The Fortified Life Podcast with Jason Davis - EP 195 | Dr. Chinwe Williams | Trauma therapist, Best-selling Author, and Speaker - THE FORTIFIED LIFE PODCAST

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
Welcome to the Fortified Life podcast, where we learn how
to develop a dependency on Jesus in the marketplace. From
the boardroom to the bathroom. God is with you. Here's
our host, author, speaker, teacher, encouragerpreitie coach, and my husband.
It's the man they call mister FortyFive Jason Davis.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome back to another episode
of the Fortified Life podcast where we are passionate about
developing a dependency on Jesus in the marketplace. I'm your host,
Jason Davis aka mister Fortifi. Every week we have the
opportunity to bring on coaches, speakers, authors, leaders of nonprofits

(00:57):
who are also passionate about putting God back in business.
And it's no different this week. Welcome back to another
episode for our Tools and Resources series where we deep
dive on things that help you in your personal and
or professional life, things that you can immediately implement today.

(01:20):
And folks, I've got to tell you this individual I've,
even though I've recently gotten to know her a little
bit more, the very first time I heard her speak
in a church setting, I was captivated with the topic.
And I'm telling you there's going to be a lot
of wisdom and nuggets dropped today. Before I bring her on,

(01:43):
let me introduce her to you. My goodness, folks, I'm excited.
Doctor Chinway is a highly regarded and trusted keynote and
workshop facilitator known to be knowledgeable, competent, and warm. As
a Board certified and dedicated mental health professional, doctor Williams
is an authority on topics relating to stress, anxiety and burnout,

(02:07):
trauma resolution, intersection of faith, culture and mental health, youth,
young adult and woman's wellness. She is a licensed professional counselor,
a Board certified counselor and a counselor, educator and supervisor,
and a certified emd R Therapist. Folks, if there's a letter,

(02:27):
she has it, and God has grace to do a
great work. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the Fortified
Life podcast, Doctor Chenway Williams, Doctor Chenway, how are you
doing today?

Speaker 3 (02:37):
I am amazing. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
For having me, absolutely, Doctor Chenway. Today we are going
to deep dive generally on the topic of mental health,
but specifically, folks, Doctor Chenway co authored a phenomenal book
and it is just a wonderful book. I've read it myself,

(03:00):
but it's called Scene Healing Despair and Anxiety in Kids
and Teens through the Power of Connection. So we're going
to deep dive on that. There'll be some really good
takeaways that you can implement today. We all know how
we feel about our children and the youth. Trust me,
after today, you're going to be able to help a

(03:23):
young person. Doctor Chen Will let's get into your book
that you wrote Seen. For those unfamiliar with your work,
can you tell us what inspired you to co write
Scene and focus on mental health of kids and teens?

Speaker 3 (03:39):
Absolutely so, Scene was co written by myself and youth
pastor Will Hutcherson, and I'll share a little bit more
about how we got connected very soon. But I really
appreciate your question, brother Jason, because I think that many
people still believe that the crisis that we're experiencing among kids, teens,

(04:02):
and young adults have been due to COVID. So we
all remember of twenty twenty. We all have our twenty
twenty stories. Some of us really would prefer to forget
twenty twenty, but mental health was on the forefront of
many of our conversations. But if you can recall many
families were really worried about their young child, teenagers, young

(04:27):
adult who maybe were off to college or college bound,
and what that experience was going to be like for them.
So please let me be clear, COVID did not help
youth mental health. COVID actually exacerbated the decline of youth
mental health. But as a therapist, I'm also a mental
health researcher. I have been a graduate counseling professor for

(04:50):
over ten years. The fact is we were seeing disturbing
trends probably ten years prior to the COVID endemic, So
mental health among youth was in a crisis state prior
to COVID. As a therapist, I started my career. I

(05:11):
work with adults. I've done couple's work, not so much anymore.
I work with a lot of professionals. I work with
young adults. But I actually started my career Jason as
a high school counselor. I work with students and I
also work with families. I even had the opportunity to
even counsel teachers on occasion, especially around issues around Greek

(05:31):
or some critical incident in the school system. So I
saw a lot. I saw a lot. I've got to
tell you that as a therapist today, working in private practice,
and even as a mom, I am observing so many
different challenges that young people are experiencing. So I felt compelled.
I felt compelled again as a therapist, but also as

(05:54):
a mom of three. I've got a twenty one ye old,
I've got a fourteen year old, I have a ten
year old hearing stories. I'm in touch with their friends' parents.
I'm connected to the community. So I felt really compelled
and really called by the Lord to do my part
to equip not just parents, but grandparents, aunties, uncles, ministry leaders,

(06:16):
church leaders, anyone that is in a child's orbit, anyone
that cares for a child's overall well being, to bring
practical tools, but also hope and even healing. So that's
really how Seene came to be, and it just has
taken off in the last five years.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
Wow, it's an unbelievable work. Doctor Chenway folks. I was
fortunate enough to read the book after I heard doctor
Chenway attend church mutual church service that I was at.
I love the topic, so I looked her up and
I dove deep and I bought the book and I
have to say it's very telling. One of the things,

(06:58):
doctor Chenway, that you get into is patterns and trends.
And while there are many, there are two in particular
that are on the forefront, and that's anxiety and depression.
And I know you and will talk about it from
different angles, but what are you seeing out there today

(07:19):
in twenty twenty five with regards to anxiety and depression?

Speaker 3 (07:23):
Yeah, so when I started my career as a high
school counselor, depression was the number one or most common
mental health condition experienced by young people. Today in twenty
twenty five, anxiety is the number one mental health condition
among young people and also among adults. So I know

(07:45):
this conversation is pertaining to young people, but I also
am very much connected to the people that care for
young people. Right the adults, and so forty million adults
in our country have a bonafide anxiety disorder. So they're
not just worried a little bit or need some reassurance
or have an occasional panic attack which feels awful. These

(08:08):
are individuals that have such pervasive worry and anxiety that
it feels pretty debilitating. So that's the adult population we know, right,
now that one in five children or teenagers have experienced
some mental health condition, including anxiety and depression. So I

(08:29):
often share with people that we as humans are supposed
to sometimes feel worried. We as humans are gonna have
bouts of sadness, right Our moods are going to dip
depending on the circumstances that we face. Emotions are going
to hit really hard. So you don't have necessarily a

(08:49):
diagnosis because you have sadness or you have sometimes worry
or in anxiety. But if those issues stay for far
too long and you don't get the support that you need,
and I'm not just talking about professional support, but you
don't have that individual, a parent, a caregiver, or a grandparent,

(09:09):
a loved one to say I see and I want
to be able to support you. When you don't have that,
those symptoms can actually lead into worstening symptomology or worsening
mental health. So we are also seeing disturbing trends around suicide.
So we wrote about this in the book, and I
just want to point out this is a large and

(09:33):
scary statistic. So for those of you who are listening,
just want to give you a little bit of warning.
This is pertaining to suicide. Since two thousand and seven,
we're seeing suicide rates increase by seventy six percent, brother Jason,
for young people between the ages of fifteen and nineteen
years old, seventy six percent. And get this, the highest

(09:56):
rate of increase in suicide among all age groups is
in kids between the ages of ten and fourteen years old.
So that is one of the conversations that Will and
I had while we were really digging into the data,
and I was sharing what I was seeing in my
therapy room, and he was sharing what he was seeing

(10:17):
working with students and doing assemblies all over the country,
and it was shocking. And there is another stat that
I will share with your listeners. Again, just take deep
breaths and remember that God is omnission right, none of
this is new to the Lord. But there is a
stat that indicates that black youth, specifically black boys, black

(10:39):
teenage boys, or experiencing rates of suicide that are outpacing
any other racial or ethnic group.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (10:50):
So sad. Right. And again, I started my career gosh eighteen,
over eighteen years ago in the schools. I saw some
of this stuff, not at the level the elevated levels
that I am seeing clinically and also hearing about as
I travel and talk to families across the country.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
My goodness, doctor Chenway, it's easy when, as you stated
with the disclaimer, when you hear stats like that, it
is alarming and almost even bone. What would you say,
doctor Chenway, was the call to action? So you're observing
things as a mental health professional, Will as a youth pastor,

(11:33):
and you could have stayed in your respective buckets. But
what was the straw that broke the camel's back is
we've got to talk about this and maybe even shine
the light on what does it even look like for
a youth pastor, Ben's a health professional to come together
and co write a book of this nature?

Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah, this is this God. It's a God story. Will
and I met through our publishing company who for years,
over twenty years, provided children's curriculum, video curriculum, written curriculum
for churches and ministries all over the world. So I

(12:17):
got connected with them Gosh fourteen years ago, started blog writing,
provided some consultation as they were just beginning to do
some work around child development in psychology and integrating that
in their training of ministry leaders and volunteers. So that
was my part of it. Will is this dynamic speaker

(12:39):
as a youth pastor working with teenagers. He was actually
doing assemblies all over the country going into the high
school and I like to joke with him about this.
He would bring a dj with him and get the
teachers dancing, get the janitorial staff dancing, get young people dancing,

(13:00):
and then open up the question about do you know
anyone in your life that has thought about not being
here anymore? And just how brilliant is that. He became
very well known for having those conversations that are taboo
that people don't want to have in the school system
as a pastor, and because he was working with the
same publishing company, they said, you know what, you guys

(13:23):
need to meet. So we got into a room, had
a conversation. And this is really the god piece all
of it is. This happened in twenty nineteen and Jason,
when we started digging into the research, I was sharing
what I was seeing clinically, he was sharing what students
were sharing with him. After these assemblies, we were like,
oh my goodness, Like we went from concerned to disturb

(13:44):
This was twenty nineteen. We began to write down our thoughts.
I asked as many young people as I knew, what
do you need? What feels supported when you are getting
hit left and center, when life is throwing you all
those curveballs. What do you need most? What do people

(14:06):
like me, your parents, your grandparents, ministry leaders? What do
we not understand? What do we need to understand? How
do we meet you where you are? And we got
information and a lot of it. I was able to
just ask the clients that I was seeing right, and
then the young people that I'm connected with in different ways,
and Will did the same thing. And then guess what

(14:29):
happened when we started writing the book. COVID hit in
twenty twenty, and as God would see fit. Because God
knew this book became so important, it was already important,
and I knew it was something that needed to be
out there. Brother Jaysonys, this is where I'm going to

(14:50):
be very transparent with you. You know, if I was
the person to write it. I was asked to write
this book. We were told to meet have these conversations.
And then I thought I was just going to help
him as a consultant to do his thing, and they said, no,
we want you to co write this book as the
professional and will tell you. I talked to my husband,

(15:11):
I prayed about it, and I was like, Lord, I
don't know that I'm the person that's supposed to do
this at this time. Maybe this is for this young
man to do. Right, Do I have something separate that
I'm supposed to do for the kingdom. So I wrestled
with it, and I prayed, and I spoke to friends,
consulted with wise counsel. So this is what I want

(15:33):
to tell all of your listeners, because I know the
work that you do, brother Jason, and the people that
are listening to you on Fortified. This book has left
a deep impact on communities globally. We are scheduled to
be in Senegal, West Africa talking about Seeing this year,
we are scheduled to be in Hong Kong talking about

(15:53):
seeing next year. And we just got word from Chile.
A ministry team in chile A translated the book into
Spanish and it's just been amazing. So this is what
I want to say to the listeners. I know we're
talking about you mental health, but this is for everybody.
When we get serious about following the Lord and being obedient,

(16:19):
fear will creep in. Fear will creep in. It often does,
and fear can be immobilizing. Self doubt can creep in.
Not only can fear be immobilizing, worst yet, it can
cause us to be disobedient right, and the enemy's voice
will feel really loud. Self doubt will creep in. The
task feels too great, the path feels too murky. Right,

(16:42):
So I just want to encourage everyone who's listening. When
God gives you a dream, when God gives you an opportunity,
when God opens a door, walk right through, run with it,
even with the fear, right, even with the fear, and
you just never know what hangs in the balance of
our obedience or life thereof so.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
Good doctor Chenway, it was clearly just divinely orchestrated by God.
And then the timeliness of none of us knew about
the pandemic and COVID nineteen. So just God has just
a wonderful way of knowing what's ahead and what's over
the horizon and saying, yes, you just never know. And

(17:23):
that's huge, just the global impact doing that the book
is having and you getting to share and just really
give us tools on how we can navigate what we're
dealing with, which brings up Doctor Chenway in the book,
So looking for all the listeners, we've talked about anxiety, depression, suicide.

(17:47):
One of the things that a lot of folks don't
really think about or maybe have a language for, doctor
Chenway is despair. And so can you for a second,
because I think when people hear those terms, there's a
myriad of emotions that come to play. And in the
case of children, can you actually talk about the neuroscience

(18:09):
behind what happens in a child's brain during emotional distress,
because I think people we're so used to giving nicknames
and oversimplifying things that may or may not be happening
to us. But can you just talk about what's actually
going on in the brain when we feel some of
these things, and especially despair, as you touch on in

(18:32):
the book.

Speaker 3 (18:33):
Yeah, and so let me first debunk a myth. Oftentimes
we hear of someone who took their own life, ended
their own life, and we immediately think that depression is
the cause. So what's interesting when you look at the research.
While depression can absolutely play a role, oftentimes that is

(18:54):
not the case with young people. It's a feeling of hopelessness,
combined with isolation, which is my definition of despair. Despair
is defined as deep sadness, this is how we define
it in the book, or a complete absence of hope.

Speaker 2 (19:13):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (19:14):
When I'm talking to parents, I say, it's suffering without meaning.
Sometimes as adults, we know that this is a season
of drudgery. We're in this work, we're doing this thing.
It feels hard, we're staying up late, we're working up early,
but we know that there's a purpose, there's an outcome,
there's something that we're hoping will transpire, or we're planting
a seed. Suffering without meaning is really hard. And so

(19:36):
again that hopelessness and helplessness combined with social disconnection is
a dangerous combination for young people whose brains are still developing.
So you asked about the neuroscience. So this is where
I will give a caveat. This is an over simplification
because anybody who has a background in biology and neurobiology

(19:58):
or neuroscience, you know that the brain is so complicated.
And my husband is a toxicologist. He always reminds me
that we only really know the tip of the iceberg
of the brain's capabilities. That is, that's God's wisdom. Right,
that's kudos to our heavenly Father who has woven our
brains and intricate and profound ways. But as it relates

(20:20):
to a child who's having a hard time, so we
don't even have to go as far as someone who's
deeply depressed, but a child who's having a meltdown, a
teenager who doesn't have any friends, who feels stream loneliness.
I bring up the example of an adult, which I
know several even in my own community, adults who have

(20:42):
lost their jobs this year. And these are brilliant people,
and maybe they found another job, but they're unde employed, right.
They have income coming in, but it's not the same
as what they experienced just months ago, and they feel
maybe a lack of purpose or they feel like they're
not providing for the family in the same way. I
have counseled some of these people and they will say

(21:06):
that they feel levels of despair. But when it comes
to a child, let me share with you the way
that God has wired our brains. We have the less
side of the brain, which is where logical processing occurs,
so think rational thought, organization, think mathematics, okay, and then
we have the right side of the brain, which is

(21:28):
where our emotions get processed. So this is also where
a small tiny structure of the brain called the amygdala lives.
So the amygdala, my friends, is the fear center. So
think fit right, light, breathe. So when a child is
experiencing a long period of anxiety or a long period

(21:50):
of despair, without support, without relief, what happens is emotional
energy gets channeled to the right side of the brain.
Blood flow, actual blood flow gets channeled to the right
side of the brain, and guess what happens. Logical processing
begins to decrease. So it's like this may day emergency,

(22:13):
something bad's happening, and it becomes very difficult to say
to a child, You're gonna be fine, everything's okay. What
do you mean, there's nothing to worry about. You cannot
logically process with a child who's in a state of
high anxiety or despair. It just doesn't work because their
brain is offline. So that's what we really try to highlight,

(22:36):
and I think that's what's catching on globally because we
all have a brain right and we all can understand
that the brain functions again the way that God has
wired our brains. It's intricate, it's profound. So we in
the book call it a despairing. When a child is
experiencing despair, it's like the left brain and the right

(22:59):
brain are not communicating effectively. So therefore we need to
meet our children not with more logic, but with the
right brain connection. So that's really the crux of the
entire book. So when you have an emotional response to something,
it's very difficult to use logic to calm yourself down.

(23:22):
You really need someone to walk alongside you and tell
you that they're there and they want to be there,
and you're going to be okay.

Speaker 2 (23:30):
Wow, the brain is so fascinating, yes, doctor Chinway, it
really is, doctor Chinway. So we've outlined the problem and
the why behind it with what's happening in the brain.
And you said the key central takeaway connection. So you
have hopelessness and you have isolation, but then connection is

(23:50):
the bridge. So if we're getting practical, doctor Chinway, you've
got by the time that people are listening to this,
now you've got the concern parent, teacher, coach, grandparent, church member,
and they go all right, doctor Chenway, you've got my attention.
How in the world. Do we help these young people?

(24:12):
What are some practical ways that we can provide? As
you said, we don't need more logic in those moments.
They need to feel connection. What can we possibly do
to come alongside our young people and let them know
that they're valued, that they're cared for, and that we're
here for them. How can we do that?

Speaker 3 (24:33):
Yeah, so most lay people who haven't studied ecology may
not understand that we all have a inner life. I
think people do, but maybe we don't use that language
to explain our thoughts, our emotions, our motivations, our fears.
And for many generations kids we didn't even think about

(24:56):
kids having a voice, much less caring about their inner life.
It's like you do as I say, and that's it.
Kids are to be seen and not heard. But with
the new developments in child development neuroscience, which is brain science,
we're really understanding that kids, especially this generation of children
gen zgen alpha, which are middle schoolers, they do have

(25:20):
an active Every child, your three year O four has
an active inner life and a tuning and pain attention.
So tuning is a psychological word, by the way, just
means pain attention to their internal mental state, they may
not have the words to share it. So as adults
who care, we can actually make a lot of interpretations

(25:44):
by our observations and then checking in, right, So we
don't want to just make an interpretation, we want to
check in with them to see what's going on. We
see a behavior, but what is it connected to? Is
there in need that's not being met? Is there bullying
that's happening behind the scenes. When I'm working with parents
of teenagers, I know what that teenager has shared with me,

(26:07):
but the parent sees them as being maybe disobedient or disrespectful,
or not doing what they need to do with chores
or at school. And I'm thinking, ooh, the shame that
this child has been carrying, the pressures, the peer pressure,
the things that are going on in their internal life.
Trying to help the parents to understand that there's so

(26:28):
much happening underneath. Okay, so you asked about practical things
that we can do, and it's really an important question.
So I believe that helping kids to feel seen starts
with one. When I just said, understanding that their motivations,
their fears, their experiences that they're holding on to. When
my ten year old acts out, I'm gonna have a reaction,

(26:50):
just like any other parent in the world. Is going
on better. I taught you better. But when I have
that conversation with him, once his left brain is back online,
he'll say things like, Mom, I was embarrassed. What I
was afraid?

Speaker 2 (27:05):
Mom?

Speaker 3 (27:05):
The other kids were moving. He's in a speed and
agility class right now to get strength training for basketball season,
and he was having an attitude about something. And then
when I had a quiet moment with him an hour later,
he was like, gosh, Mom, the kids are so much
faster than me. And I'm like, you can't measure yourself

(27:25):
those of you who are listening who are older Michael Jordan,
you can't measure yourself to Michael Jordan as a basketball
star when you're just starting out in middle school. So
just having that opportunity to connect with him really provided
for a teachable moment. But parents, grandparents, teachers, it really

(27:49):
starts with building that strong positive relationship with your child,
with your student responding to not just their physical needs,
their academic needs, not just their virtual needs, ministry leaders,
their emotional needs. If you have access to a child,
let's say they're a family member of yours established weekly

(28:11):
time with that child if you are a parent. Parents
are so busy right now, do some sort of shared activity,
even ten to fifteen minutes a day a day where
you are doing something to connect with that child based
on just what their interests are. So it's not something
that's obligatory, it's not something that's related to a church hard,

(28:33):
something that really engages that child because they're interested in it.
So you're actually inviting yourself or hopefully they're inviting you,
to get to know them better. Listening more than you
talk is huge. As I mentioned, I used to see couples.
I don't see a lot of couples right now just

(28:53):
because of my schedule, but it was just fascinating to
me when I would meet with couples separately and they
would share things that they had never shared with each other,
and I would say, does your wife know this? Does
your husband know this? And they were a fairly connected
couple in most occasions, but they were afraid. So vulnerability

(29:16):
and intimacy is with regard to like really opening up
and helping people to know your fears, your motivations, your dreams.
That's difficult for adults, right so we want to prime
that with young people by engaging them in conversations and
remembering that's not always the time to teach. It's actually

(29:39):
better for you to truly hear what your child is saying.
And remember, and I say this a lot with parents
of teenagers. Your child may not want you or need
you to problem solve. They may just need to be
heard and feel accepted. So just be curious.

Speaker 2 (29:56):
Wow, folks, listen, you have the book for sure, but
we just got miniature masterclass and how to help a
young person. So doctor Chenway, I was I felt compelled
to write a bunch of stuff down as you were saying.
It just unbelievable. Folks, you heard it directly from her

(30:19):
as a licensed professional. So these are things that we
can all do today. Take taking interest and paying attention.
And I love what you said, doctor Chenway. The power
of observation. Power of observation, not just the stigma that's
out there. Kids are just being kids. But what if
there's the old transformers, what if there's more than meets

(30:41):
the eye. That's good. It's more than meets the eye
for all of us, but certainly with children and folks.
One of the things you'll see in the book too,
Doctor Chenway and Will use case studies and so they'll
get they'll present a scenario and Doctor Chenway, just because
we just don't have the time and we may have
her back, I think we should for another episode. But

(31:04):
they break down different use cases of Hey, I was
working with this child, here's what we observed, and here's
how we put our heads together to really come around
and rally around that individual. After Shanway, I love that
he had the case study format for doing that. Just
as a quick aside any thought, because a lot of times,

(31:24):
especially when we're talking about things that are psychological and whatnot,
what does a case study help us understand and digesting
the concept? What does that do when we use case studies.

Speaker 3 (31:39):
Yes, it brings sometimes difficult or complicated concepts to life.
And secondarily it makes it relatable and that's really what
makes it come to life. So it's interesting again what
God has done. Will and I have traveled for the
past five years pretty consistently across the country talking about

(32:02):
set and for people who had already read the book,
they would share some things as we're signing books at
the end of the seminar and they would say, oh,
my gosh, this is my story. When you talked about Chloe,
that is my kid. When you talked about it was
as if somebody told on me. And I love that,
and I love that, and I think that's also the

(32:24):
beauty of what you do, Brother Jason, is like bringing
guests on to share their journeys, their stories, their testimonies.
Many people are listening thinking, gosh, that sounds like part
of my story. So there's a relatability in providing case
studies in books and sharing stories just in general.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
I love it. The folks, We've got to get ready
to land the plane. And I'm telling you that we
have not seen the last of doctor Chenway. But this
final question Doctor Chenway, and we were talking offline about this.
Sometimes are at times, especially in the Christian community, the
mental health arena can be taboo. How do we and

(33:06):
how do even you reconcile faith and mental health? There
are times where faith gets questioned do we have enough faith?
Are we believing? And on the other side, sometimes maybe
we're so quick to just look to the world to answers,
and then we don't pray and go to get side.

(33:27):
How do you and then how do we even reconcile
faith and mental health.

Speaker 3 (33:34):
Oh wow, that's such a big question. I point to
Jesus in all names, but particularly with regard to your question.
When we look at the life of Jesus, the short
time but impactful time that he had on this earth,
Jesus was God in the flesh, and Jesus experienced all emotions.

(33:55):
And when we talk about our soul, I just want
to share I learned this from my spiritual mother years
and years ago. Our soul encompasses our mind, our emotions,
and our will, so think behavior. Those are also three
components of solid mental health. How we think, our thought life,

(34:19):
the intensity in which we experience our emotions, and also
how we show up for our community. And Jesus, again,
who was God in the flesh, experienced a wide range
of emotions during his thirty three years on this earth,
and Scripture told us with great specifics how Jesus felt,

(34:40):
what he experienced in how he experienced his public ministry.
We also learn that there are ways to take care
of ourselves because Jesus modeled that when he stepped away
from crowds to find restoration and to commune with his
heavenly father. And so we sometimes that being unemotional is

(35:02):
the right path as believers, or we think that it's
not okay or permissible to acknowledge some of the things
that we've talked about today, despair, self harm, suicide. God's
got it. We don't need to talk about it. But
being unemotional or not acknowledging those things does not equate
to being more spiritual. Right, What is spiritual is acknowledging

(35:26):
that those things exists. Jesus talks about anxiety probably three
hundred and sixty five times, right, So every day of
the week there's a word in the Bible about anxiety.
There's a word in the Bible about fear. So many
passages that we can wait to. So what scripture clearly shows,

(35:46):
again looking at Jesus as the model, is that Jesus
exercise a healthy amount of emotion and also self management,
self control, self regulation, which is really the book of
my newest book that we'll talk later. But just finally,
if you are someone that's listening and you do wonder, Gosh,

(36:08):
should I acknowledge anxiety? Should I acknowledge despair? If I do,
does that mean that I don't have enough faith?

Speaker 1 (36:17):
No?

Speaker 3 (36:17):
God, being omniscient understood that we as humans would face
all of these things in this broken world. Right in
this world, that there will be trouble, and there will
be grief, there will be lost, there will be rejection, abandonment.
So therefore, God, being omniscient, included so many passages in

(36:39):
the Bible that address how we are to cope with
these very real emotions that Jesus, God who walked on
this earth, also experience. And my favorite one is cast
all of your anxieties on him. Why not just because

(37:00):
he loves sh but he cares for ups, brother Jason,
He cares for us, and we just trust and we
lean on his care.

Speaker 2 (37:11):
Doctor Chenway, I was about to ask the band if
they could start playing softly, so folks, we she not,
only that was wonderful answer. I love that breakdown Jesus
what it is our ultimate example. And he was God
in the flesh and so he experienced things in the body,

(37:35):
his will, his emotions, all that. So I love that
point us back to Jesus. Now, doctor Chenway, I haven't
been exactly honest with our audience. I have already predetermined
that doctor Chenway's coming back for another episode, and she
teased something I don't know. I just happen to have
this thing on my desk. She has a second book

(37:58):
that she is a reed to come back for a
second episode, and we're going to deep dive here. It's
called Calm, Courageous, and Connected. A parent's guide to raising
emotionally resilient kids. To say, I don't know if books
can be considered meals, doctor Genway, but I got to
tell you the title alone was like, do we have

(38:21):
three more hours? So is there anything you want to
say as a teaser to set us up for when
you come back for part two.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
Yes, this is not just a parenting book. This is
not just about if their kid does this is what
you do. There are plenty of parenting books. I didn't
want to write just another parenting books. This is a book.
This is a book or a manual, an encouragement, a
devotion for parents who and caregivers and teachers and leaders

(38:55):
who want to help kids feel stronger in this broken
world where they're getting messages and not trusting in the
gifts and talents that God has given them. They're sometimes
leaning into these messages that tell them who they aren't.
I break down anxiety, perfectionism, supporting a child who is

(39:18):
neurodivergent ADHD autism is on the rise. But I also
really speak directly to parents. I have two chapters that
talk about building and strengthening your own resilience. I'm very
transparent in the book about some of the things that
I've gone through. My husband and I is our family,
and we know that modern parents, adults right now are

(39:40):
experiencing higher levels of stress than previous generations. So how
do we help others. I'm talking to ministry leaders, I'm
talking to teachers when it sometimes feels like our resilience
has hit a walk. So again, this is not just
your typical parenting book. I really wanted it to be
a guide and a word of encouragement.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
I love it, folks, you heard it directly from the author.
That's doctor Chenway's teaser for our part two. So we'll
work out on the calendar when she can come back.
But please know, a lot like the Marvel movies when
it says that the Avengers will return, know that doctor
Chenway Williams will return to the Fortified Life podcast that

(40:22):
you all stay tuned. Doctor Chenway, I can't even begin
to tell you how awesome this time that we had together.
You really gave us a lot of nuggets and wisdom.
You broke down just the mental health space of what
people in general, and especially our youth are experiencing. So
thank you for lending your time and your talent and

(40:46):
helping us navigate probably just the invisible battle that many
are fighting day to day and with mental health issues.

Speaker 3 (40:56):
So thank you, oh, thank you so much for having me.
What a wonderful platform, and thank you for allowing God
to use you.

Speaker 2 (41:04):
Brava Jason, thank you, and folks, that's all we've got
time for here on the four to five Life. Once again,
this has been a tools and Resources episode. We were
talking about doctor Chenway's book that she co authored with
will Hutcherson, Scene Dealing Despair, Sorry, Healing Seen Healing Despair

(41:26):
and Anxiety and Kids and Teens through the Power of Connection,
Doctor Chenway. Where can people go get a copy of
the book.

Speaker 3 (41:35):
Yeah, so, it's available on Amazon, and you can also
go directly to my website, doctor Chenway Williams dot com
where you'll see a ton of other resources and just
information about me and how to get connected with me.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
Love be and folks, I encourage you please follow doctor
Chenway and everything she's up to charity. Gave us a
teaser of other things she's working on her travels to
Senegal and Hong So please make sure you support what
she's doing. Get your copy. I've seen in next time.
Like the old the Baptist used to do with service transitions,

(42:10):
Doctor Chenway the next voice that you will hear on
part two, Doctor Chenway Williams talking about Calm, courageous and connected.
A parent's guide to raising emotionally resilient kids. Doctor Chenway,
thank you so much. Thank you folks. That's all we
have time for on the Fortified Life podcast. You know

(42:33):
how we leave things. Don't compartmentalize your faith in the
marketplace and from the boardroom to the bathroom, God is
with you. We'll have all of doctor Chenway's information in
the show show notes. Be blessed and we'll see you
next time on the Fortified Life Podcast.

Speaker 1 (42:51):
Thank you for listening to the Fortified Life Podcast. You
can catch us live on Wednesdays at eight thirty pm
Eastern Time and on demand. Check out Fortified Live podcast
dot com for more details. So learn how to live
out your faith in the marketplace. Grab a copy of
Jason Davis's book Fortify Being Rooted in God's plan for

(43:12):
work in business, available on Amazon,

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The Fortified Life Podcast with Jason Davis - EP 195 | Dr. Chinwe Williams | Trauma therapist, Best-selling Author, and Speaker

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Fortified Life Podcast with Jason Davis - EP 195 | Dr. Chinwe Williams | Trauma therapist, Best-selling Author, and Speaker