Delving into the depths of human experience, we're honored to welcome Mondrea Scott to the Griot Journals Coming Home podcast—a beacon of hope in the addiction recovery landscape. As a chemical dependency counselor and recovery coach, Mondria brings her wisdom and passionate dedication to our latest episode, offering invaluable insights into the multifaceted challenges of addiction. From her drive to help others heal from trauma and build healthy coping mechanisms to the critical need for addressing co-occurring disorders, Mondrea's voice weaves a narrative of resilience and the power of collaborative care.
Confronting the tangled web of addiction and mental health, this episode dismantles the myths that addiction stems simply from a lack of willpower or personal failings. We traverse the complexities of chemical imbalances, biological predispositions, and environmental pressures that fuel addictive behaviors, redefining recovery to include harm reduction and family engagement. Hear how Alanon’s educational support casts light on addiction's ripple effect across the family unit and why professional intervention is paramount for those wrestling with co-occurring conditions. This chapter is a candid exploration of the links that bind mental health and substance abuse, seamlessly integrating Mondria's expertise with poignant real-world applications.
Beyond the personal, we navigate the macro-level issue of the border crisis and its implications for drug and human trafficking, pondering the motivations that drive mass migration and the subsequent impact on American communities and beyond. We then pivot to the role of community involvement in overcoming societal challenges, sharing stories of extraordinary triumph over adversity that underscore the importance of resilience. Wrapping up, we extend a heartfelt invitation to join our mission of spreading awareness and support for those grappling with addiction, mental health struggles, or societal hurdles. We leave you with a rallying cry to connect, share, and contribute to the ongoing dialogue that this episode ignites.
Thank you for joining our podcast today. If you have any questions, or comments, or would like to share your own experiences with aromatherapy, please feel free to reach out to us. You can connect with us on social media, or visit our website for additional resources and information.
Don't forget to subscribe to our podcast to stay updated with our latest episodes, and if you enjoyed today's content, please consider leaving us a review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and it helps others discover the valuable insights shared in our series.
We look forward to having you back with us for our next episode, where we'll continue to explore the wonderful world of aromatherapy and its role in promoting mental and emotional well-being. Until then, take a deep breath, relax, and be well. I hope to hear from you soon. Your feedback is most welcome.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Griot Journals Coming Home podcast.
I'm your host, Dr Mary AnnJefferson, better known to you
as MJ.
We have got a wonderful show instore for you today.
I have a special guest.
Her name is Mondria Scott andshe is a renowned chemical
dependency counselor, nationalrecovery coach and consultant.
(00:26):
Welcome to the show, Mondria,Thank you.
Thank you, Glad to be here.
Well, tell us what you've beenup to.
Tell us who you are and aboutwhat brought you to the feel of
addiction recovery.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Mike.
What brought me to the field ishelping people heal from past
trauma Anybody have ACE, whichmeans adverse childhood
experiences and teaching peoplecoping skills and know that
there are people out there thatreally care about their
well-being.
So I am a part of a team, apart of colleagues that are
(01:06):
moving in the same direction asme, and that is helping people
practice self-care and give backto life as they love it.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
That's awesome.
Thank you so much for beingwith us.
So, Mondria, how long have youbeen in the field?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I have been in the field over 10 years now and it's
never a little moment, ofcourse, but I love the feel, I
love the passion of it.
I love seeing people get better.
I love seeing people healed.
I love sharing that love andfaith and hope that there's life
(01:42):
after substance use or anyaddiction.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Gotcha, so you deal with more than just abuse of
substances and you said anyaddiction.
Can you help us to define whatis addiction?
How do you define that?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So addiction is basically a persistent or
obsessive use of an addictionI'm going to go through that
that cause mental, physical andbehavioral problems.
It can be alcohol use.
It can be a caffeine usedisorder, it can be cannabis.
It can be inhalers, it can beopiates, sedative.
(02:21):
It can be a non-sustenance orjust a behavioral addiction.
It can be gambling.
It can be compulsive buying.
It can be hoarding chronichoarding.
You have sex addiction.
You have food addiction, videogaming addiction, internet use
(02:44):
disorder.
It's a lot eating disorder,Workaholic disorder or work
addiction.
There's so many addictions outthere, even exercise addiction
and being an addiction.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Oh my goodness Physical addiction.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So there's a ton of addictions.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Wow.
And so when people present toyou with these various different
addictions, how is it that youhelp them to even identify that
there's a problem?
Do they already know that theyhave a problem when they come to
you, or do you help themexplore that?
What does that process looklike?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So that process is what we call an assessment on a
screening, and where we ask atest of questions, and so from
that we can formulate atreatment plan or a
goal-oriented plan to put inplace to help them, to identify
(03:40):
what is going on in life, intheir life, that is causing
these issues.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Yeah, and are they presenting with multiple
problems?
And how do you help them toidentify that they've got this
problem and this problem andthen you'll work on this right
now, or maybe you don't work oneverything Do you ever have to
refer out or do you work with ateam to help them to address the
(04:10):
?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
other issues.
Yes, I love teams.
I'm also big on havingresources to help the individual
.
That is very important.
So a lot of people haveco-incurring disorders, and what
a co-incurring disorder is issomething used and a mental
(04:31):
health disorder.
So it just depends on theindividual.
It depends on their assessmentdue to the questionnaires that
are in place by licensedprofessionals that will help the
client identify what is goingon with them.
Yeah, sometimes they need helpin doing that.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Mm-hmm, do you face different populations as far as
your treatment?
What does that look like as faras the people that you serve?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So I have served Caucasians, I have served
Italians, I have served AfricanAmericans, hispanics.
It doesn't matter thenationality.
The problem is the mentalhealth disorder or the substance
use, and that does not have arace on it.
(05:30):
It is a problem that thatindividual is having.
I don't really put race on itbecause it looks like a group of
people and you look at the samesimilarity as far as symptoms,
then the symptoms are the same.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
You know, the problem is I think what I really, what
I was trying to get at, notnecessarily ethnicity, although
I do think that probably when weget in, if we were to get into
statistics, that there may besome difference, maybe not, but
you can help me to look at thata little further.
But I was thinking in terms ofage.
Wise, are you seeing more olderor does it depend on the
(06:10):
substance that you're using, theage, and then demographics, as
in male, female, those kinds ofdemographics.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
So if you think about the statistics, it depends on
the drug.
You know each race used.
You know most race use thisdrug, most race use this drug.
But I do know that the numberof drug overdose in totality has
(06:40):
increased more from 2020 to2021.
You know over 75% of nearly107,000 drug deaths have
involved addiction and as itcontinues to increase in all
populations.
First it was the opiateaddiction epidemic, now it's the
(07:04):
fentanyl epidemic.
And so the more increase inthat now.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
OK, so would you say then, that there is a specific
age group or gender that'sexperiencing those types of
Mortality, that type ofmortality?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yes, so now it used to be statistically that the age
range is from like 18.
To like 28 or something likethat.
But now we more in the middleage and due to there's a lot of
body aches, pains or they needpain management for a lot of
(07:53):
injuries.
So now you're seeing more inthe middle of age of addiction.
It's more of the older middleage than it is youth, from what
I am seeing.
So what are you saying?
You're experimental.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Okay.
So just to clarify what you'resaying is they're coming because
they have had a physical healthissue that may include pain or
some other ailment and, as aresult, they're being prescribed
medications and that's howthey're becoming addicted to
these, right?
So it's a medication issue thatis exacerbated.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Right.
And so you know, like if thedoctor said, okay, I'm not going
to prescribe you thismedication anymore, and so then
that person you know, they startexperiencing winge rolls and
then now they go to the streetsto get the medication.
It's also an increase ofaddiction and you know, as we
know, medications, you know whatyou get on the streets is going
(08:54):
to be mixed with otherchemicals, other substances,
yeah, okay, so now is everybodygoing to the street?
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Surely there are other ways that they can get the
substances besides going to thestreet, and I get.
What I'm at at this point isreally kind of exploring what
are some of the admittedmisconceptions and we've talked
about.
You know, going to the streetis one, but most people would
you say that most people aregetting this medicine prescribed
and then, as a result of notbeing able to get it through
(09:27):
regular means, what are some ofthe ways other than just going
to the street that they mightget these medicines?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Well, sometimes they can get there are individuals.
I have known to get themedication but they're not
taking it and they will selltheir medication to these
individuals.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Okay, so they're getting it from some people who
are prescribed the medications.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yes, and what about doctor?
Speaker 1 (09:56):
shopping.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
If you explain it.
Yes, doctor shopping too, andalso where addiction also I want
to start in the youth is theyget it from you know their
grandparents' medicine cabinetsbecause the medications are not
locked up, and so you know theygo to school and they hear about
these medications.
They go look in their parentsor you know grandparents'
(10:19):
cabinets and see this medication.
Oh, I'm going to school to showmy friends I have this to be
cool or to fit in.
You know of repressure.
You know it could be a lot ofthings, but that is a high
percentage of you know howaddiction even started in the
youth population.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah, and parties.
We know that sometimes alcoholand drugs are served at parties,
but it's still prevalent thatpeople are bringing these drugs
to parties and exposing othersto these drugs at that on those
occasions as well.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Right, it's a good movie, you know.
That's called Mama and sheexposed them to alcohol and
drugs, you know, and theconsequences of the youth, you
know, fitting in.
I think that movie is a goodillustration of what can happen,
while alcohol can also, youknow, open the door to other
(11:19):
substances like agency, you know, or you know things like that.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Okay, and you said the name of that movie was Mama.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
All right, and you're saying, the portrayal of that
movie gives a depiction ofsomeone trusted.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
That exposes younger people to drugs.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, and to other things.
You know, even sexual drama,not really, but not too extreme,
you know, in a movie, but itjust gives you.
You know what, what theylifestyle can open a door to you
.
You know, I like to tell myclients, you know the patients I
serve, that small compromisesleads to bigger consequences.
(12:06):
Small compromises leads tobigger consequences.
So you have to be careful ofwhat you open in the door to.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, so there are a lot of misconceptions about
addiction and recovery.
Can you tell us a little bitabout some of those
misconceptions that people haveabout addiction?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yes, I would like to go through several.
One misconception is you canhelp or change someone with an
addiction, so that person feellike you know they're pretty
much hopeless, you know.
Or another one is you knowusing alcohol or other drugs is
a choice.
So if someone gets addictedit's their fault, you know, and
(12:49):
they're not thinking of the.
You know chemical imbalance.
They're not thinking about thebiological, you know.
You know they're not thinkingabout.
You know those things, you knowenvironmental risk factors.
Right, they're not thinkingabout those things, you know.
Or if someone just usewillpower, they should be able
to stop Right.
Of course they stop doinganything.
(13:11):
You know there will never be aword called struggle, okay.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
You know, and some people think you know, and you
see, this one you know a lot infamilies is you must apply tough
love if you want people withaddiction to change Right.
You know, and that and thatwith that kind of mindset that
cause the person that's dealingwith addiction, where this
mental are in a substance toisolate, which worsens.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
You know, and you know, you know.
Or if someone has a stable joband family life, they can be
suffering from addiction.
But you have people there, likewe like to say, the functional
addict, mm, hmm, okay, yeah,you're still not functioning,
you just living.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Mm, hmm, yeah, so what is?
How do you define recovery,then, and how is it that
recovery can dispel some ofthose misconceptions that people
have?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
you know I was thinking about the word, you
know, harm reduction and I wasalso thinking about, you know,
thinking about harm reduction.
And as far as the family, Ithink the family needs to have,
like a brief intervention, maybesome outpatient, you know,
(14:45):
health or some day treatment,like as a family structure
program, you know, to bring themto get that counseling, that
education, that family service,that life skill training,
effective communication, thateducation.
You know a lot of people likeAlanon because that teaches you
(15:10):
how to deal with the personthat's suffering from mental
health as well as addiction.
Okay, what is Alanon?
So Alanon is a program that youcan go to, is for family.
Let's just say somebody's ininpatient treatment and their
family members in patienttreatment and getting help.
(15:31):
Well, a therapist or casemanager will refer the family to
participate in Alanon toeducate them of the disease of
addiction, and so when they gothere they can ask questions and
you know there's a professionalthere that can educate them and
, you know, answer thosequestions that they have.
You know what do I do when Iget frustrated?
(15:53):
How can I stop throwing thisstuff in their face?
How can I gain trust back inthem?
You know, you know.
So that's where they can beeducated.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Gotcha.
So what I've heard you say isthat addiction is a family issue
, and so the family, just likethe client or patient, needs to
have this wrap around as well,where people are able to put
their arms around them and letthem know that someone is there
for them as well, to provideeducation and training, so that
(16:25):
they're not out there bythemselves.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Yes.
And I want to clue to that aswell, Dr Jefferson, a lot of
families also have mental healthissues and so if this person
getting help, then that familymember that has some mental
health issues he could help aswell.
So it's like a collaboration ofbringing that family together
(16:52):
in totality.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
That's a great point.
That's a great point, yeah, sosubstance abuse issues,
challenges, crises, mentalhealth all those things go
together, and that's what youwere talking about earlier when
you talked about co-occurringissues.
Right, absolutely.
And sometimes it is that familymembers don't even realize that
(17:16):
they have a problem untilsomeone presents with a
substance abuse issues issue, orvice versa.
So someone presents with amental health related issue and
you find that a lot of their wayof coping has been to utilize
substances, and then what youhave is casual use has turned
into substance dependence.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yes, that's correct.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
So that takes me, I guess, into the next segment,
where we are looking at the linkbetween addiction and mental
health related issues, and sothe relationship between
addiction and severe andpersistent mental illness, what
we call SPMI talk a little bitabout that.
We've just barely touched on it, but how are they linked
(17:59):
together substance use andsevere and persistent?
Speaker 2 (18:02):
mental illness.
So if we think about the listof mental health disorders, you
know anxiety.
You know and you know I'm gladyou have that book coming out
Keep Come and Mindful On, aswell as five minutes skills.
I'm glad you have that comingout on Amazon because I'll be
(18:23):
purchasing that because a lot ofpeople have that.
You know anxiety disorders.
They have mood disorders, youhave substance related disorders
, schizophrenic relateddisorders, obsessive compulsive
disorders, feeding and eatingdisorders, and I can keep going
on and on.
You know stress relateddisorders.
(18:45):
You know, because you work allday.
You know you have the stress.
And if you're not practicingself care, you know.
And so when the substance comein, you know alcohol.
Alcohol is the legal substanceand so a lot of people want to
wind down with alcohol, but thenyou use it as your go to, and
(19:05):
so when you get stressed you goto alcohol, or if you have an
anxiety, you might want to gosmoke some marijuana, or if you
get stressed you might want togo overeat.
And so mental health issubstance use.
They go together because apsychiatrist want to prescribe
you medication for your mentalhealth, but it comes substance
(19:31):
abuse.
When you store abuses andmedication, then you become
dependent upon it and then youhave cross addiction.
You know you have some peoplethat drink alcohol and pop pills
or drink alcohol, smokemarijuana or drink alcohol, you
know, and go just eat, eat, eat.
(19:53):
You know it's like a crossaddiction.
If a person is not seen by apsychiatrist or a professional,
or that mental health disorders,then the substance would take
over as the coping instead ofthe medication.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Right.
Do you have any advice on howone can identify if they're
struggling with a co-occurringissue or cross addiction?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Well, one option is like a brief early intervention.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
You were talking about the family.
The family gets together withthat person or gets a
professional to come and talk.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Yes, you have to do that.
You have to do that becausethat's very important for
getting someone help that needsthe help.
It's so many resources.
You can get on Google and say Ineed help with my mental health
disorder.
Anybody can do that.
(21:01):
You can do that from your phone.
There's a free hotline.
There are so many resourcesthat you can just get on a hit
and talk to someone and theywill direct you into the path
where you need to go.
If you have insurance or if youdon't have insurance, there's
free clinics.
There's free help out there.
(21:22):
It's just all about doing yourresearch.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
I would imagine that if you're in the flow of
addiction or mental healthrelated issue, that it might be
hard though to pick up the phoneand make those calls.
How would you encourage familymembers I talk all the time
about manufactured family,because not everybody has that
closeness because sometimes,because of substance use issues
(21:50):
or addictions or severity ofmental health, that people have
burned bridges, how can theycount on people or lean into
people that can give them thiskind of support as they seek
this help?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
One thing I love is and I often do this myself and I
know other people like me thereare always people.
They think only homeless peoplebe on corners.
That's not true.
You have advocates out there.
I keep cards in my car to givepeople.
(22:27):
A lot of people give me money.
I took the initiative of givingmy card if you need services,
resources, and I have that onthat card so that person will
always.
It's a community effort.
In every community there is aresource, there is help.
(22:47):
I'm a very spiritual person andso I believe in intervention
and I believe in warning signsand it's all about stopping and
heeding to those things.
A lot of things it's treatedbehaviorally.
It must be a behavioral problemand not a disease.
(23:09):
And I think the myth and whatwe believe, or prescription
drugs are not addictive, likestreet dogs because they came
from a doctor, all those type ofthings.
Then a lot of people are raisedto sweep things under a rug.
Let's not take it outside thehouse, so let's not show people
(23:32):
we look like this or we'restruggling with this, and so
that type of mindset, that typeof cognitive distortion, also
help stop people from gettinghelp.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
So what you're talking about now is the stigma
associated with that and thensome of our ways of dealing with
things that are just kind ofhard topics for families to deal
with.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Are you saying to normalize it, or are you saying
to think, just to think, tothink differently about those
particular issues?
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Right, and you have to think about generational, how
things are passed down fromgenerations, how they behave or
how they communicate in thefamily, and so until somebody
come and challenge those kindsof distortions, that's when that
(24:31):
person can change their way ofthinking.
As far as you know, that'sconcern.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Okay, yeah, I'd like to come back to stigma in just a
bit, but do you have any?
I mean, we've been talkingabout the statistics and the
rising rates of overdose wetalked a little bit about,
especially in recent years.
I was thinking, listening tothe news and different reports
(24:59):
about the number of people thatare coming in through the border
and they're being spreadthroughout the United States and
they're coming in with a lot ofissues, but they're just
talking about the numbers.
They're really not talkingabout the issues that they're
coming in with and I was justwondering if that is adding to
some of the problems that we'rehaving, for instance, with
(25:21):
fentanyl and heroin and thosekinds of things, adding to the
numbers of overdose and suiciderates.
Do you have any information onthat or how do you see that in
your practice.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I think that is a big issue with people coming over
through the border because theyare trafficking substances.
Substances come from Mexico, alot of substances come from
Mexico actually, and so I'mlooking at what the Supreme
(25:57):
Court sided with the federalagents here, because I'm in
Texas to remove the razor wireto put in place by Texas along
the real brand and they tried tohave these agents to block the
border control.
So if you look at what's goingon right here and you look on
(26:18):
what's going on with thepresidential with the fentanyl,
I think it's not being addressed.
I think it's two-sided.
There's not an agreement inwhole heartedly as far as the
(26:39):
government and the president onhow to handle this situation.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Okay, what kind of agreement could they come to
that would address the issue?
Do you think what are some ofthe things that could happen?
Speaker 2 (27:02):
You said that I was thinking why are we not trying
to figure out, or take the timeto process, why they are fleeing
from Mexico?
Why are they coming over here?
(27:24):
What can be done in that stateto help them from where they
won't desire to leave?
And I think about how theUnited States help the things
that's going on in the war rightnow, the things that's going on
with Ukraine and all these warsthat's going on, but we have an
(27:48):
award right now on our border,and so I'm thinking we send all
this help to them.
The US border reported morethan 1.6 million encounters with
migrants along the US border inthe year of 2021, the fees of
the year, so that has nowquadrupled, and so I think that
(28:13):
we need to look at why is Mexico?
Why are there immigrants?
Why are there people running?
Why do they want to come toTexas?
I think we need to figure thatout.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
I don't think it's so much that they want to come to
Texas, because they're coming inat every border point.
Our borders are porous, and Ithink so much about many years
ago when there was escape in theother direction, when there was
(28:46):
slavery and people left thiscountry to go into other places
to escape the atrocities thatwere here, and I don't know that
it is not any different forthem, and so from that
standpoint we really have tohave a heart for those, although
not every person that'scrossing that border is coming
(29:07):
necessarily because they'rerunning from something that is
wrong, because this is the landof opportunity.
So I think there are all kindof reasons why they're crossing
that border.
But my concern is not only thedrugs, but the drug trafficking,
the human trafficking, theunaccompanied minors that are
(29:31):
coming across there.
So many people are being harmed.
And then we talk about howtreacherous that trip is across
the Rio Grande into the state ofTexas, but we don't talk about
the potential for all of thelives that didn't make it across
there.
And what do they have to turnthemselves in?
(29:55):
But some people are not turningthemselves in, and so those
drugs making it to the interiorof the United States and people
are being harmed and familiesare being forever changed
because of the drugs that aremaking it into these parties,
these schools, and we havechurches, because these children
(30:15):
are members of churches, thesefamilies are members of churches
, they're members of civicgroups, they're members of
universities, and so thesenumbers are really touching us
in an alarming way.
And it really is thisheartening that it has become a
political football, becausethese are people, and once you
have to be present when someonehas lost their lives, that's
(30:39):
something that you don't forget.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Well, I care about people in totality and my own
thoughts personally.
If I may say, quote unquote isI wish they would just open it
all and just make it a one wholecommunity.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Are you saying you wish there was no border?
Speaker 2 (30:59):
No border, just make it a whole whatever.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
OK, so that's an interesting take on that.
That's very.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
I mean to think about it, I mean opening up, you know
, if you go all over the historyof, you know when the war was,
when Texas, you know San Antonioand you know Mexico went to war
and they put the little back.
You know I love to go to thatmuseum, but anyway, if you just
take away the Alamo, yes, ok,look at the history on that
(31:30):
Alamo.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
I love the Alamo, all right, Let me, let me ask you
this before we get to thisdiscussion because I think it is
important and the reason isimportant not just about the
border, but just if I thinkabout my household and I think
about the people in my household.
I am comforted when I drive upto my home and walk up the
(31:53):
pathway and I stick my key inthe door and open that door and
close that door behind me.
What are some of the feelingsthat you have?
You think the world is outside,but I'm inside of my home where
I'm safe and sound to to adegree right when my kids get in
, I breathe a sigh of reliefbecause they are now also behind
(32:16):
the wall where we are safe andsound.
And if we hear things outside,our mind goes to where is
everyone if they are behind thiswall, where we are their
protector, where we have areasonable sense of security,
where everyone is safe and sound?
(32:40):
When we get in our car in themorning, we unlock the door.
We really haven't left thatdoor unlocked because the things
that are in the car we've holdvaluable.
In the car itself we holdvaluable.
We pay on it monthly.
That's our property.
We own it.
It's important to us.
If it weren't important, thenwe would not lock the door and
(33:01):
we would leave the key in thecar, and so I guess my question
to you is did you lock the doorto your home today?
Did you lock the car door toyour car today?
Speaker 2 (33:15):
I'm going to be honest with you.
I did not.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Okay, so that means that you don't want your
property, that you could careless about going out there if
it's there or not, and so youdidn't lock the door to your
home either.
Is what I'm gathering?
No, no, I did.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
I left the lock in the car.
If you lock the door, what'sthat mean?
Speaker 1 (33:39):
That everything behind that door is valuable.
You locked it to keep it safeand secure, because your
expectation was to keep thingsthe way they were when you left.
So when people say to me thatthey want to do away with the
border, what they're saying isit's okay for those people who
(34:00):
were trafficking human beings tojust walk across the border
unencumbered and create anotherform of slavery on this side,
because that's exactly what thattrafficking leads to, right and
drugs come along with it, alongwith the increase in suicide.
It's okay to walk across thatborder for those cartels to set
(34:22):
up shop over here and to bringeverything in the life that they
knew over here and to live thesame way over here as they lived
over there, and don't worryabout stopping them, because
there's no such thing as aborder.
We don't need a border.
Well, that's ridiculous.
I don't know anybody who walksout of their houses is.
(34:44):
When I get back, if there aresquatters here, if there are 50
people sleeping in my bed, I'mgoing to be okay with that.
It's a big, wide world.
We got room enough foreverybody.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
No one is going to do that.
No one is going to do that.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
It's the same with the border.
It's the same with the border.
So when I grew up, I remembermy house was the first house in
the community to have a fence.
That's because I played in thebackyard and really it was a
vast land.
There was very few houses inthe community at that time and
(35:18):
I'd laugh when people talk abouttheir seeing.
Say is how they learn theanimals Mine was matching, say
they sat me at the backyard andsaid point to the animals you'd
see outside there was just allof that foxes, rabbits, chickens
, deer all of that was backthere.
(35:39):
We didn't need PBS.
Don't forget about the cows.
And all of that was back there.
I was shot in the head with apellet rifle, which forever
changed my family, because I hadphysical symptoms as a result
(36:01):
of that and I still have some ofthose same.
I'm 53 years old and I havesome of the same symptoms from
the headaches that I get fromthat way back then.
And so my daddy erected a fence.
You know the people said thatwas your responsibility to make
sure you took care of your child.
You didn't have a fence up, youwere responsible for that, and
(36:24):
he took that to heart and Inever I never forgot that and
that was a freak accident.
That was the way we lived, youknow.
But we are responsible for thatborder and what comes across
that border Right now.
It's a political football andpeople are playing, you know,
(36:45):
russian roulette with the livesof our families in the United
States by not erecting thatfence.
I was very surprised at theSupreme Court citing with the
president on cutting down thatrazor wire.
Very surprised because Texashas sovereignty and what's at
stake is federalizing the TexasGuard to be able to let down
(37:10):
that fence so that people canjust run across that border.
Right now, in Chicago and inNew York they don't have the
money to take care of thesepeople, though they have
promised them if they come overhere, they can take care of them
At the same time.
Yeah, in Washington and otherplaces, but at the same time, we
have had a.
(37:31):
As you mentioned earlier, wehave had poverty in this country
that has been unspoken to in ameaningful way for a lifetime,
and so now you're adding to thatand these migrants are upset
because they've been promisedthe moon.
(37:51):
No and the bonds are not there.
They're dying too.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
I wanna say this, you know that goes back to what I
said earlier, that they need toget to the core problem in their
own Mexico of what is going onwhile people are rushing over
here.
It takes the president, ittakes the government, it takes
all these people to do that andit goes in again.
(38:17):
You say it's a lot ofhomelessness here and I agree
with you.
We have epidemics in the UnitedStates going on here.
You know I don't wanna reallyget into the trickle down effect
because that does not work.
So it's politicking and I thinkyou know people are not being
(38:40):
mindful of others, of how youknow this decision affects
families, how it affectsindividuals in totality, because
it's selfish, it is and it'screating more of a problem
because we're not workingtogether in unity.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
Yeah, yeah, I think we're on the same page on that
one.
I think it is very selfish bygovernment.
I think they could do more.
I think they should do more.
But I also think that manycommunities have been talked to
just expect money, money, money,money, money, and as long as
the money is rolling in, theyhave something to do.
But the reality is is that allof the money that is being
(39:26):
funneled to our communities fromthe federal government
originated from our ownpaychecks, and so we're
responsible for how that moneyis being spent.
We need to pick up arms, if youwill and I don't mean
pitchforks, I just mean show up,talk to people that are running
for office and really figureout where their heart is.
(39:48):
What are you going to do aboutthe problem?
Because all politics, at theend of the day, really is local.
Once these people start cominginto the community and they take
dollar bills away, there's notenough dollar bills to really do
what we need to do in ourcommunity.
That means that our money isnot being maximized and we are
responsible.
We are the stewards.
(40:09):
We are the stewards of thedollar bills, so we have to do
that.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
So it takes the community, people going into the
community and have to vote andthe stigma on that.
People have the mentality thatthinks that their vote does not
matter.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
And that's one thing that we need to change in the
community and totality.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
Yeah, agree.
So I don't you know what I wantto talk about hope.
Do you have any stories thatyou can tell us where people
have sought help and they havebeen able to utilize that help
to pull themselves up and otherswith them, and have not just
experienced recovery butresilience?
Speaker 2 (40:57):
Oh, yes, I know a story of a person that done 21
years, you know, beenincarcerated, and the individual
you know educated themselveswhile they were there and they
(41:19):
came, you know, home with a notallowing their past to dictate
their future.
And so one way you do not allowyour past to dictate your future
is look at your past as astepping stone of the things
that you have gotten through,you know, and so that makes a
(41:40):
person resilient.
So, if you look at thedefinition of the word resilient
being able to bounce back nomatter the opposition, being
able to bounce back no matterhow hard the struggle is, being
able to bounce back and keeppushing and keep moving so there
(42:01):
is a story of hope.
Hope is a word from when youovercome, you have hope and
seeing what you cannot see rightnow, you know, you have faith
in that hope, you have thatcommunity, you have help, you
have resources.
(42:22):
You know, when you feel likeyou can't be hopeful for
yourself, look out for theresources, look out for those
people that motivate you andencourage you.
Then you can have that samehope as the individual that did
21 years or that individual thatyou know went through a lot of
(42:43):
trauma and they feel like theywasn't gonna get through it.
But when you wanna feel likeyou wanna give up, look back on
the things that you thought youwasn't gonna make it.
And you did Look back on thosethings and say, if I made it
through that, then I can make itthrough this.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
That's awesome.
Yeah, can you share an exampleof someone who might be
experiencing a mental healthchallenge that found it
difficult to find a resourcethat was able to link to you?
How did that come about, andhow were you able to help them
(43:30):
to find other resources so theystayed engaged in the healing
process?
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Well, one thing I really love and I love going to
conferences, and the reason whyI go to these conferences is
because I can get many, many,many business who are from
people in the States, peoplefrom other countries, people,
and if I can't help someone,then I know someone who can, and
(43:58):
if that person can help someone, then they can utilize my
services, depending on theindividual, depending on what's
going on in their personal life.
We all together, asprofessionals, use one another
as resources in order to helpindividuals, whether it's in the
(44:18):
private sector, whether it's inthe outpatient, whether it's in
inpatient, whether it's in lifecoaching, it does not matter.
That person need will be met.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
That's awesome, ombandria.
We're going to wrap up here,but tell us what are you doing
these days?
I know you're very active inthe community, serving the
community.
Are there any conferences thatare coming up that you're
participating in?
Then we'll talk a little bitabout both the materials that we
(44:53):
have that we're offeringselling on the website.
We've got the five-minuteskills to master your anxiety
and panic attacks.
Then we have Keep Calm andMindfully On.
Those books will be out inMarch, available for pre-sell on
Amazon.
But tell us, if someone wantedto reach you for life coaching,
(45:17):
if they wanted to find out howto link to you to get some help,
how would they reach you?
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Okay, On one way they can reach me.
I'm pulling it right now so Ican make sure it's completely
accurate.
They can reach me atmscounselingtexascom.
(45:45):
Again, that'smscounselingtexastx at gmailcom.
They can reach me there.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Okay, awesome.
I want to remind our listenersto like and subscribe our
podcast.
We're looking forward to yourfeedback.
Thank you again, mondria, forbeing with us today.
We really have enjoyed our timetogether.
I hope, listeners, that you'veheard something that has been a
beneficial to you.
If not for you, remember, ifyou can't use it, somebody you
(46:22):
know can Keep us in mind, keeppeople in mind so that you can
share this information and helpsomeone else who might not have
access to what you have accessto.
In case you haven't heard itanytime recently, welcome home.
We will see you on our nextpodcast, the Coming Home Podcast
(46:44):
, with Dr Mary and Jefferson.
Thanks, andrea.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
Thank you.
You have a blessed day andthank you for having me.
By the way, before we close,you can reach me at 6829789223.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (47:02):
You're so welcome.
Thank you again.
Welcome to the Griot Journals Coming Home podcast.
I'm your host, Dr Mary AnnJefferson, better known to you
as MJ.
We have got a wonderful show instore for you today.
I have a special guest.
Her name is Mondria Scott andshe is a renowned chemical
dependency counselor, nationalrecovery coach and consultant.
(00:26):
Welcome to the show, Mondria,Thank you.
Thank you, Glad to be here.
Well, tell us what you've beenup to.
Tell us who you are and aboutwhat brought you to the feel of
addiction recovery.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Mike.
What brought me to the field ishelping people heal from past
trauma Anybody have ACE, whichmeans adverse childhood
experiences and teaching peoplecoping skills and know that
there are people out there thatreally care about their
well-being.
So I am a part of a team, apart of colleagues that are
(01:06):
moving in the same direction asme, and that is helping people
practice self-care and give backto life as they love it.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
That's awesome.
Thank you so much for beingwith us.
So, Mondria, how long have youbeen in the field?
Speaker 2 (01:21):
I have been in the field over 10 years now and it's
never a little moment, ofcourse, but I love the feel, I
love the passion of it.
I love seeing people get better.
I love seeing people healed.
I love sharing that love andfaith and hope that there's life
(01:42):
after substance use or anyaddiction.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Gotcha, so you deal with more than just abuse of
substances and you said anyaddiction.
Can you help us to define whatis addiction?
How do you define that?
Speaker 2 (01:59):
So addiction is basically a persistent or
obsessive use of an addictionI'm going to go through that
that cause mental, physical andbehavioral problems.
It can be alcohol use.
It can be a caffeine usedisorder, it can be cannabis.
It can be inhalers, it can beopiates, sedative.
(02:21):
It can be a non-sustenance orjust a behavioral addiction.
It can be gambling.
It can be compulsive buying.
It can be hoarding chronichoarding.
You have sex addiction.
You have food addiction, videogaming addiction, internet use
(02:44):
disorder.
It's a lot eating disorder,Workaholic disorder or work
addiction.
There's so many addictions outthere, even exercise addiction
and being an addiction.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Oh my goodness Physical addiction.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So there's a ton of addictions.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
Wow.
And so when people present toyou with these various different
addictions, how is it that youhelp them to even identify that
there's a problem?
Do they already know that theyhave a problem when they come to
you, or do you help themexplore that?
What does that process looklike?
Speaker 2 (03:19):
So that process is what we call an assessment on a
screening, and where we ask atest of questions, and so from
that we can formulate atreatment plan or a
goal-oriented plan to put inplace to help them, to identify
(03:40):
what is going on in life, intheir life, that is causing
these issues.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Yeah, and are they presenting with multiple
problems?
And how do you help them toidentify that they've got this
problem and this problem andthen you'll work on this right
now, or maybe you don't work oneverything Do you ever have to
refer out or do you work with ateam to help them to address the
(04:10):
?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
other issues.
Yes, I love teams.
I'm also big on havingresources to help the individual
.
That is very important.
So a lot of people haveco-incurring disorders, and what
a co-incurring disorder is issomething used and a mental
(04:31):
health disorder.
So it just depends on theindividual.
It depends on their assessmentdue to the questionnaires that
are in place by licensedprofessionals that will help the
client identify what is goingon with them.
Yeah, sometimes they need helpin doing that.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Mm-hmm, do you face different populations as far as
your treatment?
What does that look like as faras the people that you serve?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
So I have served Caucasians, I have served
Italians, I have served AfricanAmericans, hispanics.
It doesn't matter thenationality.
The problem is the mentalhealth disorder or the substance
use, and that does not have arace on it.
(05:30):
It is a problem that thatindividual is having.
I don't really put race on itbecause it looks like a group of
people and you look at the samesimilarity as far as symptoms,
then the symptoms are the same.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
You know, the problem is I think what I really, what
I was trying to get at, notnecessarily ethnicity, although
I do think that probably when weget in, if we were to get into
statistics, that there may besome difference, maybe not, but
you can help me to look at thata little further.
But I was thinking in terms ofage.
Wise, are you seeing more olderor does it depend on the
(06:10):
substance that you're using, theage, and then demographics, as
in male, female, those kinds ofdemographics.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
So if you think about the statistics, it depends on
the drug.
You know each race used.
You know most race use thisdrug, most race use this drug.
But I do know that the numberof drug overdose in totality has
(06:40):
increased more from 2020 to2021.
You know over 75% of nearly107,000 drug deaths have
involved addiction and as itcontinues to increase in all
populations.
First it was the opiateaddiction epidemic, now it's the
(07:04):
fentanyl epidemic.
And so the more increase inthat now.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
OK, so would you say then, that there is a specific
age group or gender that'sexperiencing those types of
Mortality, that type ofmortality?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yes, so now it used to be statistically that the age
range is from like 18.
To like 28 or something likethat.
But now we more in the middleage and due to there's a lot of
body aches, pains or they needpain management for a lot of
(07:53):
injuries.
So now you're seeing more inthe middle of age of addiction.
It's more of the older middleage than it is youth, from what
I am seeing.
So what are you saying?
You're experimental.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Okay.
So just to clarify what you'resaying is they're coming because
they have had a physical healthissue that may include pain or
some other ailment and, as aresult, they're being prescribed
medications and that's howthey're becoming addicted to
these, right?
So it's a medication issue thatis exacerbated.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Right.
And so you know, like if thedoctor said, okay, I'm not going
to prescribe you thismedication anymore, and so then
that person you know, they startexperiencing winge rolls and
then now they go to the streetsto get the medication.
It's also an increase ofaddiction and you know, as we
know, medications, you know whatyou get on the streets is going
(08:54):
to be mixed with otherchemicals, other substances,
yeah, okay, so now is everybodygoing to the street?
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Surely there are other ways that they can get the
substances besides going to thestreet, and I get.
What I'm at at this point isreally kind of exploring what
are some of the admittedmisconceptions and we've talked
about.
You know, going to the streetis one, but most people would
you say that most people aregetting this medicine prescribed
and then, as a result of notbeing able to get it through
(09:27):
regular means, what are some ofthe ways other than just going
to the street that they mightget these medicines?
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Well, sometimes they can get there are individuals.
I have known to get themedication but they're not
taking it and they will selltheir medication to these
individuals.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Okay, so they're getting it from some people who
are prescribed the medications.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Yes, and what about doctor?
Speaker 1 (09:56):
shopping.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
If you explain it.
Yes, doctor shopping too, andalso where addiction also I want
to start in the youth is theyget it from you know their
grandparents' medicine cabinetsbecause the medications are not
locked up, and so you know theygo to school and they hear about
these medications.
They go look in their parentsor you know grandparents'
(10:19):
cabinets and see this medication.
Oh, I'm going to school to showmy friends I have this to be
cool or to fit in.
You know of repressure.
You know it could be a lot ofthings, but that is a high
percentage of you know howaddiction even started in the
youth population.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Yeah, and parties.
We know that sometimes alcoholand drugs are served at parties,
but it's still prevalent thatpeople are bringing these drugs
to parties and exposing othersto these drugs at that on those
occasions as well.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Right, it's a good movie, you know.
That's called Mama and sheexposed them to alcohol and
drugs, you know, and theconsequences of the youth, you
know, fitting in.
I think that movie is a goodillustration of what can happen,
while alcohol can also, youknow, open the door to other
(11:19):
substances like agency, you know, or you know things like that.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Okay, and you said the name of that movie was Mama.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
All right, and you're saying, the portrayal of that
movie gives a depiction ofsomeone trusted.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
That exposes younger people to drugs.
Speaker 2 (11:43):
Yeah, and to other things.
You know, even sexual drama,not really, but not too extreme,
you know, in a movie, but itjust gives you.
You know what, what theylifestyle can open a door to you
.
You know, I like to tell myclients, you know the patients I
serve, that small compromisesleads to bigger consequences.
(12:06):
Small compromises leads tobigger consequences.
So you have to be careful ofwhat you open in the door to.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, so there are a lot of misconceptions about
addiction and recovery.
Can you tell us a little bitabout some of those
misconceptions that people haveabout addiction?
Speaker 2 (12:26):
Yes, I would like to go through several.
One misconception is you canhelp or change someone with an
addiction, so that person feellike you know they're pretty
much hopeless, you know.
Or another one is you knowusing alcohol or other drugs is
a choice.
So if someone gets addictedit's their fault, you know, and
(12:49):
they're not thinking of the.
You know chemical imbalance.
They're not thinking about thebiological, you know.
You know they're not thinkingabout.
You know those things, you knowenvironmental risk factors.
Right, they're not thinkingabout those things, you know.
Or if someone just usewillpower, they should be able
to stop Right.
Of course they stop doinganything.
(13:11):
You know there will never be aword called struggle, okay.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Right.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
You know, and some people think you know, and you
see, this one you know a lot infamilies is you must apply tough
love if you want people withaddiction to change Right.
You know, and that and thatwith that kind of mindset that
cause the person that's dealingwith addiction, where this
mental are in a substance toisolate, which worsens.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
You know, and you know, you know.
Or if someone has a stable joband family life, they can be
suffering from addiction.
But you have people there, likewe like to say, the functional
addict, mm, hmm, okay, yeah,you're still not functioning,
you just living.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
Mm, hmm, yeah, so what is?
How do you define recovery,then, and how is it that
recovery can dispel some ofthose misconceptions that people
have?
Speaker 2 (14:19):
you know I was thinking about the word, you
know, harm reduction and I wasalso thinking about, you know,
thinking about harm reduction.
And as far as the family, Ithink the family needs to have,
like a brief intervention, maybesome outpatient, you know,
(14:45):
health or some day treatment,like as a family structure
program, you know, to bring themto get that counseling, that
education, that family service,that life skill training,
effective communication, thateducation.
You know a lot of people likeAlanon because that teaches you
(15:10):
how to deal with the personthat's suffering from mental
health as well as addiction.
Okay, what is Alanon?
So Alanon is a program that youcan go to, is for family.
Let's just say somebody's ininpatient treatment and their
family members in patienttreatment and getting help.
(15:31):
Well, a therapist or casemanager will refer the family to
participate in Alanon toeducate them of the disease of
addiction, and so when they gothere they can ask questions and
you know there's a professionalthere that can educate them and
, you know, answer thosequestions that they have.
You know what do I do when Iget frustrated?
(15:53):
How can I stop throwing thisstuff in their face?
How can I gain trust back inthem?
You know, you know.
So that's where they can beeducated.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Gotcha.
So what I've heard you say isthat addiction is a family issue
, and so the family, just likethe client or patient, needs to
have this wrap around as well,where people are able to put
their arms around them and letthem know that someone is there
for them as well, to provideeducation and training, so that
(16:25):
they're not out there bythemselves.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
Yes.
And I want to clue to that aswell, Dr Jefferson, a lot of
families also have mental healthissues and so if this person
getting help, then that familymember that has some mental
health issues he could help aswell.
So it's like a collaboration ofbringing that family together
(16:52):
in totality.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
That's a great point.
That's a great point, yeah, sosubstance abuse issues,
challenges, crises, mentalhealth all those things go
together, and that's what youwere talking about earlier when
you talked about co-occurringissues.
Right, absolutely.
And sometimes it is that familymembers don't even realize that
(17:16):
they have a problem untilsomeone presents with a
substance abuse issues issue, orvice versa.
So someone presents with amental health related issue and
you find that a lot of their wayof coping has been to utilize
substances, and then what youhave is casual use has turned
into substance dependence.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Yes, that's correct.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
So that takes me, I guess, into the next segment,
where we are looking at the linkbetween addiction and mental
health related issues, and sothe relationship between
addiction and severe andpersistent mental illness, what
we call SPMI talk a little bitabout that.
We've just barely touched on it, but how are they linked
(17:59):
together substance use andsevere and persistent?
Speaker 2 (18:02):
mental illness.
So if we think about the listof mental health disorders, you
know anxiety.
You know and you know I'm gladyou have that book coming out
Keep Come and Mindful On, aswell as five minutes skills.
I'm glad you have that comingout on Amazon because I'll be
(18:23):
purchasing that because a lot ofpeople have that.
You know anxiety disorders.
They have mood disorders, youhave substance related disorders
, schizophrenic relateddisorders, obsessive compulsive
disorders, feeding and eatingdisorders, and I can keep going
on and on.
You know stress relateddisorders.
(18:45):
You know, because you work allday.
You know you have the stress.
And if you're not practicingself care, you know.
And so when the substance comein, you know alcohol.
Alcohol is the legal substanceand so a lot of people want to
wind down with alcohol, but thenyou use it as your go to, and
(19:05):
so when you get stressed you goto alcohol, or if you have an
anxiety, you might want to gosmoke some marijuana, or if you
get stressed you might want togo overeat.
And so mental health issubstance use.
They go together because apsychiatrist want to prescribe
you medication for your mentalhealth, but it comes substance
(19:31):
abuse.
When you store abuses andmedication, then you become
dependent upon it and then youhave cross addiction.
You know you have some peoplethat drink alcohol and pop pills
or drink alcohol, smokemarijuana or drink alcohol, you
know, and go just eat, eat, eat.
(19:53):
You know it's like a crossaddiction.
If a person is not seen by apsychiatrist or a professional,
or that mental health disorders,then the substance would take
over as the coping instead ofthe medication.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Right.
Do you have any advice on howone can identify if they're
struggling with a co-occurringissue or cross addiction?
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Well, one option is like a brief early intervention.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
You were talking about the family.
The family gets together withthat person or gets a
professional to come and talk.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Yes, you have to do that.
You have to do that becausethat's very important for
getting someone help that needsthe help.
It's so many resources.
You can get on Google and say Ineed help with my mental health
disorder.
Anybody can do that.
(21:01):
You can do that from your phone.
There's a free hotline.
There are so many resourcesthat you can just get on a hit
and talk to someone and theywill direct you into the path
where you need to go.
If you have insurance or if youdon't have insurance, there's
free clinics.
There's free help out there.
(21:22):
It's just all about doing yourresearch.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
I would imagine that if you're in the flow of
addiction or mental healthrelated issue, that it might be
hard though to pick up the phoneand make those calls.
How would you encourage familymembers I talk all the time
about manufactured family,because not everybody has that
closeness because sometimes,because of substance use issues
(21:50):
or addictions or severity ofmental health, that people have
burned bridges, how can theycount on people or lean into
people that can give them thiskind of support as they seek
this help?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
One thing I love is and I often do this myself and I
know other people like me thereare always people.
They think only homeless peoplebe on corners.
That's not true.
You have advocates out there.
I keep cards in my car to givepeople.
(22:27):
A lot of people give me money.
I took the initiative of givingmy card if you need services,
resources, and I have that onthat card so that person will
always.
It's a community effort.
In every community there is aresource, there is help.
(22:47):
I'm a very spiritual person andso I believe in intervention
and I believe in warning signsand it's all about stopping and
heeding to those things.
A lot of things it's treatedbehaviorally.
It must be a behavioral problemand not a disease.
(23:09):
And I think the myth and whatwe believe, or prescription
drugs are not addictive, likestreet dogs because they came
from a doctor, all those type ofthings.
Then a lot of people are raisedto sweep things under a rug.
Let's not take it outside thehouse, so let's not show people
(23:32):
we look like this or we'restruggling with this, and so
that type of mindset, that typeof cognitive distortion, also
help stop people from gettinghelp.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
So what you're talking about now is the stigma
associated with that and thensome of our ways of dealing with
things that are just kind ofhard topics for families to deal
with.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Are you saying to normalize it, or are you saying
to think, just to think, tothink differently about those
particular issues?
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Right, and you have to think about generational, how
things are passed down fromgenerations, how they behave or
how they communicate in thefamily, and so until somebody
come and challenge those kindsof distortions, that's when that
(24:31):
person can change their way ofthinking.
As far as you know, that'sconcern.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Okay, yeah, I'd like to come back to stigma in just a
bit, but do you have any?
I mean, we've been talkingabout the statistics and the
rising rates of overdose wetalked a little bit about,
especially in recent years.
I was thinking, listening tothe news and different reports
(24:59):
about the number of people thatare coming in through the border
and they're being spreadthroughout the United States and
they're coming in with a lot ofissues, but they're just
talking about the numbers.
They're really not talkingabout the issues that they're
coming in with and I was justwondering if that is adding to
some of the problems that we'rehaving, for instance, with
(25:21):
fentanyl and heroin and thosekinds of things, adding to the
numbers of overdose and suiciderates.
Do you have any information onthat or how do you see that in
your practice.
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I think that is a big issue with people coming over
through the border because theyare trafficking substances.
Substances come from Mexico, alot of substances come from
Mexico actually, and so I'mlooking at what the Supreme
(25:57):
Court sided with the federalagents here, because I'm in
Texas to remove the razor wireto put in place by Texas along
the real brand and they tried tohave these agents to block the
border control.
So if you look at what's goingon right here and you look on
(26:18):
what's going on with thepresidential with the fentanyl,
I think it's not being addressed.
I think it's two-sided.
There's not an agreement inwhole heartedly as far as the
(26:39):
government and the president onhow to handle this situation.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Okay, what kind of agreement could they come to
that would address the issue?
Do you think what are some ofthe things that could happen?
Speaker 2 (27:02):
You said that I was thinking why are we not trying
to figure out, or take the timeto process, why they are fleeing
from Mexico?
Why are they coming over here?
(27:24):
What can be done in that stateto help them from where they
won't desire to leave?
And I think about how theUnited States help the things
that's going on in the war rightnow, the things that's going on
with Ukraine and all these warsthat's going on, but we have an
(27:48):
award right now on our border,and so I'm thinking we send all
this help to them.
The US border reported morethan 1.6 million encounters with
migrants along the US border inthe year of 2021, the fees of
the year, so that has nowquadrupled, and so I think that
(28:13):
we need to look at why is Mexico?
Why are there immigrants?
Why are there people running?
Why do they want to come toTexas?
I think we need to figure thatout.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:26):
I don't think it's so much that they want to come to
Texas, because they're coming inat every border point.
Our borders are porous, and Ithink so much about many years
ago when there was escape in theother direction, when there was
(28:46):
slavery and people left thiscountry to go into other places
to escape the atrocities thatwere here, and I don't know that
it is not any different forthem, and so from that
standpoint we really have tohave a heart for those, although
not every person that'scrossing that border is coming
(29:07):
necessarily because they'rerunning from something that is
wrong, because this is the landof opportunity.
So I think there are all kindof reasons why they're crossing
that border.
But my concern is not only thedrugs, but the drug trafficking,
the human trafficking, theunaccompanied minors that are
(29:31):
coming across there.
So many people are being harmed.
And then we talk about howtreacherous that trip is across
the Rio Grande into the state ofTexas, but we don't talk about
the potential for all of thelives that didn't make it across
there.
And what do they have to turnthemselves in?
(29:55):
But some people are not turningthemselves in, and so those
drugs making it to the interiorof the United States and people
are being harmed and familiesare being forever changed
because of the drugs that aremaking it into these parties,
these schools, and we havechurches, because these children
(30:15):
are members of churches, thesefamilies are members of churches
, they're members of civicgroups, they're members of
universities, and so thesenumbers are really touching us
in an alarming way.
And it really is thisheartening that it has become a
political football, becausethese are people, and once you
have to be present when someonehas lost their lives, that's
(30:39):
something that you don't forget.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Well, I care about people in totality and my own
thoughts personally.
If I may say, quote unquote isI wish they would just open it
all and just make it a one wholecommunity.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Are you saying you wish there was no border?
Speaker 2 (30:59):
No border, just make it a whole whatever.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
OK, so that's an interesting take on that.
That's very.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
I mean to think about it, I mean opening up, you know
, if you go all over the historyof, you know when the war was,
when Texas, you know San Antonioand you know Mexico went to war
and they put the little back.
You know I love to go to thatmuseum, but anyway, if you just
take away the Alamo, yes, ok,look at the history on that
(31:30):
Alamo.
Speaker 1 (31:30):
I love the Alamo, all right, Let me, let me ask you
this before we get to thisdiscussion because I think it is
important and the reason isimportant not just about the
border, but just if I thinkabout my household and I think
about the people in my household.
I am comforted when I drive upto my home and walk up the
(31:53):
pathway and I stick my key inthe door and open that door and
close that door behind me.
What are some of the feelingsthat you have?
You think the world is outside,but I'm inside of my home where
I'm safe and sound to to adegree right when my kids get in
, I breathe a sigh of reliefbecause they are now also behind
(32:16):
the wall where we are safe andsound.
And if we hear things outside,our mind goes to where is
everyone if they are behind thiswall, where we are their
protector, where we have areasonable sense of security,
where everyone is safe and sound?
(32:40):
When we get in our car in themorning, we unlock the door.
We really haven't left thatdoor unlocked because the things
that are in the car we've holdvaluable.
In the car itself we holdvaluable.
We pay on it monthly.
That's our property.
We own it.
It's important to us.
If it weren't important, thenwe would not lock the door and
(33:01):
we would leave the key in thecar, and so I guess my question
to you is did you lock the doorto your home today?
Did you lock the car door toyour car today?
Speaker 2 (33:15):
I'm going to be honest with you.
I did not.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
Okay, so that means that you don't want your
property, that you could careless about going out there if
it's there or not, and so youdidn't lock the door to your
home either.
Is what I'm gathering?
No, no, I did.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
I left the lock in the car.
If you lock the door, what'sthat mean?
Speaker 1 (33:39):
That everything behind that door is valuable.
You locked it to keep it safeand secure, because your
expectation was to keep thingsthe way they were when you left.
So when people say to me thatthey want to do away with the
border, what they're saying isit's okay for those people who
(34:00):
were trafficking human beings tojust walk across the border
unencumbered and create anotherform of slavery on this side,
because that's exactly what thattrafficking leads to, right and
drugs come along with it, alongwith the increase in suicide.
It's okay to walk across thatborder for those cartels to set
(34:22):
up shop over here and to bringeverything in the life that they
knew over here and to live thesame way over here as they lived
over there, and don't worryabout stopping them, because
there's no such thing as aborder.
We don't need a border.
Well, that's ridiculous.
I don't know anybody who walksout of their houses is.
(34:44):
When I get back, if there aresquatters here, if there are 50
people sleeping in my bed, I'mgoing to be okay with that.
It's a big, wide world.
We got room enough foreverybody.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
No one is going to do that.
No one is going to do that.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
It's the same with the border.
It's the same with the border.
So when I grew up, I remembermy house was the first house in
the community to have a fence.
That's because I played in thebackyard and really it was a
vast land.
There was very few houses inthe community at that time and
(35:18):
I'd laugh when people talk abouttheir seeing.
Say is how they learn theanimals Mine was matching, say
they sat me at the backyard andsaid point to the animals you'd
see outside there was just allof that foxes, rabbits, chickens
, deer all of that was backthere.
(35:39):
We didn't need PBS.
Don't forget about the cows.
And all of that was back there.
I was shot in the head with apellet rifle, which forever
changed my family, because I hadphysical symptoms as a result
(36:01):
of that and I still have some ofthose same.
I'm 53 years old and I havesome of the same symptoms from
the headaches that I get fromthat way back then.
And so my daddy erected a fence.
You know the people said thatwas your responsibility to make
sure you took care of your child.
You didn't have a fence up, youwere responsible for that, and
(36:24):
he took that to heart and Inever I never forgot that and
that was a freak accident.
That was the way we lived, youknow.
But we are responsible for thatborder and what comes across
that border Right now.
It's a political football andpeople are playing, you know,
(36:45):
russian roulette with the livesof our families in the United
States by not erecting thatfence.
I was very surprised at theSupreme Court citing with the
president on cutting down thatrazor wire.
Very surprised because Texashas sovereignty and what's at
stake is federalizing the TexasGuard to be able to let down
(37:10):
that fence so that people canjust run across that border.
Right now, in Chicago and inNew York they don't have the
money to take care of thesepeople, though they have
promised them if they come overhere, they can take care of them
At the same time.
Yeah, in Washington and otherplaces, but at the same time, we
have had a.
(37:31):
As you mentioned earlier, wehave had poverty in this country
that has been unspoken to in ameaningful way for a lifetime,
and so now you're adding to thatand these migrants are upset
because they've been promisedthe moon.
(37:51):
No and the bonds are not there.
They're dying too.
Speaker 2 (37:55):
I wanna say this, you know that goes back to what I
said earlier, that they need toget to the core problem in their
own Mexico of what is going onwhile people are rushing over
here.
It takes the president, ittakes the government, it takes
all these people to do that andit goes in again.
(38:17):
You say it's a lot ofhomelessness here and I agree
with you.
We have epidemics in the UnitedStates going on here.
You know I don't wanna reallyget into the trickle down effect
because that does not work.
So it's politicking and I thinkyou know people are not being
(38:40):
mindful of others, of how youknow this decision affects
families, how it affectsindividuals in totality, because
it's selfish, it is and it'screating more of a problem
because we're not workingtogether in unity.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
Yeah, yeah, I think we're on the same page on that
one.
I think it is very selfish bygovernment.
I think they could do more.
I think they should do more.
But I also think that manycommunities have been talked to
just expect money, money, money,money, money, and as long as
the money is rolling in, theyhave something to do.
But the reality is is that allof the money that is being
(39:26):
funneled to our communities fromthe federal government
originated from our ownpaychecks, and so we're
responsible for how that moneyis being spent.
We need to pick up arms, if youwill and I don't mean
pitchforks, I just mean show up,talk to people that are running
for office and really figureout where their heart is.
(39:48):
What are you going to do aboutthe problem?
Because all politics, at theend of the day, really is local.
Once these people start cominginto the community and they take
dollar bills away, there's notenough dollar bills to really do
what we need to do in ourcommunity.
That means that our money isnot being maximized and we are
responsible.
We are the stewards.
(40:09):
We are the stewards of thedollar bills, so we have to do
that.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
So it takes the community, people going into the
community and have to vote andthe stigma on that.
People have the mentality thatthinks that their vote does not
matter.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
And that's one thing that we need to change in the
community and totality.
Speaker 1 (40:35):
Yeah, agree.
So I don't you know what I wantto talk about hope.
Do you have any stories thatyou can tell us where people
have sought help and they havebeen able to utilize that help
to pull themselves up and otherswith them, and have not just
experienced recovery butresilience?
Speaker 2 (40:57):
Oh, yes, I know a story of a person that done 21
years, you know, beenincarcerated, and the individual
you know educated themselveswhile they were there and they
(41:19):
came, you know, home with a notallowing their past to dictate
their future.
And so one way you do not allowyour past to dictate your future
is look at your past as astepping stone of the things
that you have gotten through,you know, and so that makes a
(41:40):
person resilient.
So, if you look at thedefinition of the word resilient
being able to bounce back nomatter the opposition, being
able to bounce back no matterhow hard the struggle is, being
able to bounce back and keeppushing and keep moving so there
(42:01):
is a story of hope.
Hope is a word from when youovercome, you have hope and
seeing what you cannot see rightnow, you know, you have faith
in that hope, you have thatcommunity, you have help, you
have resources.
(42:22):
You know, when you feel likeyou can't be hopeful for
yourself, look out for theresources, look out for those
people that motivate you andencourage you.
Then you can have that samehope as the individual that did
21 years or that individual thatyou know went through a lot of
(42:43):
trauma and they feel like theywasn't gonna get through it.
But when you wanna feel likeyou wanna give up, look back on
the things that you thought youwasn't gonna make it.
And you did Look back on thosethings and say, if I made it
through that, then I can make itthrough this.
Speaker 1 (43:05):
That's awesome.
Yeah, can you share an exampleof someone who might be
experiencing a mental healthchallenge that found it
difficult to find a resourcethat was able to link to you?
How did that come about, andhow were you able to help them
(43:30):
to find other resources so theystayed engaged in the healing
process?
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Well, one thing I really love and I love going to
conferences, and the reason whyI go to these conferences is
because I can get many, many,many business who are from
people in the States, peoplefrom other countries, people,
and if I can't help someone,then I know someone who can, and
(43:58):
if that person can help someone, then they can utilize my
services, depending on theindividual, depending on what's
going on in their personal life.
We all together, asprofessionals, use one another
as resources in order to helpindividuals, whether it's in the
(44:18):
private sector, whether it's inthe outpatient, whether it's in
inpatient, whether it's in lifecoaching, it does not matter.
That person need will be met.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
That's awesome, ombandria.
We're going to wrap up here,but tell us what are you doing
these days?
I know you're very active inthe community, serving the
community.
Are there any conferences thatare coming up that you're
participating in?
Then we'll talk a little bitabout both the materials that we
(44:53):
have that we're offeringselling on the website.
We've got the five-minuteskills to master your anxiety
and panic attacks.
Then we have Keep Calm andMindfully On.
Those books will be out inMarch, available for pre-sell on
Amazon.
But tell us, if someone wantedto reach you for life coaching,
(45:17):
if they wanted to find out howto link to you to get some help,
how would they reach you?
Speaker 2 (45:24):
Okay, On one way they can reach me.
I'm pulling it right now so Ican make sure it's completely
accurate.
They can reach me atmscounselingtexascom.
(45:45):
Again, that'smscounselingtexastx at gmailcom.
They can reach me there.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Okay, awesome.
I want to remind our listenersto like and subscribe our
podcast.
We're looking forward to yourfeedback.
Thank you again, mondria, forbeing with us today.
We really have enjoyed our timetogether.
I hope, listeners, that you'veheard something that has been a
beneficial to you.
If not for you, remember, ifyou can't use it, somebody you
(46:22):
know can Keep us in mind, keeppeople in mind so that you can
share this information and helpsomeone else who might not have
access to what you have accessto.
In case you haven't heard itanytime recently, welcome home.
We will see you on our nextpodcast, the Coming Home Podcast
(46:44):
, with Dr Mary and Jefferson.
Thanks, andrea.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
Thank you.
You have a blessed day andthank you for having me.
By the way, before we close,you can reach me at 6829789223.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (47:02):
You're so welcome.
Thank you again.
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