The Reframe
The Reframe is a platform for open, unfiltered dialogue, insightful discussions, and practical advice on navigating the complexities of mental health and parenting in today's world. We will delve into the social, cultural, and economic shifts in the addictions and mental health treatment landscape in the wake of COVID-19. Join host Douglas Bodin as he showcases the work and insights of professionals pioneering new approaches and making a positive impact on this changing landscape. Douglas has spent more than 33 years as a consultant working with emerging adults and their clinical professionals to devise tailored plans to address challenges related to mental health, addiction, and sometimes just growing up. The Bodin Group is a leading innovator of educational and treatment planning services for adolescents, adults, and their families, and developer of Bodin Mentoring, an action-oriented service to help get teens and young adults engage in their communities.
The Reframe
The Risk of Playing It Safe with Kellyn Smythe
Playing it safe is often the go-to move for guardians trying desperately to protect their kids, but this may prove to be a bigger risk than giving them the tools to cope with life’s inevitable challenges. In today’s episode, Dr. Heather Tracy dons the host’s chair and welcomes Kellyn Smythe, the director of admissions at Pacific Quest, to unpack the risks of playing it safe with the emotional well-being of the children we care for. We begin with how the youth landscape has evolved in recent decades, how to cultivate resilience in our kids but in a gentler way, how to rebuild our collective societal trust, and how to improve mental health treatments and protocols for our youth. Then, Kellyn, who also serves on the boards of the Therapeutic Consulting Association (TCA) and the Young Adult Transition Association (YATA), goes on to unpack the work of Pacific Quest and how the company is playing its part for the emotional wellbeing of its youth, before detailing what parents are most concerned with now compared to 10 and 20 years ago. We also examine the reasons behind youth behavior, how this knowledge helps us to be better guardians, the innate recklessness of youth, and how we can address the negative aspects of American culture and society’s influence on our kids. Finally, we assess how the current insurance landscape places even more pressure on our youth, and Kellyn shares his hopes and dreams for the future of the youth mental health industry.
Key Points From This Episode:
- Kellyn Smythe describes how the youth landscape has shifted in recent decades.
- How to cultivate resilience in kids, but gentler.
- Examining today’s general air of mistrust and how to rebuild society’s collective trust.
- How to fix mental health treatments and protocols for our youth.
- The ins and outs of Pacific Quest and how it helps kids with their emotional well-being.
- What parents are most concerned with now, compared to the past few years.
- Why risky behavior (as an inherent part of adolescence) should be counselled, not shunned.
- Understanding why the youth behave the way they do and why this insight matters.
- How society and American culture influence youth behavior and how we can address this.
- Our guest describes what he’s most looking forward to in the future of youth mental health.
- How the insurance landscape compounds current youth pressures.
- Connect with Kellyn Smythe.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Therapeutic Consulting Association