In My Backyard

Today’s episode discusses the ongoing trauma of gang involvement, specifically the lasting impact on those who joined as minors. According to a National Youth Gang Survey, two out of every five active gang members are juveniles, and therefore particularly vulnerable to the pressures and traumas associated with gang affiliation and community violence.

As this relates to gangs, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network explains, “while traumatic stress is certainly not the sole cause for gang involvement and delinquency, it can increase a youth’s vulnerability to a gang’s appeal. Gangs can offer a sense of safety, control and structure often missing in the lives of traumatized youth”. Gangs offer traumatized youth an opportunity to experience affirmation, often for the first time. These are children who have not experienced a family, community or society that is able to protect and provide for them, to offer them a vision of a positive future. The gang then steps in to fill that role.

This week Tricia speaks with Luis Javier Rodriguez, a renowned poet, novelist, journalist and community activist. He was named the 2014 Los Angeles Poet Laureate by Mayor Eric Garcetti and is perhaps best known for his memoir Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in LA, for which he received the Carl Sandburg Literary Award. Luis is also the founder of the Tia Chucha Press and Tia Chucha Cultural Center.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This week’s episode addresses something that strikes at the heart of most parents of school-aged children, namely how to keep schools safe for our students. According to the ACLU of Southern California, “In the wake of the Columbine shooting, 9/11 and the 2008 recession, school districts in California (made choices) to cut mental health services in favor of more police.” Data shows, however, that this increase in school police has not created a greater security. 

Without mental health resources at hand, teachers are compelled to request help from law enforcement, who themselves are put in this position without adequate mental health training. Police are trained to respond to conflict with detention and arrest. Reports show that 25% of school police have no prior experience with youth. They have limited training on emotional and social well-being or how to de-escalate a crisis. Schools with campus police report 3.5 times more arrests than schools without police, most often for low-level incidents that could have been handled differently if mental health supports had been available. Police are being asked to take on tasks outside of their skill set while our children are being criminalized. 

Los Angeles Unified School District presents an interesting case study on this topic. Dr. Elianny Edwards et al from UCLA found that LAUSD increased campus police spending by 48% from 2010 to 2019, despite an 18% decrease in student enrollment. During that same time period, on-campus critical incidents – including suicidal threats – increased by an appalling 906%. The district is now taking steps to replace police funding with greater mental health supports. 

Today Tricia speaks with Jackie Ochoa, AMFT, and Yessenia Arevalo, ASW, School Resources Clinicians from The Guidance Center who work in partnership with campus police for the Long Beach Unified School District to develop the School Crisis Response Clinician Program that provides therapeutic crisis intervention and assessment services, in lieu of an armed law enforcement response.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This week’s episode addresses something that strikes at the heart of most parents of school-aged children, namely how to keep schools safe for our students. According to the ACLU of Southern California, “In the wake of the Columbine shooting, 9/11 and the 2008 recession, school districts in California (made choices) to cut mental health services in favor of more police.” Data shows, however, that this increase in school police has not created a greater security. 

Without mental health resources at hand, teachers are compelled to request help from law enforcement, who themselves are put in this position without adequate mental health training. Police are trained to respond to conflict with detention and arrest. Reports show that 25% of school police have no prior experience with youth. They have limited training on emotional and social well-being or how to de-escalate a crisis. Schools with campus police report 3.5 times more arrests than schools without police, most often for low-level incidents that could have been handled differently if mental health supports had been available. Police are being asked to take on tasks outside of their skill set while our children are being criminalized. 

Los Angeles Unified School District presents an interesting case study on this topic. Dr. Elianny Edwards et al from UCLA found that LAUSD increased campus police spending by 48% from 2010 to 2019, despite an 18% decrease in student enrollment. During that same time period, on-campus critical incidents – including suicidal threats – increased by an appalling 906%. The district is now taking steps to replace police funding with greater mental health supports. 

Today Tricia speaks with Jackie Ochoa, AMFT, and Yessenia Arevalo, ASW, School Resources Clinicians from The Guidance Center who work in partnership with campus police for the Long Beach Unified School District to develop the School Crisis Response Clinician Program that provides therapeutic crisis intervention and assessment services, in lieu of an armed law enforcement response.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In today’s episode, we have a conversation about Substance Use Disorders, what is commonly referred to by the general public as drug or alcohol addiction. Substance Use Disorders are included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition, or DSM-5, as qualified mental health impairments that can benefit from treatment, such as any other mental health issue. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, 1 out of every 12 Americans suffer from a Substance Use Disorder. That represents 18.7 million individuals. Of those, 8.5 million have a second co-morbid mental health disorder, such as PTSD, Major Depression or Bipolar Disorder. It is time to stop stigmatizing these people, instead supporting them on their journey to recovery as we would anyone else with a debilitating illness.

The new terminology of the DSM-5 represents an important change in our understanding of substance use, moving away from the more pejorative labels of addict or substance abuser to focus instead on the problematic behaviors themselves. The word “addict” conjures up any number of negative stereotypes in our minds, a skinny scary guy with loose morals and a lack of willpower. The word abuse is always negative in nature – sexual abuse, physical abuse, domestic abuse, all terms that imply victim and perpetrator. Changing the terminology from “addict” or “abuser” to “person with a substance use disorder” more properly places the attention on the behavior, not the person, and makes it clear that these disorders are in fact illnesses.

Today we have Dr. Jessica Schneider to help us better understand this important topic. Jessica is a one of the founders of Evidence Based Therapy Partners. She is a licensed psychotherapist and consultant-trainer in a number of evidence-based treatment modalities, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Her specialties include emotional dysregulation, relational aggression and substance use disorders, amongst others.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Eating disorders are an area of mental health that are least understood by the general public. Although there are a number of eating disorders, today’s podcast will focus on the most dangerous and commonly known, specifically anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

According to the Mayo Clinic, anorexia nervosa, or anorexia as it is commonly called, is a “potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by an abnormally low body weight, intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted perception of weight or shape”. It includes extreme calorie restrictions, excessive exercise, the use of laxatives and diet aids and self-induced vomiting after eating. People with anorexia are underweight to the point of serious health problems, up to and including death by starvation.

Again according to the Mayo Clinic, bulimia nervosa, or simply bulimia, is a serious, potentially life-threatening disorder that includes “episodes of binging and purging (with a) feeling of lack of control over eating.” Bulimia is characterized by the consumption of a large amount of food, often deliberately high caloric food, in a short period of time. Intense shame and even panic about gaining weight follows, which is resolved by self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise and the misuse of laxatives. People with bulimia often have periods of self-starvation, which contribute later to episodes of binging. People with bulimia are usually normal weight or slightly overweight.

In this episode, Tricia speaks with Dr. Julie Orris. Julie is the owner and Executive Director of Evidence Based Therapy Orange County and one of the founders of Evidence Based Therapy Partners. Julie is a licensed psychotherapist and consultant in a number of evidence-based treatment modalities. She is certified in Dialectical Behavior Therapy by the Linehan Board of Certification and is a Diplomate with the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. Her specialties include self-injury, suicidal thinking and eating disorders, amongst others

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This episode is a very important conversation about suicide, which might be painful and triggering for some listeners. If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, or are worried that someone you love might be suicidal, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. That is 1-800-273-TALK, or 8255. Help is available.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2019 47,500 lives were lost to suicide, making it the 10th leading cause of death overall in the United States. Controlled by age, the numbers are even more grim; Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people aged 10 to 35, second only to accidental injury. The US Department of Health and Human Services found that in the last ten years, suicide rates among children have increased by a horrifying 56%.

Behind each of these lives tragically lost to suicide, there are loved ones left to struggle with the emotional aftermath. For definitional purposes, a suicide survivor refers to someone who has lost a loved one to suicide. By contrast, a person who has survived a suicide attempt is referred to as an “attempt survivor”.

In today’s podcast, Tricia speaks with Rick Mogil and Julia Asea, from Suicide the Bereavement Services at Didi Hirsch Mental Health. Created for people bereaved by suicide, this program addresses the special needs of people struggling with complex grief, which often accompanies a loved one’s suicide. Co-facilitated by a therapist and a peer who has also lost a loved one to suicide, the groups help survivors cope with their loss in a positive and productive way.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This episode is a very important conversation about suicide, which might be painful and triggering for some listeners. If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, or are worried that someone you love might be suicidal, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. That is 1-800-273-TALK, or 8255. Help is available.

Suicide is a major public health issue, one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Rates of death by suicide were already on the rise prior to the devastating mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the period between 1999 and 2019, deaths by suicide increased a tragic 35% in the United States. It still remains to be seen what effect the isolation, anxiety and loss that arose from the pandemic will have on the number of people taking their own lives, but expert predictions are grim.

Speaking specifically to children, the US Department of Health and Human Services found that in the last ten years, rates of major depression among teens have more than doubled. Hopelessness and suicidal thoughts have increased by 71%. Suicide rates among children have mirrored these changes, increasing by 56%. It is, as one researcher wrote, “an epidemic of anguish.”

In today’s podcast, Patricia speaks with Sal Pena and Courtney Cruz, from the Suicide Prevention Center at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services. The Suicide Prevention Center was founded in 1958 as the nation’s first 24/7 suicide crisis line. It remains a model today for effective suicide crisis services, training professionals nationally and internationally in preventing suicide. They field roughly 100,000 crisis calls annually.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

The use of psychotropic medications in the mental health treatment of children, a key element of treatment for many but one that is not without controversy. In today’s podcast, Patricia speaks with Dr. Rubina Najeeb, a Board-Certified Adult and Child Psychiatrist at The Guidance Center. Dr. Najeeb offers consultation on some of the more complex cases at The Guidance Center and, where indicated, prescribes the medications that help children be successful in achieving their treatment goals.

In this episode, Dr. Najeeb helps us learn more about these medications and unpacks the things that might make them controversial.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Today’s podcast topic is the troubling issue of physical self-harm among children. Dr. Donald Greydanus writes in the Psychiatric Times that “deliberate self-harm is a behavior in which a person commits an act with the purpose of physically harming (themselves) with or without a real intent of suicide.”

Self-harm is an effort to cope with unmanageable emotional pain. While the effort might be maladaptive, it is also effective. Dr. Joe Franklin writes, “One of the most common reasons individuals give for injuring themselves is that it reduces emotional pain. That may be because the physical pain relief that follows a self-injury event, (the relief when the physical pain is over), basically tricks the brain into perceiving relief for emotional pain, too”.

Unfortunately, that relief is temporary and does nothing to ameliorate the underlying issues that led to self-harm in the first place. A vicious cycle can follow, with self-loathing, judgement from others and an increase in depression and anxiety. In fact, the risk for eventual suicide increases following each subsequent incident of self-harm.

In this episode, our guest is with Daniela Ruiz-Cedeno, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at The Guidance Center’s San Pedro Clinic. Daniela is our certified lead in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT. DBT is a mental health treatment developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan from the University of Washington, which has been shown to be highly effective with chronically suicidal clients and those who have eating or substance abuse disorders or engage in self-injurious behaviors. Daniela treats our highest crisis clients and trains her peers in the provision of DBT care.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.

In all prior podcasts, Patricia and guests have spoken about the varying needs for mental health services across populations facing extraordinary stressors and vulnerabilities. In this episode, Patricia and her guest Sarah Duncan discuss more globally what might prevent a child from accessing treatment, how to know when a child needs help and what might actually happen in a therapy session. Child mental health treatment can be mystifying. Today’s podcast aims to provide some greater clarity.

Sarah is a Marriage and Family Therapist with a particular emphasis in art and play therapy. She is a clinician at The Guidance Center, where she started working with children in it’s School-Based Program. She transitioned to the Outpatient Clinic where she could work more with little ones and currently offers mental health treatment and support with very young children on-site at a local Head Start Program.

In My Backyard is brought to you by The Guidance Center, a children’s mental health agency in Long Beach, CA. In My Backyard is produced by Tricia Costales and Matthew Murray. Thank you to Jay Vincent B for original music. All other music licensed through SoundStripe. Thank you to our listeners and supporters.

Please visit tgclb.org or text HOPE to 562-262-5689 to make a one-time donation or join our Hope and Healing Club to become a monthly donor today. And subscribe to In My Backyard on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.