Did you know that May is Mental Health Awareness Month? Well, the esteemed Kim Schneiderman from NAMI SW WA is here to remind us. In addition, she gives us the lowdown on why she knows everyone at her grocery store, getting into mental health by way of phlebotomy and bubble packs, and how her volunteer service at NAMI translated into her dual roles now as Board President and Executive Director. We talk about how NAMI supports and provides Education, Support, Advocacy, and Awareness for people dealing with mental health issues, and their loved ones and about the annual NAMI SW WA walk, coming up this weekend, and annually following the Saturday of the weekend prior to Memorial Day. Welcome Kim!

We’re big fans of saying mental health is health, and Jackie Baker, DNP stopped by the chat to give Melissa and Staci a primer in what that looks like in the pediatric office. We talk about fentanyl and narcan training, rapid onset gender dysphoria, pronoun use, sports physicals vs. well checks, what to expect at what ages in the pediatric visit, pediatric mental health screening tools, correlation of screen use and increased isolation and depression in children as well as what she would use a magic wand to fix. We also get into how she cares for herself so she can show up for her patients in her Vancouver, WA office. Welcome Jackie!  Let’s chat!

Kristine and Cindy stop by the chat to talk PTSD, the COMPACT Act, CBOC’s, PCL-5’s, and other varied acronymed topics that give Melissa and Staci the insider’s peek into mental health care in the Portland VA. They’re on a mission to spread the word about the VA’s whole health approach, build community coalitions, explain how the VA is trying to broaden the reach into more rural communities, and what treatment and benefits are like at the VA. Welcome Kristine and Cindy! Let’s chat!

Joining us on the chat today is Dr. Amanda “Mandy” Allen, the newest OB/GYN at Cascadia Women’s Clinic. Mandy tackled the cold of Chicago for medical school, braved the heat of Las Vegas for her residency, and now is practicing at the perfect temperature here in Vancouver, WA. She schools us in just how common PPD is (spoiler alert, it’s more common than breast cancer), its diverse symptoms, and tests how many acronyms Melissa and Staci can actually internalize. We dive right into the murky water of PPD to clear things up a little by talking scales, screenings, and Pregnancy Centering.

Welcome Mandy!

Grab your honor beads and lace up your kicks - it’s time to chat with Angela Perry about suicide prevention - just in time for September’s Suicide Awareness Month. As a Board Member with the Oregon Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) she educates Melissa and Staci about: the differences between 911 and 988, the community connection found in the AFSP hosted walks, educational programs in mental health first aid, the research behind suicide prevention, Adi’s act (mental health in schools), the importance of a safety plan, and her own personal struggles with ongoing suicidal ideation. The annual AFSP Portland “Out of the Darkness” walk is the first Saturday in October - you bring you, they’ll bring the honor beads.

Mike Nieto stops by the chat to discuss with Melissa and guest host, Sandra Foreman, how his self-funded nonprofit, Dig Deep, is helping employees in a “tough guy” industry like heavy construction deal with their mental health, so they can be their own best selves. He works to create the ‘uncomfortably safe’ environment where the tough issues can be discussed, in a safe way. In doing so he offers team members opportunity to learn about who they are and what they can be. He utilizes many tools including, therapy, PRINT, and other team building activities that harvest vulnerability. He believes when business helps build people, those same people help build a better community. We talk about the “Why of You” insights the PRINT process brings to his team, the fatigue of therapy, keeping the ego in check, becoming aware of triggers, the high suicide risk in the construction industry, what the shadow self means, and oh yea, he showed up with his arm in a sling because of his recent dirt biking injuries. Welcome, Mike!

Sarah Desjarlais, Executive Director of Fosterful, stops by the chat to discuss how Fosterful provides a variety of ways volunteers can show up for foster children in the greater community without needing to make the full-time committment as a foster parent. Along the way we talk about ACE scores, the four trauma responses and how to work through them (Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn), and Fosterful’s next big initiative, Sidekicks. As a former foster parent of nine years and momma to five wild kids, Sarah has a high tolerance for pain. Her tireless ability to dig in when problems need solving comes through as she describes how she and Fosterful navigate the ever changing goals and regulations in the foster system, pandemic changes, and how Fosterful evolves to support kids in Washington and Idaho. Sarah loves cooking, eating, public speaking, and believes that Bigfoot really does exist. Welcome, Sarah!

Richard Ott joins the chat to talk about wearing glasses and fighting fires while being disguised as your average office worker. All of which leads us to wonder, is Richard… Superman? In addition to discussing the foibles to getting older, he stops by to discuss the intersection of mental health services and the unhoused. Richard has worked in the healthcare field for over 25 years, with 16 years of that time being spent working in acute, inpatient psychiatric care at Oregon State Hospital (OSH). At OSH he worked as a direct service provider (clinician) and held administrative level positions. Currently, Richard works as a Compliance Officer, Privacy Officer, Risk Manager, and Safety Officer for The Portland Clinic. In addition, for more than a decade, in his off-work time, he also volunteered as a firefighter/EMT and saw firsthand the pernicious impacts mental health and addiction related issues have had on individuals, families and communities. Welcome, Richard!

It should be noted, that while Richard is super knowledgeable about the mental health system, he is not speaking in an official capacity, and doesn’t represent the views of either his current or former employer.

Some terms and topics heard in our chat include:

- The “LEDS” system or Law Enforcement Data System

- Central City Concern - non profit focused on helping people find home, regain health, and move toward long-term stability and success.

- PSRB or the Psychiatric Safety Review Board

- In Vancouver, WA if you don’t know who to call, and don’t feel like it rises to the level of 911 for emergencies, you can call 311 which is non-emergency police dispatch.

Language Changes over time. In this interview, you’ll hear us all refer to “unhoused”, “homeless”, and “unsheltered” interchangeably. We are aware these terms are in flux, and hope that our use of all these terms interchangeably indicates a sincere focus on the topic at hand, while in the midst of learning new terms.

Arabeth Mashek, LPC, LMHC, joins the chat to tell Melissa and Staci that lightbars aren’t just for ceilings anymore. She’s the owner / operator of Three Creeks Counseling in Vancouver WA, and specializes in helping those with anxiety and trauma histories, heal from past difficulties so they can live rich, meaningful lives. In addition to traditional talk therapy, she employs EMDR as a psychotherapy treatment that helps clients heal from both incident based trauma like PTSD and/ or chronic buildups from the past, that continue to limit her clients in the present. She has found that EMDR can be a relatively quick alternative to traditional psychotherapy when clients are not seeing results, with high success rates.

Despite Melissa and Staci getting the EMDR acronym wrong repeatedly, we think you’ll appreciate her down to earth approach and light touch (pun intended) she brings to mental health. Welcome, Arabeth! Find out more at InternalChatter.com.

Lowell MacGregor, Executive Director of Taylor Made Retreat, stops by to give Melissa and Staci the lowdown on addiction, recovery, and Taylor Made Retreat. Lowell has been in recovery for over three decades and in the last four years has made Taylor Made Retreat into a recovery house with a 70% success rate. With a focus on the 12 steps based on the big book “Alcoholics Anonymous”, a longitudinal assessment of patterns that keep clients stuck, and focus on connecting to the spirit that flows through all living things, Lowell has created a spiritual focused retreat house from a former bootlegger’s mansion. Welcome, Lowell! Find out more at InternalChatter.com.

Melissa and Staci chat with Deborah Dedrickson, a master’s level clinician with extensive experience supporting adolescents and adults facing both mental health and substance use issues. In a career spanning almost 3 decades, she has worked as a residential treatment provider, an outpatient therapist, a crisis intervention specialist, and a program director in a variety of settings. Deborah currently works as the Director of Crisis Line Operations at Lines for Life, an Oregon-based non-profit dedicated to preventing substance abuse and suicide and promoting mental wellness. In this role, she trains and supervises a team of 150 clinicians who answer calls on over 30 behavioral health support lines, including the state’s Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Drug and Alcohol Helpline, Youthline, Military Helpline, Senior Loneliness Line and Racial Equity Support Line. In her 14 years at Lines for Life, she has personally answered thousands of crisis calls, bearing witness to the power of kindness and compassion to renew the spirit, build hope, inspire resilience and support recovery. Find out more at InternalChatter.com.

Melissa and Staci chat with Sam Stevens, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in private practice in Portland, OR. His focus is on new fathers and couples with young children. Has been facilitating the Portland New Father’s Group since 2010. He previously taught birth preparation classes for soon-to-be parents and now is asked to speak at industry and community mental health conferences on early child development, parenting, adjustment to fatherhood, and postpartum mood and anxiety disorders in men and women. Find out more at InternalChatter.com.

Melissa and Staci talk with Cindy Cook from Emergence Grief and Loss in Vancouver, WA. Cindy is an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist in the Grief Recovery Method. We discuss what the Grief Recovery Method (GRM) is, what kinds of losses typically produce grief (it’s not just death…), the six most common grief myths that often keep grievers stuck, and how everyone can receive and give better support to grievers. Find out more at InternalChatter.com.