:59.320]but also educating them at the same time.
- [00:20:02.150]Because oftentimes you'll have people
- [00:20:05.130]who know something is not right,
- [00:20:07.930]but they don't have the language.
- [00:20:09.700]They don't have the vocabulary
- [00:20:11.430]to define what it is that is happening.
- [00:20:14.800]So, it is not only a counseling piece,
- [00:20:18.330]there's a psychoeducational piece,
- [00:20:20.470]or by teaching them about emotions.
- [00:20:23.090]What are you feeling?
- [00:20:24.290]How do you label those emotions?
- [00:20:25.900]How do manage them?
- [00:20:27.150]So you have to kinda put all those pieces together for them
- [00:20:30.690]and then of course give them some hope
- [00:20:33.220]that this is not the end of it.
- [00:20:35.160]You're struggling now,
- [00:20:36.500]we want you to come out stronger and more resilient,
- [00:20:41.500]and with additional coping skills
- [00:20:43.630]if the ones you've been using are not working.
- [00:20:47.288]Thank you.
- [00:20:49.390]So beginning from our triage process,
- [00:20:52.150]we have the liaison that works
- [00:20:54.480]with whatever sports team,
- [00:20:56.970]me initially with the student athlete.
- [00:21:00.230]And then kind of similar to what Trey was saying
- [00:21:02.610]based off of their identities
- [00:21:04.030]and then the identity of the clinician,
- [00:21:06.270]we may have a conversation about,
- [00:21:08.440]okay, what types of identities, cultures,
- [00:21:10.890]experiences do you think would be a good fit for you?
- [00:21:13.280]And then we make that pairing in that way.
- [00:21:17.070]Then me personally,
- [00:21:18.350]also trying to come from a position of curiosity,
- [00:21:22.460]to understand based off of your different identities
- [00:21:26.010]and especially the student athlete identity,
- [00:21:28.040]what are some of the experiences
- [00:21:30.300]that you've had in your life
- [00:21:31.500]and how have those experiences shaped your beliefs
- [00:21:34.890]about yourself, the world, others,
- [00:21:37.909]and then those different identities,
- [00:21:40.110]how might those beliefs either align or conflict, right?
- [00:21:44.300]So maybe as a male, they would feel okay,
- [00:21:49.110]well, within mental health,
- [00:21:50.390]my experiences were men need to be tough
- [00:21:52.900]and mental health, mental illness is a weakness.
- [00:21:57.180]That aligns pretty well
- [00:21:58.290]with the belief system within athletics.
- [00:22:00.920]But you may have a female who within Western society
- [00:22:06.810]feels, okay, body image, for example,
- [00:22:09.400]that, oh, I need to have a thin body ideal.
- [00:22:13.130]Whereas in athletics,
- [00:22:14.980]the ideal might be more muscular, lean, strong,
- [00:22:18.100]and then, okay, well, what do we do
- [00:22:19.720]with these two seemingly conflicting belief systems?
- [00:22:22.960]How can I integrate them to make me my own perspective
- [00:22:26.250]as a holistic person, right?
- [00:22:28.800]I also like to try to meet people to the extent that I can
- [00:22:33.540]on common ground and where they're at.
- [00:22:35.310]So I do like to lean into my experience as an athlete
- [00:22:39.320]to say, yes, I do understand that
- [00:22:40.930]and try to metaphorically speak a language
- [00:22:43.640]that they feel comfortable in and that they understand.
- [00:22:46.430]So I might use sport metaphors,
- [00:22:48.690]or I often like to use physical injury
- [00:22:51.640]as an analogy to mental health,
- [00:22:53.950]because it's something that they can understand
- [00:22:55.590]and connect with and kind of reduces some of that stigma.
- [00:22:59.960]And then lastly,
- [00:23:00.990]I try to individualize and tailor
- [00:23:04.520]whether that's how we're processing
- [00:23:07.230]or talking about whatever we are in session
- [00:23:09.520]or the type of problem-solving
- [00:23:11.800]and interventions that we're doing,
- [00:23:13.810]again, to fit their culture.
- [00:23:16.140]Because prior to working in athletics department,
- [00:23:19.210]I was in a counseling center
- [00:23:21.000]and the type of interventions
- [00:23:23.240]or recommendations that we might jointly come up to
- [00:23:26.500]are gonna look very different for general population student
- [00:23:29.360]that might not apply to a student athlete.
- [00:23:31.060]So it's also within whatever culture identity
- [00:23:34.180]that you're coming from,
- [00:23:35.810]can I adjust to say, can we make this fit in your schema?
- [00:23:42.700]Wonderful, wonderful.
- [00:23:44.330]Again, just hearing your perspectives,
- [00:23:47.410]how you actually practice in your work,
- [00:23:50.390]being very student-centered,
- [00:23:52.200]but also bringing yourselves into the situation
- [00:23:55.120]to really help individuals understand that they're stressed
- [00:23:59.920]and that they're recognizing
- [00:24:02.230]that it could be a mental health crisis that they don't see.
- [00:24:05.930]So again, this panel is very special
- [00:24:09.030]because what you bring and what you do is very important.
- [00:24:12.300]So we really appreciate that.
- [00:24:15.730]The next question is,
- [00:24:17.760]how can we normalize the topic of mental health
- [00:24:21.330]and remove the stigmas
- [00:24:22.870]that people feel are associated with open conversation?
- [00:24:29.259]I think that's a big question.
- [00:24:31.370]I'm gonna guess we'll probably have some similar thoughts,
- [00:24:35.230]so I apologize if I'm stealing anybody's thunder here,
- [00:24:38.460]but I would guess that one of the first things
- [00:24:43.220]is being open about talking about it, right?
- [00:24:47.490]So being open about talking
- [00:24:49.730]about our own experiences as well,
- [00:24:52.580]'cause if you think about any conversation that you have,
- [00:24:57.610]starting from a place where you're willing
- [00:24:59.610]to take that first step
- [00:25:00.740]and say, here's what I struggled with
- [00:25:03.680]and to normalize that expression a little bit,
- [00:25:07.060]that might make it easier for the person on the other side,
- [00:25:10.260]you know, assuming we're not talking like therapy context
- [00:25:12.640]'cause therapy context, that's not about my problems,
- [00:25:16.480]so maybe not there,
- [00:25:17.850]but other conversations to take that first step
- [00:25:21.080]to kind of demonstrate that this is okay,
- [00:25:24.940]we can talk about it
- [00:25:26.710]and break the stigma in that way.
- [00:25:28.920]So that those around us get more comfortable
- [00:25:32.610]hearing about it, talking about it themselves.
- [00:25:36.982]And so I think that that is huge.
- [00:25:40.570]In a lot of my work,
- [00:25:43.210]I also think it's really critical to put folks like us,
- [00:25:49.640]many of us as mental health practitioners,
- [00:25:52.080]into places where seeing us
- [00:25:56.210]can start to feel a bit more normalized
- [00:25:59.030]where we aren't that person over there
- [00:26:01.810]where it's stigmatizing to go there.
- [00:26:05.100]And then the,
- [00:26:06.260]so in making this concrete
- [00:26:08.870]and a lot of the work that I do that's in primary care,
- [00:26:11.110]or at least the supervision that I do
- [00:26:13.330]looking, again, up to the students with whom I work a lot,
- [00:26:18.380]working in an environment like that,
- [00:26:21.680]where you might have a physician who's willing to say like,
- [00:26:26.830]oh, it might be really helpful to go talk to Trey.
- [00:26:31.640]They might call me a behavioral health consultant
- [00:26:35.280]in that environment,
- [00:26:36.310]but it'd be really helpful to talk to them about it.
- [00:26:38.720]I think they would have a good perspective
- [00:26:40.270]on things you might be able to do
- [00:26:42.000]to help out whatever the problem might be.
- [00:26:45.950]That seems really small.
- [00:26:48.310]And I'm using a really specific example,
- [00:26:50.500]but those kinds of things
- [00:26:52.770]really clearly communicate that in a place
- [00:26:56.340]where we're used to going for different ailments.
- [00:27:01.395]And we had the example, just use to talking,
- [00:27:03.170]like using analogies about physical injury
- [00:27:06.080]in an almost as broader perspective of health.
- [00:27:09.840]And so having it exist in a place like that,
- [00:27:13.920]where you can normalize that these kinds of services,
- [00:27:17.180]these kinds of issues are just as valid
- [00:27:21.090]as the other things that you're talking about.
- [00:27:22.540]And the people with that kind of expertise
- [00:27:25.730]have legitimate expertise that we can refer you to
- [00:27:29.560]so that they can help.
- [00:27:32.920]So, having folks like us in these environments,
- [00:27:35.850]panels like this, thank you for hosting,
- [00:27:38.920]I think helps put a spotlight on a little bit of what we do
- [00:27:43.340]helps to normalize and begin those conversations
- [00:27:46.730]so that it doesn't feel quite as awkward to seek help,
- [00:27:52.360]to talk about things that we're struggling with,
- [00:27:55.260]even if it's not in a formalized context.
- [00:27:58.290]So, across all of those,
- [00:28:00.550]it's whatever we can do to take those actions to normalize
- [00:28:05.560]and kind of demonstrate that it is okay to talk about
- [00:28:11.430]and it is okay for us to struggle sometimes.
- [00:28:17.450]You did take a lot of stuff.
- [00:28:18.626](panel members laughs)
- [00:28:19.459]I'm sorry, I knew that was gonna happen.
- [00:28:22.360]I think one of,
- [00:28:23.560]that's one of the things that we struggle with with CAPS,
- [00:28:26.400]particularly with our marginalized students.
- [00:28:28.570]I have literally had students tell me
- [00:28:30.840]that we don't come to CAPS
- [00:28:31.870]because we don't think you understand our problems.
- [00:28:35.070]So, one of the things as the DEI coordinator for the office,
- [00:28:38.000]I have begun to get out into the community,
- [00:28:41.570]to other schools,
- [00:28:42.810]not just to talk to administrators in those schools,
- [00:28:46.560]but also to reach students as well.
- [00:28:49.930]One of the things that we're trying to do
- [00:28:52.010]is talk about mental health in a different way.
- [00:28:56.340]Instead of specifically calling things,
- [00:29:00.340]talking, you said talking about your experience,
- [00:29:02.820]talking about what is,
- [00:29:05.160]our society puts a lot of pressures on us,
- [00:29:07.180]there's lots of expectations
- [00:29:09.120]about what we're supposed to do,
- [00:29:10.610]how we're supposed to do things
- [00:29:12.080]and talking more about, yeah, that's a lot of pressure
- [00:29:16.000]and I'm wondering if, how is that affecting?
- [00:29:19.390]Have you ever felt like this?
- [00:29:21.790]That gets people to a point
- [00:29:23.760]to begin to think about how they are feeling.
- [00:29:27.120]Particularly for people of color,
- [00:29:29.600]we are so used to doing and going.
- [00:29:33.380]Not just people of color,
- [00:29:34.560]women, mothers, anybody who has lots of things
- [00:29:38.020]that they have to do,
- [00:29:39.690]sometimes you don't even recognize what's happening to you,
- [00:29:42.340]but you are a very resilient person.
- [00:29:45.320]You keep moving.
- [00:29:46.400]Now that's well and great,
- [00:29:48.190]but that can be a problem also.
- [00:29:51.030]And you do not recognize what's happening.
- [00:29:53.480]In addition to that, we have to look at cultures.
- [00:29:56.240]We have to look at how can we approach this
- [00:30:01.150]in a culturally appropriate way.
- [00:30:03.420]For example, Asian international students,
- [00:30:08.410]it's very collectivistic.
- [00:30:10.400]They have a lot riding on it.
- [00:30:12.051]They'll stereotypes of we're productive
- [00:30:15.958]and they're going to keep going.
- [00:30:18.030]My experience with students are I know the things that work,
- [00:30:22.460]but I've had to adjust that
- [00:30:24.130]to fit with their understanding their goals
- [00:30:28.230]of who they are and what they have to do.
- [00:30:30.560]And finding a way to acknowledge
- [00:30:33.770]and accept what they're doing,
- [00:30:35.700]point out how that could be hurtful.
- [00:30:38.820]It could affect their physical health,
- [00:30:41.570]it could affect their productivity.
- [00:30:44.050]And then we talk and craft a way to find something in there
- [00:30:48.450]in what you do that feels comfortable that you can do.
- [00:30:52.330]Because I can tell you all the things under the sun
- [00:30:55.700]that we know that research tells you to do,
- [00:30:58.340]but if you don't buy into it,
- [00:31:00.430]you're not going to do it.
- [00:31:02.060]So, I have to change the way that we talk about this.
- [00:31:05.600]Mental health is thought of as you're weak
- [00:31:09.150]if you can't do that.
- [00:31:10.660]No, it's a pretty strong person
- [00:31:13.180]who realizes that I need help.
- [00:31:15.400]I can't do this by myself.
- [00:31:17.130]So talking about mental health in a different way,
- [00:31:20.160]talking about how this can,
- [00:31:22.750]recognizing what's happening to you,
- [00:31:24.490]starting with recognizing what's happening.
- [00:31:27.410]And then we take the next step,
- [00:31:29.120]okay, this is going on,
- [00:31:31.140]am I dealing with this okay?
- [00:31:32.850]What do I do?
- [00:31:33.970]And that does not necessarily mean coming to me.
- [00:31:37.350]That also means there are other supports.
- [00:31:39.610]I know Trey said having people share their stories.
- [00:31:43.660]Yes, those things can be very helpful
- [00:31:46.110]because if this worked for you,
- [00:31:48.000]I know you, I trust you,
- [00:31:50.950]I'm gonna try that, so.
- [00:31:54.300]Great, Thank you.
- [00:31:56.637]Now you stole my answer.
- [00:31:58.602](panel members laughs)
- [00:31:59.980]Well in particular, to really like highlight
- [00:32:02.300]and underline the idea of changing the way
- [00:32:05.210]that we think about mental health,
- [00:32:08.940]I think that our society really gaslights a lot of people
- [00:32:14.060]about the cause, the root cause of their struggles.
- [00:32:18.467]When we look at the shame
- [00:32:20.820]around disclosing mental health problems,
- [00:32:23.670]I think we have to ask ourselves,
- [00:32:25.120]who benefits from that shame?
- [00:32:26.910]And I think the answer to that is the idea
- [00:32:29.170]that our broader society benefits,
- [00:32:34.010]the sort of systems of power benefit
- [00:32:36.050]to the extent that we localize mental health problems
- [00:32:38.670]within the individual,
- [00:32:39.670]because then it's the individual's problem,
- [00:32:42.030]the individual's responsibility,
- [00:32:43.570]something wrong with the individual person,
- [00:32:45.650]but everything that we know
- [00:32:47.370]about how mental health actually works
- [00:32:50.180]is that people are embedded within larger systems.
- [00:32:52.930]And to the extent that you are supported by that system,
- [00:32:57.820]your mental health will improve to the extent
- [00:32:59.670]that you are marginalized from that system,
- [00:33:03.210]discriminated against within that system,
- [00:33:04.890]try to act outside of that system,
- [00:33:06.770]then you're gonna start to see natural problems arrive
- [00:33:12.168]that are not necessarily,
- [00:33:13.660]again, located within the individual.
- [00:33:15.780]I think some of the most incredibly powerful voices
- [00:33:18.360]in psychology and in clinical psychology today
- [00:33:22.148]are kind of recognizing
- [00:33:24.410]that if we want to make really profound changes
- [00:33:26.610]in the conversation around mental health,
- [00:33:28.010]we have to start talking at a systems level
- [00:33:30.900]and we have to start talking about things
- [00:33:33.640]like mental health equity and access
- [00:33:36.690]and normalizing that these are normal responses
- [00:33:41.450]to crazy situations.
- [00:33:43.880]I'm gonna take just like two seconds
- [00:33:45.550]to shout about one of my favorite studies,
- [00:33:47.170]because I think it's really,
- [00:33:48.010]it really highlights this issue.
- [00:33:49.890]So, there's a group of studies done in the 1970s and '80s
- [00:33:53.150]in which researchers brought people into the lab
- [00:33:56.040]and there was a high pitched humming noise.
- [00:33:59.070]And they had them do all these different cognitive tasks.
- [00:34:02.050]And in some people they said,
- [00:34:04.450]hey, we're really trying to understand
- [00:34:06.870]how people respond under stress.
- [00:34:10.550]And so there's this high pitched humming noise
- [00:34:12.410]that's really irritating and annoying,
- [00:34:14.420]but it's there specifically to stress you out
- [00:34:16.870]so that we can see how you perform on these cognitive tests
- [00:34:19.200]when you're stressed.
- [00:34:20.240]And then to another group of people,
- [00:34:21.631]they said, oh, there's nothing wrong.
- [00:34:23.890]And if somebody brought up
- [00:34:25.060]that there was this high pitched noise,
- [00:34:27.160]they're like, what noise?
- [00:34:27.993]What are you talking about?
- [00:34:28.826]You're crazy.
- [00:34:30.770]Guess which group had higher stress levels?
- [00:34:34.010]Guess which group had higher problems
- [00:34:35.960]with their cognitive functioning
- [00:34:37.100]and guess which group thought that they were the problem.
- [00:34:42.350]And so I love shouting about this study
- [00:34:44.480]because the more that we can help people to recognize
- [00:34:48.480]the extent to which their experiences with discrimination
- [00:34:52.860]impact the way that they are able to cope,
- [00:34:57.100]we are giving them a really, really valuable tool
- [00:34:59.920]in kind of identifying the true source of their struggle.
- [00:35:04.910]And, you know, similarly, you know,
- [00:35:07.070]I think the disability community has done an incredible job
- [00:35:09.830]of highlighting how our construction of disability
- [00:35:15.170]is entirely based on people
- [00:35:18.200]being mismatched to their environment.
- [00:35:20.640]And to the extent that you match people
- [00:35:23.880]to appropriate environments,
- [00:35:25.840]all of a sudden that, quote unquote, disability goes away.
- [00:35:28.740]And I think that if we approach mental health
- [00:35:30.360]in that same way,
- [00:35:31.380]and we think about it
- [00:35:32.300]not as there's something horribly wrong with you,
- [00:35:34.520]and you should be ashamed about it,
- [00:35:35.750]but rather you have some individual needs
- [00:35:39.180]in this particular situation
- [00:35:40.940]and we need to find ways to accommodate and support you,
- [00:35:43.730]given that you live in this society,
- [00:35:45.280]given that you live in this world,
- [00:35:46.460]that expects you to act in this particular way.
- [00:35:48.340]And also incidentally is gonna gaslight you
- [00:35:50.320]about the source of your struggles at the same time.
- [00:35:54.180]And these three have said everything I planned to say.
- [00:35:57.620]So, the stigma around mental health,
- [00:36:02.320]I think is also rooted in the vocabulary
- [00:36:05.850]that has been used in the past for centuries,
- [00:36:09.450]and also the institutions that were put in place
- [00:36:13.280]for people with a mental breakdown.
- [00:36:16.520]And so that, I think in my opinion
- [00:36:22.720]is the reason why people are very shy
- [00:36:26.880]to talk about their mental health or their struggles
- [00:36:31.090]because they think they're going to be seen in that light,
- [00:36:35.598]you know, the neurosis, mental breakdown,
- [00:36:40.430]you are psychotic, you know.
- [00:36:42.440]Just the language that has been used
- [00:36:45.810]throughout the centuries
- [00:36:47.560]and the institutions where people were separated
- [00:36:50.670]from the rest of the society to seek help,
- [00:36:53.714]as opposed to let's integrate these people,
- [00:36:56.950]normalize to some extent what their experiences are,
- [00:37:02.180]and then treat them as whole people
- [00:37:03.923]as opposed to segregating them.
- [00:37:07.150]So, especially, I know, I come from Kenya.
- [00:37:10.288]And in Nairobi, we have a mental health hospital
- [00:37:14.040]just outside of Nairobi.
- [00:37:15.710]And so when somebody is struggling,
- [00:37:19.130]people will refer to that particular hospital,
- [00:37:22.280]you are a Mathare case.
- [00:37:24.484]Mathare is the name of the hospital.
- [00:37:26.220]And so to me,
- [00:37:27.700]that language is what makes mental health a stigma.
- [00:37:33.090]And the way we can come around that
- [00:37:36.420]is people sharing their success stories of seeking support,
- [00:37:41.220]whether from a therapist,
- [00:37:42.700]from a psychologist,
- [00:37:44.110]from a psychiatrist,
- [00:37:45.650]people who have used psychotropic medications with success
- [00:37:48.860]and share those stories.
- [00:37:50.720]This is me,
- [00:37:52.230]I had a mental breakdown going through graduate school,
- [00:37:56.010]I sought help,
- [00:37:57.390]I wrote my dissertation,
- [00:37:59.010]here I am,
- [00:37:59.843]or this is my success story.
- [00:38:02.150]So I think it is looking at the language which we use,
- [00:38:06.840]and also places where people are seeking mental health.
- [00:38:10.640]I'm encouraged because a lot of people now
- [00:38:13.210]have private practices in our communities,
- [00:38:16.470]in our villages,
- [00:38:17.430]so people are like, oh my gosh,
- [00:38:19.030]if these places are planted in our communities,
- [00:38:22.780]people seek help there.
- [00:38:24.240]So it is normal
- [00:38:25.480]and it is okay for me to go seek that help.
- [00:38:29.520]Now, specifically talking about international students,
- [00:38:33.130]most of international students
- [00:38:34.980]will come from Asian continents, from Africa,
- [00:38:39.260]and of course, a few from European countries,
- [00:38:42.960]but majority of international students
- [00:38:45.610]come from very communal backgrounds
- [00:38:50.780]where things are resolved within the families.
- [00:38:54.130]You don't, if you have a problem,
- [00:38:56.300]you don't hang dirty laundry in public.
- [00:38:59.250]At least that's how I was brought up.
- [00:39:01.320]We speak about it here,
- [00:39:03.280]it dies here, we cover it here, it's that.
- [00:39:05.980]And so when international students
- [00:39:09.560]then are uprooted from that support network
- [00:39:12.880]and in a foreign country,
- [00:39:15.260]all of a sudden they are on their own.
- [00:39:18.000]And how then do you seek mental health?
- [00:39:20.930]We have had students and Falesa can vouch to this
- [00:39:23.610]who say, I don't wanna my family know
- [00:39:26.229]I'm seeking help at CAPS.
- [00:39:29.090]I don't want my friends to know
- [00:39:30.880]because that one will go back
- [00:39:32.760]and people will know I'm seeking mental health.
- [00:39:35.150]So we try to normalize that
- [00:39:37.800]by either sharing success stories,
- [00:39:42.033]and what they need to be successful.
- [00:39:44.950]And so what Falesa said is what I'll also gonna say
- [00:39:49.070]is going out, 'cause if you think about it,
- [00:39:53.190]mental health is where you go to the clinician
- [00:39:56.170]to seek help.
- [00:39:57.120]And I think we need to start thinking
- [00:39:59.550]about us getting out of our offices
- [00:40:02.815]and reaching people where they are.
- [00:40:05.640]I'm a person who truly who believes
- [00:40:08.160]that even offering mental health care at home,
- [00:40:12.930]in people's natural environment can be beneficial
- [00:40:16.750]because a lot of people I'm like,
- [00:40:17.970]I'm not going to talk to a stranger in a new office.
- [00:40:21.160]I'm not doing that.
- [00:40:22.630]So, if you say, what if we found a safe, secure place,
- [00:40:27.290]confidential place in your home
- [00:40:29.390]when everybody else is at work,
- [00:40:31.541]we can do this work.
- [00:40:33.430]So I think to remove that stigma,
- [00:40:37.070]we have to do it the way nurses approach home health care.
- [00:40:42.830]Nurses go home and take care of people in their homes.
- [00:40:47.740]And of course they have to make sure
- [00:40:49.540]that there's safety measures and all of that,
- [00:40:51.830]but I don't think there should be any difference
- [00:40:54.730]when we approach mental health.
- [00:40:56.730]We need to take therapy out of the office,
- [00:41:00.030]to the community,
- [00:41:01.230]to the homes where people live.
- [00:41:03.490]'Cause now think about it,
- [00:41:04.760]if somebody is paranoid or they're schizophrenic
- [00:41:09.730]and they're afraid of people, they are afraid of places,
- [00:41:13.440]how are you gonna get them to go to a therapist office?
- [00:41:17.210]So we need to figure out, in my opinion,
- [00:41:19.940]how we can take mental health care to the people
- [00:41:24.310]in their natural environment,
- [00:41:27.050]in their homes, in their churches,
- [00:41:29.410]where they feel comfortable.
- [00:41:31.171]Have offices and services where people live
- [00:41:35.310]and where it's more natural
- [00:41:37.610]than forcing people to this system
- [00:41:43.070]where you're the one who is needing help,
- [00:41:46.030]you go and get help.
- [00:41:47.530]We know modern medicine,
- [00:41:49.910]people have home health
- [00:41:53.140]and mental health should be approached in the same way
- [00:41:57.190]in term of going and reaching people to where they are
- [00:42:00.530]and normalizing that service.
- [00:42:04.729]Great, great, great, great response.
- [00:42:06.350]Are y'all all having as much fun listening to them
- [00:42:07.800]as I am?
- [00:42:09.040]I was like, gosh, keep talking.
- [00:42:12.930]Yeah, I co-sign pretty much all of the themes
- [00:42:15.430]that have come up,
- [00:42:16.263]so maybe I'll just speak to examples
- [00:42:19.410]of how that might show up within my field.
- [00:42:21.130]So yes, talking about it
- [00:42:23.974]and in particular people that you trust,
- [00:42:28.940]like Falesa was saying,
- [00:42:29.840]people with power,
- [00:42:31.270]people that are perceived as competent,
- [00:42:34.050]either sharing their experience
- [00:42:36.080]or endorsing seeking treatment, right?
- [00:42:39.040]So, I'm sure many of you would have seen Naomi Osaka
- [00:42:43.530]or Simone Biles recently speaking up about this.
- [00:42:47.160]I promise you after Simone Biles said something,
- [00:42:50.790]I had a gymnast text me
- [00:42:52.220]and say, wow, she's the best in the world
- [00:42:56.240]and she struggles with this?
- [00:42:57.440]It's okay that I am, like, pfft, huge, right?
- [00:43:01.780]And also within an athletic structure,
- [00:43:05.750]there's a hierarchy obviously.
- [00:43:08.480]And so a lot of what we do
- [00:43:10.860]is can we build relationships with coaches
- [00:43:15.290]so that they know us, that they trust us?
- [00:43:18.000]Because the majority of the people that I see are referrals.
- [00:43:21.960]It's a coach saying, hey, I see that you're struggling,
- [00:43:25.930]why don't you go talk to Mariah?
- [00:43:27.120]And then say, whoo, permission given.
- [00:43:30.550]Or I have an experience
- [00:43:33.106]I'm seeing one of the student athletes
- [00:43:35.360]and they see one of their teammates struggling,
- [00:43:37.990]hey, I talked to Mariah, it was helpful,
- [00:43:39.520]maybe you should too.
- [00:43:40.353]That's massive.
- [00:43:41.800]That is more than I think I can do on my own.
- [00:43:45.910]And then to the accessibility standpoint
- [00:43:48.360]and going to where they are and to their environment,
- [00:43:52.500]I think something that UNL does
- [00:43:54.370]better than most universities
- [00:43:56.275]is because of the size of our sports psychology department,
- [00:44:00.890]we're able, it's a luxury,
- [00:44:02.430]but we're able to go to practice.
- [00:44:05.260]We're able to go to games.
- [00:44:07.720]We're able to be in the stadium at training table,
- [00:44:11.590]which is where they have lunch.
- [00:44:12.620]And so they're seeing us all the time.
- [00:44:14.560]And it's not just having conversations about mental health,
- [00:44:17.850]but it's also just like them getting to know me as a person,
- [00:44:20.330]seeing me that I am a human being
- [00:44:22.060]and not just a person sitting there behind a desk
- [00:44:24.990]or writing down anything.
- [00:44:26.510]It's like, oh yeah, Mariah, like, we're joking around
- [00:44:29.400]we're whatever.
- [00:44:30.233]I think I don't know about y'all's training,
- [00:44:31.900]but for me, I feel like I was brought up
- [00:44:34.500]and you need to remove yourself.
- [00:44:36.010]And it's all about the client
- [00:44:37.100]and we don't share anything about us.
- [00:44:38.800]But that's been one of the biggest connectors
- [00:44:41.300]that's allowed to break down barriers
- [00:44:43.980]is for them to see me as a human being and as a person,
- [00:44:46.740]as a friend, as a mentor, as a auntie, whatever.
- [00:44:51.380]And that enables them to normalize it.
- [00:44:53.720]And then the last thing that I'll add is,
- [00:44:55.480]I think representation.
- [00:44:57.040]So if we have counselors
- [00:44:58.900]that represent the different identities
- [00:45:00.780]of whatever population we're serving,
- [00:45:03.050]that's gonna make it so much easier for them to come in.
- [00:45:06.090]I've had people, I'm sure you all have too
- [00:45:08.170]say, oh gosh, it's just so nice to have someone
- [00:45:11.430]who was a student athlete,
- [00:45:12.280]I know you get it.
- [00:45:13.120]Or it's so nice to have a woman of color.
- [00:45:16.360]I now feel more comfortable to come in.
- [00:45:19.883]Well, I did have more questions,
- [00:45:21.910]but because you all did such a thorough job
- [00:45:24.450]of answering in your own ways,
- [00:45:28.310]with the effort of time,
- [00:45:29.750]I'm gonna actually open it up to our audience to,
- [00:45:34.090]if you all have any questions,
- [00:45:35.630]please, please, please feel comfortable.
- [00:45:37.980]We have enough time to open the floor up for you all.
- [00:45:41.770]And we invite your questions.
- [00:45:43.930]So please, please ask our panelists.
- [00:45:50.160]and Tay has the microphone, so just raise your hand.
- [00:45:55.770]Go ahead.
- [00:45:56.603]I mean, good answers here.
- [00:46:01.940]Do we have any students with any questions?
- [00:46:12.240]Thank you.
- [00:46:14.310]Can you hear me?
- [00:46:15.240]Yes. Can you say your name for us, please?
- [00:46:17.170]Yeah, sure.
- [00:46:18.080]So my name is Noelle Atieno Mware,
- [00:46:20.430]and I am a PhD candidate
- [00:46:22.800]in the department of civil engineering.
- [00:46:25.360]And I think my question would piggyback
- [00:46:28.580]on what Mariah just mentioned
- [00:46:30.200]about coaches referring athletes to her,
- [00:46:34.830]like as referrals to seek mental health assistance.
- [00:46:39.642]And this can be open to anyone.
- [00:46:41.930]How will then that turnaround
- [00:46:43.950]to having professors direct students to CAPS
- [00:46:49.480]in order for us to seek help there?
- [00:46:52.160]Because just coming up with saying,
- [00:46:56.180]I've been applying for jobs recently,
- [00:46:57.520]and I've seen disability, depression, anxiety,
- [00:47:01.010]all that being part of disability.
- [00:47:03.060]And so I feel like if academia would also appreciate
- [00:47:06.820]mental health issues as being part of disability
- [00:47:09.610]would be very beneficial.
- [00:47:11.140]And so having professors actually refer students
- [00:47:14.290]whom they see they're struggling to mental,
- [00:47:17.590]I mean, to mental health experts,
- [00:47:19.210]that would also be very, very helpful.
- [00:47:21.590]And having that acknowledgement
- [00:47:23.180]will help student also open up
- [00:47:24.670]and broaden up their perspective.
- [00:47:26.340]And so just anyone, would you have any advice to,
- [00:47:30.420]or are there any mechanisms that are being set up by CAPS
- [00:47:34.190]that would allow professors
- [00:47:36.280]to be able to have that connection with students
- [00:47:39.140]and be freely willing to refer them to CAPS
- [00:47:42.500]to seek mental help?
- [00:47:44.220]I know, sorry I'm going in too deep,
- [00:47:47.520]but I know like in part of the courses
- [00:47:50.190]during the first week of syllabus,
- [00:47:51.400]there's that one small portion that says,
- [00:47:53.580]oh, seek mental health at CAPS,
- [00:47:55.060]but you know the semester goes 16 weeks on
- [00:47:57.720]and students tend to forget that.
- [00:47:59.470]So are there any ways in which you can encourage this
- [00:48:02.020]to be a continual process?
- [00:48:06.299]I'll kind of speak to that.
- [00:48:09.300]I as a biology instructor for introductory students,
- [00:48:14.679]I have faced a lot of freshmen students
- [00:48:17.270]who will indicate Ms. Burks I'm stressed.
- [00:48:20.290]And so there are ways even in my plan
- [00:48:23.940]to be able to refer the student
- [00:48:25.520]and I have done that now for eight years,
- [00:48:28.370]to, they may not need me to tell them directly,
- [00:48:33.790]but as long as I can make the referral,
- [00:48:36.080]at least the community knows
- [00:48:38.270]that their student is in need of help and seeking help.
- [00:48:41.890]So, I'll refer that to.
- [00:48:44.390]I guess the other thing that I would add to that
- [00:48:46.170]is that one of the things that we do at CAPS
- [00:48:48.920]is we do psychoeducation.
- [00:48:51.570]So, we go out and do presentations
- [00:48:54.730]for the professors for class
- [00:48:57.950]on what are the things that you should be looking for
- [00:49:01.280]in your students?
- [00:49:02.200]We have something up on our website on that.
- [00:49:04.520]I literally get phone calls from professors who say,
- [00:49:08.250]this is going on so we can do advice that way.
- [00:49:12.150]But I think it has a lot
- [00:49:13.520]to do to your questions specifically, Noelle,
- [00:49:16.678]also with the professor training that they are getting
- [00:49:20.330]that they know that these services are there,
- [00:49:23.000]they know what the signs are,
- [00:49:25.280]because sometimes we see a student
- [00:49:27.680]who doesn't come to class,
- [00:49:28.790]a student who doesn't do their homework
- [00:49:30.480]and there's the assumption that they're lazy,
- [00:49:33.310]they're not interested.
- [00:49:35.420]And they don't take into consideration
- [00:49:37.710]that there may be something else going on.
- [00:49:40.590]If you're noticing a student sleeping in your class,
- [00:49:43.360]just giving professors the signs of things to look for
- [00:49:46.330]and letting them know that we are there,
- [00:49:49.810]I've had people walk people directly into the office.
- [00:49:53.740]I have gone other places.
- [00:49:55.900]So those kinds of things.
- [00:49:57.410]One of the other things too that CAPS does
- [00:49:59.910]is we have something that's called Let's Talk.
- [00:50:03.370]Let's Talk is because we know
- [00:50:05.510]that a lot of students are afraid,
- [00:50:08.330]it is a service that we offer,
- [00:50:09.810]is we have different hours throughout
- [00:50:11.480]and is done on Zoom,
- [00:50:12.900]where students can pick up and make this appointment
- [00:50:16.150]and come in and just say, this is kind of what's going on.
- [00:50:19.620]So it's kinda like a try before you buy,
- [00:50:21.980]and sometimes it's just something that's really quick,
- [00:50:25.110]but it helps to give them a feel for,
- [00:50:28.310]this isn't as bad as I thought,
- [00:50:30.150]they're really nice,
- [00:50:31.910]they're not telling me what to do
- [00:50:33.790]and this might be helpful for me.
- [00:50:36.210]But a lot of it is educating the professors themselves
- [00:50:40.040]and letting them know that we are,
- [00:50:42.340]what the resources are,
- [00:50:43.290]what the signs are they should be looking for.
- [00:50:45.990]There's also, I don't know,
- [00:50:48.110]there's something on the big red folder
- [00:50:51.160]that is given to faculty and staff,
- [00:50:53.420]and it looks like the regular Manila folder,
- [00:50:57.780]but it's red and it's got both sides on the whole thing,
- [00:51:02.840]a list of different types of resources and phone numbers
- [00:51:06.230]to address different things
- [00:51:08.300]that students might come up against.
- [00:51:12.330]Just to add to that, 'cause I know,
- [00:51:14.640]Noelle, thank you for that question
- [00:51:16.470]is that sometimes professors are also not sure
- [00:51:20.500]if I open this can of worms,
- [00:51:22.990]how am I gonna put the lid back.
- [00:51:25.390]So sometimes there is also that repudiation
- [00:51:28.170]that I really don't know what to do with this.
- [00:51:30.930]So what we are trying to do is, as Falesa said,
- [00:51:34.250]we go to, we invite them to some classrooms.
- [00:51:37.390]I've been to the chemistry department just a month ago,
- [00:51:40.690]where you speak to the students and the professors
- [00:51:43.570]and say, you don't have to do anything.
- [00:51:46.110]If you see a student who is struggling,
- [00:51:48.730]just call CAPS.
- [00:51:50.380]You can talk to the student,
- [00:51:52.400]if they are willing to seek help, good.
- [00:51:55.000]If they're not willing to seek help
- [00:51:57.330]and you still have concerns, call us.
- [00:52:00.020]I take most of those calls
- [00:52:01.950]and then we can do a wellness check.
- [00:52:06.200]So that wellness check could be the door
- [00:52:09.650]through which the student says,
- [00:52:11.610]oh, somebody, they don't even not to know who called,
- [00:52:15.350]that's the thing.
- [00:52:16.730]We really keep a lot of things confidential.
- [00:52:19.440]So we will do our wellness check
- [00:52:21.580]and the student will realize,
- [00:52:23.180]oh, somebody is really concerned about me.
- [00:52:25.360]And you know, it's very comforting
- [00:52:27.780]when the students gets that wellness check
- [00:52:30.070]to say, my goodness, somebody must have noticed,
- [00:52:33.630]somebody knows something is not right.
- [00:52:35.830]And so that can really kinda help them
- [00:52:39.670]know something is not right
- [00:52:41.650]and this is where I can go get help.
- [00:52:44.600]So, educating our students, educating our professors,
- [00:52:47.960]feeling comfortable
- [00:52:49.040]so that you don't feel like you have the burden
- [00:52:51.680]to really take matters in your own hands
- [00:52:54.560]is like, hey, I'm just a concerned professor,
- [00:52:57.550]this is what is happening,
- [00:52:59.070]how can we support this student?
- [00:53:00.990]And then CAPS and our therapists can take it from there.
- [00:53:04.480]It really helps a great deal.
- [00:53:07.910]It truly does.
- [00:53:09.760]And I will say that the support that our community has
- [00:53:14.570]for students is very strong.
- [00:53:16.690]I've heard numerous students indicate,
- [00:53:19.780]I made a CAPS appointment, I feel so much better.
- [00:53:23.040]And again, just continuing on
- [00:53:25.320]we're recognizing if they're not in a good place
- [00:53:28.990]is also important.
- [00:53:30.650]I guess I have a question for you all.
- [00:53:33.800]We as professionals juggle a lot in our days,
- [00:53:38.000]we have students, we have our own professions,
- [00:53:41.610]grading can be stressful,
- [00:53:44.330]exams, dealing with students and their stress with exams.
- [00:53:48.860]My question for you all is,
- [00:53:52.100]how do we take care of ourselves?
- [00:53:56.590]How do we as professionals take care of ourselves?
- [00:54:02.270]So to any one of you.
- [00:54:05.100]How do we take care of ourselves?
- [00:54:06.260]It's like a collective sighing.
- [00:54:08.110]Its like (laughs)
- [00:54:10.010]Because I know that we have administrators here with us.
- [00:54:14.660]We are all grinding every day,
- [00:54:16.760]especially now that we're back in-person.
- [00:54:18.830]And I think we need to recognize what are we doing
- [00:54:21.210]to take care of ourselves?
- [00:54:23.050]I'll take a swing at that 'cause I'm just horrible at it
- [00:54:26.130]and I'm learning how.
- [00:54:28.350]One of the things is,
- [00:54:29.350]is because we do what we do because we love what we do.
- [00:54:32.330]We are passionate about it.
- [00:54:33.690]We throw everything into it.
- [00:54:35.710]But we also have to recognize
- [00:54:38.640]that if we don't stop and recharge,
- [00:54:40.960]we're not gonna be able to do
- [00:54:42.350]and serve the people that we serve.
- [00:54:44.990]One of the things that I have taken to do
- [00:54:47.920]that I teach students to do,
- [00:54:50.470]I have a planner.
- [00:54:52.380]I have an hourly planner that goes everywhere with me.
- [00:54:55.460]I literally have taken,
- [00:54:57.840]made it my discipline, my habit
- [00:55:00.660]to schedule in time for myself every single week.
- [00:55:04.490]If I can get 15 minutes, half hour in a day, that's great,
- [00:55:08.420]but having to do something to unplug,
- [00:55:10.940]today I had lunch with Alice,
- [00:55:12.530]just closed the door and we just sat
- [00:55:14.540]and she ate, I talked.
- [00:55:16.170]So, just recognizing that,
- [00:55:19.510]but then remembering it's,
- [00:55:20.970]we keep and we tell everybody it's all about balance.
- [00:55:23.760]We're credit telling everybody else what to do.
- [00:55:26.450]But finding that balance for ourselves,
- [00:55:29.290]like right now is really stressful time for everybody
- [00:55:32.570]because we're hitting the end of the semester.
- [00:55:35.150]Students are really stressed.
- [00:55:37.040]I am counting down the days for,
- [00:55:39.790]I got eight days left and I am starting to take vacation
- [00:55:44.100]not to feel guilty about that,
- [00:55:46.000]I need that so I can be the best that I can be
- [00:55:49.170]in my position for my family, for my life.
- [00:55:56.147]I'm gonna talk about that.
- [00:55:58.420]Self care is very important.
- [00:56:00.470]And one of the analogy that is used to a lot,
- [00:56:02.667]and I use a lot even in my own life
- [00:56:05.290]is when you travel and you fly.
- [00:56:08.390]I fly a lot between Omaha and Nairobi
- [00:56:11.410]and the first thing the attendant will tell you
- [00:56:14.500]is that if we lose pressure in the cabin,
- [00:56:17.370]mask will comes down,
- [00:56:19.310]and the thing they say is put on your mask first.
- [00:56:23.710]So then oxygen will start flowing.
- [00:56:26.020]Then help the next person.
- [00:56:28.230]Because, and as a mom,
- [00:56:31.048]I sit there and I'm like, no, if we're going down,
- [00:56:34.810]my kid is getting the mask first.
- [00:56:37.410]But then I started thinking,
- [00:56:39.500]but if I don't have any oxygen,
- [00:56:41.500]I'm dead, I can't help the kiddo.
- [00:56:43.650]So I have to really take care of myself
- [00:56:46.350]so I can take care of those around me.
- [00:56:49.740]So that is number one,
- [00:56:51.050]really creating that time
- [00:56:53.310]and also forming communities with other professionals
- [00:56:57.950]and checking with each other
- [00:56:59.665]because academia can be very lonely
- [00:57:04.000]because you're either writing a grant
- [00:57:07.010]and you have students graduating
- [00:57:08.670]and you need to get them to the finishing line
- [00:57:10.430]and it gets very busy.
- [00:57:12.210]So you get very isolated.
- [00:57:13.900]So, seeking support from fellow academicians,
- [00:57:17.610]it really goes a long way.
- [00:57:18.933]Of course, you're sharing notes
- [00:57:21.050]and you're like, gosh,
- [00:57:22.890]whew, I'm not the only one.
- [00:57:24.450]My kids are acting up, I'm not the only one.
- [00:57:27.450]And I didn't grade these papers in a timely manner
- [00:57:30.680]I'm not, you know, over coffee.
- [00:57:32.500]So forming those communities,
- [00:57:34.850]I think really helps a lot.
- [00:57:37.290]The other thing is creating healthy boundaries.
- [00:57:40.130]And this is where sometimes professors are afraid.
- [00:57:45.330]Or professionals are afraid to be rated very poorly
- [00:57:48.550]because they are creating healthy boundaries
- [00:57:50.720]and saying, this much I can take,
- [00:57:54.320]this much I cannot,
- [00:57:56.160]I need to create that boundaries.
- [00:57:57.850]And I also teach students
- [00:57:59.400]about creating healthy boundaries with their friends,
- [00:58:02.370]with their families.
- [00:58:03.550]And people are like, what are boundaries?
- [00:58:05.660]And boundaries is not saying no.
- [00:58:07.964]Boundaries is not saying,
- [00:58:09.980]I'm not gonna take my responsibility.
- [00:58:12.910]Somebody I wish I can remember the name
- [00:58:15.620]defined boundaries this way,
- [00:58:17.940]they said "Boundaries are the distance
- [00:58:21.560]at which I can love you and me simultaneously."
- [00:58:26.010]So I'm not saying no to you.
- [00:58:28.090]I'm not refusing to do what I'm being asked,
- [00:58:31.740]but I'm creating that distance to say,
- [00:58:33.990]this much I can take, this much I cannot take.
- [00:58:36.390]And I'll take care of you,
- [00:58:37.740]but I also have to take care of me at the same time.
- [00:58:40.960]So creating those healthy boundaries
- [00:58:43.520]at home, at work, in the community,
- [00:58:47.160]I think is self-care of nourishing ourself
- [00:58:50.600]filling our cup,
- [00:58:51.910]because a wise person said,
- [00:58:54.317]"You cannot pour from an empty cup."
- [00:58:56.950]So you have to fill your cup every single day
- [00:59:00.620]so then you have something to give to your family,
- [00:59:03.290]to your students, to your fellow coworkers.
- [00:59:06.370]And so creating healthy boundaries and self-care,
- [00:59:10.350]is not a matter of saying no
- [00:59:13.030]or refusing to do things,
- [00:59:14.410]it's taking care of ourselves
- [00:59:16.260]so we can take care of those who have been entrusted
- [00:59:18.637]and under our care.
- [00:59:20.130]So I think if we can learn to do that
- [00:59:23.470]without feeling guilty, take a sick day,
- [00:59:26.610]there is a reason it is paid for by the university.
- [00:59:30.680]And you know, sometimes like, oh my gosh,
- [00:59:32.350]if I take this sick day,
- [00:59:33.800]if I take a vacation day
- [00:59:35.480]oh, things gonna fall apart.
- [00:59:37.560]Let me tell you,
- [00:59:38.393]what I know, I hate to say this in public
- [00:59:41.920]is if I'm dropped dead today,
- [00:59:44.640]knock on the wood, I won't,
- [00:59:46.610]Falesa is driving,
- [00:59:48.810]it's you know, somebody else is gonna,
- [00:59:51.510]they'll find a psychologist somewhere.
- [00:59:54.090]You'll be, no, seriously, with all honesty.
- [00:59:57.730]So take time, don't feel guilt
- [01:00:00.000]and don't let people guilt trip you
- [01:00:02.370]when you take a vacation day,
- [01:00:04.220]when you say my kiddo is sick,
- [01:00:05.960]I really need to stay home with them today.
- [01:00:08.500]As long as it's not a habit, 'cause we know that,
- [01:00:11.130]but that's something else different.
- [01:00:13.470]I'm talking about not feeling guilty
- [01:00:16.450]to say, I need a mental health day.
- [01:00:19.080]You know, I love UNL,
- [01:00:20.830]my kiddo, she goes here.
- [01:00:22.590]She comes home and she says,
- [01:00:23.990]mom, I didn't realize my class was canceled
- [01:00:27.110]'cause the professor said, we had a mental health day.
- [01:00:30.380]I'm like, awesome, I think, go watch some TV and relax
- [01:00:34.440]or catch up on the paper that was due.
- [01:00:36.820]So that really helps ungrade you
- [01:00:38.660]to normalize and to also give people incentives
- [01:00:43.560]for taking care of themselves.
- [01:00:45.430]We really need to do that more often.
- [01:00:48.090]Yes. Wonderful, wonderful.
- [01:00:50.300]And in an effort of time,
- [01:00:53.070]I would just like for us to applaud our panelists,
- [01:00:55.700]you all have been phenomenal.
- [01:00:56.606](audience claps)
- [01:00:57.440]Thank you all so much.
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