Podcast Transcript
welcome to the straight jacket podcast my name is Matt this is Jeff a local Treatment Center owner and today’s guest
is Rolando our admissions director at another local Treatment Center thank you thanks for having me man pretty excited
to be here I saw that you guys were creating this and definitely want to be a part of it so so I’m glad I’m here
thanks for joining so I guess just uh the first question that I would have is is tell us
a little bit about your Journey with mental health got it okay it’s a long
journey so get ready uh mental health I didn’t know what it
was until about six years ago mental health for me was something
uh no one ever talked about growing up I’m from originally from witto Kansas so
it’s very uh very oldfashioned very country very
tough guy stuff not a lot of emotions definitely no one knows what mental health is you know and depression is
usually something you just buried deep down inside you know anxiety is absent
nothing really there so six years ago I was struggling
with a lot of things life in general really um was 25
years old and was very confused about the world and why it was treating me so poorly and
then I ended up going into a program that helped me realize how I could fix myself and a lot of that was
internal and that’s where I found the word mental health that’s where I found
therapy and working on myself and things I didn’t
know that I had so that being said going through Mental Health or
going through therapy really showed me what mental health issues that I have which are
anxiety depression stress um
selfworth things like that so going through that therapy I really got to
work on and find where the root cause of all this mental health issue started you
know and it started from childhood where I was from how it
was raised the people I was around um self-image issues you know always
trying to be masculine and you know and I was raised by my father so everything
was you’ll be all right you know you’ll be all right like don’t cry you know don’t worry about that everything will
be good which I love my father you know but that’s that came from his generation
and it poured over to me you know so having issu issues growing up of
being uh depressed or not really knowing how to feel
anything and everything was not a big deal it’s like oh I’m stressed about
this well it’s not a big deal don’t stress about it it’s fine and what happened was I used things to kind of
cope with that mental stress that I had you know and the main main one was alcohol didn’t
make me feel anything you know felt great so once I had all that out of there and I went through the therapy I
really got to dive deep into the solution of that which was processing my
emotions when I’m feeling something really sit there and and feel it understand it and try to work through it
so the easiest way I can explain it for myself is is having a bad day okay I’m
having a bad day why am I having a bad day because I know I really didn’t wake up with a bad day I know it got created
through the day so looking back and being like all right so it’s not going that well because I’m
stuck in traffic I’m getting pissed off I’m late to work you know or something’s not working right I Have a scheduling
issue or whatever it may be you know relationship issue um I look on it you know and I try
to find What feelings I’m having towards that am I scared
am I excited about it am I you know like
overthinking it and I feel like I fall in a trap of overthinking things and
then I create this narrative that’s not even there you know so just identifying
that and figuring out where I can sort through the the
[ __ ] and really try to find the real cause of what’s going on like okay I
have to manage my time better it’s no nothing extreme you know like I could
take a breath clear my head and be good for the day you know so little things like that
what would you say you your your uh issues would be with mental health
because I like to hear other people’s issues too my issues with mental health
um I think that it’s something that everybody struggles with but I do think that different cultures call it
different things or like different countries probably even call it
different things you know I know that uh America’s like very big on
certain labels with mental health whereas like if you go to somewhere like
um I don’t know I’m trying to think of like where
I’ve been I think it’s Barcelona like I went there with my church when I was a kid um
and I think that it’s like pretty much considered a third world country right and they don’t
really call mental health like anything you know at least that at least at that
time I went when I was I think you know probably like 15 16 yeah so I mean
they just it didn’t seem like they really had you know much of a a word or
solution for it I don’t know if that’s better or you know I don’t know if
that’s worse I think that that’s just kind of you know something that
uh it just is you know I I do think that when people say
that like if you don’t have time to be depressed then you know you’re not going
to experience depression MH I kind of do believe that because I’ve been diagnosed
with similar stuff like anxiety depression um and you know now that I’m
busier I don’t really feel that as
much [Music] um so yeah I mean that’s that’s kind of my take on it
I just don’t really know I do think that that people I mean everybody’s uh experience of life is individual to them
oh yeah but I don’t know that it’s something
that you know should have a certain label you know I know that if you start
saying something about it’s my belief that if you start saying something about yourself enough you’re going to believe
it and then it’s going to become true MH um so if you say like you know I’m
depressed over and over again you know you you will be depressed like what you
say is what you are the more time you have to think about it you know like you said you know people in other situations
or in countries where you know you don’t have the privilege to sit around
thinking about things all day because you have to you know your Life’s a lot different you know or the busy you are
you don’t have time to think about it when you’re sitting at home all day and you’re you know not getting out and about as much like you’re stuck in your
head and your thinking creating problems more so you know and um yeah
what has been some of your uh I know you said that you had some solutions to depression right what have been some
things that have helped you the major one for me is a
routine because then I know I have to do something I set that
routine and I’m like okay I’m getting up this is what I’m doing you know and part
of the routine are simple things you know and making my bed right after I get up make my bed
then I’m planning for the rest of the day you know because I already know I have to go to the gym here I’m going to
work here I have a call here I’m spending time with family I have this dinner date set up or I have this cool
thing I’m going to do on the weekend my personal just things like that routine but the average daily routine
is something that keeps me going even though some days I’m dragging ass
getting out of bed and I’m looking man I don’t want to make this bed but I know if I don’t have that routine something’s
going to be off and I think starting it early sets me up for the rest of the
day um because I’m preoccupied you know it’s almost like somewhat of a distraction
technique you know like all right I’m doing this next thing I know I’m off to my next
event by doing that has definitely helped me uh stay out of that depression through
the through the years keeps you busy keep keeps me busy you know it keeps me out of that Devil’s waiting room of
depression know you have something planned for that day and like what’s going on next takes away some of the
anxiety of it all it’s you’re just almost like task or you know focused on the task at that point you know oh yeah
getting have done then before you know it day is over for sure and it was one of the things where I had to master not
getting anxiety about the task list I had yeah you know like oh [ __ ] I missed this now I’m freaking out about it you
know so it was just just a healthy balance and trying to find that every day is its own task but I’ve come to
find it’s more easier you know and and talking to people you know and seeing
how I can help someone or just really expressing my feelings or
emotions at the time being like hey man this kind of sucks what do you think about it you know so and you’re really
good about that every time we speak you ask my opinion and so let good it helps
out I uh thing that uh I think that you touched on a little bit is is the gym I
know for me personally exercising is a big thing that gets me
out of myself out of my head [Music]
um I think if I didn’t go like I’ve noticed like cuz for me at least the gym
kind of goes in Cycles like sometimes it’ll be really good about it for like a couple months sometimes I’ll be really
bad about it for a couple months um but I’ve noticed the months when I’m on it I
definitely feel less depressed yeah definitely and it’s funny you say that because the way I found that and how I
was able to bring it into my routine and use it as a a technique was
uh my mentor when I was in recovery well I still am in recovery but I found a
mentor that he was very heavy into that physical fitness going to the gym and
creating that routine around it and it’s something that he explained to me he’s like you
know sometimes it sucks and you don’t want to go but you can guarantee once you get out of there you feel like you’ve done something mhm you know and
that just that little bit of achievement of walking out like all right you know I went for 45 minutes 30 minutes whatever
I went I did it and now I’m done you know and for me it it clears my mind
it’s something healthy you know and I put through my body through so much damage already so might as well try to
make it better so but it’s good you know like little support groups I go to and
just having a mentor or just someone who’s there to listen helps out too what kind of uh stuff do you usually
do in the gym all kinds everything between heavy
lifting cardio just trying to get it all in you know what do you think helps the most
for me the heavy lifting uh because it’s it’s like a goal you know working my way up lifting up
heavier weight um and surprising surprisingly not being
able to lift it up helps me out more you know like I am trying for this weight
and if I can’t get it I’m trying and then I know I got to go back and work on the fundamentals a little bit more get a
little bit more stronger and then next week when I try it I can lift that weight up nice it helps me you know and
whatever weird way so I try to stay very conscious of everything lately so it’s
good goals goals definitely goals goals help at least for me I mean I can
definitely relate to that oh yeah you know just like setting even if it’s kind
of like an un you know un attainable like like a dream almost it just still
helps like getting your mind to be using your creativity um to some to strive towards
yeah like make something right uh is definitely something that helps with my
depression for sure and I’ll like find myself going in and out of it like I don’t think that it’s something that
like I can really at least yeah I don’t think that it’s something that I can really just
cure you know something you got to maintain and constantly work on you know like you said you know those weeks when
you’re going to the gym you know everything’s going a little smoother than you have those times that are off and you can see it affect you you know it’s I mean not like you can work on X Y
and Z for a certain amount of time and then expect to be good for the rest of your life you know it’s doing those
things is what makes life a little easier to deal with on a daily basis just be healthy oh
yeah be able to look at yourself better have more selfworth for sure there’s a lot of different different things oh
yeah you know and I live in California and everyone’s very health conscious so you know you’re
not going to find me doing the yoga but I’ll be in the gym no yoga No yoga I’ll sit on a sound bath once in a while
though there you go so and that’s the other thing too is when I came uh out here to California there was so many
other holistic Avenues and resources and little things to help you know and like
I said I’m from Kansas and and we don’t do that there you know I came here you
go in Kansas no we don’t do that I came here to a room filled full of sage smoke and uh
carpet and laid down on it and had some uh it was a husband and a wife just
banging on crystal bowls and spraying us with lavender and not in Kansas no more
no and for some weird reason it worked that day I walked out of there it just felt lighter you know
clearheaded and like all the tension had kind of melted away you know and and like you
said it’s not a cure but it’s just little things to help you know and which
I think ultimately what that did was open up my mind to experimenting with other holistic things you know I did the
yoga thing not a fan but that’s just me someone can really love it it really helps them and heals
them um the other thing I liked was the breath Works breath Works breath Works
was amazing I didn’t understand how it worked when they taught it to me but
once I did it it was lifechanging what is breath Works breath works when I did
it it could be totally different now but when I did it it was a a rhythm of breathing so you have to find this
Rhythm it’s like inhale inhale exhale it’s kind of like a form of meditation yeah and your belly breathing so you
breathing through your belly um is the way they explained it to me it took me a while to get it down but once I did it
was uh it was life-changing it’s crazy it’s a lot of I don’t know the guy that
explained it to me said it helped a lot with PTSD as traumas because you’ll experience them and then you’ll work
through them while you’re doing the breath Works H yeah and I just thought I
was hyperventilating but I was healing myself so it was good
and just even as simple as going to the beach by myself and sitting in the sand
and really grounding myself and and valuing the life that I have and
how I can experience moments like this and then for some odd reason I’ll just fall into a deep state of Peace you know
and comfort almost within myself because for so many years before
um it was chaos inside you know so finding that little bit of Peace helps
out a lot gratitude oh yeah gratitude grateful for everything do a lot of
reflecting too um because my ego gets out of control
and I got to kind of reel it in you know and I have to be grateful for what I have
um because I like to work very hard and I like to win and I like to set the goals and Achieve them
but I have to be grateful and I have to be humble as well because if not then
that mental health will take back over so but it’s good and I try to keep
a positive attitude all the time and I’m a jokester so I like to do that too and
um the people I help out you know I can understand where they’re coming from and
talk to them in a way that they want to be talked to that they you know that they value you know because me helping
them helps me out too so it’s good
though so where do you think that your PTSD comes from
um definitely from my younger years [Music]
um growing up I live mainly with my
father and at the time my father was in active addiction himself um but he still always held a
job but what that meant was his life was chaos so in return he was trying to
raise someone in that chaos as well so inevitably I inherited the chaos with
him and moving around a lot not having a stable home or sense of security we were
always together so I was never abandoned um because we were just riding through chaos together
and having that sense of uh no structure or home structure home
life you know cuz moving around a lot definitely developed a lot of anxieties you know I was always very
good at making friends um because I was only child at the time
you know and now I have fck eight brothers and sisters but at the time it was just me me and my dad so having
friends really helped out a lot but moving um I lost those friends so it was
like every every year it was kind of like a brand new start um but a little piece Got toen Away each time you know
to really build a good relationship and a bond with someone and then next year you’re like all right we’re moving so
it’s a little tough um and then also the anxiety of of not
knowing if we were going to have like electricity you know cuz my dad worked
but come the weekend and it would be a big party you know and everything would
be good he’d get a paycheck and then uh come Monday it was kind of a scramble of okay what do we have left you know to
cover things so kind of that anxiety and money management I seen growing up um at
a young age of like you know it kind of instills fear makes you a Savor like
get I’m sure it’s definitely would definitely uh have you place more of a value on
saving money yeah you know and then knowing the value of it you know and how hard it is to get it and how you have to
manage it well um because def definitely don’t want to feel that way ever again of
scrambling like oh we got to pay electric bill yeah you know it’s not a fun feeling and I’m sure everyone can
relate to that nowadays you know with the way the economy go it’s going crazy everything’s
expensive um and depend where you live it could be two times three times the
amount of another place you know and looking at places now and it’s yeah one bedroom is $2,500 it’s crazy and that
that uh anxiety around money nowadays is so crazy
um well back to it seeing that every weekend you know
and uh hanging out with him it was kind of two different things
it was on the weekends things were fun joyful you know real party and then come the
weekdays it was very depressing you know it was very dark and adding school on top of that
you know grade school and then High School um there’s just a lot of different
emotions I was going through and it’s something where I could tell my dad what I’m going
through like yo Pops I’m kind of scared right now or I’m kind of freaking out and he would definitely listen but the
response to that was it’ll be all right don’t worry about it you know so I wasn’t able to process that emotion so
internally I just held it all in which in return as an
adult I never knew how to process my emotions so when I was angry I was angry
and when I was sad I was sad you know and and communicating those
emotions I didn’t know how to do and here recently I’ve gone to more
therapy um and expressed that because what I do is I build resentment because I can’t communicate
my emotions and it sucks you know and I’ve
taken on this Persona of all or nothing you know it’s either I’m all in or I’m
not and there’s no kind of medium ground there if I was able to process my
emotion I might be able to think twice you know so it’s tough you know it’s like even as you like you go to therapy
and these other types of things right and you learn how to process those emotions but like just in society as a
man it’s like kind of hard to like actually do that you know because you’re going to be looked at a certain type of
way you know 100% so it’s like you got to find that like place that you can feel safe or comfortable sharing that
emotion because otherwise you’re going to be judged for it even and people say oh no no we’re not but like the reality
is they do 100% I don’t think it’s even necessarily like their fault or like whatever I think it’s just like a
psychology based thing you know and it’s just I don’t know I don’t know how that changes in Life or in this world but you
know makes me definitely want to just you know keep them nice nice and shov down you know oh yeah definitely that
seems a little easier to navigate than trying to figure out how to make it work when you’re telling other people you know yeah it’s tough you know you got to
keep some sort of boundary yeah you know I want to say armor but that’s not the
right word I would assume but some sort of boundary um because you are I mean the way that
you look the way you talk the way you act your body language it’s all being judged you know and someone else is
sizing you up or looking at you you know and and deep down I’m a very nice guy
you know and um but I feel like you still have to have some sort of
uh defense to other people you know at least in my eyes and something I’m
trying to work through but I feel that you know but being a man as well it’s
very difficult nowadays you know it’s a lot different I
was born in 1992 and seeing uh my brother he’s 13
years old um seeing the way his friends are and and how he is it’s definitely
very different from the way it was when I was was younger his age what are the
big differences that you see the big differences I see is everyone uh is a little bit more
emotional you know hell yeah what’s wrong with him and you that’s my own
judgment too you know and um exactly how we were saying it shouldn’t be but like
the mindset you’re you’re raised in I mean I was never told to be that way but like you just see it around you you know
you adapt that whatever you know and I I look at it too it’s
like I say that they’re emotional you know
and it’s one of those things where I’m just like not jealous but I’m like all
right dude you mastered this at 13 yeah I’m 31 years old and I’m trying to figure it out so how do you do that you
got a leg up on me you know send me an emoji I’ll be
good but it’s it’s something that has to be worked on all the time you know
but I mean the days don’t stop you know and just got to add it into
my daily life but it’s
good yeah I think uh one big thing
is there is a difference between like even just the way that I’m raising my son right like we’re trying to raise him
to be able to express his emotions MH um and I don’t know I feel like I kind
of go back and forth with it in my mind I’m like is this is this the way it’s supposed to be like is he supposed to be
like this sensitive like this guy seems like way more sensitive than I was when I was a kid MH um but yeah it’d be
interesting to hear your opinion because Kansas is like a very I
mean just stereotypically um one of those states where it’s it just seems kind of like
you know yeah it’s the the Heartland you know it’s the heart of the Midwest yeah you
know and there’s already a guidelines already made you know it’s
like a man supposed to be this way and then a woman’s supposed to be this way a man’s supposed to be like hard basically
right and a woman’s supposed to be more emotional or able to to to show more
emotion yeah definitely um which I don’t think it’s like the worst things I mean it’s like you know I each person has
their own qualities and like you know over time you know man is evolved to be
this way and you know they all you know women’s women are usually more nurturing men are you know usually you know better
at the other stuff you know but I guess you know when it comes down to it it doesn’t mean you got to keep everything
on the inside always you know you can still have those roles those traditional roles in a sense but I guess it’s
finding a way to navigate in between you know 100% and
like you said with with raising your son you know I have a 9-year-old stepson
and being part of his life has definitely helped me check my
own fatherhood you know and I look at obviously you look at what you know
you know I look at like okay this is the way my dad raised me you know and then I start thinking a little deeper I’m like
obviously was very tough you know not like conveying your emotions it’s like
he just wants to me me to be self-sufficient when I grow up you know one of his favorite phrases he said was
one day I’ll be gone I got to make sure you know how to take care yourself because I won’t be here all the time you
know and and remembering that and thinking about that is you know I could see where his
priority was you know he wanted me to be able self-sufficient efficient to be able to handle anything that came in
front of me you be hard to be harder you know to definitely be tougher more
resilient um in a different way and I think by doing that it’s
definitely showed me how to figure out a good balance with my son now you know
you know because at the end of the day you do have to be strong in this world have to you know I hate to say but you
do have to be very strong um but now you do have to be in tune with your emotions you know and it’s like how
do you do that and still be successful in life you know are you going to be too
emotional are you going to be too hard like this this crazy Balancing Act I’m
trying to figure out you know and um so he can be successful because that’s all I want you know definitely don’t want
him to turn out like me so uh but he won’t he’ll do his own thing and I’m sure my dad looks at it as me as like he
did his own thing you know um but it’s definitely
tougher but it it helps calm me down though when I’m trying to teach him you know and not tell him
just teach him show him like all right you’re sad let’s figure out why you’re sad you know I don’t want you storming
off to your room and slamming the door let’s work through it you know figure out and at the same
time how to be strong you know you can’t let everything bug you that much you
know it’s a very little thing couple of your Pokemon cards are lost it’s okay we’ll figure it out
together and we’ll find them you don’t have to get so upset there’s a solution yeah there’s a great solution to this so
things like that you know because when I was a kid I my head blew up I lost
something rumaging through everything trying to figure it out out you know cuz that’s how it was it was either all or
nothing you know either um not feeling no emotion or whatever emotion I am
feeling it’s a th% you know so it’s
tough what was your what would you say that your coping mechanisms were before you found therapy and came out to
California okay um a lot of them were not suggested
um you know before I was a teenager a lot of
the coping was um drawing I got really big into drawing huh and a little sprinkling of
isolation as well on that so separating myself from the chaos that was going on
around me and just drawing listening to music um and it helped out a lot you
know and that’s something I value today is drawing you know but I had to be in a certain mood to really do that um and
then into the teenage years where I feel the mental health really got heavy for
me looking back on it now of everything
piling up um I found substances to help with that you know and the main
substance that I found was alcohol and what that did was
made everything right you know if it was the anxiety the depression the stress
you know the fear of whatever was going on or the unknown
um alcohol seemed to help with that and that was my coping mechanism um and then it progressed
further because with the alcohol fueled my depression you know it fueled my
anxieties um even though I thought it was helping it it wasn’t double-edged sword double-edged sword you know and um
that little bit of liquid courage turned into something way way different and it
turned into this crazy animal that it couldn’t stop uh which progress into other things
and I found stimulants oh yeah and the stimulants uh really helped things go
faster lack of a better word and it skyrocketed the anxiety you know and it skyrocketed
the fear and paranoia and
um the come down from that was the most depression I’ve ever felt in my life not
fun at all yeah you know and it’s it’s something where you’re at a peak you’re high up there you know and you’re you’re
moving fast and everything’s right the world and confidence is high and you’re living in a movie you know in your mind
the one that you created that you want to but the Comedown of that is a very
very dark place and it takes you to the most extreme Dark Places um where you don’t even want to
be here anymore and that’s where it took me um so that to maintain that I had to keep
using stimulants you know and a multitude of different things cocaine
was the primary amphetamines was the secondary you know and Al on top of all
that with that combo it it definitely messes with your mind um because I would be up so high on
this stimulant trip that it would uh put me in a different head space you
know and and being up for so many days
definitely took a serious toll on the mental health and changed my whole
Behavior I couldn’t even recognize myself kind of thing so those coping
skills were definitely not healthy for me and that’s when I made a change and six years ago came to
California um did a program like I was saying and and now the coping
skills are flipped around you know it’s more experiential you know like
going to the mountains going to the beach you know really
enjoying life you know and that’s my stimulant now because I still like to go
fast I still like excitement um I just found a different way of doing it you know and but I still have to get
grounded too and that’s where the the holistic approach came from you know the sound Bowls the sound bath um all that
stuff but finding exciting things truly does help me though
um yeah so you talked about how bad that cown is I mean I went through the same
things those were my particular uh substances of choice you know alcohol a little bit of cocaine um you know I’m a
little newer in the process than you are I don’t quite have uh six years but um you know for me it’s been it’s been
interesting because like I’ve had problems with other stuff right but like this was kind of like the first time in my life where those were the the main
things that I was using and uh you are up on this like Mountaintop you know this different
world you know and I was out there doing it for two or three years you know non Non-Stop and it’s been a bit of an
adjustment it’s like you know you get so accustomed to your life being or feeling
or thinking a certain type of way for so long then all of a sudden it stops and it’s you deal with that initial like
cown oh yeah but then there’s like still this like overlapping whatever where
it’s like I just don’t feel like myself like it’s the Aftershock that’s what I called it when it happened and it was uh
the biggest form it took in me was social anxiety yeah which is really crazy because I’ve always been very
social MH um and it’s it’s one that still struggle
today cuz sometimes I’m very antisocial depending on the situation
but that was the biggest saying was
just being silent in a room and being like freaked out you know and not being able to like situations where you know
what to say and just everything you know it’s just like it’s almost like relearning how to live you know and it’s like even though I’ve been through this
process a few times you know over the last decade or so it’s like it’s an adjustment it’s like you know it’s like
I’m like is my brain broken for good like am I going to be like this forever like or is it going to come back you
know it’s like oh it’s not it’s not always fun you know but the same time it’s a lot better than
it was when I was out there doing all that stuff oh definitely 100% you know and and and it’s funny you say that
because I’ve thought that forever my brain was broken because I could couldn’t figure it out yeah how easy it
was to do what a everyday tasks when I was on stimulants you know and and how I
thought I was doing them so well I’m the master of this you know um
yeah going be around you yeah you know and the people around me were just like you weren’t killing it dude uh you were
the opposite um and and and trying to do that now you
know with having that little piece gone um is definitely a struggle every day
but it’s something that I’m aware of you know and I work on it and talking to other people that have experienced it
like you have MH it it like snaps me out of it yeah you know it’s like I’m in
some weird like uh Daydream you know I’m just like zoning out but I’ll talk to someone that
experienced it too and I’m like all right so I’m not the only one um not going crazy yeah it happens
everyone so it’s good that I can see that for sure do you think um the mental
health comes first or the drug use definitely the mental health
uh because like I was saying in the story you know that’s where those first experiences um and where my brain was
making that shift of of of feeling down feeling scared you know and
fearful and where it became so much where I needed some sort of release you know um
because this wasn’t working talking wasn’t working you know internally I couldn’t process it so I had to put
something in me to figure it all out you know and it’s something I couldn’t
stop once you find that thing see oh there’s that solution I’ve been looking for all this time and then that solution
starts screwing up your Lifey freaking bad but I found solution when I went
into a program because the program I went into was dual diagnoses so they went Substance Abuse and Mental Health
um which cuz I came in I thought I had a drinking problem a drug problem but I
had a whole bunch of other problems too you know you found out you had a yeah yeah I had a whole list you know and
um and that’s what really helped me was identifying figuring out what I had you
know and then knowing that I could work on it to help manage it to help maintain
it hopefully to help cure it you know or as close close as I can to it
um and sitting down with a therapist was a really big deal because I’ve never
told anyone those stories you know and I was basically trained not to you know um
by the way I grew up the people I grew up around and myself you know I don’t want to let my secrets out I don’t want
to let my emotions or tell them to another person you know and that first therapy session was one of the difficult
things I’ve ever done um because the first thing he said was get real with me
you know and and my therapist was a male and he’d been through this a long time
and he’s like I know it’s going to be tough for you just let’s talk about some things and as soon as I
did my brain understood
and was able to allow me to talk about more things
you know and there were simple questions that therapists asked me what was it like growing up and I
told him and it just started going and rolling and moving more and by the end of it you know I got a lot off my chest
and then we were able to process it together you know and that’s where the real healing started for
me um so continuing that therapy and someone that knows how to work through
all the craziness that I have um helped out
you know and then finding a great program like that is is a blessing you know and there’s
really great ones out there um if you’re willing to do it so is there any message
that you would have for people experiencing similar situations to you
or at least that you were yeah definitely the message would be
I know what it feels like you know my experience is different but I know what
it feels like to not be able to V vocalize what’s going on
um and there is help for you out there you know it takes time and it’s
sometimes it’s very painful but that brick wall that you have can be taken down piece by piece
you know as long as you’re willing to do what it takes and it’s not that hard to do it
so you have to put in the work you gotta put in the work y but it’s not as hard as you think you
know it sounds crazy and hard but it’s not it’s freeing it is very freeing it’s like a
cleanse so so um working in the field of uh
mental health um what are what Specialties do you have um so I’ve been
working in this field for six years now so the Specialties that I have have our
um director of admissions and resources finding you the best fit for whatever
issues that you have um and really narrowing down what
care you’re going to have the most success you know while doing interventions with clients people you
know and families together um and figuring
out what you want basically you know do you want recovery do you want mental
health relief you know do you want therapy things like that
um and the amount of people I’ve talken I’ve spoken to Through The Years um
really helps me specialize and
find the true care that you need you know just by the experience and
my own experience too um as long as you’re honest you know
and that’s the one thing I tell everyone just be honest with me however bad it is or however crazy you think it is just be
honest with me and I’ll find you help um and I do you know and I’m very
proud that I’m able to help people um and I’m very grateful that I was blessed with that job you know or being good at
that job at least at least I hope I am so how does what does the whole process look like so the process for me was
someone who’s who’s seeking help reaches out you know and usually it’s by a phone call
um so they call me and um I speak to them and ask them what
they’re struggling with or what are they trying to find you know uh because they usually call me in
distress you know they’re not really doing that well you know either it’s depression anxiety
PTSD um you know very very horrible thoughts or substance abuse in
general um we asked some questions that really dive
deep into it you know have you ever been diagnosed with things or what do you feel that you have you know and then we
go a little bit into the history um you know and I explain where
I come from and what I’ve gone through too and what I’ve experienced and then we go over a list
of things I can help them and if they’re willing to get the help I can help place them in the Great
program that will truly give them success and find the healing that they
need yeah I think finding the right facility that fits that person’s needs is a big thing because it’s not a cookie
cutter type situation you know not at all there’s a lot of places out there that treat it that way which you know I
mean I think over time’s improving like I said isn’t the case you know what’s going to work for me might not work for
you you know and vice versa and something that’s uh you everyone’s been
through their own individual stuff and you know finding a place that’s going to help that person get to the point they
need to get to is you know it’s good so having people out like you you know doing that it’s great oh yeah you know
and and it’s hard to pick up that phone yeah it’s not easy to do it it’s not
easy to reach out for help and to have someone on the other line that that knows what they’re going
through experienced it and knows truly how to help them and place them in the appropriate care that they
need and not waste their time you
know is detrimental because that could be the only phone call they reach out you know
we want to make sure that we can help them what do you think uh the big hurdles are in the
job the big hurdles in the job yep the willingness I think that would be the
biggest hurdle would be the willingness um
because someone can call in and say I really want help you know and at the end
of the day they may not be willing to take that first big step of actually
going somewhere of actually letting go and dropping that rock you know and
getting them to a facility uh or program or therapist or whatever it may be you know it could be
anything so as the biggest hurdle is the willingness
um the second hurdle would just be leaving that safety net you know of
their home or families or responsibilities you know that they
have um because everything can be managed you know a little problem like
oh you know I have to stay here I can’t leave I got my cats I got my cats you
you know or who’s going to water my roses when I’m gone kind of thing you know very small
problems um seem like a very huge deal when you’re about to change your life
yeah because at the end of the day that’s what we’re doing on the phone is we’re we’re going to change your life so if you’re ready come on um because I’ll
guide you the whole step the whole way through I’ll guide you um so that those two would be the
biggest hurdles I think another one would honestly probably be the insurance as well that too as well because a lot of
this is Specialized Care um you know there are resources for
everyone um but the health insurance does pay a big play a role in it
on finding you care around you or a Specialized Care that’ll accept you um
that’ll cover the costs things like that it’s unfortunate I mean that’s just kind of the way that it
is in America though yes you know MH um better health insurance typically gets
you better care mhm it sucks because there’s a lot of people that that don’t have it yeah you know that like could
really use the care but I mean I think that the the goal is is to you know help
people the best you can with what you got yeah for sure and and that’s the great thing being in this field for so
long I have found so many resources for people that have health insurance that
don’t have health insurance that want to pay privately that have no money at all
um so at the end of the day we’re going to make sure they have some sort of resource that they can utilize uh
because like I said that that phone call that could only happen one time you know and I want to make sure that at least at
the end of the phone call they have a resource that can help them
it’s amazing thank you cool awesome man well thanks for having me thanks for
coming yeah it was super awesome I’m glad
