September is Suicide Prevention Month, and in this episode of the Care to Change Podcast, host Larry Vinson and director April Bordeau begin a crucial new series on the power of connection in preventing suicide.

Together, they unpack:

• Why hopelessness, feeling like a burden, and feeling alone are the three factors that often lead to suicidal thoughts.
• How connection serves as a safety net—reminding people they are seen, valued, and not alone.
• Practical steps anyone can take to prevent suicide, even if you’re not a therapist.
• How to build a personal support system that includes family, friends, faith community, workplace, and professional resources.
• The importance of asking direct questions, listening without fixing, and normalizing conversations about mental health.

You’ll also hear personal insights from Larry about his own mental health journey, the importance of vulnerability, and how simple actions like checking in can make a life-saving difference.

Key Takeaway:

Suicide prevention is not just for professionals—it’s for all of us. You don’t need all the answers; you just need to show up. One caring person can change the trajectory of someone’s life.

Resources Mentioned:

• Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Dial 988 (U.S.)
• Crisis Text Line: Text 741741
• Learn more about QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) training
• Connect with us at Care to Change
  
  

Next Episode Preview:

Join us next week as we continue this series with a guest from a local suicide prevention task force to explore the power of community in saving lives.

In this powerful and compassionate episode, therapist Kyle Hopkins returns to the Care to Change podcast to open the conversation around suicide prevention, resilience, and healing. With September being National Suicide Prevention Month, this timely discussion sheds light on the experiences of individuals facing suicidal thoughts and how hope and connection can be powerful forces for change.

April and Kyle explore the two common pathways that can lead someone to suicidal ideation — sudden, life-altering events and the slow erosion of mental well-being over time. Kyle offers insight from his work with men, couples, and those struggling with addiction, emphasizing the importance of recognizing early warning signs, initiating courageous conversations, and creating a plan for healing.

They discuss:

• Common circumstances that lead to suicidal crises
• The role of connection in combating feelings of isolation and hopelessness
• Faith, relationships, and marital connection as protective factors
• What healing looks like for someone who has survived a dark season
• How to support a loved one, including teenagers, through suicidal ideation
• The critical importance of treatment for depression and staying engaged in therapy
• Why replacing toxic people, places, and habits is essential in recovery

Listeners will be reminded that suicidal thoughts are a signal, not a conclusion — and that with the right support, healing is possible.

📌 Takeaways & Tools

• Ask the question — You won’t “plant” the idea of suicide by checking in. You might just save a life.
• Connection is key — To God, to loved ones, to a therapist.
• Create a plan — Knowing what to do when dark thoughts arise is essential.
• Replace what you remove — Recovery means filling the "holes" left behind with life-giving relationships and routines.
• Pay attention to teens — Take every statement seriously, even repeated ones.

🚨 If You're Struggling

You’re not alone. Reach out to someone you trust — or call 988, the 24-hour Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
Your life matters. Stay.

Contact us if when you're ready to take a step toward healing. 

🎧 Episode Summary:

The back-to-school season brings a wave of new responsibilities, expectations, and emotional demands—often leaving parents and caregivers feeling overwhelmed and pulled in 10 directions at once.

In this episode, therapist Teresa Haskins joins host Jared Jones to unpack the real-life challenges of juggling family, work, and the back-to-school transition. From letting go of perfectionism to creating rhythms of rest and connection, Teresa shares grace-filled, practical wisdom for surviving (and thriving in) this season.

👥 Featured Guest:

Teresa Haskins, LMFT – Marriage & Family Therapist at Care to Change
Hosted by: Jared Jones, Therapist & Podcast Host at Care to Change

📅 Series Context:

Part 4 of our August Back-to-School Series, following:

• Tips for school transition (with Kate Tucker)
• Supporting mental health (with Jean Crane)
• Creating lasting routines (with Mac Zambrano)

🗣️ Topics Covered:

• Why this season feels so overwhelming (especially for parents)
• Letting go of perfectionism and the “ideal” school year
• Managing expectations and finding your family’s rhythm
• Creating practical, sustainable systems for organizing life
• Building in connection through small daily rituals
• Watching for signs of burnout and emotional overload
• How your inner world impacts your outer chaos
• Delegating tasks and inviting help without guilt
• Using creativity and flexibility to simplify busy days

✅ Practical Takeaways:

1. Plan & Prioritize: Use visual tools, calendars, or weekly family check-ins to structure your time.
2. Build Micro-Connections: Look for small, intentional ways to connect—car chats, hellos/goodbyes, bedtime rituals.
3. Practice Self-Awareness: Notice where perfectionism or people-pleasing might be driving your stress.
4. Ask for Help: Don’t carry the load alone—invite your partner, kids, or others to share responsibilities.
5. Simplify What You Can: Look for smarter ways to do daily tasks or bundle them together creatively.

📚 Resources Mentioned:

• Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
• The Intentional Family by William Doherty
• Atomic Habits by James Clear
• Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero
• Gottman Card Decks (for family or couple connection questions)

💬 Favorite Quote:

❤️ Encouragement:

If you're overwhelmed, you're not alone—and you're probably doing better than you think. You don’t need more time, just better tools. Start with one small change this week, and give yourself grace for the rest.

🎙️ Need support? Reach out to Care to Change to connect with a counselor or life coach who can help you find your rhythm in this season.

Routines bring structure, reduce stress, and increase connection—but how do we actually build routines that last, especially in the chaos of back-to-school season?

In this episode, therapist and first-time guest Mac Zambrano joins host Jared Jones to discuss how to create predictable, flexible, and peace-bringing routines for your family. With years of experience working with kids through ministry and now as a counselor, Mac offers heartfelt, realistic, and grace-filled strategies to help parents reclaim rhythm in their homes—morning, noon, and night.

This is part 3 in our August Back-to-School Series, following previous episodes on:

• Transitioning back to school (with Kate Tucker)
• Supporting mental health during school change (with Jean Crane)

🗣️ Topics Covered:

• Why routines matter (for both kids and adults)
• Emotional safety and stability through structure
• Creating meaningful morning, after-school, and evening routines
• How routines reduce stress and improve emotional availability
• How to support kids' regulation through predictability
• Balancing flexibility and consistency in your home
• Using Sunday night as a rhythm-reset and planning time
• Modeling habits and emotional presence as a parent
• What to do when routines fail—and how to restart them

💡 Key Takeaways:

✅ Morning: Build calm with checklists, consistent wake-ups, and goodbye rituals
✅ After School: Snack, connect, decompress—then homework
✅ Evening: Prepare for tomorrow, connect emotionally, cut off screens early
✅ Whole Family: Use Sunday prep nights & flexibility with structure
✅ Grace > Perfection: Start small, make one change, and celebrate progress

📚 Resources Mentioned:

• Book: Habits of the Household by Justin Whitmel Earley
• Care to Change Resource Library: caretochange.org/resources

💬 Favorite Quote:

✅ Action Step:

Pick one small routine change to implement this week. Whether it’s a morning checklist or a calm evening connection point, that one step can create a ripple effect in your family’s peace and connection.

🎙️ Need support creating structure that works for your family? Reach out to Care to Change to connect with one of our counselors—Mac is now accepting new families!

The back-to-school season can trigger anxiety, frustration, and emotional dysregulation in kids—especially those already facing mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, ADHD, or trauma. In this episode, therapist and mom of four Jean Crane joins host Jared Jones to unpack what’s really going on beneath the surface for our kids and what parents can do to support them.

From understanding common struggles to offering calming strategies and connection tools, this episode is packed with empathy and actionable insights for families navigating this big seasonal shift.

👥 Featured Guest:

Jean Crane, MA, LMHC – Therapist at Care to Change
Hosted by: Jared Jones, Therapist & Podcast Host at Care to Change

🗓️ Series Context:

This is part 2 of our August Back-to-School Series, focused on supporting emotional and practical transitions for families.

🗣️ Topics Covered:

• Why the back-to-school season is hard on both kids and caregivers
• How to manage caregiver anxiety during this transition
• Common emotional struggles: separation anxiety, performance anxiety, and social anxiety
• How technology has shaped social development in kids
• Reading the nonverbal signs when kids won’t talk
• Co-regulation and how calm parents help calm kids
• Strategies for emotional regulation and brain-based calming tools
• How to create opportunities for connection (even with teens!)
• Why movement and body awareness matter more than ever

✅ Practical Tools & Takeaways:

1. Normalize the Transition: Expect emotional bumps and build grace into your routines.
2. Pay Attention to Changes: Watch for shifts in mood, behavior, or energy as signals for deeper emotions.
3. Active Listening > Fixing: Validate what your kids feel before trying to solve problems.
4. Teach Regulation Skills: Breathing techniques, body awareness, and calming tools go a long way.
5. Get Moving: Physical activity improves focus, reduces anxiety, and resets emotional regulation.
6. Partner with Schools: Use school resources to support your child’s needs (IEPs, quiet spaces, counselors).

📚 Resources Mentioned:

• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt
• The Connected Child by Karyn Purvis
• Gottman Card Decks (for conversation starters and emotional literacy)

💬 Quote of the Episode:

🎧 Listen If:

• Your child is struggling to adjust to school routines
• You're seeing signs of anxiety or emotional overwhelm
• You're a caregiver who feels stretched too thin this season
• You want tools to stay calm and build resilience as a family

🎙️ Need support? Our counselors at Care to Change are here to walk alongside you. Schedule a session or check out our resource library at caretochange.org

In this episode, Jared Jones hosts therapist Kate Tucker to share insights and actionable strategies for helping kids and families navigate the back-to-school transition. Whether you're a parent of a kindergartener or a college student, this episode is packed with real-life examples, therapeutic advice, and practical tools for fostering emotional readiness and creating supportive routines.

👥 Featured Guest:

Kate Tucker, LMHC – Therapist at Care to Change
Hosted by: Jared Jones, Podcast Host and Team Member at Care to Change

🗣️ Topics Covered:

• Emotional challenges kids face returning to school
• Why change is hard and how routine helps
• Age-specific tips from early childhood to college
• Importance of “high structure, high intimacy”
• How parents can prepare kids emotionally and practically
• Normalizing emotions and building emotional vocabulary
• Tools for emotional check-ins (e.g., emojis, high/low cards, rose-bud-thorn)
• Cultivating a growth mindset vs. perfectionism
• Connection-building rituals and daily one-on-one time
• How parent energy affects children through co-regulation
• Strategies for creating structure without overwhelm

🛠️ Practical Takeaways:

1. Begin routines early – Re-establish sleep and morning habits before school starts.
2. Prepare emotionally – Visit schools, talk through the first day, and name feelings.
3. Check in daily – Use dinner or bedtime to ask open-ended emotional questions.
4. Celebrate small wins – Acknowledge positive behaviors and progress, not just outcomes.
5. Model healthy emotion processing – Kids imitate emotional responses from parents.
6. Manage your own energy – Calm and intentional parents help create calm children.

📚 Resources Mentioned:

• Parenting from the Inside Out by Dr. Daniel J. Siegel and Mary Hartzell
• I Know What to Do When I'm Feeling... (Flip Book for emotional literacy in young kids)

💡 Quote of the Episode:

✅ Call to Action:

Share this episode with a parent or caregiver navigating the back-to-school season. And schedule with Care to Change, if you'd like guidance on navigating back to school with your kids. 

In this powerful conclusion to the Freedom Series, Larry and April dive deep into what it means to live free from the burdens of performance, perfectionism, and people-pleasing. This episode invites listeners to examine the internal and cultural narratives that drive us to overwork, overachieve, and overextend — and gently challenges us to let go.

April shares insights about the exhaustion caused by striving for value and belonging through doing rather than being. From cultural norms to spiritual misunderstandings, the conversation covers how fear often masks itself as responsibility, productivity, or politeness — and how true freedom begins with challenging those false scripts.

💡 Key Takeaways

• Striving vs. Freedom: Learn the difference between performing for worth and living from your inherent value.
• Cultural Pressure: Western culture often equates productivity with success, ignoring the importance of rest and character.
• Fear as a Barrier: Fear of failure, rejection, and disappointing others keeps us from living authentically.
• Performance-Based Value: The lie that "you are only as good as what you do" traps us in cycles of burnout.
• Healing Pathway:
  • Identify the patterns you're stuck in (striving, people-pleasing, etc.)
  • Trace the root of those beliefs
  • Replace internal scripts with truth
  • Set boundaries
  • Surround yourself with affirming community

✨ Memorable Quotes

💬 Resources & Connect

• 🔗 Care to Change Website
• 📱 Follow us on social media for more insights & podcast updates
• 🎧 Explore past podcast episodes on topics like boundaries, burnout, and authenticity
• 🗓️ Schedule a session with one of our caring therapists: Make an Appointment

🧡 Final Thought

If you’re tired of measuring your worth by your performance, this episode is your invitation to rest, reconnect with your true self, and begin the journey toward authentic living. Healing happens here — at Care to Change.

Care to Change continues its conversation on freedom by exploring one of the most empowering forms of liberation: using your voice. In this episode, April welcomes back therapist and clinical director Brittany Gipson to unpack the courage, clarity, and healing that come from speaking your truth.

They dive into what it means to “find your voice,” why we lose it, and how reclaiming it is central to living an authentic, purpose-filled life. Whether you're just beginning a journey of self-discovery or working through the fear of being truly seen, this episode offers gentle wisdom and practical steps for stepping into emotional and spiritual freedom.

💬 Topics Covered

• What it truly means to “find your voice”
• Why so many of us silence ourselves—and how that begins in childhood
• The link between trauma, culture, and losing your voice
• How gender, faith, and societal roles shape expression
• How to rediscover your truth if you’ve lost sight of it
• The role of safe relationships in practicing vulnerability
• When using your voice leads to difficult conversations—or necessary endings
• How faith empowers us to speak up with both compassion and confidence

🛠️ Practical Takeaways

• Begin with awareness: Pay attention to where, when, and with whom you stay silent or express yourself.
• Explore the root causes: Ask, “Why am I not using my voice here?” Childhood messages and past trauma often shape current silence.
• Challenge false beliefs: Replace old narratives ("My voice doesn't matter") with truth rooted in your value and identity.
• Start with safe people: Practice sharing your thoughts with people who are emotionally safe and receptive.
• Stand firm in your worth: Disagreement doesn’t invalidate your experience—truth brings freedom, even when it’s not received well.

📖 Faith Connection

Brittany reminds us that God created us with purpose and uniqueness—our voices are part of that divine design. Referencing passages like Psalm 139 and 2 Timothy 1:7, she emphasizes that speaking truth in love aligns with our identity in Christ, not against it. Using your voice isn’t rebellion—it’s obedience to the One who made you.

📚 Recommended Resources

• Try Softer by Aundi Kolber – for gentle emotional self-discovery
• Anchored by Cindy Lee – for grounding identity in secure attachment
• Free to Be Me by Stasi Eldredge – for women pursuing authenticity through faith

💡 Reflective Questions

• Where in your life are you staying silent—and why?
• Who taught you it was safer to hide?
• What’s one safe space where you could begin practicing truth-telling?
• Are you willing to release relationships that can't hold space for the real you?

📞 Ready to Take the Next Step?

If this conversation stirred something in you and you're longing to rediscover your voice and reclaim your worth, we’re here for you. At Care to Change, our therapists are trained to walk with you through the process of healing, self-discovery, and empowerment.

📲 Visit caretochange.org to connect with someone who can help.

—

In this powerful episode, April Bordeau continues the July series on "Freedom" by exploring how setting boundaries can bring true emotional and spiritual liberation. Guest therapist Jean Crane unpacks the roots of codependency, the signals that healthy boundaries are missing, and how embracing your God-given identity is foundational to reclaiming your voice.

Together, they discuss:

• The emotional toll of people-pleasing and over-functioning
• How childhood experiences can shape codependent patterns
• Faith’s role in supporting healthy relationships
• Why setting boundaries is an act of love—not selfishness
• Practical steps to speak up, say no, and walk in God’s design for freedom

🧠 Key Takeaways

• Codependency defined: Putting others’ needs above your own to feel secure or avoid conflict
• Warning signs: Chronic exhaustion, resentment, conflict avoidance, or emotional caretaking
• Healing begins with identity in Christ: Knowing you're fully loved and designed with purpose
• Use your voice: Say what you feel and need with assertiveness and compassion
• Jesus modeled boundaries: He honored His humanity, said no, and prioritized God’s will over people’s demands
• Boundaries ≠ rejection: They protect what matters and create room for healthier, more loving connections

📚 Resources Mentioned

• Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend
• Good Boundaries and Goodbyes by Lysa TerKeurst
• Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

🛠️ Practical Tools

• The Four Gauges Exercise: Assess your emotional, spiritual, social, and physical health by drawing gauges (0–100%). Jean explains how this visual tool can highlight imbalance and guide self-care.
• Journal prompts:
  1. Where am I drained in my relationships?
  2. Where am I energized?
  3. Am I saying yes where I really want to say no?

📩 Connect With Us

Need support in setting boundaries or navigating codependency? Email us at [email protected] to request the Gauge Visual Tool or schedule a time to meet with one of our therapists.

In this soul-stirring and heart-centered episode, April Bordeau sits down with therapist and clinical supervisor Teresa Land to explore the deep connection between vulnerability, authenticity, and emotional freedom. Together, they unpack what it truly means to be known, loved, and emotionally present in relationships—and how embracing vulnerability can lead us to the kind of freedom we were created for.

💬 Key Topics Covered

• The difference between authenticity and vulnerability
• How hiding parts of ourselves prevents deep connection
• The lie of performance and the fear of rejection
• Why vulnerability is not weakness—but rather a courageous act of connection
• How shame, trauma, and scarcity mindset keep us isolated
• Practical steps to build emotional awareness and practice vulnerability
• Using Brene Brown’s “marble jar” analogy to measure emotional safety
• The healing power of authentic relationships—and the importance of seasonal boundaries

🛠️ Practical Takeaways

• Check in with yourself regularly: Use tools like the How We Feel app or journaling to identify and name emotions.
• Practice self-acceptance: Vulnerability starts with being honest with yourself.
• Choose safe people wisely: Use the “marble jar” metaphor to gauge who is emotionally safe to trust.
• Don’t confuse vulnerability with oversharing: Emotional honesty is powerful when rooted in discernment and self-worth.
• Surround yourself with people who welcome the real you: Safe people challenge and support you—not just agree with you.

🧠 Resources Mentioned

• Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
• Try Softer by Aundi Kolber
• Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud (mentioned in context of trust and safe relationships)
• Psalm 139 and John 10:10 as spiritual foundations for authenticity

💡 Reflective Questions

• Where in your life are you performing instead of accepting yourself?
• What emotions have you been avoiding or suppressing?
• Who are your “marble jar” people—those safe enough to hold your heart?
• Are you protecting yourself from rejection at the cost of meaningful connection?

📞 Need Help Taking the First Step?

If you find yourself feeling disconnected, longing for meaningful relationships, or unsure how to begin your healing journey, the team at Care to Change is here for you. You don’t have to walk this journey alone.

📲 Visit caretochange.org or call us to connect with one of our trusted therapists.