This episode we welcome our CAPS colleague, Jo Fullmer, LCSW, to the podcast.  We learn about Jo's professional and life journey, including what led her to start the Dissertation Support Group at CAPS.  We discuss the experience of that group and how important it has been to supporting doctoral students in the final step of their degree.  Erinn and Jo are both parents, so we take the opportunity to discuss the challenges and unexpected joys of parenting during a pandemic.   And shout out the Parent Support Group at CAPS, which will be offered in the Spring 2021 semester.  Finally, we conclude the episode as we always do with "Just Stop It!"  This episode we encourage parents, and everyone, to let go of perfectionism.  Join us for a interesting podcast with an interesting guest.  

Erinn was burning today to talk about systems in society and dealing with the bizarre times we are living in.  So that's what we did.  We discuss how we're reacting to the pandemic and wonder if as a culture we've taken enough time to just stop and truly acknowledge the times we're living through instead of rushing to get back to business as usual.  We discuss the power of acknowledgment and normalizing, and how this can make people feel less alone or guilt ridden in their experiences.  Also, now that many of us are working from home, the usual boundaries that separated work or school from our personal home lives don't exist.  This can lead to more stress and finding it hard to unplug.  It takes more intentional effort and thought to draw those boundaries for ourselves, and the cost of not doing this can be dire.  Plus, Anthony talks about his love for "The Wire," the greatest television show ever made, and Erinn almost starts a fight trying to argue against this fact.  A show from the early 2000's, "The Wire" was an in depth study of the characters and systems that made up the city of Baltimore.  The show ties perfectly into a discussion of systems, and how systems fail, struggle to change, and can devastate the hopes of individual people.  But there are also moments of triumph and evolution.  As President Obama recently implored, we have to fight against the tide toward hopelessness, powerlessness and despair.  That change is possible, and we can be part of it.  We discuss a small example of how this process played out at CAPS.  This message leads directly into our end segment "Just Stop It!," where we implore listeners to resist the urge to give up on change.  Change is often slow and gradual, but as therapists we've seen it happen in individual lives and we know it is possible at the system level.  But like with individuals, it takes a desire to change and a willingness to put in the hard work required.  

This episode we welcome our UNC CAPS colleague, Dr. Anna Lock, to the podcast to talk about Anxiety - THE BIG A!  Anxiety is the #1 presenting concern at university & college counseling centers across the U.S.A.  We have all felt anxious at one time or another because it is an emotion common to the human experience.  But, for a lot of people, anxiety can get to the point where it is continually interfering with life and causing significant distress in their lives.  Dr. Lock shares her considerable experience and expertise with anxiety and anxiety disorders.  Also, we discuss anxiety and COVID, something most of us can probably relate to.  And once again, we end the show with our segment "Just Stop It!  This time it is Dr. Lock taking the floor to encourage our listeners, in the most direct language possible, to just stop it with some belief or behavior.  Tune in and get educated about anxiety from a true expert.  

Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

In this episode of the Pod, we discuss what travel, and specifically solo travel, has taught us about unlocking our power, confidence, and sense of self.  We emphasize how we've learned that new or unfamiliar experiences can be uncomfortable, but that by stepping into discomfort we've learned surprising things about ourselves and life that we wouldn't have discovered otherwise.  

“The hardest thing to do is leaving your comfort zone. But you have to let go of the life you’re familiar with and take the risk to live the life you dream about.” T. Arigo

College is the time to explore and discover who you are and want to be, and we want students to make the most of their experience.  Challenging yourself to step into discomfort can be part of doing that.  Also, we discuss how we're coping with COVID and wonder "is there light in the darkness [of COVID]?"  In other words, what have been some unexpected positives we've noticed during this worldwide pandemic.  And, Dr. Scott prompts us to speculate "who is struggling more during COVID - introverts or extroverts?"

We discuss CAPS services and seeking help, detailing how students can connect to CAPS during this time of COVID, when all CAPS usual services are being offered virtually online via Zoom and first contact with CAPS is being done by calling CAPS and completing a phone screen.  Finally, we end the Pod with our segment entitled "Just Stop It!"  Join us for a conversation that we really enjoyed getting to have.  

Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music

This is the inaugural episode of "Feeling Seen: A UNC CAPS Podcast."  Your hosts are Dr. Erinn Scott, Psy.D. and Dr. Anthony Teasdale, Ph.D., staff psychologists at Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) at The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.  In this episode, we discuss the inspiration behind launching this podcast.  After that, we chat with each other like we frequently do when no one else is around.  We introduce ourselves to the audience; discussing who we are and where we are from, our salient identities, our journey to becoming psychologists and working in college mental health, and what we love about we do.  We discuss fear and the importance of stepping into discomfort, what travel teaches us about the possibilities of life, and so much more.  And in what we hope to be a pod tradition, we end with a segment we call "Just Stop It!" where we speak directly to challenging or debunking some common notion that we've encountered in our work as mental health professionals.  Join us for a conversation between friends and colleagues in what we hope will speak to UNC students, the UNC community, and larger world as we impart information and knowledge about mental health, therapy, CAPS and much more.  Ultimately, contributing to people "feeling seen."  

Music: http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music