Ken Huey 0:00

Welcome to The Voice of Hope, where bold leaders and healers share how they're building hope, not just talking about it. I'm Dr. Ken Huey. Let's meet the changemakers transforming lives from the therapy room to the boardroom. Hello, welcome to The Voice of Hope. Today's guest is Jackie Ivey, clinical director at Breakthroughs Counseling, a licensed mental health counselor dedicated to helping individuals navigate recovery, emotional wellness, and life's challenges through compassionate, evidence-based care. Jackie, welcome.

Jackie Ivey 0:32

Thank you.

Ken Huey 0:34

Well, I'm always fascinated to know how people land in this field. What inspires you to pursue a career in mental health?

Jackie Ivey 0:41

Yeah, my path here is probably similar to other people, a little unexpected and unconventional. So I went to college at Penn State University and I originally had majored in special education. I had a passion for helping people for as long as I can remember. And I went to my school advisor just talking about the semester, how things were going. And so she asked if I had plans to essentially become a special education teacher. And I knew I always wanted to do some type of teaching, some type of collaborative care, but not in a school setting. And she had suggested that I change my course of action. And she was like, I really think you would enjoy counseling classes as an 18-year-old. I thought she was a little nuts, but I took her advice and I took some counseling courses and never looked back.

Ken Huey 1:51

Wow. It's interesting. I went to Florida State University and they had a top-notch school counseling program for the masters that I got, and everybody was kind of headed that direction. And like you, I just could not imagine. I thought that just is not gonna fit me. Every school counselor I've known just has not what I'm looking for in terms of a life. And so that was also part of my motivation. Fascinating to know.

Jackie Ivey 2:13

Yeah, I also ended up landing in beginning my career working in substance use and addiction. I had a personal experience in terms of growing up in a household where a parent of mine struggled with substance use. And he was in and still is in recovery and has over 30 years sober from alcohol specifically. However, I think that some of the patterns and some of the experiences that I had growing up, I can really connect to and relate to people experiencing that struggle. And for that reason, I never imagined that I would work intimately within that population. And when I moved to Florida, an opportunity to work for a company by the name of Sophist Recovery presented itself. And I fell in love with the mission and their program and the leaders of the organization. And they saw something within me as well. And so after an interview with them, I got a call on my drive home, extending an offer as a registered mental health counselor intern at the time to start working there. And I said yes. And I really developed a lot of my expertise and clinical skills and working in more intensive levels of care with folks struggling with substance use specifically, which is not where I thought I would land. And also it's been such a gift and pleasure to work within that area of specialty.

Ken Huey 4:08

All right. So what has changed for you moving from therapist to clinical director? Has that been a positive development? And what have you liked about it, if so?

Jackie Ivey 4:19

Yeah, I've really enjoyed my experience so far in clinically directing a program and a practice. Throughout my course of time in working at Sophros, I strived for more in growth and development and leadership. And I took over the internship program where students would intern at Sophrose during their graduate school. I built a women's group curriculum. I was just very eager and hungry to continuously develop how not only I showed up in a room as a counselor, but how I showed up for a team. And when the opportunity to transition into the position as director, I was really excited that one people like trusted within me to do that. And also was very excited at the experience of being able to implement and work with a team and create different policies and procedures and values. So I've really enjoyed my time so far and stepping into a leadership role and being able to execute on a lot of things that I've learned over the years. And I'm still, I still practice therapy as well. So I still have a caseload and C client. So I'm able to do both, which is awesome.

Ken Huey 6:00

What are you seeing most commonly? What are some of the biggest mental health challenges that you're seeing people face today?

Jackie Ivey 6:07

That's a great question. I see a pretty vast range of age groups. So my youngest client is 14. My oldest client is in their early 80s. So I feel like I'm sitting in rooms with people that are experiencing a vast range of things. If I were to consolidate it into a simple term, I think what I'm noticing is a lot of it tends to be relational, meaning I don't have a relationship with myself, or I don't have a relationship to the world around me, or I don't know how to navigate these relationships. I don't know how to engage in self-care so that I can effectively work through adversity and the stressors of life. So I would say it's the relational element of how do I set boundaries, how do I honor my needs, how do I communicate, how do I even connect and access these parts of myself and also these parts of others so that I can feel a sense of connection, of pleasure, of fulfillment, and therefore have an increased quality of life.

Ken Huey 7:32

You recently spoke about the concept of brain rot, digital overstimulation. How is technology impacting relationships then and mental health in general?

Jackie Ivey 7:43

Technology is most definitely impacting mental health relationships, and as an over-generalization, I believe it's impacting it in a more negative way. I think because we have access to AI and we can type something in there and receive back a response so quickly, it's impairing and turning off this part of ourselves where we would need to exercise and exercise the muscle of like critical thinking, communication skills. And so it's also leading to this doom scrolling of I'm just losing myself in TikTok and Instagram and posting on social media and communicating with people via technology. And so I think because of that imbalance, it's causing harm. I believe that technology is a reality of our advancements in the world. And so I would really hope to see that we can build a more balance with uh utilizing technology to our advantage while it not being a sole reliance of what we use to uh communicate, think, learn, entertain, so on and so forth.

Ken Huey 9:08

What do we do to develop a healthier relationship with technology and especially social media?

Jackie Ivey 9:14

Set boundaries, meaning if you are someone who struggles with hours and hours of scrolling, watching episodes on Netflix, communicating with someone via technology, there are a ton of ways that you can set boundaries for yourself so that it doesn't get to a point of it going on for hours and hours. So there's settings that you can put on your phone so that you can only access certain apps at certain times for certain amounts of time. I know people that use an app called The Brick and it like bricks your phone during certain hours. So, like, say you're going on a date with your partner, and when you brick your phone for a date night, it only allows you access to the call app where all other things on your phone are bricked, like email, Slack. I think we can all, because we have such quick access, get caught up in not turning off and being present. And so I say all of that to say I would encourage people to really think about and implement some levels of boundary setting to create limitations of the technology use.

Ken Huey 10:38

Uh Jackie, so talk to me a little bit about empathy, creating a non-judgmental environment. What is what role does that play in the therapeutic process?

Jackie Ivey 10:48

Arguably the most important, the therapeutic alliance that you have with your clinician is really what research and from my own personal experience shows that it is the most valuable because if there isn't a sense of emotional, psychological, physical safety, if there isn't feelings of okay, I don't feel judged by this person. I really feel like this person wants to listen and wants to support me and provide feedback while also sometimes acknowledging hard truths, meaning challenging, highlighting patterns, highlighting behaviors that might be more detrimental or more harmful to a person. I think doing all of those things are very important with the foundation of being empathetic toward somebody and what they're going through. And so I think a lot of times we as just natural human beings want to shy away from difficult conversations, such as if I have a client in the room with me that demographically is very different. Maybe they're a different gender, maybe they're a different racial orientation, maybe they have, I don't know, just different facets about them that might be different from my own. I need to bring that up empathetically. I want to learn more about you. I'm curious about what life has felt like in your shoes. And really leaning into that, I think, is what creates a sense of safety and compassion. And those are really the foundational qualities and characteristics of therapy being the most advantageous or effective.

Ken Huey 12:49

All right. So you've been doing this for a little while now. What gives you hope? You know, the therapy room can be a dark room at times. What gives you hope when working with individuals and couples facing really difficult circumstances?

Jackie Ivey 13:01

I mean, I have to really put that back into the hands of my client. I think they really give me so much perspective. And I know that when I'm sitting in a room with somebody that might not have access to hope in that period of time, I think I naturally am an energetic, bubbly person. And so as you can see around me, my my space is very bright. I like to have art. I humanize myself. I think that when we feel hopeless, that is a very dark, lonely place to be in. And I make a point to intentionally communicate my gratitude toward whom I'm sharing a space with and how much their vulnerability and willingness to trust me in a space is incredibly courageous and admirable. And I think because that's how we can then bridge and really collaboratively together walk through whatever it is that they're needing and wanting at the time. And so I would say my clients give me a large sense of hope. And if they're looking to me for hope, I hope that my space and I hope that my energy maybe just naturally brings some of that out. But I think that I also am very intentional with the practice of vocalizing gratitude and thanking somebody for their vulnerabilities and trusting me and letting them know that I'm not the expert in the room. I'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm just a human being. I have the skills, I have the knowledge, I have the trainings, and I'm here because you're the expert and you're letting me into your story. And I'm here to meet you where you're at, and so that we can figure out and navigate what that may look like. Yeah.

Ken Huey 15:07

So I know there'll be somebody listening today to this episode who feels overwhelmed, anxious, emotionally stuck. They don't know what to do to take the first step. What would you say to that person?

Jackie Ivey 15:18

I would first say I know that it is scary to first to take the first step. And I think giving yourself permission to feel that fear is really important. The next thing I would say is we cannot do this alone. We are not our humanist is not meant to go through life alone. And we need connection, we need other people. It is shown and researched time and time again the value and the impact that connection has on us as human beings. And so, depending on where you are in the world, I would encourage you. This is where technology is great, to type into Google on your phone resources surrounding you. Luckily, there are apps such as Rula and Headway and all these kind of larger corporations that you can seek telehealth counseling with. It's generally not my first recommendation. I recommend looking into smaller businesses in your area, clinicians that offer in-person services. I personally see my own therapist through telehealth, and I didn't love that initially, but my therapeutic relationship with her is more important, and I will be a telehealth client if that's what it takes. And I do think there is something very uniquely special of being in the room with your provider, having the ability to see their space, feel their space energetically. So I would encourage you to look at the resources in your surrounding area to see, depending on what you're looking for, what resources are out there.

Ken Huey 17:22

Fantastic. Jackie, you're on the front lines delivering care to those that most need that help. I really want to say thank you for spending some time helping us understand what's going on, what therapy looks like, and how people can get help. I appreciate your being with us today.

Jackie Ivey 17:37

Of course. I appreciate you for having me.

Ken Huey 17:40

Thanks for joining us on The Voice of Hope. If you were inspired, share the light. And remember, hope's not just a feeling, it's a force. We'll see you next time.