National University Podcast Series
National University Deans, Faculty, and Leadership discuss a wide range of topics with a focus on the higher education community. Tune in to hear from our experts, alumni, students, and faculty. Current programs include: Center for the Advancement of Virtual Organizations (CAVO), Virtual Education Support Center (VESC) and Whole Person Center (WPC), formerly Virtual Center for Health and Wellness (VC4HW).
National University Podcast Series
VC4HW Ep. 5: The Benefits of Hope
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NU’s Ombudsman, LaCrisia Gilbert, also known as “The Hope Dealer”, joins Dr. Auréila Bickler to discuss the many benefits of hope. She offers tips and resources to connect to a hopeful mindset and describes the ways this impacts our future.
Resources: www.elliottconnie.com
Dr. Auréila Bickler
0:00
Welcome to the Virtual Center for Health and Wellness advancing the human condition podcast. Our mission is to improve the human condition by learning from highly competent professionals and their contribution to their respective fields. Thank you all so much for tuning in. I am Dr. Olivia Beckler. And it is my pleasure to have LaCrisia Gilbert National University's ombudsman as our special guests today to discuss the important topic of hope. Hi, Chris, how are you today?
LaCrisia Gilbert
0:31
I'm well, thank you for inviting me.
Dr. Auréila Bickler
0:34
Thank you so much for being here. I remember having our first conversation a few weeks back and walking away from it and feeling so energized and hopeful and touched. And it just, I cannot wait for our listeners to to get a little taste of your magical energy. So tell us a little bit about yourself.
LaCrisia Gilbert
0:55
Okay, well, I'm a widow of a disabled veteran, and I have two adult sons and three grandsons. And I've always used my professional conflict resolution skills with them, which blends with my professional life and aspirations. And I have aspirations of going to law school. And my husband encouraged me and supported me as I came out to Malibu intended Pepperdine law school. And I decided I preferred not to practice law. But I but to continue my career as a mediator. About 10 years prior, I had taken some mediation, training, and loved every minute of it and decided that I wanted to continue to do mediation. Pepperdine, offered a master's in dispute resolution. So I immediately got into that role and completed that program and start working for the court system back in Texas, I went back to Texas and start working in the courts. So I got that degree and continued my career as a mediator and a trainer and facilitator. And before becoming an ombudsman, I served as an advocate ombudsman, advocating for residents and long term care in assisted living facilities, while teaching conflict resolution, mediation, negotiation, and Family Law Mediation for several universities and colleges back in Texas. And all of that brought me here to Massman university, to serve as their organizational ombudsman.
Dr. Auréila Bickler
2:40
So beautiful to hear all of the different areas that you've impacted, the communities that you've touched, that are just so powerful to see that. I want to talk today about hope. I want to know in all of your journey, how would you explain the purpose of hope?
LaCrisia Gilbert
3:00
Well, hope is what I do. I had a conversation with our previous president, and I told him, You know, I was a hope dealer. And my first question to my visitors, when they come is what are your best hopes for our conversation today? And so that puts them in the frame of mind of, you know, what I really want to get out of this not necessarily focusing on the problem. But how do we get past the problem into a resolution and to have hope is to one and outcome that makes your life better in some kind of way. It not only can help make a tough present situation more bearable, but it also can eventually improve our lives because envisioning a better future motivates you to take the steps to make it just to make it happen. So that's how I envision hope. You have to have a station and I love how you speak of its of its purpose of how we can better somebody's life.
Dr. Auréila Bickler
How do you think people can cultivate hope?
LaCrisia Gilbert
4:16
Most people associate hope with a dire situation. You know, how do I get out of this situation? How do I improve this situation? And people hope to just get out of difficult circumstances. And this This is often when people do find themselves hoping fervently but hope can also provide the key to just making everyday life better.
Dr. Auréila Bickler
4:46
Is there a way to successfully cultivate hope for some of us it's it comes sort of naturally I when I see you and I don't know if it's a natural thing for you, but when I talk to you, I feel like you just you are hope like you said you're hooked. you love what you just, you represent hope and so my my assumption which might not be fair to do, but my assumption is that this is something that comes naturally to you, we might have listeners that struggle a little bit with the idea of finding the good or being hopeful or cultivating hope, or even I think of it as gardening, even planting the seeds to to begin the idea of being hopeful do Do you have any, any any tips to share with our listeners about how somebody might be able to cultivate that aspect of their lives?
LaCrisia Gilbert
5:34
Yeah, well, that's because just envisioning something hopeful, makes you feel better. And if you remember, in our childhood, you know, we, we envision that, you know, riding a new bike, for example, it gives us that gives us that moment of happiness. And it could make the present difficulty much better, easier to bear. You know, when you tell your kids well, if you'd stop crying, or if you stop doing this, I'll give you this. And so they're hoping that by getting that calming effect, or that, that item that helps them calm down, they feel more hopeful about their situation. And an example of that is reported by the American Psychological Association. That's children who grew up in poverty. But hats became successful later in life, all have one thing in common. And that was hope, hope to get out of that situation, hope to have a better life, for themselves, and maybe for their families. And Dr. Valerie mahomes, of who worked on this research, looking at children in poverty and how they got out, and better themselves, said that hope involves planning and motivation and determination to get what one hopes for, try to get them to think about what's your next step? How do you how what's the first thing to making that that that happen? You know, what would you like to see, ultimately, what would you like to see happen? And that motivates them to have that determination to move forward? Yeah.
Dr. Auréila Bickler
7:29
I don't know if I'm internalizing it correctly. But the way that I hear that is, focus is really identifying sort of an end result or an item or something that, that that resonates with us and really focusing on what that might look like is, would that be a fair way to describe how hope sort of translates there? If you really think back to to your life and your childhood? You feel the most hopeful when you start to envision something better happening, something coming along? Maybe Maybe not right now, but somewhere down the line that that could happen?
LaCrisia Gilbert
8:09
So are there things that we might be able to do when we feel absolutely hopeless? I mean, I think many of us can relate to moments in life that have just knocked us out. And it's really hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, or to even know that there is one. What do we do when we feel that low? Yeah, yes. In a way, having hoped links our paths to our present, and then to the future? Do you look at it that way, you have a vision for what you you hope will happen. And whether it does or not just envisioning it, just envision it can make you feel better. And if it's something you can, can envision, or it's something that's out of your control, then just having that, that hope that it will happen, manifest and come to come to fruition for you,
Dr. Auréila Bickler
9:09
I find that I'm wondering if this resonates with our listeners, but I find that there are certain people in my life that will help me cultivate that aspect of my life. And there's others who might actually sort of contribute to sort of the opposite direction. And it's not, it's not coming from a bad place. It's just sort of a natural difference between one and the other. Right. And I often find that if I need a little bit of hope, I'll say, Okay, this is the person that I might want to reach out to right now to re energize me.
LaCrisia Gilbert
9:42
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Are there resources out there that you might be aware of around the idea of hope, and finding our hope, right, we as I mentioned at the beginning, becoming a hope dealer was when I found out This psychotherapist, his name is Elliot, Connie. And I he teaches solution focused brief therapy. And Elliott talks about using those good questioning techniques which I happen to use. And so I use him as a good resource. And hope comes in many forms. And the resources out there range from psychology to spirituality and religion. I just depends on what you're looking for. That relates to hope, hope girls, that net is where I got a lot of information for our conversation today. And it's where I found some of this information and it deals with respite and caregiving. And as I mentioned earlier, being a widow, I was a caregiver for my husband. And all the resources that I received from hospice and respite helped me a lot helped me a lot, not just with being a caregiver for him. But it also helped me in my professional life in developing my way of working with visitors as an ombudsman. And then of course, we have our Meet program here at National lifestyle Employee Assistance Plan, they've got all kinds of things. Naturally, your office, I think, is a great resource as well for people to, to seek out finding that home.
Dr. Auréila Bickler
11:36
Thank you so much for that, you know, I think everything you've said is so powerful and our ability to take care of ourselves. Reaching out to a psychotherapist, when we're in that place and giving ourselves a chance to see new opportunities and new ways of of new perspectives is really powerful. And coming from you who is not only a hope dealer, but also has been a caretaker and giving so much of yourself such a generous human being. It's so refreshing to know that you are also very intentional about receiving the support that you need in order to remain hopeful and spread that hope. I love that so much. I want to thank you so so much for being here today. Is there anything else that you'd like to share with our listeners?
LaCrisia Gilbert
12:27
No, I just I just appreciate you inviting me here today. And I love sharing what I do. And if anybody needs just a safe and brave place to land in and talk about any situation, whether it's deals with work or with academics, anything that can definitely reach out to me.
Dr. Auréila Bickler
12:52
Thank you so, so much, Chris. Thank you all so much for listening and tuning in. We hope that you insert hope into your life every day even just a little bit can translate into a much larger impact and and a more hopeful tomorrow. Stay tuned for our next podcast. Until then, breathe intentionally, laugh wholeheartedly. Connect within and towards people who inspire you and who bring you joy.