Montgomery Smashing The Stigma
The statistics tell a clear story. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that one in five Americans live with a mental health condition. With the support of our City Council, the City began a mental health initiative to help break the stigma. As a small local government, providing treatment for mental illness was not feasible. Still, the City believes we are responsible for being a conduit and connecting people with groups and solutions that are out there when they need it most.
Montgomery Smashing The Stigma
Brian Valasek: The Difference Between Therapy and Psychiatric Care
In this episode, we explore the differences between therapy and psychiatric care. Learn how traditional talk therapy addresses emotional and behavioral issues, while psychiatric therapy involves medical treatment, including medication. Discover how these approaches can complement each other to provide comprehensive care for mental health and well-being.
Brian Valasek is dedicated to helping you step out of your comfort zone to discover your most authentic self. Courageously facing your core problem head-on may be the most difficult and rewarding pursuit of your life. Counseling provides the support and tools necessary to take this journey that leads to healing and growth.
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Over the last 18 years, Brian has helped hundreds of people through valleys of shame, social anxiety, and addiction to a place where self-awareness, assertiveness and self-esteem thrive. These experiences have helped him redefine a problem as an opportunity to grow, learn, and live into our purpose, passion and gifts as we strive toward our full potential.
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Brian does not claim to have the golden path to recovery, but he has traveled down some of these same roads himself and believes that his personal experience and perspectives helps him help you better. The insight you gain in therapy and the actions you take as a result of therapy have the power to change the course of your life. We invite you to reach out and take your first step toward freedom.
Brian specializes in addiction, anxiety, social anxiety, assertive communication and self-esteem with adults and older adults.
Beyond Your Valley
City of Montgomery
Hi everyone, I'm Connie Gaylor, and welcome to Montgomery's Smashing the Stigma podcast.
AMY FREDERICK:And I'm Amy Frederick. Joining us on the podcast is Brian Valasek, steward and owner of Beyond Your Valley. Beyond Your Valley is located in Blue Ash, Ohio. It offers mental health counseling, psychiatric services to overcome trauma, addiction, depression, and anxiety.
CONNIE GAYLOR:Today, we want to talk about the difference between counseling and psychiatric care.
BRIAN VALASEK:Thank you for having me. The the difference between counseling and psychiatric care. Counseling is, um, is talk therapy. You also will hear it called therapy. So behavioral health counseling, mental health counseling therapy sort of interchangeable in many respects. But essentially counseling is talk therapy designed to help you cope with things better. Whether it be anxiety, depression, stress, life transition, uh, but also or and also it is to help you find out the core of what generates those problems that you encounter and what perpetuates those problems. So getting to the core is what we like to focus on. Because if you understand why things happen, how things happen, you don't have as many problems that proliferate and so you can understand yourself better. Really become yourself is really an ultimate aim of counseling, because we do so many things that take us away from ourselves from day one. And then the goal is to get back to yourself, the full version of yourself.
CONNIE GAYLOR:So and that makes total sense. So when does that spill over to the need that maybe if you have a, you know, a client come in and, and they share their story with you and you hear their story. When does it transition from, okay, we're in talk therapy. But now I feel like there's a need for psychiatric care.
BRIAN VALASEK:Well, I think I think if, if, if you run into obstacles in therapy repeatedly, um, you may find benefit from medication would be one way to say it. Okay. Depending on why you're running into those obstacles, there's a lot of therapy traps where therapy can just turn into talking. It could just turn into venting. Um, somebody could could forget the core part and just help you be coping with stuff so that you have to keep coming back. And there's a dependency that develops. So but in general, if the problem persists or intensifies and it's out of out of control, like it's that becomes a crisis situation where you can no longer handle it yourself. You've talked to your resources, you talk to your therapist, you talk it through, and it's just not making the impact that you want it to see. Then you would probably go see a psychiatrist or a psychiatric provider for an evaluation to see if medicine would be the right answer, and if so, which ones.
CONNIE GAYLOR:And you offer both at Beyond your Valley. Yeah we do. So when do you often have counselors and psychiatric care together as in conjunction treating that one client. So it's kind of a holistic approach from both sides.
BRIAN VALASEK:Absolutely. We do that as often as we can. Of course the the client is in charge, right? In many respects. Um, so if if I tell my clients, if you're driving yourself off a cliff, I'm going to tell you or and if and if I'm driving you off, I want you to tell me. Um, but essentially. Yeah. So we will work in conjunction as often as possible. It's interesting that you say that will they will the psychiatrist or psychiatric provider work with, um, the therapist? So sometimes that's why I like nurse practitioners. So that's why I say psychiatric provider I mean psychiatric nurse practitioner. They are trained in therapy as well. So they'll do a they'll do a bit of that themselves. And then if they feel out of their scope with that because of time or, you know, frequency that they need to see, then it's like, okay, we're going to do some core work over here with your therapist. Trauma therapist, for example. Did that answer your question?
CONNIE GAYLOR:Yeah, it did, because I feel like people need to understand that sometimes you may start at a and it may lead you to B. And so knowing that, um, that they're closely related and the difference too. Um we give them some, you know, maybe some security of knowing when they come to Beyond your Valley or any other practice, that it's kind of a seamless transition when the need arises. Um, you know, hopefully.
BRIAN VALASEK:We're paying attention to that. Everybody's paying attention to that. You can also start with B and then go to A. So so when people ask, where do I start? The answer is you start somewhere, right? Um, that's not the end all be all answer because you it could be the less optimal place like there is a there is a bias out there. So if you go to a psychiatric provider, they may some psychiatric providers like to prescribe medications. So they might find an issue that doesn't really exist or oh, this is I see bipolar all day long. They see bipolar all day long because they look for bipolar all day long. So you do want to be careful about where you start. But if it's done properly, it's okay to start there and then go to the next thing. It happens all the time when people seek out medication and then therapy and not therapy than medication.
CONNIE GAYLOR:Okay, okay. So it can go in either direction then and be successful. Yeah.
BRIAN VALASEK:Yeah. And it's not just counseling and psychiatry. I think we might end up talking about some holistic kind of things. So you've got spiritual health, you've got emotional health, mental health, you've got all these other resources and people you can go to that are not professional, but they can help you. That can be your people, right?
CONNIE GAYLOR:They can be your source of support. Absolutely. Um, and that's a great. That was a great segue because, you know, we've we've talked about the terminology that you use these days. Um, you know, do we refer to it as mental health, mental illness, mental wellness? Can you provide some education for us on what those terms mean? And or even if you just kind of what the general, um, use of those are?
BRIAN VALASEK:Uh, I can give you my opinion. Okay. Um, because, I mean, there's there's each word sends you in a different direction. Uh, and, and it sends each individual in a different direction. I consider mental illness a sort of the the biological things that happen that are more like, uh, bipolar disorder. Schizophrenia. Um, those, those conditions in particular have more of a biological neurochemical basis, as far as I understand where you're talking about mental health. So you say who needs counseling? The answer is everyone. The answer is that's not a joke. That's like, who could benefit from. It's the wrong question. Who needs therapy? The right question is who could benefit from therapy? The answer is everyone. Why? Because we all have a narrative that needs redesigned to get us closer to who we really are. It got thrown off somewhere, somehow, along the way. I like mental health or mental wellness, although it's not inclusive. What about emotional wellness? Right. I think more in terms of when when we say holistic, I think of more of the samhsa's eight dimensions of wellness. I can never remember all eight off the top of my head. Need a chart? But it's physical. Spiritual, social, occupational, mental and bare minimum. An understanding of your mental, the way you think and the way you feel, feel. The reason I say emotional wellness is kind of like another level of depth. It's what we talk about feeling so much because we're guided by our feelings. We do what our feelings tell us to do, whether they're telling us the truth or not. So it's important to understand what they're actually telling us and if it's true or not.
CONNIE GAYLOR:So that's the benefit of the talk therapy is you have to talk through those feelings to get to what your real mental health, emotional health is, because it can be congruent with each other.
BRIAN VALASEK:Yeah, exactly. Well said. You're trying you're trying to get those in alignment. And when they're not it's that's a problem. You don't have good outcomes for your life.
AMY FREDERICK:So when you said everybody could benefit. Yeah I'm curious. So what does that look like if I come to you. What does a session look like. Because I think older times people have this, like you said already, a narrative in their head about me laying on a couch, spilling out my problems, just talking, talking, talking. There was a certain stigma around that. But today I think it's really different. People are going just just to feel, you know, to feel better. So if I came to you, what would a session look like?
BRIAN VALASEK:Or a classic answer is it depends. It depends on how I roll. And it also depends on what you need. Uh, hopefully we try to get those congruent to where I can adapt to what you need. A good therapist will help you get what you need, not what you want. So you may be. That's why we say I say co-create a treatment plan because your your goals. I cannot align 100% with your goals because some of them might not take you where you need to go. So, um, so the it depends, Amy. So you it depends on what you brought in and what you're trying to accomplish. I again, I'm going to keep saying coping and core of probably over and over um because a lot of people come in to feel better. Well, if your goal is to feel better, that could be problematic. So any number of ways that I try to help you feel better, I could be enabling, assuaging. I could be doing all kinds of things that don't actually help you transform and grow in the process. The point of a problem is to help you grow. A lot of people think the point of a problem is a problem, and so. So a lot of therapists think that too. So they'll just help you be wary. Uh, because if that therapist thinks the problem is just a problem, they're going to help you solve your problem. And guess what you're going to have? You won't have learned anything about yourself and how to deal with problems. So so that's the core stuff. So every chance we get, we try to look at the core and more of a coaching mentality of how can you take it to the next level? It's not like you're broken. You need to be fixed. It's like you're you're already doing great. How can you do better and use what you have? We're tapping into that.
CONNIE GAYLOR:You almost have to destigmatize the treatment so that you can destigmatize it all together so that people will seek treatment, because if they're worried about going in and just meeting with a, you know, a therapist or, you know, a psychiatrist, they're not going to do it because they're already just afraid of that, more or less sharing their story. Yeah.
BRIAN VALASEK:People think we are. We are we are by nature fairly non-judgmental. I probably am extremely non-judgmental, I think, but but people still believe that they're going to get judged in our room. It just doesn't really happen. And where we do have those biases, we try to we do the best we can not to not to like, steer you that way or let it interfere with what we're doing or something. But, um, but yeah, everybody, everybody is afraid of the same thing of being judged. Yeah, because we're all afraid of the same thing. Disconnection. Mhm.
AMY FREDERICK:So for people who and I know Beyond your Valley offers wonderful services. But for somebody listening outside of this area, what's a great way to find somebody like you.
BRIAN VALASEK:Word of mouth is always the best. So that's why it's important that we talk about this. And you openly talk about if you've had a good therapy experience or a poor therapy experience, it's important to talk about that. Um, a referral from a trusted friend is is is probably the best but harder to come by. Um, then you have the good old internet, so you're googling therapists near me, and like, for example, if you Google therapist near me, we might not come up because I didn't do my SEO very good yet. So we're word of mouth primarily right now. We're aiming to fix that. But, um, so basically therapists near me. Psychology today is used a lot, although it has diminishing utility. Um, mental health match. There's online directories if you're looking for specific type of therapy. Uh, if you're if you're savvy enough to know what type of different therapies are out there, then you can look for that particular type of therapist that uses that, uh, theoretical orientation to do their work. So yeah. Directories. And then if you're if you're wanting to use insurance, although they're getting better than they were about, they used to have, they were all over the place. Inaccurate information old outdated. But it's it's getting a little bit better as a place to find. Okay. Who are my therapists in my area? And like you said, the state near me, the state over from me. You said right, right. You can see anybody in Ohio. If you're in sitting in Ohio, you can see any licensed provider in Ohio. They can be in Florida or Bahamas or Ohio. There's so many choices of people that you can see. So it actually becomes harder to pinpoint because you really have to know what you're looking for. And and it's not easy.
CONNIE GAYLOR:Have you seen a big uptick in in new patients and new clients? Um, in the last few years since Covid? I mean, has do you feel like, um, I mean, everybody's saying, oh, Covid, social media, all of this is, is raising, you know, the need for for talk therapy or for psychiatric care. Um, or do you feel like it's something that once somebody starts, you know, in treatment, that it's just a continual lifelong thing to truly find the benefit in it? Because I think sometimes people see this as they would see their medical doctor. They're going to go and get treated for that one thing, and then they're going to be healed. But this isn't the same.
BRIAN VALASEK:No, this isn't the same. This isn't the same at all. I mean, that would be one of the traps is you stop when you feel better, as if feeling better. The problem is solved. Feeling bad was the problem. Feeling good is a solution to the problem. Growth and transformation is a solution to the problem that you come to therapy for. That's always on the table. So I so I keep saying that bit. But it's so I want people to know that they can do it that way. But what you're leaving on the table is like freedom, growth, transformation, um, authenticity of becoming yourself and what the impact and ripple effect that they can have to your family, your community is unbelievable. So why stop there?
CONNIE GAYLOR:So they can learn these coping skills? Or, um, sometimes, like you said, it's just getting to know yourself. Maybe you didn't know. You don't know your core self well enough to know how to how to come out of a situation or a lifetime thing that you've been dealing with. And that is the goal of talk therapy and or psychiatric care.
BRIAN VALASEK:So some people so to answer your question, some people would be, uh, it would be a lifelong commitment to to because you sort of get I don't want to say addicted, but you get kind of, um, a hunger for more. You want more for yourself. And you see, it gets more nuanced as you go. The further you go with it, the more understanding, the more you know what I'm saying, the more nuanced it gets with your goals and objectives, because you've knocked out some of the other ones. And those are you're cranking with those pretty well. So some people, it's life. Some people, um, they just needed a shift in their mindset. And it starts to change the narrative and the actions stem forth sort of organically from that. You don't have to spend a lot of time. You've got the momentum go, and most of us take more of a, I hope, take more of a hands off approach in terms of, I believe in your capacity as a human being to do great things. So why do I need to hold your hand, get you some momentum? You've got the ideas, the mindset that tools go after it. Go get it. You can always come back if you hit a hit a wall again, right? So it really depends on your goals and all kinds of things. But it doesn't need to be lifelong. Some people would benefit from going further though. Yeah.
CONNIE GAYLOR:So you treat the individual. You treat families. I mean, I'm sure you have families that come in for this. Where do you think you feel your biggest service is? Is it is it in one specific area there or is it just counseling? Is it the psychiatric or.
BRIAN VALASEK:Oh, beyond your valley specifically? Yeah. I mean, our, our biggest service is the way is the way we do counseling. It's largely individual. We do have couples therapists and family therapists are our bread and butter. The way we started this was therapy. We have we have excellent psychiatric providers who have that same kind of mindset about believing in people and their abilities. But yeah, we're individual counseling with a coaching bent, which means you can. We know you can take it to the next level and we're on. We're on board with you to do that.
AMY FREDERICK:One thing I saw on your website that I found was interesting, that I'd never seen before was self-esteem. Can you? Because I think a lot of people could benefit, especially with the internet and social media out there. What kind of things do you talk about and what kind of I know you said everybody should come and therapy is good for everybody, but how does self-esteem, how do you like how do you talk to somebody about that? Because I know a few people I think could benefit from that just themselves. I'm just wondering what that looks like.
BRIAN VALASEK:Well, I think first of all, I think the the counseling in general, just talking with a therapist should boost your self-esteem because they're reflective. They're seeing the best parts of you reflecting those back to you and allowing you to be yourself, uh, all the flaws and everything. So that. So you're not shaming yourself for the flaws you're explaining. Where did they come from? Right. And so the process itself increases self-esteem, reduces shame, and increases self-esteem. That's not often enough in and of itself. There needs to be direct work on self-esteem. And so when I work with people, it's it's where do you get your validation from? Is it internal? Is it external? For all of us, we have some measure of external validation. I probably have some external validation if you if after this you say how wonderful I did, I'll be like, okay, that's cool, I did great. So we need that to some extent. So yeah we talk about where do you get your validation from? We talk about what kind of connections do you have with other people. And we try to help people understand their values and priorities, morals, character and ethics and to live in alignment with that. So when you start to compromise those, it starts to, you know, you're not yourself anymore. And so you feel like you have to be somebody else.
AMY FREDERICK:I think that's an excellent point. I'd never thought of it that way. And I think just hearing yourself speak about things and the changes you want to make, I think it would help you. I just I guess in my mind, I just see all these people on social media and they're looking for validation, they're looking for likes, and then they always walk away thinking that they're not enough. Mhm. So I think it's interesting that you offer that and that you speak about that. And I'd never thought of as therapy as a whole, as something that would help you build your self-esteem. What other kind of you mentioned holistic approach. What are the other holistic approaches that you take? Like you said, did you did you mention religion and some other?
BRIAN VALASEK:Yeah, I mean, spirituality, I mean, spirituality is big because essentially I was talking about this today. So spirituality, especially the Christian faith, is unique because God said you're pre-approved and so you don't have there's you don't have to get it from anywhere else. You don't have to get your validation approval from anyone else. You get it from God. And so that can be huge if I'm if I'm able to use that with clients. It is it's next level stuff. If I can't use that with clients, it's one arm tied behind my back because yeah. So holistic, holistic I mean spiritual component, whatever that looks like for you. But spiritual defined as something outside of yourself that you, you lean on because you it's not that you can't do it yourself. We weren't designed to do it ourselves, but in America, we think we were told we were supposed to do everything ourselves. So we become not dependent, which is good, but we're not interdependent, which is bad. We are independent to a fault. And so we don't ask for help and we stuff it inside. We say. So we tell ourselves we should be able to handle everything. And when you can't, you fall short. So. So basically, what is therapy? Therapy. The whole any you can have, you could you could have a litany of therapists come in here and they're going to come in. Well, I do act ifs eMDR, I do this, I do that. It it's all you have a narrative that says you're less than and you're trying to. And then how do you respond to that? How do you change it to a narrative that says that I am enough and then behave accordingly in your life? So integrating spirituality that says you are worthy inherently, um, disrupts that that narrative that we've built for ourselves that ain't working.
CONNIE GAYLOR:Which is very hard these days because there's so much especially with, with, you know, our teenagers or young adults. There's so much comparison that makes them think they are not enough. And, you know, so every good thing they do, they they find something to compare to. And they and they, you know, will take themselves down a notch. So like, Amy, I think it's great that you really hone in on helping them to develop that and skills to cope when things don't go right, that they don't fall back into that comparison narrative, and they're able to to work through it and cope through it.
BRIAN VALASEK:That's yeah, that's absolutely right. Because you because you will you know, when I say transformation, you still might have that in the back of your head and it still might come under periods of intense stress or an important relationship might. It might come up again. And then you have to go, oh, you have to swat that away. That's not true. This is what the truth is. And you get back to it. Yeah. Yeah.
CONNIE GAYLOR:So it's refocusing your thinking. Yeah.
BRIAN VALASEK:It's a lot of that.
CONNIE GAYLOR:Yeah.
AMY FREDERICK:So if you were going to tell somebody you're making a pitch for yourself, what's the difference between what we talked about therapy and then psychiatric care. What do you want the listeners to know?
BRIAN VALASEK:I want listeners. To know that wherever they start is okay. And whatever you feel you need. Um, you can get. We are out here to help you cope better with things and to understand yourself better and get to a next level. If you need a psychiatric, support psychiatric medications to help you along the way, that's what you need do. Do that for yourself. It's important.
AMY FREDERICK:You're such a calming demeanor. Um, I can see why people call you and want to talk to you. What's the best way for people to reach you?
BRIAN VALASEK:The the best way to reach any of us at the practice is, um, through our website. Um, on there, there's a website form. So beyond your valley.com, there's a contact form that will go to one of our client experience coordinators. Uh, Joanne, Maddie or Andy, and they will get back to you promptly. You can also call 513348 1780. Um, or just email Joanne directly at Joanne at Beyond Your valley.com.
CONNIE GAYLOR:Thank you for joining us, Brian. And we want to thank you for listening.