Thoughts From A Counselor

(Lebert) Intro: As is on-brand with us, we pulled a definition for the word we are operating on today is dictionary.com’s fourth definition. It states that a career is “A choice, and especially a swift one”.

(Paul) Question 1: As someone who has researched in this area, you have inside and expert experience. To start with Dr. Prescod, how would you personally describe what a career is?

(Lebert) Question 2: What went into your career selection? Most importantly, was there another career or career you were interested in beforehand?

(Paul) Question 1: In what ways has your network and your community-supported your journey as you explore your career?

(Lebert) Question 2: In what ways does your mental health counseling add to and get incorporated into your discussions of career counseling and vice versa?

(Paul) Question 1: In what ways has your identity affected your career navigation?

(Lebert) Question 2: What are some ways you work to incorporate your identity and lived experiences into your current career?

59:55

(Paul) Lead by Example: Where we highlight those doing good work, or who did good work

(Lebert) Listener question of the day idea: What influences your career choices?

Key Takeaways!!!

(Lebert) Intro: Steven’s Universe is a show created by Rebecca Sugar that first began airing in 2013. It follows the adventures of a young boy named Steven Universe who must explore his town, his superpowered family, and most importantly himself.

(Paul) Question 1: So many things come to mind when I think of Steven’s Universe, so I think what I first want to ask is how would you describe Steven? When you think of our introduction to him, how did you see him?

(Lebert) Question 2: In what way has Steven’s Universe prepared you to better engage with yourself? A consistent theme in the show is actually including Steven in decision making, even if the result was not always what he selected

We’ll prolly not use it for this one, since we already selected an opening. And filler

(Paul) Question 1: A vital part of Steven is his universe! Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, Peridot, Connie and more actively contributed to Steven’s development. Who was your favorite part of Steven’s “universe”, and what do you think they taught him?

For “Stronger than you”, I’ll introduce it and then we’ll do a like 20 or 30 sec run of the song before we actually go into section 3

(Lebert) Question 2: Through his family Steven got to explore relationships, gender, sexuality and more. In what ways did all of the lessons and their lives affect you?

*insert a recording of “Stronger Than You here” pls*

(Paul) Question 1: In Steven’s Universe: Future, we got the rare opportunity to see our hero actually attempt to live a normal life, and Steven quickly realized he had more work to do after saving the world. What did you gleam from this last chapter of “closure” that we were given for Steven?

(Lebert) Question 2: What parts of Steven’s Universe: Future resonated with you? A driving them in this particular iteration of Steven’s life was that the work never finishes. What “work” did the work in Steven’s journey expose to you?

(Paul) Lead by Example: Where we highlight those doing good work, or who did good work

(Lebert) Listener question of the day idea: How does your identity affect the television you consume?

Key Takeaways!!!

Intro (1 min)

Lebert & Paul: Happy Sunday everybody! You are currently tuned into another episode of Thoughts From A Counselor. We are your hosts Lebert Lester III and Paul Singleton II. As is usual for this show, we have invited some amazing guests to help us have a great conversation. Now, we’ll let them introduce themselves to you.

Paul: Who are we? (2 min)

Two Black counselors in training who are bridging the gap between what they were taught, what they know, and what they think they know. All through understanding the world by recognizing the world is still being formed.

Paul pass to Lebert to introduce the topic

(Lebert) Intro: Music is a staple in all of our lives, and many of us are rarely without some form of music. Be it a song in our ears, hearts, or fingertips we often find ourselves always in a state of thinking of or creating music.

(Jess) Question 1: Many of us have always had phases of listening to music, but experiencing and being conscious of music is a different journey altogether. At what point did you find yourself consciously consuming music?

(Lebert) Question 2: Many of our music tastes initially start as our caretaker’s tastes by their grandparents, parents, etc., and eventually we develop our own musical interest. Who was the first artist or what was the first project that made you fall in love with music?

(Paul) Question 1: As a singer, you have insight into what navigating a career in music may look like. How did you get onto your particular path? For the non-singers, how has music affected your path?

35:00

Bet

(Lebert) Question 2: How would you describe your journey’s with your music thus far? What factors affected your musical journey in positive or negative ways?

Plug Nina Simone here

(Paul) Question 1: Identity plays a role in how we are treated and viewed by society, and of course that is also seen in our navigation of music. In what ways has your particular identity affected your journey through music? 52:00

(Lebert) Question 2: Music also plays a particular role in our lives because music has the potential to do so much for us. Music can heal, music can teach, and music can comfort. So, what does being an artist in music mean to you?

(Paul) Lead by Example: Where we highlight those doing good work, or who did good work

(Lebert) Listener question of the day idea: Do you consume art, or do you merely view it?

Key Takeaways!!!

Intro (1 min)

Lebert & Paul: Happy Sunday everybody! You are currently tuned into another episode of Thoughts From A Counselor. We are your hosts Lebert Lester III and Paul Singleton II. As is usual for this show, we have invited some amazing guests to help us have a great conversation. Now, we’ll let them introduce themselves to you.

Paul: Who are we? (2 min)

Two Black counselors in training who are bridging the gap between what they were taught, what they know, and what they think they know. All through understanding the world by recognizing the world is still being formed.

Paul pass to Lebert to introduce the topic

(Lebert) Intro: On August 28th of 2020, the news was broken to the world that Chadwick Boseman passed away from colon cancer. This inspired a variety of feelings in people, and especially in the Black community who often mourns as a unit when such an event reaches us

(Paul) Question 1: Acting clearly has a major effect on us, and the rate at which many of us go to or bootleg movies clearly shows that. Today, I want to ask who the first actor was that made you really feel a movie?

(Lebert) Question 2: When you discuss acting, we have to remember that these are people playing a role. Still, in a way we are all “actors” based on what each environment requires from us. In what ways have you found yourself having to “fit the role” of what is needed from you in your daily life?

(Paul) Question 1: As our guests indicated, we have some actual actors present in the room who have experience with the field we are discussing. When you are looking for roles, what are you looking for? Actually, what are some ways you go about finding roles to even gauge?

(Lebert) Question 2: What are ways in which you think your identity has influenced your experience navigating your career?

(Paul) Transition: Now, before we go into our next segment, we’re gonna play a short but important clip for you all to digest.

Record this Chadwick Boseman clip from 2:11 - 4:10 pls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgASaCn8XXs

(Paul) Question 1: To pivot back to Chadwick Boseman and the often wonderful casts he worked with, performances often assist us in imagining ourselves in ways that perhaps we could not have before. What is one movie in particular that gave that feeling to you?

Time-45:25

(Lebert) Question 2: What is one vision that you have for a movie and of course the actors/actresses that you would like to see realized?

(Paul) Lead by Example: Where we highlight those doing good work, or who did good work

(Lebert) Listener question of the day idea: Do you consume art, or do you merely view it?

Next time on Thoughts From A Counselor:

Close/outro

Intro (1 min)

Lebert & Paul: Happy Sunday everybody! You are currently tuned into another episode of Thoughts From A Counselor. We are your hosts Lebert Lester III and Paul Singleton II. As always, we have another exciting round of guests today that will be joining us and adding greatness to the conversation. Now, we’ll allow them to introduce themselves to them

Paul: Who are we? (2 min)

Two Black counselors in training who are bridging the gap between what they were taught, what they know, and what they think they know. All through understanding the world by recognizing the world is still being formed.

Paul pass to Lebert to introduce the topic

(Lebert) Intro: As our viewers may or may not know, psychology has many areas and folk who are pursuing a degree in psychology have room to do a variety of jobs and tasks. Many think the field of psychology is only counseling, but it entails researching, marketing and even crossing over into other fields entirely. Today, of course, we’re focusing on community psychology. Dr. Younge, would you like to provide a definition of it for us?

(Paul) Question 1: One of the first words in today’s episode topic is “community”, so I first think it would be great for us to define what that means to us. When you hear the word “community”, what comes to your mind?

(Lebert) Question 2: Communities come with many dimensions, and for many of us our communities change as we do. So, what makes one a part of a community?

(Paul) Question 1: Communities are composed of multiple people, and yet we often act is if community issues are related to individuals. What do you think influences our view of the ways communities function? 

(Lebert) Question 2: As a researcher and professor Dr. Younge you have examined health behaviors, discrimination, the carceral system, community systems, and more. Can you further explain to our viewers how these behaviors relate to entire communities?

(Paul) Question 1: In addition to conversations of how communities work, we inevitably have to talk about ways in which we interact with our community as individuals. How do you engage with the various communities you occupy?

(Lebert) Question 2: Service and more specifically directed service is direly needed in many communities, and especially now as we navigate COVID. What are some sustainable ways in which we can engage in community care?

(Paul) Lead by Example: Where we highlight those doing good work, or who did good work

(Lebert) Listener question of the day idea: How do you engage with your community?

Next time on Thoughts From A Counselor:

Close/outro

Episode 18- Relationships and Their Complexities

Intro (1 min)

Lebert & Paul: Happy Monday everybody! You are currently tuned into another episode of Thoughts From A Counselor. We are your hosts Lebert Lester III and Paul Singleton II.

Paul: Who are we? (2 min)

Two Black counselors in training who are bridging the gap between what they were taught, what they know, and what they think they know. All through understanding the world by recognizing the world is still being formed.

Paul pass to Lebert to introduce the topic

Episode Topic: Self Care: Did You Make Time For Yourself

Segment 1: Self Care Explained

(Paul) Intro: Self-care is important at all times but is especially important now given the more visible acts of racism in the media, the coronavirus pandemic, and the societal failures being enlarged by the pandemic. Before we begin the episode, it’s only natural that we provide a neat definition of self-care so you all will know what we are talking about when we say “Self-care”.

(Lebert) Definition: Today, we will be operating off of dictionary.com’s first definition of self-care, which says “Self-care: noun; the act of attending to one’s physical or mental health, generally without medical or professional consultation (often used attributively)

(Paul) Question 1: Now that we have a formal definition, let’s talk about what self-care looks like to us. How do you define self-care?

(Lebert) Question 2: To add to how we view self-care when were you first introduced to the term self-care? Did you engage in it before you physically knew the word “self-care”?

Segment 2: Growing our Self-Care

(Paul) Intro: Self-Care is a journey, right. There is not really a set point in time where we stop engaging in it or stop adding to the ways we engage in it.

(Lebert) Question 1: How did you engage in self-care before you currently did? What are some of your favorite ways of engaging with self-care?

(Paul) Question 2: How have your friends assisted your self-care journey? How has your self-care grown because of the acts they’ve done or suggested?

Segment 3: Self-Harm

(Lebert) Intro: As the antithesis of self-care, we define self-harm by actively avoiding one’s physical or mental health and trying to act as if such acts are low priority. Additionally, we also define self-harm as overly participating in self-care. For a neat example of what we mean by that second sentence, think about drinking water. Not drinking any is horrible, but so is also drinking way too much.

(Lebert) Question 1: What are some ways you’ve seen people knowingly engage in self-harm? As an add on to this, what are some ways you have seen folk unknowingly engage in self-harm?

(Paul) Question 2: We’ve talked about others so now it’s time we discuss the ways that we as individuals engage in self-harm. What are some ways that you have?

(Paul) Lead by example

Intro (1 min)

Lebert & Paul: Happy Monday everybody! You are currently tuned into another episode of Thoughts From A Counselor. We are your hosts Lebert Lester III and Paul Singleton II.

Paul: Who are we? (2 min)

Two Black counselors in training who are bridging the gap between what they were taught, what they know, and what they think they know. All through understanding the world by recognizing the world is still being formed.

Paul pass to Lebert to introduce the topic

Episode Topic: Juneteenth and Protesting - What Do You Know?

Segment 1: Background on Protesting

(Lebert) Intro: Protesting is an integral part of civic duty, and its reoccurring need is always present in our lives. To do our duty and supply a neat definition for how we will be moving forward with the term of “Protest” that we will be operating on for this discussion. Today, we selected dictionary.com’s first definition which is “an expression or declaration of objection, disapproval, or dissent, often in opposition to something a person is powerless to prevent or avoid”.

(Paul) Question 1: Now that we have a formal definition, let’s get down to explaining what folks mean to us. I mean, this is a show were we of our thoughts for people to agree with, disagree with, and comment on our IG page about. So, what does protesting mean to you?

(Lebert) Question 2: To match the many definitions protesting has, protesting has also existed all throughout history. In a lot of ways, protesting is history. When did you first learn about protests and the importance of protesting?

Segment 2: Juneteenth

(Paul) Intro: On June 19th, we joined our community at the Juneteenth protest where various parts of the community came together to mutually heal due to the recent murders of multiple Black people in the media. This includes Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Shaki Peters, Brayla Stone and more. Originally, Juneteenth was created to honor federal troops arriving in Galveston, Tx to announce that the civil war had ended and the enslaved were now free.

(Lebert) Question 1: Now I suppose we should talk about how we felt and what we observed at the protest, right? Start us off Paul, how did it feel to be at that space given the recent police brutality incidents as well as coronavirus going on?

(Paul) Question 2: What kind of individual as far as age did you see out there at the protest?. Also, what are some ways folks who were not present physically, still supported or could support from afar?

Segment 3: Miseducation about Protesting

We open with a few clips

(Lebert) Question 1: We wanted to play those clips Many folk have reacted to recent instances of protesting by trying to complain about the ways in which it is done, with some most notably implying that rioting and looting are inauthentic forms of protest. In what ways has our education on protesting influenced such thoughts?

(Paul) Question 2: With the passing of John Lewis and C.T. Vivian, we are once again reminded that the issues of civil rights are still present at these very moments. In what ways can we draw upon the words of icons who have passed such as these two, but also those who are still living like Nikki Giovanni and Angela Davis?

(Paul) Lead by example

Part 2 of our Real Justice, Black Peace: Panel Discussion series on racism within our society and how we can induce change

Intro (1 min)

Lebert & Paul: Happy Tuesday everybody! You are currently tuned into another episode of Thoughts From A Counselor. We are your hosts Lebert Lester III, Paul Singleton II, and today we are excited to introduce our newest guest. Rather than us talking for these wonderful guests, we’ll toss the microphone to them so they can introduce themselves

Paul: Who are we? (2 min)

Two Black counselors in training who are bridging the gap between what they were taught, what they know, and what they think they know. All through understanding the world by recognizing the world is still being formed.

Paul pass to Lebert to introduce the topic

Episode topic: Real Justice, Black Peace: Panel Discussion series on racism within our society and how we can induce change #

Monday at 7 pm -

Dr.Hines

State Rep. Brandon McGee

Ms.Jessica Fort

Add Potential Panel Questions- Lebert & Paul