Welcome Back to the Mental Health Heart Talks, w Joy your host.
Today in Ep 14 I am starting my new series "REAL TALK w Joy" Ep 1 Intentional Transformations.
In this episode, we are talking about being intentional in the New Year and asking yourself some hard questions to close out the year 2020 and move into 2021 with clarity, love, and intention.
Throughout this series, I am talking REAL about life as it stands right now as a mental health provider and how the heck are we coping. I am giving you a healthy dose of REAL TALK with Joy and a preview of what to expect in 2021 on this podcast.
Down and Dirty: Down Low
THIS YEAR 2021 you can expect.........
A passionate exploration of transformation through the human experience
REAL TALK w Joy (Being a mental health provider and all the stuff).
A book review discussion of “Burnout; The secret to unlocking the stress cycle” by Emily Nagoski, PhD & Her sister Amelia Nagoski, DMA
The JOY journey how to find it keep it and use it every day.
A little about Joy: REMINDER FOR THOSE NEWBIES
Hi there, I am Joy Davis, a direct service social worker and child advocate, cat mom to Monet and dog mom to Paolo, and Auntie to 4 rough and tumble nephews and 1 beautiful sassy niece. A podcaster, chef social worker, and new homeowner. Thanks for joining me on this crazy ride. I launched this podcast on June 15th, 2020, and I know I might be out of my mind starting a podcast during the Covid-19 pandemic, on the other hand, we are drowning in work and we and clients are adjusting to this new normal… I want to say Yo, I see you and we got this.
What is this podcast about?
Welcome to The Mental Health Heart Talks Podcast- Join me on this roller coaster where I unpack the beauty and barriers of being a mental health provider while providing self-care, mindset, mental health intervention tools to help battle the burnout and gain resources to use for working with our clients. Get ready for the ride- it’s gonna be AWESOME.
Joy to the CORE:
I am Joy, and I try to be joyful most of the time with a positive glass half full perspective. I was born 3 months early and that is so true to my personality, I am always prepared and ready to go. I am driven and determined in my zest for life and jump in all in. P.S. I was born in DECEMBER right next to Christmas. MERRY CHRISTMAS; Happy Everything.
I have traveled a long way to get here and never did I ever think I would be doing a podcast to help mental health providers do their best battle. My journey was not always easy but I am grateful for the result- I finally got to this place of serving others and realizing my truest calling. I am a Christian with a strong faith foundation who really would be dead without it and I work hard to just allow others to be who they are without limits or conformity. I take this foundation with me for my own sanity however, I know we are all from different faith backgrounds and I totally respect that but this who I am. It is fascinating to me how we tend to justify and define things by what – WE DO rather than WHO we are. So WHO I am is a loving, passionate, caring encourager with a huge heart that believes that every person matters and makes a difference in their own way with the gifts they have been given. I believe in social justice, unity, and treating everyone like the jewel they are. This takes a lot of Self-awareness, an effort to be present and transparent, and to deal with all my flaws, bias’s and faults on a daily basis.
Long Version of How I got here:
I have had two private chef businesses starting in 2004 so I have been an entrepreneur chef turned full-time direct-service social worker, crisis trauma mentor, and relationship mender. For the past eleven years, I have worked in divorce and crisis intervention to help others overcome the trauma of divorce. I have worked with mental illness, homelessness, and severe traumas. I have worked with children, sexual abuse, domestic violence, gang-related trauma, transitions, and transgender, identity struggles, caregivers, and child protective services to advocate for their voice to be heard and for them to overcome resiliency obstacles. I work with other providers throughout the mental health arena as it relates to my clients to better service them and keep communication lines open.
I will always be a foodie and experience food through the eyes of a chef. I love making coffee blends for my pour-over and having food adventures. I def will travel for food. I am in love with social work and geek out over statistics, and intervention how-to books as well as reading social science journals and of course #Brene Brown. I am a self-prescribed lifetime learner with a big heart that loves to listen to what people don’t say and help others succeed. I AM A NURTURER AT THE CORE.
I am passionate about encouraging and helping mental health providers because there was nothing to prepare me when I started in the field. Of course, the schooling and training, but it was very different being face to face with a client looking to you for help. I was not prepared for the ruminating thoughts about clients causing severe sleep deprivation, to the vicarious trauma I would experience as I listened day after day to heartbreaking circumstances. Or the stress of googling evidence-based crisis interventions on the fly to address and collaborate with a client on a problem. I initially felt so overwhelmed and out of my comfort zone.
I found that my co-workers and new hires to the agency would come to me to help acclimate and they would ask me what interventions and tools did I use for working with my clients. So I got to thinking that there is a need out there and I can share what I do and maybe that would help someone. In this field we have a lot of education and resources and depending on the agency you work in, there are regular training and development. I want to help bridge the gaps from training to doing.
I get asked all the time… Why did you leave the culinary world to be a social worker?
I’ll tell you why, I had a long relationship with food where I started experimenting with flavors at age 3, and that developed into a full-blown passion to learn and grow. I started my first business as a way to make money because my ex-husband traveled a lot for work and I needed something to call my own. Then During my separation and divorce, I completed my culinary training at the Culinary Institute of America and I was always the only “girl” in professional fine dine settings. I later transitioned into working one-on-one with clients for their dietary needs creating custom meals for their restrictive diets. After 15 years, I was burnt out and feeling like I was working a lot of hours and not seeing a lot of return and noticed that I was not feeling inspired and I was depressed and felt like I needed to start something new.
I have a special FREE GIFT- go to my website at Mental Health Heart Talks.com and complete form on the home page for free compassion fatigue assessment. JUST FOR YOU!!!!
Every week, I will go live in my FB community (mental Health Heart Talks Community) to answer your questions and provide specific things you need to feel supported and encouraged. That is our hub where we can tackle the hard stuff together.
SUBSCRIBE: On the next episode we will be talking REAL TALK EP. 2 about checking in with yourself and finding balance.
If you are a Mental Health Provider and would like to be interviewed and share your tips with us you can do that here: https://www.mentalhealthhearttalks.com/blank-page
Connect with me and others at my Mental Health Heart Talks Community
Website and Show Notes: https://www.mentalhealthhearttalks.com/
Music: I'm on a Roll by Grace Mesa
I’m new here and if you think this is beneficial, please leave a review on iTunes, share with your friends, and subscribe to this podcast. I would love to read your reviews live on my show- it would totally make my day!
Talk soon, Joy
