Into The Fold: Issues In Mental Health

The Hogg Foundation often characterizes its mission as being one "to transform the places where people live, learn, work, play, and pray." That third word, work, is the focus of today's episode. In observance of World Mental Health Day and its theme, "It's Time to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace," we discuss how we can transform workplaces into spaces that support mental health. We also discuss structural factors that make real change difficult. We have brought back a previous guest, Dr. Ryan Sutton, an associate professor in the department of education psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and a former postdoctoral fellow for the Hogg foundation. Related Links: World Mental Health Day 2024 Women Knowledge Workers in Higher Education Show Themselves Out Opportunity Plus Struggle: Three Workplace Rules Peer Supporters Should Know  

For the month of September, the Hogg Foundation is celebrating National Recovery Month. Throughout the month we’ll be highlighting the creativity, resilience, and leadership of people in recovery from mental and substance use conditions, and the many things our grantee partners are doing to transform mental health in their communities. For this episode, we talk to two friends from within the Hogg Foundation’s wide network of changemakers. First, Jason Howell, executive director of RecoveryPeople, about the new film Humanly Possible, which explores the journeys of people recovering from substance use conditions. The film was produced with funding support from the Hogg Foundation. The second segment is a conversation with Hannah Slyzk, a past recipient of the Hogg Foundation’s Moore Fellowship for doctoral research, about youth mental health. Related Links: https://hogg.utexas.edu/recovery-month https://recoverypeople.org/humanly-possible/premiere/ https://hogg.utexas.edu/rethinking-youth-suic

Historically, the mental health system, and the conversation surrounding it, has given more value to the expert opinions of providers and clinicians than the experiences of those living with mental health conditions. For well over a decade now, the Hogg Foundation bas been elevating the visibility of mental health consumers and has thrown its full weight behind the peer support and recovery movement. But right at The University of Texas at Austin, there has been the full flowering of a peer support consumer specifically for students. Called Longhorn SHARE, it was launched in 2022 with the support of the University's Counseling and Mental Health Center. In this episode we talk to Adrian Lancaster, coordinator of Longhorn SHARE and a staunch advocate for student peer support. Related Content How Peer Support Improves Community Mental Health Peer Support in the Criminal Justice System Peer Support for Young Adults A New Mental Health App Comes to UT

Mental health care and recovery services have historically prioritized a clinical medical model. Under this model, expertise resided almost exclusively in the hands of professionally trained healthcare providers. Beginning in the 1960s and 70s, however, a recovery model emerged that put greater emphasis on the self-determination of “consumers” of mental health services and the expertise of individuals with lived experience of mental health challenges. This episode of Into the Fold was recorded onsite at PeerFest 2024 and guest hosted by Anna Gray and Janet Paleo. Anna and Janet are co-founders of Prosumers International, and Anna is also its executive director. Rooted in the belief that purposeful recovery is possible, Prosumers aims to create an empowering environment where people with mental health challenges can achieve recovery on their own terms. Anna and Janet spoke with Dr. Octavio N. Martinez, Jr., executive director of the Hogg Foundation, to learn more about the Hogg Foundation’s s

PeerFest is an educational and celebratory event for Texans who have faced mental health challenges and are on a journey to wellness.   Dr. William DeFoore, author of, among other books, Anger Among Angels: Shedding Light on the Darkness of the Human Soul. His keynote address is titled, "Goodfinding: A Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health Incorporating Emotional Intelligence and Positive Psychology."    Sir Billy Dorsey (yes, an actual knight) will be delivering his keynote address, “In the Right Seat: Finding Purpose at the Intersection of Passion, Proficiency, and Positioning.”    “Texas has a vibrant community of people who are using their personal recovery journeys to advocate for broader change in mental health. PeerFest 2024 is a not-to-be-missed chance for people to tap into this community, to be challenged and inspired, and to infuse that energy into their lives going forward.

By some accounts, young people's relationship to technology is unfolding crisis. It is now commonplace for adults to lament the “screen time” of young people and worry about its effect on their social lives and mental health. In 2023, the American Psychological Association issued a health advisory focusing on adolescent social media use, and the U.S. Surgeon General has said that social media can have “a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. There is evidence that social media may contribute to issues like depression, anxiety, toxic social comparison, sleep problems, body image issues, and disordered eating.” But is that the whole story? And if there is real cause for for alarm, what should be done? Dr. Carrie James and Dr. Emily Weinstein are co-founders of the Center for Digital Thriving at Harvard University. In their book Behind Their Screens, Emily and Carrie draw on a survey of more than 3,500 teens with the objective of

Dr. Melvin P. Sikes was a member of renowned unit of African American fighter pilots who flew during World War II known as the Tuskegee Airmen. After the war, Dr. Sikes earned a doctorate in education administration from the University of Chicago. He went on to become dean of Wilberforce University in Ohio and Bishop College in Marshall, Texas, a clinical psychologist with the Veterans Administration Hospital in Houston, and as we knew him best at the Hogg Foundation – a University of Texas at Austin professor of education psychology and a one-time member of the Hogg Foundation’s National Advisory Council. For Black HIstory Month, we are taking a look back at this remarkable man and his impact. In this episode of Into the Fold, not only do we get contemporary analysis courtesy of Elizabeth Stauber, Hogg Foundation archivist and records manager, but we hear from Dr. Sikes himself, by way of a vintage 1972 interview in which he discusses the challenges of balancing intellectual rigor with a commitme

For this first podcast of the new year we are taking a look back at the National Day of Racial Healing. The National Day of Racial Healing is a nationwide observance that also coincides with Martin Luther King Day. For the second year in a row, the Hogg Foundation joined the celebration by holding an event in Austin, this time in partnership with Austin Justice Coalition, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to improving quality of life for people who are Black, Brown, and poor in the Austin community. It was on Sunday, January 14, the day right before MLK Day, that our host, Ike Evans, joined about 80 other people braved the cold for a day of facilitated dialogue, fellowship, music, a dab of spoken word poetry, and food. We visit with the two facilitators from the day, Dr. Angela Ward and Dr. Mary Rice-Booth, who are both educators who write, speak, facilitate, and think deeply on matters of equity.   Related links:   Leading Within Systems of Inequity in Education: A Liberation Guide for Lead

it was back in 2017 that we had on Dr. Art Markman, co-host of the KUT show Two Guys on Your Head, to talk about political climate as a chronic stressor. And so, six years after the fact, we thought that it would make sense to close that circle by inviting on Dr. Markman's partner from Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Bob Duke. We recently had him come to the studio for a discussion of gratitude and an exploration of just what it means to stop and be thankful. Dr. Duke is the Marlene and Morton H. Meyerson Centennial professor of Music at the Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin. To quote him on gratitude, "When you do think about the capriciousness of life experiences, to me that is a real incentive for even greater levels of gratitude, because once you sort of recognize that you're not the author of your own story entirely, and that there are a lot of things that happen in your life to the good, which you actually had very little to do with, and it doesn't mean that what you did, you h

Podcast host Ike Evans speaks with two UT Austin students currently working with the Hogg Foundation’s operations department and a counselor from the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center’s Counselors in Academic Residence program (CARE) about the heightened stress students are feeling as final exams approach and the self-care tools that help them cope. Carissa Ceasor is a freshman pursuing a Rhetoric and Writing and African American Diasporic Studies double major, Montse Lopez is a third-year student majoring in Biology with a field of study in Psychology, and Tony LeBlanc is a CARE counselor embedded in the McCombs School of Business.  

For this episode, we offer a look back at Young Minds Matter 2023! We drop in on some of the attendees, as well as our featured guest, Brandie Meister, youth advocate, published author, and vice president of Real Queens Fix Each Other's Crown, an Austin-based organization devoted to improving the mental health of women and girls. it is also the debut of our first guest host, Nakia Sims, a member of the Hogg Foundation Contributors Circle!   Related links: Real Queens Fix Each Other’s Crowns  Young Minds Matter 2021 Resources: Healing, Justice, and Connection for Mental Wellbeing  Young Minds Matter 2019 Resources: Communities Connecting for Well-being  The Mental Health Cost of Being a Strong Black Woman  Into the Fold Episode 142: Empowering Our Girls in 2023  Into the Fold Episode 135: Black Maternal Mental Health  Into the Fold Episode 124: Changing the Landscape: People, Parks, and Power  Into the Fold Episode 56: Police Violence and Black Women’s Healt

The theme of our 2023 Young Minds Matter conference is Transforming Our Communities Collectively. With a focus on collaborating with children, youth, and families as decision-makers and leaders in community transformation, it promises to be an energizing opportunity to learn about and from young change-makers. On our most recent podcast we visited with two such young people, Erika Ngo and Alexander Lopez of the Gulfton community in Houston. They joined us to discuss the essential work of empowering youth to engage in civic discourse and their participation in the upcoming conference. Related linksL Young Minds Matter 2023: Transforming Our Communities Collectively Young Minds Matter 2021: Healing, Justice, and Connection for Mental Well-being Into the Fold Episode 125: A New Deal for Youth Young Minds Matter: The Healing Future Young Minds Matter 2019: Communities Connecting for Well-being Into the Fold Episode 88: Young Minds Matter Young Minds Matter: Historical and Cultural Trauma Into the Fold Episode 92

This episode is dropping on World Mental Health Day, October 10. World Mental Health Day 2023 is an opportunity for people and communities to unite behind the theme ‘Mental health is a universal human right.” From its inception the Hogg Foundation has been working to raise awareness and drive transformative actions that promote and protect mental health as a universal human right. But what does it mean to see mental health as a basic human right? What specific obligations come with that? Joining us today to discuss this question is Anna Gray and Janet Paleo, both with Prosumers International, a grantee partner of the Hogg Foundation. At different times they have been on the board of the World Federation for Mental Health, a driving force behind World Mental Health Day. Related links:  Into the Fold Episode 121: Peer Leadership and Why it Matters  Into the Fold Episode 77: Consumer Voice: Its Role in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion  Into the Fold Episode 88 Young Minds Matter 

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, issued a public advisory earlier this year titled, the Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation in the U.S. To quote: “Our epidemic of loneliness and isolation has been an underappreciated public health crisis that has harmed individual and societal health. Our relationships are a source of healing and well-being hiding in plain sight – one that can help us live healthier, more fulfilled, and more productive lives." How big a problem is loneliness, and what can be done to addess the problem? Here to provide some answers is Jacki Hecht, managing director of the Center for Health Equity Research at the School of Nursing at The University of Texas at Austin and head of the AMEN Program. Related links: Surgeon General Advisory on Loneliness AMEN Program Register for Young Minds Matter 2023! Into the Fold, Episode 88: Young Minds Matter

Kids in 2023 are going back to school at a particularly fraught moment for schools, teachers and parents in Texas.  What do kids need this school year in order to thrive? What kind of support do parents and teachers need? Joining us for this conversation are Maria Arrabo of the Amala Foundation, a grantee partner of the Hogg Foundation. And Sharon Vigil, executive director of Communities in Schools of Central Texas.   From the episode:  Amala Foundation Communities in Schools of Central Texas Co-signer Spotlight: Trust for America's Health Declaration of Racism as a Mental Health Crisis   Related links: Back to School in 2023: Overcoming Fear, Stress, and Anxiety School-Based Crisis Group Intervention Episode 148: Music Therapy for Kids

What does it mean to do public policy work in a state with as challenging a policy environment as Texas? And for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, what particular challenges confront them in the mental health policy space? And for younger people, who are just learning, just finding their footing, just finding their identity, how is more challenging still? For this second podcast of Minority Mental Health Awareness Month we are talking to Lily Trieu, interim director of  Asian Texans for Justice (ATJ), a statewide nonprofit serving the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in Texas, connecting them to civic action to build personal and political power.   Related links:   How We Should Respond to Anti-Asian Racism Into the Fold Episode 101: Asian American Identity in the Time of COVID-19 Into the Fold Episode 115: Fear of Going Outside: A Podcaster on Asian Identity, Mental Health and Belonging Into the Fold Episode 132: Asian Americans Attaining Awareness B

DAWA, standing for Diversity, Awareness and Wellness in Action, is an Austin-based organization that honors, celebrates, and empowers the essential work of community frontliners and creatives of color through direct financial support, and culturally relevant health-centered programming. In the process they are modeling a form of social entrepreneurship that shows how small organizations can make a big difference, in ways even a major philanthropy like the Hogg Foundation can learn from. Their founder and director, Chaka Mahone, is in our studio today to tell us all about it.   Related links:   Hogg Foundation Co-signs Statement in Response to Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Decision https://ow.ly/JNoi50P7OB7 APA Speaks Out Against Supreme Court Ruling on Affirmative Action in Higher Education https://alert.psychnews.org/2023/06/apa-speaks-out-against-supreme-court.html Minority Mental Health Awareness Month https://hogg.utexas.edu/minority-mental-health Episode 69: Mental Health and the M

June is an interesting month for mental health! It is both Pride Month as well as the month of Juneteenth. The theme of emancipation runs through the month —i.e. emancipation from trauma, emancipation from stigma, emancipation from loneliness and isolation. June also happens to be Men’s Health Month, and Men’s Mental Health Month. Carrying on the emancipation theme, we look at Black men’s mental health with the help of author, speaker and college basketball Hall of Famer Thabiti Boone. Related links: Episode 149: Juneteenth and Mental Emancipation https://hogg.utexas.edu/juneteenth-and-mental-emancipation Episode 83: Minority Men's Mental Health https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-minority-mens-mental-health Episode 52: Black Student Athlete Mental Health https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-wnba-athlete-mental-health-sports Blog post: Uncovering Transgender History in Texas https://hogg.utexas.edu/uncovering-transgender-history-in-texas SAMHSA Report on lesbian, gay and bisexual behavioral health: https://ww

On today’s Into the Fold we’re talking about Juneteenth, the federal holiday on June 19th that commemorates the day in 1865 that the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect in Texas. Also known as Emancipation Day, it's also an opportunity to celebrate African American mental health and resilience. Helping us do this is mental health advocate Tracy Yvette Green, an awardee of the New Voices Showcase in 2022 and current member of the Hogg Foundation Contributors Circle. Pride Month Statement https://hogg.utexas.edu/statement-on-lgbtq-pride-month Mental Health Awareness Month Videos https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-twp1sk908vSOOgapujp7hRnqFLGRXos Op-ed: Listening to all Uvalde voices will promote true healing in the community https://news.utexas.edu/2023/05/24/listening-to-all-voices-in-uvalde-will-promote-true-healing/ Episode 120: Why History? https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-why-history Episode 65: The Past Does Matter: Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-the-past-does-m

Today on Into the Fold we’re talking about music therapy as a uniquely powerful way to help kids with their mental health, including for those dealing with traumatic experiences such as parental incarceration. Our guests are Cynthia Smith, founder and director of Sparks for Success, amd Amber Sarpy, one of their music therapists. Related links: Episode 69: Mental Health and the Musician's Life https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-musician-mental-health Episode 88: Young Minds Matter https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-young-minds-matter Episode 136: Diverse Works: A New Art Experience https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-mental-health-art Music credits: Artist: Kevin MacLeod Track: AcidJazz Album of origin: Jazz Sampler Creative Commons Attribution: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/