Raising Joy

Raising Joy

By Cook Children'sHealth & FitnessMental HealthKids & Family
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Raising Joy episodes

  • Promoting Positive Body Image with Akemi Watkins, M.D.
    No matter who you are, chances are you’ve struggled with body image at some point in life. For children, thoughts of inadequacy can begin early, especially if they have a parent or caregiver who speaks negatively about themselves. On this episode of Raising Joy, Cook Children’s psychiatrist Akemi Watkins, M.D., joins us to talk about fostering a healthy mindset about body image, for both children and ourselves.
    She also tackles tough questions like what to do if a family member feels it’s OK to comment on the body size of others – and how we can help kids and teens navigate the filtered world of social media. We also delve into the real dangers of children seeking validation outside of themselves, especially online. If you’re a parent or someone who cares about a child in your life, this episode is for you.
    Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit www.cookchildrens.org/joy.
    32 min
  • Addressing Chronic Stress and Trauma at Fort Worth ISD with Michael Garcia, LPC, and Remington Pohlmeyer, LMSW
    Did you know Fort Worth ISD has a Prevention and Crisis Reponse team dedicated to helping teachers, administrators and students understand how trauma impacts the classroom? Michael Garcia, LPC, and Remington Pohlmeyer, LMSW, join us to talk about their small but mighty team of trauma specialists.
    According to FWISD, the goal of the trauma specialist is to work in partnership with administrators and teachers to implement a trauma informed care approach by providing practical tools and interventions; improving academic success, healthy relationships, and emotional regulation.
    Their work includes:
    · Encourage trauma informed strengths
    · Provide training on brain development, trauma, effects of trauma and Trust Based Relational Intervention concepts
    · Provide consultations for problematic behaviors
    · Provide ongoing support to the campus
    · Model a trauma informed care approach to correcting behaviors
    Special thanks for Laura Van Hoosier, AVP of Public Relations at Cook Children’s, for joining as a guest co-host.
    Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.
    25 min
  • How to help children and yourself in wake of recent mass shootings with Kia Carter, M.D., and Cameron Brown, D.Min., M.Div., BSSW
    Buffalo. Uvalde. Tulsa. Horrific news coverage of mass shootings seems to be endless and it is impacting the mental health of children and parents. Especially parents. So how can we help our children and help ourselves get through these incredibly difficult times? We ask experts Kia Carter, M.D., and Cameron Brown, D.Min., M.Div., BSSW to guide us.
    Dr. Carter is the medical director of inpatient Psychiatry at Cook Children’s Medical Center and recounts the discussion she had with her own young daughter after the Uvalde school shooting. She advises parents to talk to their children about events like the shooting in Uvalde, and revisit the conversation often.
    Dr. Brown is a chaplain at Cook Children’s and served as a firefighter with the Fort Worth Fire Department for more than 30 years. Her expertise is caring for the caretakers, such as the first responders and emergency room staff who witness tragedies involving children. She was also a first responder on the scene of the Wedgewood Baptist Church shooting in Fort Worth in 1999, which killed seven people and wounded an additional seven.
    We hope this episode of Raising Joy offers a sense of community as we all process these traumas together. And we hope it provides reliable information that parents can put to use.
    Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.
    38 min
  • Utilizing Pediatricians to Address the Youth Mental Health Crisis with Anu Partap, M.D., M.P.H
    Anu Partap, M.D., M.H.P. is the physician director of Health Equity at Cook Children’s. Dr. Partap has been a pediatrician for more than 20 years and has extensive experience in the realms of public health, mental health, family violence, child abuse, foster care and adverse childhood experiences. She recently spearheaded an effort to bring the REACH Institute to Cook Children’s to help empower pediatricians to address mental health concerns with their patients.
    On this episode of Raising Joy, we talk to Dr. Partap about the important role pediatricians play in addressing the youth mental health crisis. She also explains what social determinants of health are, as well as how discrimination and racism impact the mental and physical health of children and teens.
    Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.
    33 min
  • Conversations Matter with Brad Hunstable
    Brad Hunstable, CEO of electric motor company Linear Labs in Fort Worth and an Army veteran, understands firsthand the complexities that grieving families face after losing a child to suicide.
    Nothing prepared him for April 17, 2020, the day a figurative “nuclear bomb” went off in his world, altering it forever. Hunstable had just finished a call when his daughter, then 8, ran to him, telling him something was wrong with her big brother Hayden. The 12-year-old had been playing his favorite video game Fortnite in his bedroom while his dad worked from home.
    Hunstable rushed upstairs to his son’s bedroom and found Hayden in the closet, unresponsive. He called 911 and tried unsuccessfully to revive him. Hayden—described as a fun-loving, active boy who enjoyed playing sports and loved life––died by suicide four days shy of his 13th birthday.
    Over the past two years, Hunstable has been on a mission to prevent the same tragedy from hitting other families. Through his non-profit, Hayden’s Corner, Hunstable spreads the message #ConversationsMatter, encouraging parents to talk to their kids about suicide. He and his wife also produced the award-winning documentary Almost Thirteen to raise awareness of Hayden’s story.
    On this episode of Raising Joy, Hunstable candidly shares what he has learned since Hayden’s death and what he hopes other parents can learn from his experience.
    Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.
    48 min
  • Helping Children through Grief with Dana Minor from The WARM Place
    Dana Minor M.S., LPC‑S, CSC, has more than 25 years of experience helping children through grief. She is the program director of The WARM Place, a non-profit that provides free grief support services to children and teens in Fort Worth, Texas. On this episode, we talk to Dana about helping children understand death and debunk some of the myths about grief.
    You can learn more about The WARM Place at www.thewarmplace.org
    Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.
    26 min
  • Bullying, social media and video game addiction with Lisa Elliott, Ph.D.
    Lisa Elliott, Ph.D., is a licensed neuropsychologist and manager of Cook Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic in Denton. In this episode, we talk to Dr. Elliott about bullying and one proven technique kids and teens can use to stop the harassment. We also tackle social media, video game addiction and what changes Dr. Elliott has noticed most in children over the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.
    35 min
  • Preventing suicides with Tom and Ellen Harris
    Tom and Ellen Harris are the founders and co-chairs of the Jordan Elizabeth Harris Foundation (JEHF) named in honor of their daughter, Jo.
    Jo was valedictorian of her high school class, a National Merit Scholarship winner, a Stamps scholar at the University of Michigan, an athlete, musician, and most importantly a warm, friendly, compassionate young woman. The Harris family lost Jo to suicide on March 27, 2012.
    Through their grief, the Harris family of North Richland Hills, Texas, decided to create the JEHF, which provides suicide prevention and education for children and adults, as well as depression research funding.
    You can learn more about the JEHF at jordanharrisfoundation.org.
    Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.
    35 min
  • Healing from trauma with Ashley Igo
    Ashley Igo was just 8 years old when her world changed forever. She was riding in an Amtrak train car when a semi-truck tried to speed through the crossing. She lost her mother, two friends, a niece and her right foot in the traumatic accident. For years, Ashley suffered from severe anxiety later diagnosed with PTSD. Today, she is a licensed counselor and registered play therapist, and is passionate about early intervention after trauma.
    Learn more about Ashley and the charitable work she does through the Beautifully Flawed Foundation and the Lauren Scruggs Kennedy Foundation here: https://beautifullyflawedfoundation.com/her-journey-her-story-meet-ashley-igo/.
    Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.
    30 min
  • Parent Survey Underscores Need for Mental Health Focus with Becki Hale, EdD, MA, RDH and Blair Williams, MPA, MBA, CPH
    According to the 2021 Community Health Needs Assessment parent survey conducted by Cook Children’s Center for Children’s Health, the mental health of children is top-of-mind for parents, particularly during the pandemic.
    Half of all children ages 6 to 17 living in Cook Children’s eight-county service area have a parent who is concerned that the pandemic will have a negative impact on both their child’s education and mental health, according to the survey.
    The survey revealed that parents need support, too. More than 30,000 children have a caregiver not coping “very well” or not “well at all” with the day-to-day demands of parenting, and 24% of children live with someone who has a mental illness, or is suicidal or depressed.
    Becki Hale, EdD, MA, RDH, and Blair Williams, MPA, MBA, CPH, with the Center for Children’s Health explain how they’re using these findings to tackle the mental health crisis in North Texas.
    Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.
    24 min

About Raising Joy

From the publisher's feed

Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Joy Campaign, which aims to encourage hope and resilience among children and teens. Cook Children’s Health Care System is located in Fort Worth, Texas and has seen the mental and emotional toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on children and their families. In this podcast, hosts Wini King and Dr. Kristen Pyrc explore topics of anxiety, stress, depression, trauma and suicide in order to bring hope and needed resources to struggling children and families. Raising Joy is produced by the public relations team at Cook Children’s. The theme music was created by Raymond Turner from the Sparklefly Recording Studio at Cook Children’s.