#170 Healing Minds, Challenging Stigma, Building Hope with Jevon Patrick Artwork

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Pulse of the Caribbean

#170 Healing Minds, Challenging Stigma, Building Hope with Jevon Patrick

March 18, 2026 • Pulse of the Caribbean

0:00 | 47:07

What if the story you tell yourself about how hard things are for you is just half true? Have you ever felt "stuck" in emotions or habits you didn't choose?

We sit down with clinical social worker and psychotherapist Jevon Patrick. Jevon takes us inside the engine room of effective mental health care: a holistic, team-based model. He shares how trauma hides in plain sight, and how culture, empathy, and treatment unlock real change.

Mental health does not live in the abstract; it lives in kitchens, classrooms, clinics, and in the quiet moments. His journey from struggling student to clinician and teacher shows how diagnosis, treatment, and purpose can rewrite a story.

If you’re curious about how real-world mental health care works, how trauma shapes choices, or how empathy changes outcomes, this conversation will give you clear insights and a new lens on healing. The message is clear: healing requires a system that sees the whole person, not a label.

Listen, share with someone who needs it, and if the episode resonates, subscribe and leave a review to help others find the show.

nderstanding Starts With Openness

SPEAKER_02 0:00

I like what you just said that is having understanding. In order to have understanding, Kisha, you have to be open to it. And a lot of people are not open and they don't believe that it exists. Just as we experience physical ailments, our mind does the same thing.

eet Our Guest Javon Patrick

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Mental health does not live in the abstract, it lives in kitchens, classrooms, workplaces, clinics, and into quiet moments. We sit down with clinical social worker and psychotherapist Yvonne Patrick. Javon takes us inside the instant room of effective mental health care. His journey shows how diagnosis, treatment, and purpose can rewrite a story on today's Pulse of the Caribbean Podcast. Welcome to the Pulse of the Caribbean Podcast. I'm Keisha Blyden. Javon Patrick, Director of Amazing Healthcare Services in Maryland, adjunct faculty at the community college of Baltimore County, and the owner and founder of Hope Rising Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, LLC, is our guest. And with that, we say welcome to Javon Patrick. Thank you. Thank you, Keisha.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

Thank you so much.

aribbean Roots And Identity

SPEAKER_00 1:30

We are the pulse of the Caribbean. So tell us your Caribbean connection. What makes you Caribbean?

SPEAKER_02 1:37

So my mom is from Anguilla. My father is from Centrustasia. So me, my brother, my two sisters, we're the only ones that was born and raised in St. Thomas, Virginia Islands. So being that my parents are Caribbean, that makes me the full Caribbean. I have the Dutch side, I have the British side, and I have the St.

hat A Psychotherapist Really Does

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Awesome. That is so awesome. Now the work that you do, you are a psychotherapist. Tell us, what is a psychotherapist?

SPEAKER_02 2:09

So what I did was I did a master's in clinical social work. So when with a master's in clinical social work, once you become licensed, you can become a therapist. So I became a social worker by degree, but also work as a psychotherapist. So what I do is I would be, I will meet a client, I will talk with a client, do an assessment, and I will then give a clinical impression of a diagnosis, such as bipolar or schizophrenia. Once I do that, then I come up with a treatment plan, and then I began to I begin to work with the client with the treatment plan to help reduce their symptoms. So I also work with the medication provider to make sure get them on the correct medication and to help them with any psychosocial stressors that they may have. If they may have experiencing homelessness or they need food stamp, I have resource portions that can help them with that stuff. But primarily I deal with the mental health piece and the addiction piece.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

So you deal with mental health and addiction. And you also mentioned that as a part of the service that you provide, that you work as a team. Yes. Because in terms of diagnosis and any prescribed medications that would be necessary for any individual. So you are part of a health team then that works for overall wellness of individuals.

SPEAKER_02 3:38

Yes, it's uh uh interdisciplinary team. We all have different backgrounds. We have the medication provider who puts who prescribes uh the medication, we have the substance abuse counselor, we have the PRP person that does the resources, and then you have the mental health piece. So it's a whole entire team that do the holistic approach, yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

So tell us about your educational journey and what led you to go into the field of social work and later earning that master's and going into psychotherapy to become a psychotherapist. What led you into this work?

SPEAKER_02 4:17

So I think you know, when you grow up in the islands, especially St. Thomas, that's so small, you you experience a lot of things that we don't have names for. But it doesn't mean that we're not exposed to it or we didn't experience it. I'm very familiar with addiction and domestic violence, even though I didn't have a name for it. So when I saw people on the street and stuff, I was always a caretaker from the time I was a little boy, you know, very close to my mom. So growing up in a home, you know, where, you know, even though my mom was married and stuff, she looked, she was like a single parent still. So it was difficult. So I've always been in that role of a caretaker. When I moved to Baltimore in 2000, I didn't have that education. So I came to Baltimore, I really didn't have anything. I stayed in a basement apartment for six months. I got I got a job at the University of Maryland, and then I went back to school at age 32. I didn't know what I wanted to study. I was going to do business, but the degree was so hard. It was a hard degree. I couldn't pass the math component. So they asked me what it is that I like to do. So I told them I want to help people. So she said, well, you should think about social work. So when people think about social work, people think about taking people's kids. You know, people think about case management. You know, people don't know how big and broad, you know, social work is. Social work is in almost every organization. So said, okay, I'll do work in mental health. So I went to school, I did my associates of science, I did it in two years while working two jobs. Then I did my bachelor's in interdisciplinary studies, which is psychology and criminal justice. I did that in two more years while doing working two jobs, and then I did my master's in a year and a half while working two jobs and my internships. And I graduated in 2012, I got my license from Maryland in 2017, and that's that's what I've been doing.

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Wow, that is an amazing journey because as you speak about that, it took a lot of discipline. You mentioned about going back to school later, and also with that as well, working two jobs. So continuing to pursue your education towards social work and also working. So I know that's a lot of work, it's a lot of discipline to to do that. So tell us about your inspiration that that that gave you that drive to continue to pursue the work and to pursue your education and your work at the same time.

DHD Diagnosis That Changed Everything

SPEAKER_02 7:10

So I think growing up, you know, one thing that I think is a blessing is when you grow up in a small community like us, you know, we hold on to our culture. You know, I know our music is quail bay music, I know our foon Gian's fish and our stew chicken, you know, you know, so we we we know you know our our culture. And I think that my mom was a very strong woman. She is very strong, you know, and she always pushed education on us, you know, to do our education. So my sister, my she's five years younger than me. She went to Baltimore when she was 17. Uh, and for 10 years, uh, she didn't stop going to school until she's a surgeon. And she told me when she was in Maryland, she said, Javi, why don't you just why don't you go back to school and do something? You know, you have um two jobs, go to school. So, and she was an inspiration because you know, she did it. And you know, there was nothing else, you know, to really uh focus on. So I said, you know, let me just go to school and I enjoyed it. Before I went back to school, I was doing a lot of performing. I do acting and stuff. So I did a lot of performing in Baltimore, in DC, in Philadelphia, and I really, really enjoyed, you know, performing. But when I decided to go back to school, you know, I kind of just stopped with the performing and decided to just kind of focus on school. And I enjoyed school. Now, Keisha, one thing I want to say is um when I tell my students this, they're pretty shocked. When I was in school, elementary school, Evelyn Marcelli, school was school was very hard for me, very, very hard for me. And I remember the teachers used to tell my mother that he tried so hard, but he just can't do it. And I I always felt dumb. And then I I also I I stammered at the same time. So, you know, when you stammer, you don't want to speak. So I repeated fourth grade, and I remember how I felt. I would try. And I went to seventh grade, I failed seventh grade, I failed eighth grade, I failed ninth grade, I failed 10th, I failed 11th, and I failed 12th grade. All those grades, I I never I was never promoted to the next year. I had to go to summer school every year, and I couldn't understand why. And my I all I know was my mind was always racing, I couldn't keep still, I got in so much trouble, you know, being at home because of just my behavior. When I came to Baltimore and I learned more about mental health, I learned that I had ADHD, which is adult deficit of hyperactivity disorder, which means you have the racing thoughts, you can't keep still, you're always on the go, you don't finish tasks, and I think that that's what I've had growing up. So even though there was no name for it, I had the symptoms. So college, I got I had a 3.8 in the master's program. College was so easy. But growing up in the islands in school, it was so hard. But being diagnosed with the right disorder and being placed on the right medication, it helped me to be able to focus and do what I had to do. So when I look at people back home, you know, you will see people like crazy this and crazy that's dirty so, dodgy so. But you know, then I can look at them and see, okay, that person has schizophrenia, or that person has bipolar one, this person has substance-induced psychosis. You know, I know that stuff now, but I wouldn't have known that stuff if I didn't move here and learn more about this. So it's a much more softer look, you know, but you don't know this until you until you go out, you know. So we see people walking around every day in St. Thomas, you know, but we don't know their journey.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

And I am so glad that you share that because when we speak about mental health and you're working with other practitioners, as you said, it is a holistic approach. So it is about finding out, okay, what is to get to the root of whatever that situation is, to understand it. So it's about having understanding and then helping.

unknown 11:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 11:48

So tell us how would you define, how would you then define mental health?

SPEAKER_02 11:54

So I like what you just said, is having understanding. In order to have understanding, Kisha, you have to be open to it. And a lot of people are not open and they don't believe that it exists. Just as we experience physical ailments, our mind does the same thing. Many of us walk around sad, and which is normal. Sadness is normal, but extreme sadness, don't want to leave the bed, crying, affecting your appetite, that's something totally different. But people that but for some people, that is their everyday, not knowing that they're walking around with depression. You know, or you have people that are hearing these thoughts, are hearing these voices, are being told things to do, and people in the island would say, Oh, he possessed, or oh, he gets crazy, not knowing that the person really has paranoid schizophrenia, and that and they are hearing, they are hearing voices that are giving them instructions and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

You know, and as a part of your journey, because you mentioned that it's not until you became an adult that you realize, of course, with your racing thoughts and and I guess in terms of attention. So even within the school systems, perhaps it is about seeking help and getting attention. So who should, who should seek services as it relates to mental health? Who should seek those services, whether as an adult or even as a parent or even as a partner, a spouse, a friend? What would you say to someone that notices certain behaviors and how they should go about approaching or addressing it, or being that person to understand that perhaps this child, perhaps this colleague, perhaps this friend, perhaps this spouse needs help. So what would you what what would you say? What would you recommend? Because certainly there are certain like stigmas, as you mentioned before, as it relates to seeking mental health services, but it's about it's about wellness. So tell us what what would you say, or how would you go about guiding that person or even that individual if they notice that, okay, I'm crying, I can't get out of the bed, and it's it's more than just yeah, it you can be sad, but like you said, when it is when it is extreme. Yes. So tell us what are the words that you say to each of those in each of those scenarios, or if there's something overarching that you can say to address that.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

So I think the first thing I would I would say is especially speaking if I'm speaking to someone from back home, I would say, first of all, you have to be open. You have to kind of step out of the bubble of St. Thomas and see that there are other things that's out there and they are answers to some of these things. We just don't know what they are, but they are. So that's the first thing I want to say. Another thing is it's to believe that, hey, the way you're feeling, whatever it is, it's not normal. You know, we're not supposed to be crying every day, we're not supposed to be sad every day, we're not supposed to be walking with a heavy heart every day, and you can get help. Also, a lot of people feel a certain way towards medication. Medication has come a long, long way. You know, there are people that are on medicine that you can't even tell that they take medicine. And when you know that someone is taking medicine and they you can't even tell, then you know that they are on the right medicine. So medication goes a long way. If I was not given medication for ADHD, even during this interview keisha, I'll be all over the place. You it'll be so hard to just keep me focused on what I'm supposed to be doing. I remember when I was I had appendicitis when I was a little boy and um I couldn't sleep. And I remember Dr. Snyder said to me once, he said, This boy mine always racing. He said to me, You need to close down your mind, he said. You know, close my mind down so I could sleep. You know, it's much easier said, you know, than done. So you have to step out and be more aware that, hey, there's a bigger world out there, and these things are real. Mental health is real. You know, when people are saying that they're hearing voices or they're being told what to do, you don't want to just discard it or just say, hey, you know, he's just you know playing a fool. You know, you want to really get the people checked out. But however, it comes from the people that's in the role, like myself. We have to believe it first. You know, when I go through the door, I have to leave my biases at the door. When I was first getting into the field, they asked me, what's one population that I cannot work with? So I can work with anyone, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then she said, No, there's always one population you cannot work with. Some people cannot work with pedophiles, some people can't work with rapists. So I told them, is this like years and years ago, but 15 years ago, that where I'm from, when we look at Americans, when they eat and stuff like that, we start them as being heavy set and things like that. When I see that in my mind, that's just a fat person in my mind. Not knowing now about obesity, thyroid. I didn't know about all of that stuff. But I had my precept judgment, and that precept judgment would just tell me, oh, this person just likes to eat. This person just don't want this person just lazy. That's the mentality that we have. And we have to understand that there's much more behind of it. Everyone has a story, Keisha. Everyone has a story, you know, and there's in school, the first thing we learned was the first question was, what makes people the way they are? That's the first question. I can tell you what made me the way I am. I've always been a social worker. I've always been one. I just didn't know that that's what it was. I was always exposed to addiction. I just didn't know the word addiction. I was always exposed to domestic violence. I didn't know it was domestic violence because you think that's the norm.

nside A Clinic Intake And Assessment

SPEAKER_00 19:06

So definitely life experiences and also at times there may be some hormonal imbalances as well when we talk about when we talk about diagnoses and and helping. So tell us about the work at that you do at as director of amazing care health services.

SPEAKER_02 19:33

So we we are a clinic. We provide mental health services, individual counseling, group counseling, we do we provide medication management, we provide substance abuse, we provide help to people with resources, and we we provide inpatient where you can stay there as long as you want, live in the in the facility, and until you feel that you're ready to be back in the community. So when people come in, a lot of them come in, they're homeless. Not because they're homeless because they were just drug addicts, they're on the street. They're people that just become homeless because they just lost their job. We had a lady in my program, she became homeless, and she was a cop, a Baltimore City cop. She wasn't the typical homeless person that people would think, but but she was. And I do all the assessments for the clients. When they come in and they do the beginning intake, I'm the first person that they see that do the psychiatric asset evaluation. And I go down questions about, and I start from childhood, trauma, abuse, assault, and I go from there, and I come up with a whole entire psychosocial profile of the person. Based on that and the symptoms, I then come up with the diagnosis that I feel is appropriate for the person. So if this person, when someone says yes, yes, I was sexually abused at three years old, you know, how long did it last until I was eight years old? When they say yes to that question, Keisha, I know this is gonna be a long assessment. If they say no, I haven't never been abused or assaulted, it'd probably be pretty straightforward. But once there's trauma, that's it. And then from there, we go into it, the history of it, what happened after that, what the mental illness in their family, any medical, any medical problem, did it finish high school? Did anyone else have any symptoms? You know, so we do the entire breakdown, you know, if there's addiction, when did it start it? And a lot of people won't we people see people as drug addicts. Before a person became a drug addict, they had mental health trauma. They go together. Don't let anyone ever tell you the person is a drug addict, but there's nothing wrong with them mentally. Something has to be wrong mentally in order for them to use drugs to cope. That's that's why people. Do drugs, they do drugs because they can't cope. So when people come to see me and they would say, Yeah, I just need help with um with drugs, I would say, okay, so what happened to you? They said nothing, I just don't want to do any drug, yada yada yada. And then they would say, So, but why did you start doing drugs? Oh, I just wanted to, you know, have a good time with my friends, so that means you have so low self-esteem. And I make them think. I said, Well, why is it that when I want to have a good time, I want to read a comic book? But when you have a good time, you want to go to drugs. What's wrong with that picture? And then as we continue to go deeper, we realize that yeah, my I didn't feel loved by my father, or I wanted to feel close to people, and I felt that if I did this, you know, it would help me to make friends and stuff like that. So I kind of make them see things that they're not ready to see, or they don't even think it's there. I have people that experience so much trauma and they have flashbacks and dreams and they get triggered not knowing that they're experiencing PTSD. So they have the symptoms, they just don't know the name. And they will speak to me and I will say, It's PTSD. And I will say, Are you having flashbacks? When you hear pounding on the wall, does it feel like the person is coming after you? When you smell the cologne, does it remind you of the person? And they will say, Yeah, that's post-traumatic stress. So once I get the story, then I come up with a diagnosis, and then you come up with a treatment plan. That's beginning, you know, the first process.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

And that begins, that begins a journey to renewal. A journey to renewal and a new beginning.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

If they choose to, because I tell people, especially with me as a therapist, I'm I'm very, I use different theories you can use. I believe in cognitive behavior therapy, changing your thoughts, changes your behavior, but I also do reality therapy. It's not, I'm gonna I'm gonna be very assertive with you because there are some people you have to chip away that outer shelf for them to really see the situation. I have a client, um, her husband died of about 30 years, and she misses him so and she's really depressed. And on his deathbed, she found out that he was had several other women and stuff like that. So, and she was so angry and she was she missed him. And I said, Well, why do you miss him? She said, Well, I loved him so and so and so. I said, There's a difference between love and obsession. I said, This is a man that you're with for 30 years that beat you for 30 years. He cheated on you several times, and you when just before he was dying, you said that you forgave him, but yet you're angry. But you're not acknowledging the fact that you're hurt, that he cheated on you and you didn't have a chance to say anything. But instead, they're using the death part as you know what, I'm supposed to be hurt, I'm supposed to be missing, I'm supposed to feel this way because he died, neglecting the infidelity. That's the real deal, right there. That's the real hurt is being cheated on, but it was it was entwined with the death part, and it's it's basically focusing on what the real situation is. And as I said to her, you will never get past the grief because you're grieving two different things. You're grieving the death of a partner, the the death of what you thought the relationship was. And some people are not ready for those things, Keisha. They're not. Some people don't come back when you hit a nail. Some people do not come back. And some people would say no one has ever put it to them like this before. But you have to listen well. You have to read the messages, pay attention to the messages that's not being sad, pay attention to non-verbal messages, silence, shifting eyes, everything I pay attention to, and that it tells me more of what the person is saying. I make people remember stuff that they couldn't even remember. Trauma that they couldn't even remember, just based on how deep to go to.

SPEAKER_00 26:22

Trauma that causes, triggers, that impacts their lives and how how they live and also associate as well with others.

hy We Repeat Familiar Relationship Scripts

Personal Story Of Sudden Loss

SPEAKER_02 26:32

Yes, and they don't know many times we don't know why our life is the way it is. I can tell you right now, my father struggled with um alcoholism and stuff, and that was my exposure to addiction, alcoholism. I can close my eyes right now, Keisha. I can go on uh one of those sites to date, and I bet you I would choose an alcoholic. Not because I want to, but I will, because that's my norm. That's what I'm that's what my exposure was. So it's not that you want to, but that's what your exposure is, that's what you gravitate to, and then you wonder why your relationships cannot work. You wonder why when people say, You always with an addict, you always with an addict, you're doing an addict, and it's not that you say to yourself, well, you know what, I want to be with an addict, it's not that. It's that's what that's all you know. That's all you know. If you are, if your mom is a victim of domestic violence and you are exposed to that and you stay and your mom has stayed in that relationship, chances are if you become a victim, you're not gonna leave. Because the norm is to stay. So that's what you know, and the norm is that you will attract a man like your father, because that's what you know, and that's why if we don't identify who we are, we will always continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over and over and over again, and then we wonder why you know we make the same choices or the same thing happens at the end. I will say is the same script, different caste, same thing, but there can be change. There can be change, but change is not easy because what's conditioned is conditioned, and you have to want to make that change and put in the hard work, and putting in the hard work is revisiting things that you don't want to bring up. I I shared with you that I went on a cruise, you know, two years ago, and um it was me, my sisters, my nieces, my little girl, you know, family cruise. And on the last night of the cruise, my friend that was with me couldn't find him, could not find him. And eventually we did a missing thing on the ship, and after hours and hours and hours, it was determined that he fell off the ship. And that was July's gonna make two years, they still haven't found his body, and he was declared dead. So now here it is. Now it's me with hope. She was she's five years old, you know. That's trauma. Trauma is unexpected. Who goes on a cruise with their husband or wife and the one person doesn't come back? That doesn't, you know, that that's traumatic. That's traumatic. So it is, and that situation is something that I've never talked about. Never have. I I I cannot even look at his pictures because I'm not I feel it there. And I tell people it's like holding back vomit. You know, you it's there, but you don't want to bring it up, you know, because you know you're not ready to feel that pain, but you know eventually you have to. You have to, you have to, because I have to be the example, you know, because hopefully is struggling, and she's now seven. So she has to learn to cope, but the only way she can learn to cope is if she sees me cope. So, and that's you know, and that's how we need to be careful because we don't know what decisions we could make with the way we are, the the way our mind is. But if I don't heal that trauma, I will never be the same person, I will never be able to smile again or laugh again, or and a lot of things that me and Hope used to do with him, we don't do anything. We have not danced since he since that accident. We have not danced, and that was something that we always the three of us always did, but we just we just stopped.

SPEAKER_00 30:54

It is something that you have to face, and perhaps even when that time comes, you do have to letting hope stay for a moment with whether it's your sister or something like that, so that you can go through the process. Because, as you said, with her, then it's like, why can't I have this? So, then does that mean if I don't want to deal with something, I'm gonna block it out?

SPEAKER_02 31:23

Exactly. You have to feel it, yeah. Yeah, in order in order to get over it, you gotta get through it. Yes, yes, you know, and but sometimes, Keisha, you have to have the appropriate timing and stuff. You can choose a time to grieve, you can choose a time, you know. You can choose a time to allow yourself to it.

SPEAKER_00 31:41

And you know, and you know the other thing too. Yes, you can cry when you're sad. Yes, you can cry if you feel hurt because you are human and you have feelings. Yes, yes, but what do you love best about the work that you do?

SPEAKER_02 31:58

I love when someone has a hot moment when they didn't realize something, maybe some of their experience, and then they say, Oh my god, yes, oh, I remember now, you know, you you're able to hit, you know, some people don't know that they experience some type of trauma. So when I go, when I start, I go back from age three, four, five, six, and then it hits them. Yes, I did, I did experience this. Or if you say, Well, somebody that's doing drugs, yeah, I started when I was 13 years old. Well, why? Oh, no, no, just hanging out, so and so. But then when you go back further, just before you did that drug, what was going through your mind? I just seen my mom and dad had a fight, and I I just wanted to just clear my head. Boom. That's the aha moment right there. And that's and that's what I love.

SPEAKER_00 32:51

Yeah, so so it's about bringing to memory or recall, total recall, about what caused what caused what caused you to to start that walk, or whatever that walk was, or what what was the trauma that you faced, as you said before, it is usually associated with some life experience, um, whether great or small, it is something that you experience. And when we say great or small, I guess that really doesn't matter because it doesn't matter, it's about experience, it's about experience and resilience. Like you said, everyone has a story. Everyone has a story, everyone has a story and how we how we deal with things, even as your sister may deal with something differently than you do, because we are all individuals, yeah, but certainly there are common threads as it relates to how we can work through things, how we can learn to handle and deal with the life's challenges and situations, because everyone, everyone has faced, has faced or gone through something or is going through something.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 34:11

So that is called life. That is called life, and it's about how do we address it or how can we how can we continue to be strong and continue to to move through the challenges. And yes, we do have our our vulnerabilities, but it's knowing that in those times, especially with the field that you're in when it is more than we can handle, or if it's very extreme, then that is the time that we need to pause and say, Perhaps I need help.

mpathy As A Clinical Superpower

SPEAKER_02 34:46

You know, Keisha, and that is correct. That's one thing I don't judge, and that's why people feel comfortable talking to me. But one of the most powerful emotions you can have, and I have it, is empathy. A lot of people don't have empathy. Everyone has a story. People behave a certain way because of their story. We don't know why. But if you listen to a person's story, then it will paint a picture of why the person behaves the way they are, why this person ended up in jail, why this person ended up in juvenile, why did this person kill this person? I've worked with domestic violence victims, I've worked with pedophiles, I've worked with murderers, I've worked with them all. Because I don't see the circumstance, I see the person and the trauma. And then that's what I focus on. What they did is as a result, you're not making an excuse, but it's a that's it's secondary to whatever happened when they were four, five, six years old.

eaching As Another Form Of Service

SPEAKER_00 35:51

Yes. And tell us about your work as an adjunct faculty member at the community Baltimore Community College. Why did you decide to go into teaching? Tell us about that work and why you decided to do that. After, of course, we know about your history with school and in your earlier years. So tell us about your decision to become a faculty member to teach and what you enjoy about doing it.

SPEAKER_02 36:22

I always wanted to be, I never look at myself as ever wanting to be a teacher, but I after I finished school and stuff like that, I say, you know what? It's something that I can enjoy because I love performing, as I said. I love being on stage and stuff like that. Teaching is like performing for me. You have the audience, they are wide-eyed listening because you are giving them what they what they need. So it's like you have the ex the expertise, and they're so eager to learn. And I love sharing the knowledge, and again, it's having them be aware of things, the aha moment, and helping them to understand their own learning style and to remember everyone learns differently. I've had students in class that were honor students, and I've had students in class that were um disabled, but and I had to teach each of them separately or differently, I should say. But I just love the fact of being upfront in person and having that one of that interaction and that feedback. I've been doing it for like seven or eight years, and I've never missed a semester until COVID. I could do uh online, and I didn't want to do online teaching. It's something about getting the face-to-face.

uilding Hope Rising For The Future

SPEAKER_00 37:47

And in addition to your professional life as director of amazing health services and adjunct faculty member at the community college, you're also the owner and founder of Hope Rising Mental Health and Sud Services LLC. So tell us about your decision to start your business, its name, and the services provided.

SPEAKER_02 38:13

So I wanted to have, like I said, growing up in the islands and stuff, I wanted to bring awareness to mental health and not people call, oh, that's that's crazy Shambhala, that's crazy Tony, you know, that yeah, hey, these things are real. So I said I want to eventually open my own clinic. The name Hope Rising, hope is for my little girl's name. She's now seven. And hope has given me hope. And she is the best decision I've ever made in my life. The best, best decision. I still make bad decisions, but that is the best decision I ever made in my life. And she she gives she gave she gave my life hope, you know, when I when I had her. And the rising piece is for me. I always believe in the Phoenix rising. So we emerging from the ashes, because that's my story. So that's why I put hope rising, is in the rising out of um the ashes and stuff. So that's where the name came about. And have it all set up, it's not in operation as yet because I'm going off on a different path towards a podcast one day, but it's already set up to begin, you know. But that's the name Hope Rising. It's because of my little girl Hope, and the hope that she's given me, and the hope that I can help rise in people also.

aribbean Mindset With A Wider World

SPEAKER_00 39:47

So the foundation is laid for Hope Rising Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services LLC. So, what would you like to tell our listeners about being from the Caribbean and how that has impacted your life?

SPEAKER_02 40:07

So I think I love the fact of being from the Caribbean, being from that identifiable culture. I love that. But there's a bigger world, and it's not that you have to physically travel in order to learn, it's about reading, exposing, learning, listening, talking to people. Those are other ways that you can learn more about you know other things, and that's what's gonna broaden our mind. Some people think back home is just left or right, or black and white. There's a lot of grays, you know, between black and white. And but some people their minds are just so set, the narrow thinking is just so set. And you want to be able to open up your mind, and that there's different things out there. There's a much bigger world than just St. Thomas 13 miles. Hold on to what you have, hold on to what you love, hold on to what you know, but don't close yourself off from learning other things. I still speak my creole when I discipline hope. It's in creole, it's in creole. That's the only time that's the only time she listens. I still I still cook my stew chicken and my peas and rye. You know, I haven't, I'm still right now. I walk without shoes. I'm still I tell people I'm still an island boy. Up to last time I had a Vitamouth. I'm still an island boy.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

I'm an island boy.

urpose Living And Island Sayings

SPEAKER_00 41:42

Yes, yes. So and what is what is your life philosophy?

SPEAKER_02 41:50

You know, after you accomplish things, sometimes that you didn't even plan to, but you accomplish, you don't know what to do next, you know. You don't know what to do next. And it's called, I call it circling, circling the desert. I do writing also. And circling the desert is you you've done everything you wanted to do, now you don't know what to do next. Yet you don't have a purpose anymore. So you're circling that desert, not knowing where else to go. You always want to have a purpose. Purpose is what makes us get up in the morning. If you don't have a purpose, you have nothing to strive for. And for the longest while I didn't have a purpose. After the job and the degrees, the houses, the cars, even after hope, I had no purpose. What comes next? Then after the accident is like what really comes next, you know, and so you fall you fall into this routine. I can tell you my routine, wake up at seven, fight again, hope, get her dress, da da. I know the routine, and every day is the same thing because there's no purpose. So I have to give myself a purpose, something that is gonna give me that excitement again. And you have to have that. If not, you're not, I tell people you're not living, you're just existing every day. So have a life purpose, give yourself a purpose, have a life purpose.

SPEAKER_00 43:19

Give yourself a purpose to wake up the next day and live on purpose, and live live with intentions, live with intentions, yes, live intentionally, yes, and any Caribbean scenes you'd like to share and what it means.

SPEAKER_02 43:39

Monkey, no what tree to climb. Rain don't stop a carnival. And when I say that, I tell people I said just because it's gonna rain doesn't mean the party has to stop, you know. And I tell people, rain ain't gonna stop me, meaning not just with rain, but life, you know, the problems. You know, yeah, you get obstacles, you get set back, you may even show. Shut down. I welcome all of that stuff. I tell people if you want to lick, stay down, lick your wounds, that's fine. But you don't want to stay down. So, you know, rain don't stop the carnival. And a monkey know what you can climb. You know, people don't mess with you if they know you know who you are.

rap Up And Final Reflections

SPEAKER_00 44:17

All right. Well, certainly, this was such a wonderful conversation today with you about sharing your life experiences. And like you said, everyone has a story. And that's part, partially, you know, the reason of my doing what I do. Of course, it's about highlighting Caribbean people, people throughout the diaspora, whether in the region or wherever they may be, and you are in Maryland, yes, making making a difference, making a difference. And we are so proud and happy for you for all that you have achieved, all that you have done and continue to do, and your new purpose, which is emerging, and that is with hope rising, mental health, and substance use disorder services LLC. Suts services LLC.

SPEAKER_02 45:19

That is the next edition that having the on my podcast. The podcast I'll be launching and your podcast.

SPEAKER_00 45:27

So we certainly look forward to hearing that. And with your podcast, that will be about the work as well that you do.

SPEAKER_02 45:36

Yes, it will be about it'll be it'll be a forum where people can ask questions, send emails, and like we can talk. You know, it's not to give advice, it's not to help people make decisions, it's a more more more guide, you know, so people can think and and people can feel safe, you know, anonymously. So that's that's my that's my I think that's my purpose. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:02

That's that's wonderful. So that is to provide hope, yes, provide hope inspiration and inspiration for others, letting letting everyone know that in life's journey you are never alone. There's something or someone that has experienced what you have experienced. Let's talk about it.

SPEAKER_01 46:21

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 46:24

Well, we'd like to say once again, congratulations to you on all your achievements for all that you do. Thank you, Javon Patrick, Jevy, for being on Pulse of the Caribbean.

hare The Show And Stay Connected

SPEAKER_02 46:39

I am Javon Patrick, clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and I am the Pulse of the Caribbean.

SPEAKER_00 46:46

Thank you for joining us on today's Pulse of the Caribbean podcast. If you enjoyed listening to our podcast, be sure to share it with your family and friends. Visit us online at pulsofthecaribbean.com and follow us on social media. I'm Keisha Blyden. Until next time, God bless you. One Caribbean, one love.