Into The Fold: Issues In Mental Health

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/

Just last month, for Episode 146, we took a look at some recent successes in public policy by one of our grantee partners, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance. In that episode and in many others we’ve tried to get across that not only is the policy arena a crucial venue for transforming mental health for Texans, but we’ll only truly succeed if we can help build the policy capacity of others. A good recent example is one we’re going to be discussing today. Family Service Center of Galveston is a Hogg Foundation Communities of Care grantee partner. They are part of the The Future is Us collaborative, which works across sectors to address community conditions, practices, and policies that perpetuate racial inequities in the education system in the Galveston area. Their CEO, Dr. Jared Williams, and their public policy director, Keith Henry, join us to talk about their recent achievements in public policy. Related links: Mental Health Awareness Month 2023 https://hogg.utexas.edu/mental-health-awareness-month Into the

On April 6, 2023 Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a $10 million fentanyl awareness campaign. This will include the Texas Division of Emergency Management delivering a total of 20,000 doses of the overdose-reversing medication, naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan, to all 254 counties in Texas. The distribution of nalaxone is a key plank of the “harm reduction” movement, which advocates for less punitive, more treatment-centered approaches to substance use conditions. Harm reduction has been making a slow and steady climb toward mainstream acceptance, and there are signs here in Texas that it may have finally broken through. Our guest for today, J.J. Ramirez, is an organizer with Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, a statewide organization that aims to end the drug war and its harms through harm reduction outreach, training, advocacy, and organizing. Texas Harm Reduction Alliance is also a grantee of the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, receiving a Policy Fellows grant in 2022. Related links: Episode #145:

With March being Social Work Month, we thought it worth exploring an increasingly urgent issue within social work: the challenges of doing ethical social work practice in a politically divided time like ours. In Texas, this is especially true for social workers who serve LGBTQ+ clients. How do practicing social workers navigate this difficult terrain? Social workers Kurt Olster and Kimberly Goodwin join us to discuss. Episode 133: Gender-Affirming Care is Trauma-Informed Care https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-gender-affirming-care-trauma-informed-care Hogg History: The Ima Hogg Scholarships https://hogg.utexas.edu/history-of-the-ima-hogg-scholarships Don't Mess with Texas Social Workers https://hogg.utexas.edu/dont-mess-with-texas-social-workers Announcing 2022 Ima Hogg Scholarship Recipients https://hogg.utexas.edu/hogg-scholarship-recipients-2022 Mental Health and Social Policy: A Q&A with Benita Bamgbade https://hogg.utexas.edu/mental-health-and-social-policy-a-qa-with-benita-bamgbade

Public school teaching has never been easy, but the willingness of some lawmakers to crack down on what is taught is unprecedented in recent memory. In Texas, there are signs that lawmakers are ready to follow in the footsteps of Florida, where public school teachers and librarians are now subject to restrictions on books that teach about race, sexual orientation and gender identity. To help us understand what teachers are going through, we talk to Nelva Williamson, an AP African American Studies teacher for Houston Independent School District; and Jesus Sosa, who teaches social studies for Richardson Independent School District. Public school teaching has never been easy, but the willingness of some lawmakers to crack down on what is taught is unprecedented in recent memory. In Texas, there are signs that lawmakers are ready to follow in the footsteps of Florida, where public school teachers and librarians are now subject to restrictions on books that teach about race, sexual orientation and gender identi

The Hogg Foundation, past and present, wants to know more about the people and communities it aims to impact through its work. But during the 1950's this desire for greater knowledge ran headlong into the social and political climate of the time. \ ]'? Beginning in 1954, the Hogg Foundation conducted the Texas Cooperative Youth Study, a large-scale survey of nearly 13,000 high schoolers. It surveyed their attitudes on a range of issues, including segregation and other hot-button social issues of the time. The study took place the same year as the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case that mandated the desegregation of public schools. Unexpectedly, the study met with a cold reception. White parents were alarmed by the study’s questions, and this response triggered a backlash that even drew in elements of the anti-communist panic emblematic of the time. To help us make sense of this moment in Hogg Foundation history, Aviv Rau is a graduate research assistant for the Hogg Foundation and a g

Girls Empowerment Network seeks to “ignite the power in girls by teaching them the skills to thrive and believe in their ability to be unstoppable.” Ana O’Quin is a newly hired policy fellow for Girls Empowerment Network. On this episode she is joined by her policy mentor, Sarah Miller-Fellows, to shed some light on what “unstoppability” for girls looks like in the year 2023, and how the cultivation of girls' confidence in their leadership skills is essential to mental health. Related links: Empowering Girls Through Policy https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-empowering-girls-through-policy A Vision for the Future: Policy Priorities, 2023-2024 https://hogg.utexas.edu/policy-priorities-2023-24 Building Capacity to Advocate for Mental Health Policy https://hogg.utexas.edu/blog-advocate-mental-health-policy Policy Fellows Retrospective https://hogg.utexas.edu/policy-fellows-retrospective

The 88th session of the Texas Legislature kicks off in January. In a time of increasing polarization, mental health stands apart as an issue that lends itself to bipartisan cooperation. But will that be as true in 2023? What can we expect from the Legislature, and what does it mean to do mental health policy in 2023? Joining us to offer some potential answers to these questions is the Hogg Foundation Policy Team: Alison Mohr Boleware, director of policy; Shannon Hoffman, policy program officer; and Angela Ott, policy fellow. Related links: Protecting Kids’ Mental Health in a Time of Polarization https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-social-emotional-learning Lessons Learned on Public Policy https://hogg.utexas.edu/lessons-learned-on-public-policy Young and Invincible https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-young-and-invincible Empowering Girls through Policy https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-empowering-girls-through-policy

In our What Happened to You? series, we are looking at trauma, at both the individual and community level. COVID-19 has been a generational trauma, affecting children, families, communities, and whole societies. Health care workers have been among the most deeply impacted. For this episode we’re looking at the traumatic impact of COVID on health care workers, through the lens of a concept known as "moral injury." Our two guests are University of Texas at Austin professors Dr. Robert Prentice, professor of business ethics at the McCombs School of Business; and Dr. Read Pierce, professor of internal medicine at Dell Medical School. Episode 139: What Happened to You? Part II: Why We Talk About it https://hogg.utexas.edu/what-happened-to-you-part-ii-why-we-talk-about-it Episode 138: What Happened to You, Part I: Back to School (with Trauma) https://hogg.utexas.edu/what-happened-to-you-part-1 Episode 118: Children in 2021: Grief and Loss https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-children-in-2021

It’s hard to miss the multitude of public conversations about personal trauma taking place these days. Once a very privately held concern, discussing Discussing personal trauma and its long-term impact has become markedly less stigmatized. Increasingly, public discussion is considered empowering, humanizing, and helpful to others with similar experiences. In the second of our series of podcasts addressing the relationship between trauma and well-being, we Into the Fold host Ike Evans speaks with Dr. Bruce Perry, co-author with Oprah Winfrey of the recent best-selling book, What Happened to You?: Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, about the increased openness and evolving approach to understanding trauma. Episode 138: What Happened to You, Part I: Back to School (with Trauma) https://hogg.utexas.edu/what-happened-to-you-part-1 Episode 133: Gender-Affirming Care is Trauma-Informed Care https://hogg.utexas.edu/podcast-gender-affirming-care-trauma-informed-care Episode 118: Children in 2021 htt