Hello all. I'm very happy to be starting my Swellcast off with a very special interview with a very special interviewee, Glenn Schwartz. I know Glenn through his work with Words of hope for life and actually is the founding of words of hope for life and actually a large event they do at the Detroit Zoo every year, a walk for mental health. Also, if you're an interested interested in attending that, please look at the link in my description
Claire Ferguson
@clairefergz · 0:23
All right, to warm up into our substance of today's chat. I know that I offered an introduction for Glenn, but he's much, much more than what I could ever say. So my intro was not suffice for who Glenn actually is. So for this question, I'm going to have you, Glenn, tell us a little bit about yourself and words of hope for life
I think I use all of my energy or all of my anxiety and whatever I have, and I put it into one little ball and I use that to focus my efforts on business and working out and doing the things that I enjoy. Words of hope for life was created during COVID and it was really created as a way to implement new and innovative strategies to address mental health, wellness and harm reduction
Swell Team
@Swell · 0:15
Claire Ferguson
@clairefergz · 0:18
You. This next question is a bit more of a broad question about words of hope for life and the pushing factor behind it. I'm wondering what inspired words of hope for life? And is there a particular reason you chose to bring awareness towards mental health?
And going back to the question at hand here, the factor, we thought that by creating event based community interventions, so therapy is great, one to one therapy is fantastic for some people, but it's not for everybody, nor is it accessible for everybody. And so our goal was to create these community events and community activities where multiple resources and multiple people could come together as one. And that way, if you were struggling or if you needed additional assistance, you could get everything at one place
Claire Ferguson
@clairefergz · 0:17
This next question pertains a bit more towards you and why you advocate for mental health. So I'm wondering, where do you see the biggest need for advocacy in the mental health realm? What is your biggest concern when it comes to the future of mental health?
It. So why advocate for mental health? Well, you know, there's, there's probably a lot of intuitive reasons why one would advocate for mental health, but really, at the end of the day, what we know is that the stigma is being broken. People are seeking care, people are looking for assistance. But the other thing that we know is that Claire is not always available, it's not always accessible
Claire Ferguson
@clairefergz · 0:37
This next question is on a little more of an upbeat note. And for those of you who don't know what words of hope does and the work they do with all communities, go and check out their website, which I have linked in every part of this interview, as well as the description down below. I'm wondering, words of hope for life works with people of all ages, all over
I also know that when we go to festivals and we have viewfest at the zoo, and we see people who struggle with mental health in a variety of ways, maybe they struggled independently, or maybe they have some type of mental health illness, or maybe they've lost a loved one to suicide. When you see them interact with the community and you see them smile and you see them say thank you, to me, that's what this is all about
Claire Ferguson
@clairefergz · 0:29
You. For those of you who don't know, words of hope for life was founded around 2020, which we all know was very close to the pandemic. And I'm wondering, Glenn, how you see COVID having changed the way mental health is approached, or the way we talk about it online, the way we talk about it in person. How has COVID changed the way you think we look at mental health?
And so I know at our practice, and I know through words of hope for life, there have been an abundance of people that have called seeking assistance. I know just by looking at trends that the number of people that have seeked actual therapy has increased significantly since the beginning of COVID And again, I think that's twofold. I think it's because they needed the help. Now they're getting the help and think the isolation certainly made it more of an urgency. And
Claire Ferguson
@clairefergz · 0:21
Another upbeat and more personal question pertaining to the experiences you've had with words of hope for life. So I'm wondering, what's the biggest takeaway or lesson you've gained from those you work with at words of hope for life, something that you maybe integrate in most, if not everything, you do?
You biggest takeaway? This is very easy for me to answer, and I can just say it like this. We all live our lives and create our own reality. Our reality isn't someone else's, and we need to remember that. So when you're having a bad day, you have to know that others may not understand what you're going through
Claire Ferguson
@clairefergz · 0:41
And this can be any kind of self care, as long as it's good for your mentality, whether it be a routine or the way you eat or keeping your mind sharp, how do you prioritize mental self care?
You. So how do I prioritize mental health? This is fairly simple for me. I always practice mindfulness and I always practice self care. For me, it's about setting time aside for yourself so that you can again acknowledge and understand the things that you have to do and the things that you've accomplished. Stay off of social media and just take time to go for a walk, get your head clear. Those are the things that are most important