Join me in conversation with Gerry, a friend and former colleague with 49 years of experience in behavioral healthcare and community relations. As a community liaison for a mental health non-profit, Gerry dedicated his career to grassroots organizing, voter education, and advocacy efforts that kept him deeply connected to the communities he served. Gerry brings a refreshing and insightful perspective on ways to instill hope in the system of voting and why participation in local politics matters to community and collective wellbeing.

Some topics covered:

• Community relations i.e. meeting with legislators and community partners to educate them about behavioral healthcare issues and local resources
• Who is a legislator, which ones care, and common patterns in local elections and politics
• How mental health care agencies and non-profits can advocate and better work together
• How community members who are not mental health professionals can advocate with their votes, and organize to make their voices heard
• Myths about voting
• The upcoming primary election in Pennsylvania
• The two-party system

Thanks for listening! Please feel free to share any comments or questions.

My reflections on being a counselor with experience in community mental health, and how systems impact helping work and our possible approaches to advocacy.

I cover:

• some background about me
• what is community mental health and how are systems involved
• what types of systemic issues are present and what are contributing factors
• barriers to political activism and change
• who is involved in helping, what is working, how are communities and people supporting each other
• a call to join the conversation

Thanks for listening! As always please reach out with any thoughts or experiences you may be willing to share related to this topic.

Join my old friend Ruben and I as we discuss his experience working in the field of child and adolescent education. Ruben is starting a high school teaching job in the 2023/2024 school year and we discuss how he came to this point, including his teaching experiences in different school settings, states, neighborhoods, etc. Topics such as school funding, how to get people to care about and advocate for education, how kids can advocate for themselves, current problems such as poor school conditions, teacher burn out, ongoing impacts of systemic racism and poverty, polarization in society around school curriculum, etc., and more are covered.

This conversation goes in all sorts of directions, and we are curious along with you about how we can best improve the education system so please share any thoughts, information, or feedback. Thanks for listening!

Alexx Sans is a musical artist, fashion designer, works in stone masonry, and shares his authentic self with the world! He identifies as androgynous and in this interview opens up about his journey of self-discovery and self-expression, including who his influences have been. We discuss gender, sexuality, Alex’s music and fashion careers, androgyny, the queer community, masculine and feminine energies, building a brand, being yourself, going after your goals, and self-love.

I am grateful to Alex for being vulnerable and willing to have a conversation about topics that can be difficult to talk about. I know I learned a lot from talking about androgyny, as well as other aspects of Alex’s life. Tune in for some inspiration!

My dad has always been a great role model for vulnerability. We planned to talk about something else but a discussion about Pickleball (lol) led to talking about his lifetime experience with depression, and how he has managed it.

We discuss stigma then and now (1950s/60s vs. today), approaches to living with and treating depression, the power of exercise, medication, and lifestyle, hiding depression vs. being open about it, how others see depression, family history, and tips for helping yourself and others.

Thanks dad! He was super open and we were able to talk in depth about this topic on both a personal and societal level.

Listen to get a breif overview of the Speaking Up with Emily podcast - a podcast about public mental health care and other systems - education, justice system, healthcare, etc., and the barriers faced by both helping professionals and individuals receiving services in these spaces. Your tax dollars fund these public services/systems, let's learn about how they impact people's day to day lives (discrimination, stigma, injustice, etc.), and what we can possibly do to help when they are falling short.

Also, tune in for bonus episodes on all things mental health/wellness, social justice, and being human!