.jpg)
Restoration Beyond the Couch
The Beyond the Couch with Dr. Lee Long podcast is intended solely for general informational purposes and does not represent the practice of medicine, therapeutic and psychiatric services, nursing, or other professional health care services. It also does not constitute the provision of medical, therapeutic or psychiatric advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is established. The information on this podcast and any materials linked from it are used at the user's own risk. The content provided through this podcast should not be considered a replacement for professional medical, therapeutic, or psychiatric advice, diagnosis, or treatment. It is important that users do not ignore or postpone seeking medical, therapeutic, or psychiatric advice for any health or mental health condition they might have, and should always consult with their health care professionals regarding such conditions.
Restoration Beyond the Couch
Through My Daughter's Eyes: Growing Up with a Therapist Parent
In this special episode of Restoration Beyond the Couch, Dr. Lee Long sits down with his daughter, Ella, for an open and heartfelt conversation about her experiences growing up as the child of a therapist. Together, they explore the dynamics, challenges, and lessons that come with living in a family rooted in mental health. This discussion offers a personal perspective on family relationships, communication, and the impact of a therapist's work on their loved ones. Join us for an insightful and reflective episode that highlights the balance between personal and professional life.
Welcome to Restoration Beyond the Couch. I'm Dr Lee Long and today's episode is incredibly special to me. I'm joined by my daughter, ella, and we explore what it's like growing up as a child of a therapist. Together we'll share conversations about the challenges, funny moments and lessons that come with being a part of a family deeply rooted in mental health. Lessons that come with being a part of a family deeply rooted in mental health. Join us as we reflect on our experiences, offer insights into family dynamics, communication and the balance between personal and professional life your path to mental wellness starts here, Hi Ella, Hi Dad.
Speaker 1:Welcome.
Speaker 2:Is that weird to hear?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is In a podcast. So welcome Ella to Beyond the Couch. It's good to have you.
Speaker 2:Thank you, it's good to be here, yeah.
Speaker 1:So one of the things that we thought we would cover in this podcast is what it's like to grow up with or to have parent, family member, friend, any close person that is a mental health professional, and so we thought why not bring in an expert?
Speaker 2:That's me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you've been around a mental health professional for most all of your life.
Speaker 2:True, all of my life, not most of all of it, yeah Well you all of your life, true All of my life, not most of all of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, you went away to school.
Speaker 2:That's true.
Speaker 1:That's true. So tell us kind of the highlights of what it's been like for you growing up with a mental health professional in your home.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, it was always the norm for me, so I didn't know any better. Um, but I knew I didn't know you did, for obviously you just went to work for most of 10 years, I think, and then I realized what you did. And then, once I realized what you did, um, I knew you talked to people and you did something with their brain and you fixed them. You talked to people and you did something with their brain and you fixed them, and I thought you could read my brain every time you spoke to me. So I could never hide anything, because I thought he was going to figure it out just by looking into my eyes.
Speaker 1:So you kind of felt like I was a human x-ray machine Pretty much.
Speaker 2:Yeah so.
Speaker 1:I love that and I hate that for you at the same time, because autonomy is, I think, very important. When you're growing up and knowing that you get to be your own person, that you weren't like, I would have never wanted you to ever think that we would be in your head trying to make you be a certain way.
Speaker 2:And I don't think that, I don't think you're trying to make me a certain way. I think you just, whatever way I decided to be, you were going to know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know which is funny because that's that's relationship, though, right, like, whatever way you decide to be, we're going to know because we're close to each other.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I just thought it was more scientific than that, like it was an like, literally like how we had, like I had an x-ray machine, yeah, you could see my thoughts.
Speaker 2:You could see whoa I thought I thought you were like. Um, like you know people that can read body language super well, to the point where, like, you know exactly what's going on, or like, if someone lies and they like have a certain twitch or whatever that, like you would pick up on that, no matter what. Yeah Well maybe you can partially true, ish I mean.
Speaker 1:But I also think that people who do that, who read, read people for you know, for their profession, and I think that part of therapy is reading people. But really one of the myths that I hope we can dispel is that it's not about, like. I remember part of my career. I thought I was like a detective, you know, like I needed to understand, like, are you lying to me? Are you telling the truth? It's like at some point you really sit back and you think it's not about trying to determine whether you're lying to me or not. It's really trying to determine who you are and what is it that you're bringing to this to this session and what is it that you're trying to get out of this session? Because if you're lying to me, okay, like why? Because if you're lying to me, okay, like why?
Speaker 2:And what service does that?
Speaker 1:pay you. Did that make sense?
Speaker 2:It's more about like the intention behind what you do, not what you're doing.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 1:And it's really more about discovering that and then discovering who you are as the person sitting across and discovering what is it that you're coming for. You know, and if if I mean I've I've actually treated people who didn't want to tell me like some really horrible things that had happened, I'm like that's fine as long as we can talk about the periphery of those. Things Like I don't need to see all the way into the depths of your well of your life. Things like I don't need to see all the way into the depths of your well of your life, but could it be that I'm just learning how things impacted you?
Speaker 1:yeah if that makes sense I think so cool.
Speaker 2:I think one of the things we were talking about that is interesting is, like you, you were saying that raising me, mental health, was always on the top of the priority list. Yeah, above, not above, parenting, because you were parenting. But you know what I'm trying to say Like above giving rules and like being a dictator, if that makes sense.
Speaker 1:Yeah, totally.
Speaker 2:I think maybe some parents lean more towards that way and it's harder to see like the mental health aspect of the kid. I don't know if you have thoughts on that.
Speaker 1:I do. I think. I think that, if you consider what we're trying to rate, like, what are we trying to raise? We're not raising a child, we're raising an adult Right, like that was.
Speaker 1:That was our goal was always to raise up individuals who were going to go into the world and be contributing citizens, and that we're going to have a deep faith and a deep sense of understanding and knowing, knowledge and experience of God and of who they are and of who they are.
Speaker 1:And so teaching you or providing ground for you to find who you are and what you want to do and who you want to become and who you were designed and developed to be Like, that was, to me, the utmost importance, because I don't want you to be who I want you to be.
Speaker 1:I want you to be who you were designed to be, and I remember, when you were born, looking at you because you're our first and looking at you and thinking man, I don't know you and I would give anything for you, I would give my life, but I don't know you and I would give anything for you. I would give my life, but I don't know you, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life getting to know you and I just that was such a I don't want to say a primal thought, but that was such an instinctual thought of the first time I met you and thinking about that like it's like I still am enjoying getting to know you. I mean, I know you, but it's the enjoyment of getting to know you for the rest of our lives.
Speaker 2:Does that make?
Speaker 1:sense what I mean by that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like the relationship aspect of it more so than the parent aspect of it.
Speaker 1:The relationship aspect of it and the discovery aspect of it. The discovery is so much part of a relationship I mean, I've been married for almost what would be 24 years and it's like I still love discovering who my wife is. People think, oh well, don't you know her by now? Well, yeah, but I also know that as we grow, as we, as we age or mature, there's aspects of us that can change, and so it's like great, I don't want us to be static for the rest of our lives, I want us to continue to grow, and as I grow and as she grows, it's like how, how do we get to know that growth? Through discovery? Same thing with you and your siblings.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so early on in my career, I taught parenting classes and we, we would go to various locations and we would teach, teach this class. And the parenting class was very much founded upon connection and relationship. And I remember, when you were two and we were teaching this class at a, at a pretty large, um, pretty large place, and, uh, you, we were pretty cool with you dressing yourself and we wanted you to have you know. You, we wanted you to have choices and your choice that day was like some rain boots and boots and an outfit that didn't match, which, again, we didn't care, it was fine, it was your choice. And again, I'm not saying that if parents care about that, that that's a bad thing. That was just a place that we were willing to bend, willing to bend, and you were marching around in your little rain boots and, uh, you're, you were a very compliant child, for whatever reason, that day you were not having whatever it was and you let out a really loud screech in the in the uh, uh foyer of this, of this building I mean, it was all hard surfaces, so it was loud and it echoed. And I just remember one of the participants who had a really loud, booming voice was like, okay, parenting guy, let's see what you've got.
Speaker 1:And it was such a pivotal moment for me as a dad because I remember thinking like, who is this for? Is this for them? Like to show them what the parenting guy has, or is this between me and you? And, unfortunately, everybody's watching? But is this between me and you? And it was almost like I was in the matrix and time stood still. But that thought of who is this for and is this between me and you, or is this between me and them? And thank God, he helped me choose appropriately. He helped me choose appropriately and it was between me and you and it was like that was a decision that I feel like I got to make at a really pivotal time in being a dad. And it was like I, it was almost like he allowed me to block everything else out.
Speaker 1:And you and I talked it through and, yes, you were two and, yes, we talked with each other. You and I talked it through and, yes, you were too, and, yes, we talked with each other. No, I wasn't reasoning with a two-year-old, but I needed to connect with you because we were very disconnected in that moment. And I think I knelt down and I think I said you're frustrated. You're like, yes, and you know, we and I was like you're frustrated and I don't know why. And you were able to, in a very frustrated tone, tell me why you were frustrated.
Speaker 1:And then we walked through that and it was I wanted a donut or whatever it was. And it was like, well, you know what? We're not going to have donuts, we're actually going to go eat lunch. And you were frustrated and I was able to say, and I get that you're frustrated, and yet the limit still stands. We hugged, we connected and it was funny because after it was over, the guy with the big booming voice just kind of started slow clapping Like you know, good job, parenting guy. I guess it does work. And it was kind of funny because part of me wondered later, like wonder if he thinks we staged that, because if we had, that would have been really good show right it would have been brilliant, because you really like you.
Speaker 1:You responded perfectly to really yeah to all the parenting techniques we were teaching.
Speaker 2:So one thing I wanted to ask, like as I got older and like maybe we had more disagreements along the way, like how do you feel like being a therapist? Did you like? What kind of ways or ways of dealing with conflict did you take from that and apply to conflicts that I had as your daughter?
Speaker 1:I, I, I think that the conflicts, the, the subjects may have changed, but the pathway to deal with them didn't. From that conflict, when you were two in the foyer of that building, it was always. You know, when there's a conflict, the hope is that you're able to connect. And if there was conflict between us, it was always to find that place that there's connection between us and to say, okay, we're we're connecting here, but maybe there's friction here. So let's take the place that we're connected and let's move that towards the friction. And if that means that I need to sit back and listen, even if I don't agree, I want to hear you and I feel like you were always good at that too, of listening, even if, even if I don't agree, I want to hear you and I feel like you were always good at that too, of listening, even if, even if you didn't agree. And I feel like there's always been that back and forth of connection.
Speaker 1:That's why, when you say you know mental health was so important, like, did you consider that more important than the, than being a parent? And you're saying, yeah, but that is parenting. It really was to me. What I was, what we were trying to preserve, was connection Like that, if we could stay attached you know the psychological term would be attachment Wanted to make sure we all, we wanted to make sure that you, you and your siblings, like that, we have a secure attachment, that we feel safe with one another another, safe enough to say I disagree, because I think that's important. Disagreeing is important. I don't, I don't want little carbon copies running around Like I want you all to be who God designed you to be, and so I think, in conflict, it's a matter of saying okay, I know that I love you and I know that you love me, and so let's, let's start from that premise and then let's figure out where do we disagree and why?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I see, I think one of the things I've heard a lot from like a lot of people is like they feel like their parents aren't like emotionally available, like I think that's a word that I hear often about their experience with the family. How do you feel, like, do you think your experience as a counselor has made you more emotionally available, or do you think you as a person like?
Speaker 1:No, I definitely wholeheartedly think it's because of my profession.
Speaker 2:Really.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:In what way?
Speaker 1:Because I think I understand, because of all that I've learned academically, how important intentionality is. And had I chosen a different profession or been called to a different profession, I don't know that I would have paid attention to that. I mean, hopefully I would, yeah Right, but I don't know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, mean hopefully I would yeah, Right, but I don't know. Yeah, but I would say I would say and I often say thank God that that I was called into this profession, that this is the career that I chose for myself. However you want to see it, I often say I'm so grateful for that because I don't know that I would have understand or would have understood the impact of my behavior on those in my home. If that, if that makes sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for sure, I think I've always been very thoughtful about things and I think that came from you. I've always been very analytical of what happens in situations and I've noticed that a lot more recently as an adult and learning how I navigate different situations. But mom was telling me as a kid, when I would play Littles Pet Shops, she would, um, I'd ask her like so, if the little's pet shop were to like I don't know, eat the whole jar of cookies, what would would she get in trouble and why? And it was just a constant like kind of trying to use the toys to kind of figure out what, how the life worked, pretty much, um, what was allowed and what wasn't allowed yeah I'm not.
Speaker 2:Maybe that was a subconscious thing that came from having a therapist dad.
Speaker 1:But maybe so. At the same time, I think that's a real natural, uh, developmental play is to ask questions, to be curious. I think it's more about your personhood and the freedom that you felt as a kid to be able to try things out. That's why. That's why kids lie like sometimes people will come to us and think, oh my gosh, my kid's a pathological liar. You know they they spilled some milk and said a goat did it, and you're like, yeah, it's part of their developmental process.
Speaker 1:Some, some, approach it through play, like what you're talking about, and play therapy is a lot about that, where you, you learn from their play, from the child's play, what is it that they're processing, and so you processing and navigating those themes in play makes a whole lot of sense, and it was. I thought it was always really sweet to watch you work those things out, you know, but it's. It's funny too, though, because, like I, because I forget where mom and I were, but we were having a discussion We'll call it a discussion, and it was a discussion with a lot of friction, and I think we were both kind of joking about some of the friction, but I forget who was with us, but we were talking about something and it was like and I would like to tell you where I am coming from, because my personhood would like to say the and it was like we were using some really technical terms and whoever was with us was kind of giggling like, oh my gosh, y'all are such dorks. And like, do y'all always do it this way? I'm like no, you know, we don't.
Speaker 1:We, we have good old fashioned discussions, um, but I think a lot, a lot of times people think, as a therapist, you don't turn it off, like you're analyzing your family, you're analyzing your friends, and I think, gosh, I don't. I mean this with all the love and respect in the world to all those people close, but I don't want to spend that kind of brain power when I'm not working. Yeah, you know, and so no, we do turn it off.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And no, we don't sit around and have share your feelings moments in the law, household, I mean, I think we do, but we don't call we have discussions, we have discussions.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, good discussions right, but it's not like. Okay, everyone sit down.
Speaker 2:It's five o'clock, it's time to share your emotions you're gonna read all your body language and figure out everything you've done this past week the emotional x-rays and take your picture I think I've. I think I've. Like it's easy to take for granted how lucky I am to have a therapist dad because I'm used to it and I hear people that obviously don't have a therapist dad and it's like I don't know. I become more and more grateful for it as I realize how and how lucky I am to have that.
Speaker 2:So I also love how this has turned into like a a myth debunking yeah, discussion yes, yes I think I was surprised by because I think I don't know, maybe it was like 15 or 16 when I came to you and said I wanted to like date, like could I be in a relationship, is that allowed, with a little special um. And I think I was surprised when you said yes, um what? And I, you encouraged it. What was the intention behind that?
Speaker 1:You're right. I did encourage it. I would encourage that for all of you, because I think that I want you to learn how to navigate a broken heart. I want you to learn how to navigate that under my roof. I want to make sure that when your heart gets broken, or when you break somebody's heart or when you get hurt, that you know, you know how to, or at least you have a, a, a principled understanding of, like, how do we walk through this? And you know how do you make sure you continue to honor you? And how do you, how do you honor the person either whose heart you're going to break or who broke your heart?
Speaker 1:And so I think that my whole thing in parenting was always figure out. Let's figure out together how we can say yes to this. Now, there are things that the only yes I can give you is if the situation's completely different. So to this situation there's just not a yes in there. So I don't want it to come across like, yeah, we're permissive parents and you can do whatever you want. It's. It's not been that. I mean, I don't think that was your experience.
Speaker 2:Being super permissive? Yeah, I don't think so.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, I was also kids, that's true, but I mean, even as a teenager, you know like our whole goal with you was your last. It's, it's our goal with all of our kids. Is their last year under our roof that you're pretty much coming and going as you please. It's all about respecting the household, as opposed to. You have a curfew and you have this that you have to be like we're going to. You know, have all these conflictual conversations with you. I want to, we wanted to have and we still want to have connected conversations, and that may sound a little silly, but what I mean by that is you know, if, if? It's well, what I mean by that is is I want to be able to talk through things with you. So the best way to put the kibosh on talking through situations with somebody is to be unbending, inflexible and unwilling to hear their side. And so I mean we've had situations where we've allowed things that may stretch other people's limits. So we've had friends who have heard things that we've said yes to and on the surface of it, they've given us a distinct amount of grief, a truckload of grief over it, and my response to them is always hold on, hold on, like let me tell you if, if, if you're willing to hear. Let me tell you the specifics and let me tell you the thought pattern behind why, and let me tell you all the principles that were learned as a result. And in inevitably and maybe it's because I'm a good salesman, but inevitably they were like oh okay, I see where you were going with that. Oh okay, well, so they learned about safety. You were going with that. Oh okay, well, so they learned about safety. They learned experientially the type of learning that you gain through experience. It's called procedural learning as opposed to task oriented learning, and task oriented is more like out of the book, and yeah, it's important to read a book and learn things, but then you go and do that thing and you learn the procedure to do it.
Speaker 1:And that's what I want you all to learn safety. I want you all to learn what it means to have your wits about you in the midst of something that's stressful. I want you to strategically, I want you to learn how to strategically think things through so that you know you're safe, so that you look. I want you to have fun. You know part of this life is about enjoying right, and so I want you to find things that you enjoy, and that's when, when you know, laying some of these things out, it's like, yes, we're going to find a way to say yes if we can. And if we can't say yes to that, then let's find something else that we can say yes to that is good for you, because if it's not illegal, immoral, unbiblical or unethical, we want to say yes to it. But those are our four pillars Illegal, immoral, unbiblical and unethical. Those are our four pillars. Illegal, immoral, unbiblical and unethical. Those are our four pillars. Those are good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're good pillars um, and I think, like in those types of situations, like you said, it wasn't just a yes, it was like a yes, but it had boundaries to it you know, and I think that's where, if people are giving you grief for being too lenient, like that's where it comes in. We're like yeah, it was a yes, but there were these rules around it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I like to refer to them as guidelines, guidelines.
Speaker 1:And maybe I didn't like the guidelines, but Maybe, but I learned from them, right, and when you all don't like the guidelines that we put out, it's like I really want to. We both really want to understand why. Because that gives us, that's the x-ray that gives me insight into you, and not so that we can manipulate. It's so that we can know. It's a greater form in my mind and in your mom's mind. It's a greater form in my mind and in your mom's mind. It's a greater form of connection. It's a greater form of being with each other and understanding each other better you've always been very invested in all three of our lives.
Speaker 2:I think like you've, and it's like you've trying to think of, like first, when I, when I, started in dance you're always very involved in that and you were dance dad, and then Molly started horse riding.
Speaker 1:But to be clear, I was dance dad from the audience. I never got up.
Speaker 2:He was never on stage, never, unfortunately.
Speaker 1:Fortunately for all the other people watching now, it was not, but yes, I always.
Speaker 2:But you were the dance dad of the dance moms group. Yeah well, you were the dance dad of the dance moms group. Yeah Well, you were there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know it's like it's like on the way over here, you said to me you're, you're off today and you're like, oh, I'm sorry that I'm bringing you back to the office. I'm like I don't care where we go, I just want to be together and if you, if you're dancing like I want to, I want to hang out there because you're passionate about it.
Speaker 2:So therefore, I'm passionate about it, yeah, and that was an interesting I get, and also when I decided russia sorority, or that was so fun you were recruitment was the best. It was more fun for you than for me. You know why.
Speaker 1:It is so strategy laden.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Like it was like 3D chess, like I had so much fun, like okay, what's the strategy today?
Speaker 2:What dress are we going to wear?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I mean you were going to kill it. You were going to look amazing no matter what you wore, but it was the whole idea of like getting to be strategic. I love strategy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but in that situation you were there for me, for something that was going to be beyond, like something that you weren't ultimately a part of but, you were still super invested in it and in my experience, which I appreciated, having sorority dad and now you have all your sorority shirts. Oh yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1:I love my sorority dad. And now you have all your sorority shirts. Oh yeah, I love it. I love my sorority shirts. But the whole point in that for me was because it's a point of connection with you. It's so funny. When your mom and I met, we were just friends for a very long time and I remember, you know, she lived in Southeast Asia for a period of time and I remember being just friends and people saying why are you flying over there to visit her? I'm like because she's there, like that's her experience there, and I want to see and be a part of what she's experiencing. And yes, it worked to my advantage when she came home and married me not much long after that, um, but I wanted to be a part of what she was experiencing and it's like that's what I wanted with you and with your siblings is like I wanted to be a part of. Like you're going through sorority rush, like I want to know what's going on, like I want to be in that with you.
Speaker 1:I mean not, not like I'm the dad who's like showing up and you know, spraying your hair and making sure you know all that I mean I think that'd be creepy and kind of weird, but it's that whole thing of like I want to, I, I, I want to experience this with you, Like I love you, I love your brother and sister, I love your mother and I want to be like, I want to be with y'all in that, you know. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I think that translated well, because I never felt like you were overbearing or like trying too hard to like be a part of things. Good, because I can imagine maybe sometimes it feels that way with parents, like trying to be a part of things, and it sometimes I, it, I could see how this would be difficult.
Speaker 1:Sometimes we try to live out our dreams through our children, through our kids and that's. I think that's where the overbearing comes in is, because my dream isn't your dream. Where the overbearing comes in is because my dream isn't your dream and your dream has to be what you're pursuing. Otherwise it's dreadfully inauthentic and it won't. You won't be able to pull it off very well. But if it's your dream, not mine, then I just get to enjoy your dream with you and to me. That's how we stay separate.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 1:It's like the attachment language is it's warm but separate, and the warmth is the closeness but the separateness is obviously the separate. And so it's like, yeah, I mean I never wanted to play baseball, but your brother does. And so it's easy for me to say, you know, get after it. I never wanted to be a horseback rider, but your brother does, and so it's easy for me to say, you know, get after it. I never wanted to be a horseback rider, but your sister does. And so it's like, yeah, go tear it up you never wanted to be in a sorority.
Speaker 1:I never wanted to be in a sorority I never wanted to be in dance, I never wanted to be an artist.
Speaker 1:You know, like that, those were my dreams but, they're y'all's dreams and I think that I think that as much as we can stand back from now and if you all said like, oh, I wanted to be, you know, a really successful psychologist, like that's my dream are really successful. If y'all said you wanted to be a really successful, you know therapist or mental health professional, wanted to be a really successful, you know therapist or mental health professional, I don't want to get involved in that. I would love to see you do that if that's your dream, but it it's not my dream is that I want it to be my dream, isn't that I want?
Speaker 2:it to be that through you. Thank you for coming on the show.
Speaker 1:I'm honored to be here. I'm actually honored that you're here. Part of what we do, as you will know, beyond the couches, we want to leave our listeners with some tips, some practical advice. Do you have any practical advice for our listeners that you think might be intriguing?
Speaker 2:um, well, I'm in my third year of college now. Um, and one of the things I was also homeschooled in high school and so and I also that was 2020 when covid was happening so it was a very lonely time, I wasn't doing a lot, I wasn't seeing a lot, and I kind of realized the importance of going out of my comfort zone. I'm a very introverted person and so kind of pushing back against that sometimes when it's needed, and especially coming to college, when you're faced with a lot of opportunities, a lot of different relationships, and just take hold of opportunities, don't be scared of them. And going out of your comfort zone is a big thing because I dread social events where I don't know who I'm going to see, I don't know what I'm going to do. I hate it, but every single time I force myself to go do something, I always end up being my favorite day every time. I love that, yeah.
Speaker 1:I love that because I think what you're proposing which I think is fantastic is that don't be defined by your fears, don't be defined by discomfort. Be defined by your fears, don't be defined by discomfort. That when you experience discomfort and I think knowing yourself well, you'll know is this discomfort or is this debilitating? If it's debilitating, honor that and work through that a different way. But if it's discomfort, you can press through discomfort, and so I love that You're encouraging people press through the discomfort. If it's debilitating, work through that a different way.
Speaker 2:Exactly. That's brilliant, thank you. What about you? Do you have any advice?
Speaker 1:I think I would piggyback on what you said and say and just encourage our listeners know yourself, know yourself and what you bring to the table right. That was my whole hope. Not my whole hope. That was. That is part of my desire for you and for your siblings, for your mom, for me, for all of our friends and families. That we know who we are, that we understand like what we bring to the, to the table, so to speak. That by knowing who we are, we'll understand is that a discomfort or is that debilitating, and we can act accordingly.
Speaker 2:So that's really good.
Speaker 3:Thank you. If you found value in our discussion and wish to uncover more about the fascinating world of mental wellness, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast. Stay tuned for our upcoming episodes, where Dr Long will continue to delve into empowering therapies and strategies for mental wellness. Your journey to understanding and embracing mental health is just beginning and we're excited to have you with us every step of the way. Until next time, keep exploring, keep growing and remember to celebrate restored freedom as you uncover it.
.png)
.png)