Hope Pieced Together

The road to recovery is never an easy one, no matter what the issue is. Our guest today is Kate Funk and she talks about her own recovery and her work helping others with theirs. Kate developed a serious eating disorder at a very young age and it took many years for her to properly address and overcome the harmful effects of the roots of the problem. She now works at Monte Nido and Affiliates, helping teens on their path to a healthier self as well as in her own private practice of rehab. Kate opens up about what her disorder looked like and how it changed and evaded her grasp. We hear about chasing a never-achievable body weight, the influence of her mother's own eating issues on her as a young girl, important steps in the process and even some of the positive things that have come with having these problems in her life. Kate shares the important role her friends played in the journey and how tiny moments and messages can make all the difference in hanging on. We also discuss her treatment and how she came around to it after a typical aversion. For a wonderfully honest and inspiring conversation with someone fully committed to helping people through what she has experienced herself, be sure to join us today!

Key Points From This Episode:

• More about Monte Nido, who it serves and its aims.
• Kate's private practice working with eating disorders, addiction, and trauma. 
• Our guest's personal reasons for getting into counseling and working with eating disorders.
• Chasing a bodyweight and the unquenchable desire to go lower.  
• The recovery journey; scales, reaching out and journalling. 
• The gifts that have come along with an eating disorder and how Kate appreciates her journey. 
• Kate's friends and the part they played in her recovery through steadfastness. 
• The small messages that can make such a difference to someone who is struggling. 
• How Kate was forced into treatment initially and how it took hold from there.  
• The different stages of recovery; making it through the levels over time. 
• Finding ways to be more kind to oneself and taking your own emotional temperature. 
• The other areas that Kate's low sense of self-worth made itself apparent.  
• Challenges of working with people with similar issues and problems.
• Kate's experiences coaching at Girls on the Run!
• Some thoughts from our guest to anyone out there struggling.
• A favorite story from Kate's journey around a big mirror and her fingerprint.

Tweetables:

“I developed an eating disorder at a really young age, I would say I was probably 7 or 8 years old.” — Kate Funk [0:04:30]

“I am a very sensitive person, so if I'm holding something back that is a red flag that there is something going on.” — Kate Funk [0:10:45]

“I probably am a little bit more tough love than a therapist that hasn't been there.” — Kate Funk [0:32:15]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Mosaics of Mercy

Kate Funk 

Monte Nido and Affiliates

Girls on the Run

For some people, poor body image is a sign of a serious problem: an eating disorder. Eating disorders are not just always about food. They are often a way to cope with difficult problems, a form of trauma or a way to regain some form of control. We need to be able to understand all the different topics around eating disorders so we can be informed. Joining us on the show today we have Dr. Deborah Michel, regional managing director at the Eating Recovery Center (ERC) in The Woodlands, Texas. Dr. Michel is also co-author of the book When Dieting Becomes Dangerous: A Guide to Understanding and Treating Anorexia and Bulimia. During this conversation, Dr. Michel discusses eating disorders and signs and symptoms to look out for, how challenging eating disorders treatment and recovery can be, the changes in the eating disorder field over the years, and ways in which social media has changed the world of eating disorders. Be sure to keep listening to this very interesting conversation with Dr. Deborah Michel!

Key Points From This Episode: 

• Dr. Michel tells us how she got involved in treating eating disorders.
• Changes that have occurred in the eating disorder field over the years.
• How ERC is steeped in a values-based approach.
• Family as a big asset in recovery.
• Change starting from the outside and moving inward.
• Correcting symptoms lead to changes occurring cognitively and emotionally.
• The significant focus on nutritional rehabilitation.
• Dr. Michel’s belief that it takes a village in the recovery of those with eating disorders.
• Why we live in a hostile recovery environment.
• Social media and how it’s changed the world of eating disorders.
• The trauma we know is a risk factor for any type of psychological difficulty.
• Trauma and complex relational trauma and the effect it has on your life.
• Navigating trauma to help prevent eating disorders.
• Power of validation and its significance for individuals.
• Benefits of eating together and having family meals.
• Importance of regulating your emotions.
• Addressing the anxiety that goes hand-in-hand with eating disorders.
• Recovery and full recovery is absolutely possible.
• The journey of treatment for an eating disorder.
• Advice for concerned family members and how to seek help for someone else.
• The invisibility of eating disorders and signs and symptoms that go unseen.
• Stories of hope for the individual and hope for the family.

Tweetables:

“When someone’s brain is malnourished it’s not going to be able to utilize all of that information in the way that someone's brain, who is healed and optimal, will.” — Dr. Deborah Michel [0:05:39]

“Families can be our very greatest asset in recovery.” — Dr. Deborah Michel [0:06:34]

“I always have believed that it takes a village in the recovery of those with eating disorders.” — Dr. Deborah Michel [0:11:19]

“Avoidance is anxiety’s best friend.” — Dr. Deborah Michel [0:33:24]

“Recovery and full recovery is absolutely possible.” — Dr. Deborah Michel [0:40:18]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Eating Recovery Center

When Dieting Becomes Dangerous

Craig Johnson on LinkedIn

Recovery Record 

Are you or someone you know dealing with an eating disorder? Do you often not know where to even begin helping yourself or someone else? Joining us today on the show we have Dr. Anna Brown, Clinical Director at Eating Recovery Center. Eating Recovery Center (ERC) is an integrated, health care system dedicated to the treatment of serious eating and related disorders at any stage of the illness. With eating disorders being so prevalent in our daily lives and being so common in America with over 30 million people struggling with it, we must educate ourselves on the topic. Dr. Anna is here to help us understand eating disorders and the psychology behind them. We discuss “invisible” eating disorders, how to identify eating disorders, recovery from eating disorders, and how ERC can help. For all this and more, keep listening!

Key Points From This Episode: 

• Dr. Anna shares her background and how she started working with eating disorders.
• What ERC has to offer and different in-patient and out-patient programs available.
• Identifying eating disorders in others.
• The link between eating disorders and athletics and training.
• Recovery from eating disorders and how ERC is there to provide a source of hope.
• Letting go of the familiar and go into the unknown.
• Finding the right counselor to help deal with an eating disorder.
• Perceptions about eating disorders.
• What a day at ERC looks like for Dr. Anna.
• Virtual ways to seek help through ERC.
• The benefits of mindfulness in the recovery of eating disorders.
• Involving families in the recovery process and having them eat meals together.
• Exposure therapy incorporated into care at ERC to help people deal with life after recovery.
• Shifts that have taken place in eating disorders over time.
• Misconceptions surrounding eating disorders and why there is no one specific cause.
• Different types of eating disorders.
• Social media awareness groups to help teach people how to handle social media and the effect it has on their lives.
• Dr. Anna shares the story of Shannon Kopp and her road to recovery.

Tweetables:

“Eating disorders come in all shapes and sizes, all different kinds of presentations.” — Dr. Anna Brown [0:07:53]

“We really take a stance of, families are not to blame.” — Dr. Anna Brown  [0:39:24]

“There is no one specific cause for an eating disorder.” — Dr. Anna Brown  [0:40:08]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Eating Recovery Center

Shannon Kopp

Pound for Pound

Say it Brave

Today’s episode is one of hope and healing. We are joined by Lisa Squier, who shares details about her daughter’s suicide attempt two years ago. Being a single mom, Lisa has always been very close to her daughters, yet the suicide attempt by Emily, her youngest daughter, caught her completely off-guard. Lisa had not known that Emily was struggling with her mental health at all until she uncharacteristically woke up in the middle of the night and found her daughter unconscious. She also talks about what the journey since the incident has been like. She and Emily have had to establish a completely different relationship, where full honesty was the central tenet. This meant that Lisa had to get comfortable with asking the tough questions in order to understand how Emily was truly feeling. The incident took an emotional and mental toll on Lisa who found that she had PTSD afterward. She shares the ways that she has found support since and how although she cannot erase what happened, she has tools that allow her to cope with it being a part of her reality. Lisa and Emily have chosen to be open with their story in the hopes that sharing it will have positive effects, no matter how big or small. They have already seen evidence of it, and hope to continue with their cause. Tune in for all this and much more!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Despite being very close to her daughter, Lisa saw no signs of Emily struggling mentally.
• How Lisa found Emily after her suicide attempt when she was 18.
• What happened when Lisa went to the emergency room with her daughter.
• Some of the incredible work that first responders do.
• Even a few days after the incident, Lisa struggled to piece together what had happened. 
• After Emily was released from the hospital, she went to a psychiatric hospital.
• Lisa did some ‘investigative’ work of her own to put the story together.
• The clues that Emily left for Lisa in the event that she succeeded with her plan.
• For Lisa, it was hard when Emily was in the psychiatric hospital because she was in the dark.
• Why it was like bringing a newborn home when Emily was discharged from the psychiatric facility. 
• Permission for full disclosure: why being 100% honest was the only way to move forward.
• Mental health is a backward journey – you start with medication and diagnose from there.
• Finding the balance between allowing independence versus helping was difficult for Lisa.
•  Lisa realized that she had PTSD after Emily’s incident and how she dealt with it. 
• The ability to always be present helped Lisa cope with the incident greatly. 
• In a sensitive situation, people do want to help, but often do not know how to.
• A surprising outcome: many people approached Lisa saying that they had similar situations.
• A powerful moment that showed Lisa why advocating for mental wellness was the right path.
• Some of the other blessings that have come from Lisa and Emily’s situation.

Tweetables:

“I didn’t care who knew at that point. I wanted everybody to know because I need as much help as humanly possible.” — Lisa Squier [0:09:21]

“The fact that it did not work is proof to me that it was not supposed to.” —  Lisa Squier [0:10:47]

“Trust is a huge, huge, huge thing in our family. If you don’t have that, you don’t have anything.” — Lisa Squier [0:17:08]

“Anger means action.” — Lisa Squier [0:29:58]

“Just ask the hard questions.” — Lisa Squier [0:41:34]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Kevin Hines

Kevin Hines on Twitter 

Living Out Loud 

On the show today we welcome therapist Tessa Stuckey who shares some of her insight into and experience with adolescents who are suffering from suicidal ideation. Teen suicide must be a parent’s worst nightmare, and Tessa talks to us about her support group for girls, the importance of talking about struggles, getting much-needed support from peers, and some of the rules and practices she has implemented in this setting. What Tessa learned in counseling these youths is that they often don’t display the typical signs of people who are thinking about suicide. Wanting to understand what is causing the rapid increase in depression and anxiety in young people, Tessa began looking into the cultural factors that could be contributing to the large-scale problem. In her upcoming book, she details six major societal culprits, also touching briefly on each in our discussion today. Listeners will also be advised on adopting a healthy perspective on life and pain, having realistic expectations on teenagers, the mindsets to avoid as a parent, and teaching kids how to practice self-care. Tessa also talks briefly about the work she does outside of counseling teens, including helping couples, individuals, and parents. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Why Tessa started her Team Girl support group and how it’s different from others.
• The powerful effect of getting support from peers who have experienced similar things. 
• The importance of maintaining absolute confidentiality in such a setting. 
• How Tessa’s journey with the group inspired her to write a book. 
• Learning that most group members did not display the typical signs of suicidal ideation. 
• Studying what about our society causes teen suicides to have skyrocketed in the last decade. 
• A personal story about dealing with a friend’s suicidal tendencies in high school. 
• The need for parents to pay more attention to their children’s mental wellbeing. 
• How emotional turmoil can be like a hurricane and the importance of being prepared.
• Keeping in mind that life is not easy and fair and that it’s hard for everybody.  
• The problem of parents expecting teenagers to think and act like adults. 
• How the media sometimes romanticizes suicide and portrays it as something heroic. 
• Suicide as an attention-seeking strategy and our inherent desire to be important and valued. 
• The lack of personal connections and the growing social anxiety among teens. 
• The biggest cultural problem – immediate gratification.   
• Cyberbullying, comparing, and other dangers of social media. 
• How the pressure for perfection and performance impact adolescents’ mental health. 
• Growing up with two parents who are both therapists and how she ended up in the same role. 
• Not parenting out of fear and other great advice from her years of counseling experience.
• Teaching kids to self-care and how to make themselves feel better. 
• How her teenage clients help her to become more aware and self-aware.   
• Her work with couples, premarital counseling, and adult male individuals. 

Tweetables:

“I believe that if we put those ‘coping skills’ or self-care options into play more routinely, then when things get tough, it’s easier to handle and to cope with emotionally.” — @TessaStuckey [0:18:17]

“People have this idea that life is supposed to be easy or fair and it’s not. Life is hard.” — @TessaStuckey [0:19:16] 

“We live in a very victimized culture right now.” — @TessaStuckey [0:27:30]  

“Hurt people hurt people, a

Today Judge Mack joins us on the show to give us his perspectives on the topic of behavioral health and suicide in the communities he engages in. Throughout his childhood, his previous career as a police officer, and his current position as Montgomery County judge, Mack has witnessed the mental health and suicide crisis being faced not just in his district but across the nation. This public epidemic is exacerbated by many issues such as taboo, family unpreparedness, shortages of counselors, the price of therapy, misinformation, and what he sees as general unreadiness in the community. These challenges have resulted in a situation where people who are in need of help are taking recourse by simply suffering their way through their sickness in silence. Judge Mack has been working tirelessly to combat this issue by creating what he calls a community ‘task force’. Mack’s task force is working hard to create a culture of care, and to bring the topic of mental health into the public eye while also bringing his community together. This reminds us that amongst the suffering, there are stories of hope and healing and that people like Judge Mack are taking a stand to make the world a better place.

Key Points From This Episode:

• Understanding the public epidemic of behavioral health and suicide across America.
• The stigma around mental health issues stops people from seeking help.
• There is a lack of resources for people who are struggling with mental health to access.
• Mack’s court and inquest duties led him to discover this lack of resources.
• Schools and families aren’t teaching kids how to practice mental health.
• One of four people deal with a mental illness but only one of five sufferers seek help.
• People are blocked by work or waiting lists from seeking mental health.
• Physical health is prioritized over mental health.
• Misinformation is also rife in preventing people from getting the correct help.
• The expense of mental health resources blocks people from accessing them.
• Communities of faith need to recognize this in their own circles.
• Mack’s advocation for his community’s response to mental health to be named a ‘task force’.
• Time and distance from a traumatic event can stop somebody committing suicide.
• It’s not a person, but a part of their story, that wants to die.
• The task force brings people from all faith groups together.
• Recognizing that mental health issues across lines of race, faith, and class.
• People can’t love others if they don’t love themselves.
• Social media might be the cause of mental health issues happening to teens.
• Boundaries are important for the mental health of kids.
• Unregulated communication through smartphones could negatively affect mental health.
• Why Mack’s job and task force give him a lot of hope for fighting segregation and mental health.
• Recognizing that Montgomery county has a good sense of community which gives Mack hope.

Tweetables:

“There are people who need to know where to go for help and we need to foster that in a community. We have got to have a culture of it being okay to say, ‘I’m not okay’” —@JudgeWayneMack [0:04:00]

“We are not teaching our kids coping skills, how to fail forward.” — @JudgeWayneMack [0:06:02]

“So what do you do? Pay your light bill or go see a psychiatrist?” — @JudgeWayneMack [0:09:43]

“If there is someone out there that is hurting, that doesn’t know what to do or where to go, just know that this community is here.” — @JudgeWayneMack [0:09:43]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Today's episode features a wonderful story of hope and connection! Janelle and her daughter, Regan, are on the show to talk about their experiences of Regan's struggles with drug use and her time in rehab. We hear from both our guests around the process, program, feelings before and after pivotal events and where they are at as a family now. Regan opens up about her story, how she started using drugs and progressed to dangerous levels of abuse quickly, leading to her mother sending her to live with her dad. Regan tells us about how, after ending up in a rehab center soon thereafter, she managed to find a sense of belonging that had been lacking in her life and both her and her mother emphasize the power of the support network around the rehabilitative treatment she went through. We discuss the difficult period of transition and the horror of a short relapse that occurred after returning home and the ultimate salvation that Regan has achieved, finding gratefulness and acceptance along the way. The conversation really underscores the need we all have for love and happiness and how their absence can lead to disastrous situations. Regan is now six months sober, having completed high school and enrolled at college, a truly remarkable story of overcoming hurdles! Be sure to join us for all of that and more!

Key Points From This Episode:

• A little bit about Regan's story and where is she is at with her treatment. 
• Janelle's experiences leading up Regan going to rehab in Arizona. 
• Finding the right treatment center and the positive experience at Pathway. 
• The period around the transition from hopelessness during rehab. 
• What it was like for Janelle during her daughter's time in treatment. 
• Difficulty around the periods of change; new normals and new patterns. 
• Regan's first job out of rehab, attending meetings and finding her way back to her life. 
• Relapsing for a short while and then returning, reuniting and leaving home again. 
• How Regan got fully clean and acknowledged her powerlessness. 
• The support group that Janelle has started at Life-Giving Life!
• Networks and peers; the indispensability of the groups that help each other.
• Healing and gratefulness for the whole experience and the gifts it has presented. 

Tweetables:

“It was great, it was very intense. It was absolutely wonderful and I am incredibly grateful that that was where she ended up.” — Janelle  [0:11:11]

“Honestly, I didn't want to go to rehab because I wanted to continue using. But I was relieved.” — Regan [0:13:45]

“I didn't have any goals for myself, I didn't see myself getting anywhere at that point. I didn't see happiness for myself.” — Regan [0:14:57]

“The main thing that I felt I was lacking was love from other people, people that genuinely cared about me. I thought nobody did. I quickly learned that everybody really loves you.” — Regan [0:17:34]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sherry Burkhard

Mosaics of Mercy

Community Impact Paper

Pathway Healthcare

Life Giving Life

Parents of Addicted Loved Ones

Today on the Hope Pieced Together Podcast we are joined by two wonderful guests, Alison Broussard and Tanya Cook, to talk about the important topic of intervention. Commonly known but not always understood, an intervention can play a big and reformative role in the health of an individual and their family. We hear from Tanya and Alison about their personal connection to struggles around abuse and addiction and how this led to their work in the realm now. They do a great job of sharing their understanding of the intervention, which can lead to its necessity and different approaches and results. We discuss family patterns, group dynamics, breaking habits and the impact of outside help. The conversation also covers the limitations of intervention and what might happen if the individual in question is not willing to include themselves in the process. Although a very difficult topic in some ways, there is so much hope and reward in this area and, indeed, this conversation, make sure not to miss this great episode!

Key Points From This Episode:

• A brief introduction to our guests and their backgrounds.
• The simplicity of intervention; helping an individual or group find a direction. 
• The spectrum of conditions that can lead to the need for an intervention. 
• Family patterns and why outside help can make all the difference. 
• Some of the approaches to intervention and the ARISE methods our guests use. 
• Resources, recommendations, and reassurance for family members. 
• People outside of the immediate family that are included in the network to intervene.
• The massive power of the younger members of the family network. 
• Common goals of intervention and the accumulation of steps towards progress. 
• Tanya and Alison's central role as connectors and managers in the process. 
• The importance of action and follow-through; how check-ins help in this regard. 
• Laughter, hope and the lasting connection with families.
• Special stories from each of our guests; the overflow of generational support.

Tweetables:

“My passion for intervention really comes from living in the situation. Substance use disorder came into my whole like wrecking ball.” — Tanya Cook [0:00:54]

“A lot of people don't realize that one in four clinicians will become chemically dependent at some point in their career.” — Tanya Cook [0:02:01]

“The earlier the better. But that's hard for families.” — Alison Broussard [0:07:44]

“Tanya and I are the secret sauce for families because we are not in the family.” — Alison Broussard [0:11:58]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sherry Burkhard — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherry-burkhard-9a128b16a

Mosaics of Mercy — https://mosaicsofmercy.com/

Beauty in Brokenness — https://mosaicsofmercy.com/events/beauty-in-brokeness-2019-10-03/

Alison Broussard — https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-broussard-a5bab4a0

Tanya Cook — https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-cook-president-ceo-interventionist-b41a901

ARISE — https://www.arise-network.com/arise-intervention/

Intervention — https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450920/

Ann Voskamp — https://annvoskamp.com/

Boundaries — 

Welcome to the first episode of the Hope Pieced Together Podcast! This is the show that gets real about mental health struggles and how to overcome them. The episodes will typically feature personal stories, practical tools and professional insight that can aid you in your journey with mental wellbeing. Today's show serves as an introduction and we kick things off by getting to know Sherry, the non-profit organization Mosaics of Mercy and what they do. Sherry gives some background to her own story, struggles and the journey she has been on. She discusses insecurities, anorexia, alcoholism and more. This podcast is all about authenticity and openness and by being completely upfront about her own struggles, Sherry hopes she can better serve the needs of the audience. Please join us for this first episode and don't forget to subscribe and come back for the next one!

Key Points From This Episode:

• A quick glimpse into the life of the voice behind the podcast, Sherry Burkhard.  
• Some of Sherry's personal story, interior world, and struggles with insecurity. 
• Sherry's attraction to lists and unrealistic goals to battle depression.
• Praying and counseling; the little effect this had in helping Sherry. 
• Meeting a shining light and agreeing to be admitted to the hospital.
• The decision to surrender, acknowledge the disease and give up drinking. 
• The environment at the psychiatric hospital and overcoming fear and regret.
• Sherry's ongoing journey after her time in the hospital.
• Nursing school, psychiatric studies and the goal of giving back the gift.
• Sharing the story with a large number of people and passing on hope.
• Where Sherry finds herself now and the evolving struggles of life.
• Authenticity and hope; the foundations for this podcast series.
• Mosaics of Mercy and the services that the non-profit provides.  
• Vulnerable stories and the vision for how these might help listeners.

Tweetables:

“During this podcast, you are free to laugh, free to cry or you are free to turn me off if it hits too close to home.” — Sherry Burkhard [0:01:51]

“I am a registered nurse and I have primarily focused my career on psychiatric nursing.” — Sherry Burkhard  [0:02:29]

“When I look back on my life, I always struggled with insecurity.” — Sherry Burkhard  [0:04:27]

“By age 15 I was heading downhill fast.” — Sherry Burkhard  [0:07:50]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Sherry Burkhard — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sherry-burkhard-9a128b16a

Mosaics of Mercy — https://mosaicsofmercy.com/

TCU — https://www.tcu.edu/

Beauty in Brokenness — https://mosaicsofmercy.com/events/beauty-in-brokeness-2019-10-03/