Hope Starts With Us: Helping Caregivers Show Up for Youth Mental Health

For parents and caregivers, navigating youth mental health may be unknown territory. In this episode, NAMI’s CEO, Daniel H. Gillison, Jr., is joined by our Associate Medical Director and author of “You Are Not Alone for Parents and Caregivers,” Dr. Christine Crawford. Together, they explore what signs parents and caregivers should watch for, how to talk about mental health with youth, and more. Please visit YouAreNotAloneBook.org for more information about Dr. Crawford’s book and to pre-order your copy.

You can find additional episodes of this NAMI podcast and others at nami.org/podcast.

00:00:00:02 – 00:00:23:21
Dr. Christine Crawford
By bringing up the topic of anxiety, depression, or any other mental health problem, you’re not planting the seed for them to go on and to develop the issue. In fact, bringing it up will make it less likely that the kid will run into an issue because you’ve created an environment in which you’re open to having these sort of conversations.

00:00:23:23 – 00:00:59:23
Dr. Christine Crawford
They are watching the adults in their lives in terms of what they look like when they’re angry, when they’re sad, and how they deal with that. They’re learning all the language about how to describe how you’re feeling inside to other people. Fast forward to when they’re 17, 18, 19, making the transition to adulthood. They’ll be able to quickly identify and label what the problem is emotionally, and they already have a whole toolbox full of strategies that they can tap into to navigate that challenge, because they’ve been used to talking about this for 15 years.

00:01:00:05 – 00:01:26:09
Dan
Welcome to Hope Starts With Us, a podcast by NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. My name is Daniel H. Gillison Jr. I’m the CEO for NAMI and I’m your host. NAMI started this podcast because we believe that hope starts with us. Hope starts with us talking about mental health. Hope starts with us making information accessible. Hope starts with us providing resources and practical advice.

00:01:26:10 – 00:01:48:20
Dan
Hope starts with us sharing our stories, and hope starts with us breaking the stigma. If you or a loved one is struggling with a mental health condition and have been looking for hope, we made this podcast for you. Hope starts with all of us. Hope is a collective. We hope that each episode with each conversation brings you into that collective.

00:01:49:01 – 00:02:23:04
Dan
So you know you are not alone. Our theme is You Are Not Alone: For Parents and Caregivers, and this is about a new book that we have coming out that is the second in what we would consider a series. Our first book was You Are Not Alone: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Mental Health. And in this book, this was a series that includes real lived experiences from people experiencing mental health challenges and their trusted support systems, family and loved ones.

00:02:23:06 – 00:02:49:06
Dan
NAMI’s focus on youth mental health and the youth mental health crisis and providing resources to help families find help early is critically important to us. And to that extent, we now have a new book that is coming out on the 10th of September, and it is You Are Not Alone: For Parents and Caregivers. And the author of You Are Not Alone:

00:02:49:07 – 00:03:17:14
Dan
For Parents and Caregivers is our very own Dr. Christine Crawford. She is NAMI’s associate medical director. And if you bear with me for a second, I’d like to tell you a little bit about her credentials and her background. Dr. Crawford is the assistant professor of psychiatry and vice chair of education at the Boston University School of Medicine. She provides outpatient psychiatric care to children and adolescents at Boston Medical Center.

00:03:17:16 – 00:03:50:07
Dan
She is also the medical director for Boston Public Health Commission’s school-based clinician program supporting socio-emotional well-being of Boston Public School System students. She’s also a trusted source on child mental health expertise for New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, NBC, and more. And she’s had on-camera appearances for The Today Show and BBC, as well as local CBS, Fox and ABC affiliates.

00:03:50:09 – 00:04:12:17
Dan
Dr. Crawford, thank you. You are incredibly busy and for you to give us your time for this podcast, we are so incredibly grateful and we’re also incredibly grateful for your work on this book and your representation of NAMI. You have so much that you’re doing, you giving your time and your energy and your talent to this is our benefit.

00:04:12:17 – 00:04:31:11
Dan
So thank you on behalf of NAMI. So as you are doing this, I just want to start out by also thanking you for finding the time, I don’t know where, to write this incredible book, and I wanted to ask you what motivated you to write this book?

00:04:31:13 – 00:04:56:10
Dr. Christine Crawford
Well, first off, Dan, thank you so much for having me on this amazing podcast. And I’m just really encouraged by the fact that so many people have access to all of the incredible tools and resources that NAMI provides. And this podcast is just another tool, another way to reach out and further expand the NAMI community. So thank you so much for having me on the podcast.

00:04:56:12 – 00:05:23:03
Dr. Christine Crawford
But in terms of what motivated me to write this book, it was really about ensuring that the kids have what they need to have in order to develop into adults who have all the tools that they need to navigate all the challenges that we face in this world. And a lot of the challenges have to do with emotions, how we respond to people’s behaviors. How do we behave?

00:05:23:05 – 00:06:03:18
Dr. Christine Crawford
And those are things that need to be taught to our young people. And we know that young people may experience some challenges that makes it really difficult for them to connect with others, to display their emotions or to regulate their behaviors. So I wanted the adults in the lives of children to have access to this incredible resource so that they can read through this book to learn how they can more effectively communicate with their kids, to understand what is going on with their emotions, how they can tap into various resources to give the supports that their kid needs, and how to tap into a larger community.

00:06:03:18 – 00:06:28:02
Dr. Christine Crawford
That’s outside of the confines of their own family, but to expand upon their community by looking at NAMI as an organization that they can turn to to learn more about ways in which they can connect with their kids. I can’t do that in a short office visit when I’m seeing patients in my child and adolescent psychiatry clinic. There’s just not enough time.

00:06:28:04 – 00:06:42:04
Dr. Christine Crawford
And so this book was an opportunity to put all of those tools together in one resource to make it such that caregivers feel more empowered to take care of their young people’s lives so they can grow up and thrive as adults.

00:06:42:06 – 00:07:03:13
Dan
You know, Dr. Crawford, thank you. And I want to talk as parents and caregivers prepare their young people to go to school. I want to ask you about any advice you would have. Before I do that, though, I want to say something that NAMI always says, “Nothing about us without us.” And one of the things that I did not mention is that you are a parent, you are a mother.

00:07:03:16 – 00:07:29:04
Dan
You have two youngsters yourself. So nothing about us without us. So as we talked about your background and your credentials, adding that one to the list also validates this work, but it also validates what I said earlier. I don’t know where you found the time and we’re just so grateful. So now let’s talk about you know, any advice that you would have as a parent or caregiver sends their young person after school this fall?

00:07:29:06 – 00:07:49:21
Dr. Christine Crawford
I think it’s important to lean into conversations about mental health, about how your kids are doing emotionally rather than to lean out. And I think because caregivers have so many different things that they need to make sure in place prior to the start school year. They’re worried about all of the supplies that they have to get for their kids.

00:07:49:23 – 00:08:14:22
Dr. Christine Crawford
They’re worried about, are their kids enrolled in the right class? Worried about, do I need to get special supports for my kid if they happen to have a learning related issue and what have you that we get so caught up in all of these little details that we fail to lean into conversations to connect with kids to better understand how are they doing. How are they thinking about this transition from the summer months to to school?

00:08:15:00 – 00:08:43:20
Dr. Christine Crawford
And so I really encourage caregivers to slow it down and to create some space where they can connect with their kids before they start school to ask them. I’m just curious, what are your thoughts about starting the school year? Are there things that excite you? Are there things that worry you about starting this new school year? And oftentimes, as caregivers, we’re very quick to minimize what it is that a kid is saying and to provide quick reassurance to the child.

00:08:43:22 – 00:09:10:22
Dr. Christine Crawford
So if they say, I’m really worried about starting seventh grade. It’s middle school, I have to change classes, I have to go to a locker. I’m really worried and nervous. I’m also nervous about fitting in. Rather than the typical immediate response by saying, “Don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine. You’ll be fine.” That doesn’t create an opportunity for you to connect with your kid, to understand what is at the root of that worry and concern.

00:09:11:00 – 00:09:33:18
Dr. Christine Crawford
And it provides you with a chance to give them some tools and skills and resources and strategies that they can use to cope with some of the stress that’s associated with being in a new school setting. And to say to them, well, when I started middle school, it was really stressful for me too. These were the things that I did that were really helpful.

00:09:33:22 – 00:09:52:15
Dr. Christine Crawford
I wonder, what do you think would be helpful for you to feel less stressed out about going to school? That’s a beautiful conversation that provides role modeling, that role models you are providing about how to talk about stressful things. And then you’re also talking about some tools and strategies that worked for you when you were in that stage in life.

00:09:52:16 – 00:10:00:17
Dr. Christine Crawford
So I encourage people to slow down and the focus mainly on having these conversations about what it’s like for the kids to go back to school.

00:10:00:23 – 00:10:20:11
Dan
You mentioned some of the tactical and transactional things that all parents have to do. Get the supply list, then go and get the supplies, then make sure they go and buy all the clothes and make sure that their child feels very comfortable cosmetically. You did something there that also was really cool from the standpoint of “slow down.”

00:10:20:13 – 00:10:46:10
Dan
And as you slow down and get off of that kind of transactional, okay, I’ve got to go do this, this, iss ask your child, are there some things that excite you? These are powerful kinds of little nuggets. So thank you, Dr. Crawford. One of the things I wanted to then get to is asking this question: “What kind of behavioral changes or warning signs should parents watch for after school starts?”

00:10:46:12 – 00:11:09:16
Dr. Christine Crawford
I think this is a really great question because going back to what I said earlier about how we are so accustomed to being fast paced in our thinking and in our actions, that it’s hard to really fully notice what is happening with our children because we’re so focused on the next thing that we oftentimes lose sight of what is right in front of us.

00:11:09:17 – 00:11:30:02
Dr. Christine Crawford
And so it isn’t uncommon for me to hear about emotional or behavioral issues that evolved over the course of the academic year. That was really difficult for the caregivers to recognize because they were so stressed out by other things that they couldn’t see what was happening to their kids right in front of them. So slowing down is so key.

00:11:30:04 – 00:12:00:15
Dr. Christine Crawford
But some of the concerns or some of the red flags that caregivers should really take the time to look out for is whether or not there are any evidence of a consistent pattern of changes in the kids’ behavior. And what does that mean and look like. Now parents, caregivers, they know their kids the best, even though they may be going through changes, you know, in terms of entering into puberty and changes in terms of their peer groups and wanting to join sports.

00:12:00:21 – 00:12:38:10
Dr. Christine Crawford
But you really know your child the best and you already have a sense of these patterns. So their emotional responses, how they react to things, how they behave, and if you notice any deviation from that, be curious about what is driving that and what may behind that. So concretely, say if you notice academically that your kid has been performing quite strong, but now you’re receiving phone calls from school, that your kid is failing their classes or they’re not showing up to their classes or they’re not handing in assignments on time?

00:12:38:15 – 00:13:06:12
Dr. Christine Crawford
Well, historically, they had a pattern of behavior in which they kept up academically. Be curious about that rather than dismiss whatever concerns the teacher is trying to convey to you and be like, this teacher is just too tough. I think it’s a teacher problem, not my kid problem. My kid is fine, right? Do you sometimes automatically jump into a defense kind of mode as parents because, like, our child? Who do think they are trying to question my child and their performance?

00:13:06:14 – 00:13:31:03
Dr. Christine Crawford
But be curious about why is it that I’m just now getting a phone call when I never used to get phone calls through school? Right? So thinking about academic change in function, also thinking about how are they interacting with their peers and the people who are part of their close network. If they were someone who used to look forward to hanging out with their friends on the weekends, or used to look forward to going to play dates?

00:13:31:08 – 00:13:51:21
Dr. Christine Crawford
But now they’re just spending more time in their room and they don’t want to pick up the phone and talk to their friends or go out for fun activities, including with the family. Be curious as to why that might be going on. Because there may be an issue related to anxiety, related to bullying and trauma that you want to be able to explore.

00:13:51:23 – 00:14:15:17
Dr. Christine Crawford
And then lastly, just take notice of how your kid is functioning physically, you know, noticing if they seem to be more slowed down, if their sleeping patterns are a little bit off and you are waking up in the middle of the night and you’re hearing your kid walking around in the house or you’re noticing that they’re sleeping all day on the weekends.

00:14:15:19 – 00:14:44:22
Dr. Christine Crawford
And if you have concerns about their appetite, about their ability to care for themselves, like brush their teeth, shower and they need multiple reminders and prompting, those are the things to be worried about. So how are they functioning physically? How are they functioning socially? And also academically? Those are the three big buckets to really look for if there are any concerns about how a kid is doing emotionally and behavior.

00:14:45:00 – 00:15:10:06
Dan
Thank you, Dr. Crawford. You said academic changes from the standpoint of that, they were just an excellent student and all of a sudden the parent is getting calls, the other one is sleep patterns, appetite, personal care. So look at the physical, the social and the academic. May I pivot for a second and just ask, this is for the caregiver and the parent that is in the home with the child in the evenings and that kind of thing.

00:15:10:06 – 00:15:29:07
Dan
What about that parent that’s about to send their young person off to college? What should they do as they drop them at the dorm or wish them the best? You probably had some parents with you that are now nervous that their young person is about to go to college. What advice would you have for that parent slash caregiver?

00:15:29:09 – 00:16:00:04
Dr. Christine Crawford
So for that parent who finds themselves right in that period of time where they’re sending their kid off, to trust all of the years of work and investment that you have put into your child to provide them with all the tools for how to be a strong, socially, emotionally developed individual and also take faith and confidence in the role modeling that you’ve been able to provide over the years.

00:16:00:06 – 00:16:24:16
Dr. Christine Crawford
A lot of caregivers worry that they didn’t do enough, that they were a good model, that they didn’t have enough conversations. But we can never be perfect, right? And so you need to just trust the process and trust that you did the best that you could to provide your kid with the tools that they need in order to navigate the world on their own emotionally.

00:16:24:18 – 00:16:56:16
Dr. Christine Crawford
But in terms of what to actually say to your kids, it is very, very important to set realistic expectations with your kid that you’re dropping off who’s going to be navigating the world on their own independently. A lot of kids have this expectation that they are to have to figure everything out on their own and that if they were to run into any issues, they may be afraid or hesitant to pick up the phone and call and they may feel like they have to problem solve on their own.

00:16:56:18 – 00:17:28:02
Dr. Christine Crawford
You want to make it very clear to your kid that that is not the expectation, that they are still learning and growing and that you will always remain a trusted, reliable source who can guide and direct them on how to navigate this world. Right? So to remind them that you are still their parent, you are still to provide that mentorship and guidance, and for them to not be afraid of that and to not feel like they are alone in figuring all of this stuff out.

00:17:28:05 – 00:17:58:09
Dr. Christine Crawford
Right? So you can also say to them, if you run into any problems, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me because I’m going to support you and we can problem solve together rather than it being like the kid is feeling, “I’m going to call mom and mom’s just going to fix everything and solve everything.” But you want to now transition into I am here to help guide you and age you and support you and problem solving around this issue rather than fix it for you.

00:17:58:11 – 00:18:17:20
Dr. Christine Crawford
And then the last thing is for them to know that it’s going to be hard to tell them. It is going to be hard. You’re going to have some bumps in the road. “I had some bumps in the road.” Maybe even share some of the challenges that you faced when you made this transition to college, because a lot of kids think that their parents had no problems.

00:18:17:20 – 00:18:26:13
Dr. Christine Crawford
They’re like, my dad is a square. You know, he probably didn’t do anything fun or have any issues. He probably was just in the library all the time.

00:18:26:17 – 00:18:28:14
Dan
No, that was me.

00:18:28:16 – 00:18:51:18
Dr. Christine Crawford
That was you, Dan? Okay. But parents need to get real with their kids, right? Talk about what it was like for you, because that allows you to connect with your kids, for your kid to relate to you and your experience, and for them to be like, yeah. I remember when Dad was talking about how there was that one time when he found himself in a pickle and he calls his dad and his dad bails him out.

00:18:51:18 – 00:19:07:01
Dr. Christine Crawford
Maybe I can do the same with my dad, right? So just be real with your kids about what it was like for you so that they can feel more at ease if they were to run into a jam and they can pick up the phone and know that you won’t give them such a hard time about it.

00:19:07:03 – 00:19:28:01
Dan
You know, Doc, what you just said is be real and it’s almost like, okay, parent, be vulnerable. Okay, be vulnerable. Just an excellent point. And we want our young people to know they’re not alone. And for them to believe that and know that you have to be vulnerable, you’ve got to be as authentic and real with them about what you had to navigate and what it felt like for you and you trust and navigate.

00:19:28:03 – 00:19:44:08
Dan
So I want to get to a couple of different things in terms of protective factors that parents have and how do we help young people build resilience. But I want to go back to the book for a second because I know how hard this was, but I know that this was something that was critically important to you.

00:19:44:13 – 00:19:55:01
Dan
And I wanted to ask you that, what’s one of the things that you think is most important for parents and caregivers to keep in mind when talking about mental health with their young person?

00:19:55:03 – 00:20:29:10
Dr. Christine Crawford
I think we need to keep in mind that by bringing up the topic of anxiety, depression, or any other mental health problem, you’re not planting the seed for them to go on and to develop the issue. Some people worry that they bring something up then that’s going to have an impact on the child’s behavior in a negative way. In fact, bringing it up will make it less likely that the kid will run into an issue because you’ve created an environment in which you’re open to having these sort of conversations.

00:20:29:12 – 00:20:54:23
Dr. Christine Crawford
So it’s really important for people to know that by talking about emotional and behavioral challenges, it doesn’t mean that you expect your kid to have an emotional problem or that you think that they’re going to run into an issue. You’re just preparing them. And with the opportunity to learn about ways in which they can support themselves if they were to face a challenge in the future.

00:20:55:01 – 00:21:18:22
Dr. Christine Crawford
Right? And so I also think that it’s important for caregivers to know, do not wait until your kid is running into an issue to start having conversations with them about mental health. And that’s what a lot of families end up doing. They put it off, they put it off, and then something happens and now they’re exploring their child’s mental health.

00:21:19:00 – 00:21:49:16
Dr. Christine Crawford
I really encourage people to start engaging in these conversations as soon as possible when you can. The sooner the better. And whether that’s actually starting in preschool, which a lot of parents and caregivers are like, what are you talking about preschool? They’re just learning their ABCs, but they’re also learning about different emotional states. They are watching the adults in their lives in terms of what they look like when they’re angry, when they’re sad, and how they deal with that.

00:21:49:21 – 00:22:13:03
Dr. Christine Crawford
That’s the beginning of that. They’re learning all the language about how to describe how you’re feeling inside to other people. And so talk about that. Talk about what your emotions are like. You can label your emotional state and then talk about what you do to navigate that. So with my three year old, I’ll say to her, “Man, Mommy is really, really angry today.

00:22:13:03 – 00:22:31:15
Dr. Christine Crawford
I had such a bad day at work. And because I’m so angry, we’re actually going to go to the gym today so I can do some walking and some exercising because it just makes me feel better when I move my body. Do you want to come to the gym with me and we can have some fun? That’s really simple.

00:22:31:19 – 00:22:59:11
Dr. Christine Crawford
That’s a way to be vulnerable. That’s a way to connect. And that’s also language. That’s developmentally appropriate for a kid at that age. Now, fast forward to when they’re 17, 18, 19, making the transition to adulthood and living independently. If you already have 15 years of having those conversations, they’re going to be quite primed and ready to talk about any issues that they’re having.

00:22:59:11 – 00:23:27:12
Dr. Christine Crawford
They’ll be able to quickly identify and label what the problem is emotionally. And they already have a whole toolbox full of strategies that they can tap into to navigate that challenge, because they’ve been used to talking about this for 15 years. And so for that parent who’s dropping their kid off, you would feel even more confident dropping your kid off because you already have seen a pattern of behavior in which they are reaching out to you.

00:23:27:12 – 00:23:48:20
Dr. Christine Crawford
Whenever they’re having a hard time, they’re accessing different tools and you’ll feel more confident dropping them off. So that’s just a plug for having these conversations early. To not be afraid to have these conversations really doesn’t mean that you’re going to create a mental health problem in your kid. You’re just preparing them for the future and for navigating this really complicated world.

00:23:48:22 – 00:24:10:21
Dan
And don’t be afraid and to prepare them. Thank you. I’ve had the benefit of hearing you speak nationally in regards to how important community is to the development of a young person. And you also talk about it in the book from the standpoint of it being a major three themes throughout the book about the community’s role in the development and the supporting the well-being of a young person.

00:24:11:02 – 00:24:13:01
Dan
Could you tell us more about that, Doc?

00:24:13:22 – 00:24:49:19
Dr. Christine Crawford
Yes. So for this book, over the course of a two year period of time, I interviewed over 80 people, including children themselves and all the way up to adults who work with kids, whether that be in the school, work with them as coaches, as guidance counselors, any adult who is just invested in the well-being of young people I had the opportunity to interview as well as young adults who are living independently, who had the opportunity and reflect on what their mental health journey looks like during their childhood years.

00:24:49:21 – 00:25:20:09
Dr. Christine Crawford
And what became quite clear to me in all of these conversations with people across the country was that it wasn’t one person alone who helped them on their journey. It was not a single person who really was able to shine the light on their mental health path. Nobody talked about a single person at all, but they talked about multiple people who worked as a team to support them.

00:25:20:11 – 00:25:55:18
Dr. Christine Crawford
And what I was hoping to do with this book is to make people realize that the team to support your kids, it’s just not the clinical team. It’s not just me. No, no, because I only see the kid maybe for 30 minutes, you know, once a month or so. So you really have to make sure that there’s a robust community that’s just outside of your team of clinicians to support your kid on the day to day that they experience on their own outside of all of their therapeutic appointments.

00:25:55:20 – 00:26:17:09
Dr. Christine Crawford
And so I really encourage caregivers to not also feel like they got to solve all the problems too, that they have to figure out, okay, well, which clinician do I need to get to see my kid and who do I need to talk to at the school? But they’re trying to figure out all these things out on their own while also trying to figure out how to support their kids.

00:26:17:11 – 00:26:45:06
Dr. Christine Crawford
And I want caregivers to know that they, too, should kind of expand their circle to reach out to other family members, to reach out to NAMI and the support groups that we have. Tap into the workshops that we have so that you can expand your knowledge base about youth mental health, expand your knowledge base about how you can more effectively communicate and connect with your kids, expand their support too.

00:26:45:06 – 00:27:05:22
Dr. Christine Crawford
Because as a caregiver, you need to be supported. You want to surround yourself by people who’ve lived through this already. And so I want people to know they don’t need to figure it out on their own. Parents should not feel like they need to figure it out on their own, but to assemble a team around your kids and around yourself as a caregiver.

00:27:06:03 – 00:27:29:02
Dr. Christine Crawford
If you want to make sure that this mental health journey is heading in the right direction, in a direction in which your kid is able to thrive as they age. And so NAMI is such an amazing community because when we reached out to folks within NAMI, so many people had volunteered to share their stories for this book.

00:27:29:04 – 00:27:53:03
Dr. Christine Crawford
And it just shows just the true power of our people in NAMI because they want people to know that they are not alone. And by sharing their stories and hopefully their stories will resonate with some of our readers. I hope that our readers will now feel like they’re a part of our nominee community and hopefully will join their local affiliate after reading this book.

00:27:53:09 – 00:28:13:02
Dan
Well, I believe that they will. And I would tell you that this is just a powerful body of work. And one of the things you just mentioned was for the parents and caregivers to expand their knowledge base. And there’s a quote that every now and then we’ve used from Aristotle, “Knowledge allows us to do by choice what others do by constraint or fear.”

00:28:13:07 – 00:28:36:04
Dan
So we don’t want the parent or the caregiver to walk down that path and have this fear. Empower yourself with the knowledge and the resources and go to NAMI, talk and learn about our support groups, learn about our programs, and make sure that you understand that this is a resource that’s available to you to help you. So thank you, Dr. Crawford, for lending your time and talent to do this work.

00:28:36:04 – 00:28:45:21
Dan
And having done it so diligently in such a short period of time, it’s incredible. When is the book coming out and where can people get it?

00:28:45:23 – 00:29:14:02
Dr. Christine Crawford
So the book is coming out Tuesday, September 10th, and I encourage everyone to go to YouAreNotAloneBook.org. And there you can find all of the different links to where this book is being sold. It’s currently being sold on Amazon Barnes Noble’s and Target. So I really encourage people to buy this book as soon as possible and we’re really excited that people will have this in their hands pretty soon.

00:29:14:03 – 00:29:35:16
Dan
Thank you. And I know you may not know where NAMI is going to have you appear. So what I’m going to say to our listeners is that, please go to NAMI.org to see all of the different places that Dr. Crawford will be making appearances for this book starting in early September, because I know that you would enjoy meeting her in person.

00:29:35:19 – 00:29:58:05
Dan
I want to close by asking you a question that we ask each of our guests at the very end of the of the podcast. And it’s set up like this. The world can be a difficult place, and sometimes it can be hard to hold on to hope. That’s why with each episode we dedicate the last couple of minutes of our podcast to a special segment called Hold On to Hope.

00:29:58:07 – 00:30:03:05
Dan
Dr. Crawford, what helps you hold on to hope?

00:30:03:07 – 00:30:34:10
Dr. Christine Crawford
Well, I really love this question because I want everyone on who is on their own mental health journey or supporting someone else who’s on their mental health journey to remain hopeful. And we oftentimes lose sight of hope because we’re so focused on problem solving. We’re so focused on survival and just making it through. But hope is what kind of lightens us up a little bit.

00:30:34:12 – 00:31:16:14
Dr. Christine Crawford
Hope is what really brings us a sense of joy and optimism that’s often left out of the conversations having to do with mental health. And what keeps me hopeful is the fact that we’re talking about mental health, period. But to add on to that, that we’re talking about mental health in children, that we aren’t shying away from conversations about the mental health of preschool age kids of elementary school age that we’re no longer just ignoring the fact that kids are still human beings with the same emotions as us that we have as adults.

00:31:16:16 – 00:31:55:04
Dr. Christine Crawford
And so I’m incredibly hopeful that we are having these conversations, that we’re normalizing what mental health is all about, that this podcast has such a broad reach and people are interested in learning about ways in which they can support their mental health and the mental health of others. And I’m actually hopeful that I don’t know, I’m okay if my clinic schedule isn’t all that busy because people are able to take care of their mental health and they still find themselves in a mental health crisis that requires ongoing support or intervention.

00:31:55:06 – 00:32:11:03
Dr. Christine Crawford
And so I’m hopeful that more and more people will have access to tools to prevent significant and serious mental health challenges. And I hope that this book will provide all those tools. Yeah, that’s what gives me hope.

00:32:11:05 – 00:32:32:18
Dan
Thank you very much. And I would offer to you that in building the resiliency of our young people, we want them to be hopeful and not hopeless. And a lot of that comes with the parent and the caregiver acknowledging that they’re in it as a team and to be open to talking with their young person. So thank you very much for this conversation.

00:32:32:20 – 00:32:53:02
Dan
That’s what this has been. It’s been a wonderful conversation. And it leads us to the launch of You Are Not Alone For Parents and Caregivers: The NAMI Guide to Navigating Your Child’s Mental Health. Thank you again, Dr. Crawford. And we can’t wait to launch the book and get started with your appearances across the country.

00:32:53:04 – 00:32:54:00
Dr. Christine Crawford
Thank you.

00:32:54:02 – 00:33:19:21
Dan
And as I end this, we’d like to say this has been Hope Starts With Us, a podcast by NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. If you are looking for mental health resources, you are not alone to connect with the NAMI helpline and find local resources, visit nami.org/help. Text helpline to 62640 or dial 800-950-NAMI(6264).

00:33:19:23 – 00:33:37:00
Dan
Or if you are experiencing an immediate suicide, substance use or mental health crisis, please call or text 988 to speak with a trained support specialist or visit 988lifeline.org. I’m Dan Gillison. Thanks for listening and be well.