The Incredibly Valuable Volunteers of Children’s Center

Dr. Ken Duckworth of NAMI Says Mental Health Experts Are All Around Us

The National Alliance on Mental Illness’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ken Duckworth, says university degrees and scientific studies on mental illness are valuable. But they’re not the only ways to gain expertise. People who have lived with mental illness, people who have had front row seats to the struggles of close family members, have the educational benefit of lived experience, should be highly valued in our society. Dr. Duckworth’s book, You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health―With Advice from Experts and Wisdom from Real People and Families” features conversation and wisdom from over a hundred regular people who share their stories.

The Incredibly Valuable Volunteers of Children’s Center

It takes a great deal of hard work on the part of many people to keep a place like Children’s Center running at top capacity. That means our therapists and our administrative staff, sure, but it also means the dedicated effort put in by the selfless volunteers who help power all that we do. In this very personal episode of our podcast, we meet two such friends of the organization, Denise Burgoyne and Brian Thompson. They talk about how they came to join the ranks of the volunteers, the work that they have been doing, and the impact Children’s Center has had in the community.

Dr. Jessi Gold on Openness, Vulnerability, and the Medical Environment

Any encounter with a medical professional or clinician - whether that’s a family doctor, a psychiatrist, a therapist, or anyone else in the field of helping people - is, at root, a human encounter. And the person you’re talking to is just as vulnerable to mental health struggles as anyone else in society. In this candid and illuminating interview, Dr. Jessi Gold, author of How Do You Feel?: One Doctor's Search for Humanity in Medicine, talks about her own mental health journey and the stigmas and challenges of her industry.

Dr. Courtney Tracy, “The Truth Doctor”, Opens Her Door to Social Media

Most therapists do their work behind a closed door, in an intimate world where the practitioner and client are alone. Dr. Courtney Tracy dispenses mental health wisdom and advice on social media to over two million followers across a variety of platforms. In a wide-ranging conversation with Children’s Center Executive Director Matthew Butte, she tells of her efforts to spread the word about positive mental health while also acknowledging her own struggles with depression and borderline personality disorder.

The Hilarious Author Jenny Lawson and the Value of Openness

Jenny Lawson is a journalist, blogger, and the author of several New York Times best-selling books, including Broken (in the Best Possible Way), Furiously Happy, and Let’s Pretend This Never Happened. In this candid and, at times, very funny interview, Jenny talks about the healing power of being open about her longtime struggles with depression and anxiety. “There is an incredible freedom that comes from being honest about your struggles,” she says. “And that allows other people to be honest about theirs.”