Ring Ring

(8 mins of silliness, so skip ahead if your short on time in your life) Assertiveness 2.0; the importance of consultation/ supervision; the power of foundational counseling skills in deescalation; compassionate assertiveness; what defines a productive call?; managing our measurement of success; responding to aggressive & manipulative behaviors; the role of trauma; the role of self-worth; mindful self-compassion; and more.

(This one is from a while ago, sorry) Kristin's foreshadowing of what ultimately came; shallow opinions about Glennon Doyle's Podcast: We Can Do Hard Things (it's actually really good); ambivalence: how we do what we do; DBT Skills Group with Michael Riquino; reflecting dilemmas vs. ambivalence statements; ambivalence and grief; Kristin delivers an expert AS; structuring the conversation with ambivalence; Be Cool Training for providers; and much more. 

Catching up and being silly in-person (sorry for the poor sound quality); Foundational counseling skills and the challenges of learning them; the importance of the word "feeling" in feeling reflections; neuroplasticity: forming new pathways; consistency among counselors and why that matters; the counseling zone; not validating actions; the risks of giving advice; tangible and intangible value reflections; tone of voice and creativity; and more.

Zoom now tells you when things are being recorded, so that's good; Meg's feeling crispy; Mental Health Awareness Month; going to therapy; Erica's been in therapy since she was born; Jared's experience of surprise therapy; Meg's therapist dying; the different types of therapists; the importance of good rapport with a therapist; the power differential between therapist & client; barriers to accessing mental health care; how to ask questions and learn more about therapy modalities; healing is not linear; showing up to therapy ready to work; trusting your gut & trusting the process; helpful things to look for in a therapist; and more. 

Getting in touch with your child-like self; kid call experiences; Kristin, the teacher's pet; barriers to connecting with kids; kids' limited control/ autonomy; building rapport with children and teens; silent callers and breaking the ice; the importance of validation; and hot takes on mandatory reporting with abuse & neglect.

The first episode of season two!; Erica's self-deprecation; life updates; Jared's cancer experience and having a baby; Meg's getting married this week!; Shasta; Meg's experience with depression and suicidal thoughts; shame spirals; Erica became the Zero Suicide Program Coordinator; Kristin carrying it all on her back; What's your favorite place to cry?; and lots of laughs.

Our last episode for the year; Kids not asking to be born; Erica's into vulnerability, feeling spicy, and seeking drugs (through legal channels); more grief talk (big surprise); the gifts of COVID (barf!); the ping pong tournament; resisting toxic positivity; Artisanal Cheeses (it's a metaphor); & December updates including the raffle!

The definition of a himbo; The Bachelorette and other trash TV; naughty or nice; (I lost track after that); HQ Alumni Network; Volunteer Appreciation Month; "This podcast is brought to you by Burrito King", and some other things.

Meg has a new member of her family; Pets of HQ; Holiday feelings; suicide holiday myths; our relationships with food and the holidays; eating disorders vs. disordered eating; eating disorders and the relationship with trauma; food and families; compliments; gendered component of eating disorders; cultural perceptions of healthiness; fatphobic culture; Erica's raw feelings about the BMI; body neutrality and gratitude; taking body image out of food; mindful/ intuitive eating; managing holiday stress; being mindful of what you need and giving yourself grace; building a healthy relationship with food; and more gratitude!

More grief; Day 4 of election; all in our feelings; Jared's feeling angsty, Erica- the queen of irrational overkill; all the MSNBC talking heads told me I should have hope; Community Resource: safe shelter at Woody Park in Lawrence; Sources of Strength- DgCo public schools; reframing election grief; the grief island; putting grief in a box; putting our grief onto others; telling people your parent killed themselves; making assumptions about other people's grief; choosing to grief; sad girl feel better songs; and Megs Moira (Schitt's Creek) impression.

Meg got bangs (don't worry she's doing ok); asking someone what's wrong; looking at things through a vacation lens; Justifying our jobs; What Meg's working on: Zero Suicide Initiative in Douglas County, Sources of Strength in the schools, and the Kansas Prevention Conference; What Erica's working on: Chat training, conference planning, What Jared's working on: keeping a job, increasing our answer rate through the Lifeline Capacity Building Grant, our new phone system- PureConnect, digital training; what Kristin's working on: volunteer support, programing, collaborating with community partners; private practice, and zooming all day everyday; Meg and Erica found coloring; Baby preparations, woodworking, and kayaking for Jared; all of Netflix and Hulu, some reading and writing, throw pillows, and puppy training; and some other stuff.

Jared's gonna be a parent; Mental Health & Mental Illness; a holistic approach to mental health; defining Severe & Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI); Bipolar Disorder Type I & II; trial and error with medications; delusions and hallucinations; responding to "Internal stimuli"; not challenging or feeding into delusions; responding to feelings; a small slice of caller's lives; purse DSM; treatment options for people SPMI; Levels of care; Community Mental Health Centers; deinstitutionalization; Case management wizardry; Peer Support; caveats; upcoming episodes: trauma, PTSD, & eating disorders; and much more!

What would it be like to take a shift with Mister Rogers?; Kristin's strategies for curbing her anger; Mister Rogers is so HQ; What fills up our cups today?; dogs licking each other's faces, pupper snuggle hour, leather jacket weather, Meg's a grump and needs to laugh, & audio books and new bed sheets; Monica is back!; What addiction?; dog TV; Need to fix yourself, try social work!; reflection papers and table flips; how we all got into social work; What would you do if you hadn't become a social worker?; What is your plan if you burnout on social work?; Jared-the farmer; Kristin- the sanitation worker, Meg- the caretaker, & Erica- the car detailer; working at a diner in Montana; opening a Roth IRA; "...make choices from a deep sense of who you are"; and much more! 

Hot guys play Donkey Kong; talking in your dog's voice; weddings and re-upping your nuptials; transparent communication in relationships; long-distance relationships suck, but they're possible; Erica's HQ love story; Jared's swim club love story; The Precious Moments Museum  Meg's Massage Envy love story; Kristin's group home love story; Kansas is not just pig farms, Kevin; vulnerability during weddings; being able to know what you need and ask for it; relationships heal relational wounds; starting a relationship on a foundation of friendship; being able to laugh at yourself; working your shit out with your partner; asking for help when you need it; nurturing relationships; don't be a dick wagon; setting boundaries; radical acceptance; every relationship will end; coping ahead; and much more! 

Suicide Prevention month, week, and day; why September might suck for folks with lived experience; suicide prevention for people who don't live and breathe it; Pumpkin Spice Latte's in September!?; the smell of fall; the smell of grandparents' garages; picking up trash;  Live Through This by Des'rae Stage on other ways to show up for folks; with great power comes great responsibility: the ups and downs of being a helper; bridges are ruined; Erica: Sad Girl Patient Zero; the dogs of podcasts; They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib; discounting our experiences related to suicide; the layered impact of suicide on our lives; boundaries: personal and professional; taking care of yourself all the time, but especially during tough times of the year; World Suicide Prevention Day Luminary Event and much more.

Happy wedding tears; Welcome, to our 15 freshly graduated volunteers!; first call stories; what we learned from virtual training; a big thank you to all of our trainers!; how do you manage your own anxiety in the call room?; post-call cravings; the HQ voice; supporting callers experiencing intense anxiety and panic attacks; facilitating breathing and grounding exercises; getting comfortable with visualization exercises; the good things about anxiety; and let us know what questions you have and what you'd like to hear more about! 

Erica's update; HQ Traditions: Graduation & Karaoke; Chicken-Chucking (Jared- 2019 Reigning Champion, Meg- 2019 First loser); Call Room culture; a continuation of coping with COVID (turn around now if you need to)​; showing up for people digitally; energetic connections; drop-ins at old HQ; digital fatigue; Coffee Talks, Wine Nights, Book Club, & Hot Lunch Fridays; doing enough; what we'll do when this is all over; and not much more. 

Our low budget podcast; Meg's feelings; All things coping with COVID-19 including: never ending Groundhog Day; motivation; Erica's COVID Wedding; the morning commute; physical space and boundaries; remembering when we thought this was going to be over in June; projects we haven't done; motivation tide drifting out; weathering COVID with privilege and resources; the Ping-Pong tournament; Meg's breathing exercises; taking crisis calls during a pandemic; volunteers carrying HQ; moral exhaustion; feeling rage while watching people play volleyball; winter is coming; tearing down Erica's Narcissism (topic for later discussion); ride or die HQ Volunteers; we adopted the Burroughs Creek Trail between 19th and 23rd!; and much more.

Meg leads us in mindfulness; difficult calls; emergency dispatch; imminent risk; awkward moments- we're still new at this podcast thing; hearing the words- "You're not helping"; needing to see progress; Erica's intense call with tears; more Hero Narrative; superhero TV shows; SF calls; taking your personhood out of it;   healing doesn't happen in one call; existential crises; confirmation biasing through a call; Kristin being offered a million dollars; therapizing Meg's impostor syndrome; the buzzword status of self-care; patting yourself on the back; pushing volunteers out of the nest; and plenty more!

Loss cliches; different types of loss; primary & secondary losses; cultural scripts of grief; meaning making; going to the cemetery; the fear of forgetting; comparing our griefs; trips to the mausoleum; putting our grief in a box; the Dual Process of Grief Model; the three year rule; personal narratives and story-telling; tater-tot casserole; the "what if" rabbit hole; getting to a place of gratitude; approaches to talking to callers about grief & loss; Kristin's list of movies to avoid while grieving; processing grief by talking about grief; processing calls on shift related to grief; grief and the pandemic (a topic for a later episode); and much more.

An unfortunate peek into Erica's life; milk's popularity trending downward; questions from volunteers; How do you effectively juggle calls?; Calls-gone in 60 seconds, or less; answer rates in context; how we have such bad ass volunteers; Midwestern goodbyes; compassionately wrapping up calls; "experienced" callers; Can you be the person to follow-up with someone you talked to in crisis?; rapport vs. relationship; ; callers building a relationship with HQ rather than individual counselors; "They're HQ"; When and how should you refer someone to mental health services?"; what it looks like to go to the ER; referring someone to a therapist; least restrictive environment; why training is so long; send us more questions; and much more.

Compassion fatigue; burnout; secondary trauma; being in relationship with HQ and what happens when shit goes wrong; shame around experiencing burnout; being aware that you have a cup; fucked up thoughts; compassion fatigue mimicking depression; super avoid mode; setting boundaries; the abstract nature of compartmentalization; taking your ego out of it; having a rock thrown at your head; not taking things personally; how much does self-esteem/ personal value play into preventing compassion fatigue? (topic for another time); asking for help; how romcoms ruined us; trusting others' capacity for emotional labor; being able to say no to helping someone; comparing our shit to other people's shit; if you're thirsty, find another water fountain; hero complex to the rescue; and much more.