Good Dads Podcast

Carl Dawson, an expert in the field of addiction, talks about how addiction and substance abuse is a disease and cannot be fought with "will power" alone. Education and knowledge is the first step to figuring out if someone in you family is struggling with addiction... it's a process, not an event.

Dr. Jennifer Baker, president and founder of Good Dads, talks about addiction and how it can affect the WHOLE family (not just the person struggling with dependency). October is Substance Abuse Prevention Month, and we'll be talking about addiction all this month with different guests.

Show Notes

• "Today, we are going to introduce this topic of the month [addiction] by talking about the impact on families." (1:00)
• "What will happen is a lot of people with justify the degree of their life matched with the degree of their alcoholism and there really is no degree, you're either an alcoholic or you're not." (7:04)
• "It doesn't discriminate on sex, age, your career, how much money you make, it doesn't discriminate at all. And that's with drug and alcohol addiction." (8:14)
• "Their behavior is unpredictable." (15:18)
• [Family dynamics] "The family hero is the one that distracts from their parents drinking, by their exceptionally responsible and high performing behavior. The second one though, who's going to compete with that?... So this kid is often the rebel." (22:28)

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Dr. Chris Ward, a psychologist at Ozarks Community Hospital, shares how social isolation is on the rise. Social connections and human interactions can help battle loneliness and isolation.

Our Guest: Dr. Chris Ward

Chris has been a psychologist at Ozarks Community Hospital for seven years. He works with patients with a variety of different concerns including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and ADHD.

Show Notes

• "Money and finances seem to be, based on my research, very taboo in the therapy world." (5:10)
• "Most of my social connections are by circumstance, not by choice. And I think there's some limitations that come with that." (9:35)
• "It is important to have that emotional connection, most importantly to other men. Us men need that as well." (12:43)
• "The Sergent General's report pointed out that loneliness equates to smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, in the health impact and morbidity." (13:18)
• "One of the things from the report I thought was very, very telling was the amount of time people today, compared to 2003, are spending feeling socially connected." (18:24)
• "I think about the importance of focusing outward. Focus on other people, connect with other people, but also serve and support other people, getting out of our head." (22:50)

Resources:

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Dr. Thomas Januosek, Deputy Director of Counseling in Lincoln Nebraska, talks about how lack of social connection could be one of the signs of loneliness and isolation. A person must maintain positive social connection and we need to guide people outside their comfort zone with positive activities.

Dr Shelby Smith, a family physican, husband, and dad, works at Equality Health Care, talks with us on our 500th episode about loneliness and isolation. He says social activities and exercise helps but too much phone activity and social media can add to loneliness and isolation.

Topic of the month: Loneliness and Isolation and why that is a concern for men and mental health

Dr. Jennifer Baker, founder and director at Good Dads, says we need "people" (human interaction) to battle loneliness and isolation. There are three social connections: structure, function, and quality to make sure you are surrounding yourself with positive people.

Show Notes

• "We are covering this from the whole perspective of why a man needs friends and friendship, and why men really struggle in this area." (1:00)
• "We do know that men suffer from loneliness more so than women." (2:22)
• "Introverts still need people. They just don't need as many people." (6:50)
• "You might think about some hobbies you enjoyed [to meet new friends]." (13:18)
• "The quality is the degree to which relationships and interactions with others are positive, helpful and satisfying, versus negative, unhelpful and unsatisfying." (16:55)
• "There's no one who doesn't need a connection." (20:50)

Resources:

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Thomas Miller, a driver for Prime and from a family generation of on the road truckers, talks about work and stress and how to handle not being home. Thomas talks about communication, safety first, and walking as tools to help with being away from his family.

Our Guest: Thomas Miller

Thomas and his wife have two daughters and three grandchildren. Thomas is an over-the-road driver for Prime, Inc.

Show Notes

• "How did you get interested in being an over-the-road driver?" (1:50)
• "Can you talk a little bit about how it can be stressful and how you manage that stress?" (5:18)
• "How do you avoid taking that [stress from a bad day] out on your wife or children?" (13:47)
• "The best way to be successful driving a truck is putting safety first, always." (16:40)

Resources:

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Dr. Mike Dawson, the Executive Director of Instructional Services at Branson Public Schools, talks to us about the education system and how self-care, realistic expectations, and having a support system can all help with work-related stress.

Our Guest: Dr. Mike Dawson

Mike is the Executive Director of Instructional Services at Branson Public Schools. He has been in public education for 29 years, and 10 of those years have been at his current role. Mike has been married for 29 years and is a father of 3.

Show Notes

• "Do you want to speak to what might be stressful in education?" (4:18)
• "We're in the human being business." (4:32)
• How do you deal with the stress of holding your own kids to a high standard as they are going through the school(s) that you work at? (14:30)
• "You have to find someone in the building that you click with, you have to have a relationship with someone who's doing the work that you're doing, and you have to have a really trusting relationship with that person." (19:07)
• "Don't take more than you can do at home." (20:09)

Resources:

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We talk with Frank Tristan, a football coach, husband, and a dad, about work related stress and balance of coaching, family and faith. He also talks about being intentional and setting boundaries and living in the margin.

Jim Millsap, a recently retired math teacher and ex-principal, talks about the Good Dads/Strong Schools Program and how it can help family interaction and better communication with children. Jim also talks about how constant accessablity (like cell phones and social media) can be exhausting and, in the end, cause more work related stress.