Took a brief almost two year hiatus from the podcast...but I am back and plan to continue to make videos. Let me know in the comments if you want more stories from prison and some of the things I went through while in it.

Late post, but I honestly was pumped to post it. I honestly didn't intend for this one to be so reading heavy, but it is an important topic to me and I think you may find some knowledge out of it as well.   Mens Mental Health Month...but how many of the people you know posting things about it (if any) actually understand men? How many of them understand themselves?  Brotherhood can bring us back to being strong. Strong men are a force to reckon with. We may not have the same way of getting to our common goal...but the goal being great can mend those differences to lead to compromise and understanding.    APA formatting:   Crockett, S., Elghoroury, D., Popiolek, M. and Wummel, B. (2018), The Lived Experiences of Men in a Master's Counseling Program. Counselor Education and Supervision, 57: 98-115. https://doi.org/10.1002/ceas.12096 Social Media:    https://www.instagram.com/pushingboundariespodcast/

Mental Health Advocates seem to be hiding behind the “we are not experts” plea as a way to save themselves from the responsibility of conducting research. You are not a mental health advocate just because you’ve been through trauma, or label yourself as an empath. People need help with their mental health, but they need the right kind of help. You want to be a better mental health advocate? Here’s my list: 1. If you are going to share your story with others, make sure its relevant to the person who is asking for the help…you aren’t hosting a TED Talk. 2. If you are taking on this role, you need to be able to leave everyone else’s problems “at the door” when you are done, and not let their problems become yours. 3. If you don’t know about something…look it up…or just ask. Don’t assume you know everything. Even if you are an “expert” on something, everyone experiences trauma and emotions differently. 4. DO MORE RESEARCH. Make suggestions and offer resources, it is their job to do the work on their own after that. You can’t make a horse drink water…even if you splash the water in their face. 5. Get a grip on your own mental health and ways to cope with your traumas. 6. Don’t post naked photos online. 7. Advocate for people to help themselves. Keep on Pushin’ Sources shown in episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VllQV2EOg90 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uedrdcksMmE&t=70s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd2E7wmAJ2s https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/June-2020/What-Does-It-Mean-to-Be-a-Mental-Health-Advocate General resources and help: Suicide Prevention Hotline 24/7: 800-273-8255 https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/ https://mhanational.org/finding-help https://www.samhsa.gov/find-treatment Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/pushingboundariespodcast/ https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pushing-boundaries/id1487906837

Fathers are an integral and important part of a child’s life, and are a vital part to the overall success of a family’s development. The family structure is all but lost without its anchor, and we as a people need to begin to take notice. Let’s hold our men and fathers to a higher standard…let’s aim to see them in a more positive light. True privilege is coming from a home with two supportive parents who help to ensure safety and expression of ones best self. Maybe you did not come from a home with supportive parents or father in the picture…but what are you going to do to make sure this cycle doesn’t get repeated? Knowing is half the battle, the hardest part is putting it into action. Keep on Pushin’ General resources and help: Suicide Prevention Hotline 24/7: 800-273-8255 https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/ https://mhanational.org/finding-help https://www.samhsa.gov/find-treatment Social Media: https://www.instagram.com/pushingboundariespodcast/

Time to shake some rust of… It’s been a little while since my last post, and it feels good to be back. Did you know it was Men’s Mental Health Week this week? Well…to be honest…neither did I. It seems that the coverage of a week like this is not something that is too well publicized or received well among mass audiences…but is this the truth? Do people not care about the mental health of men? Men’s mental health gets the short end of the stick, but who is there to blame if anyone at all? Politics and psychology seem to run hand in hand these days, which is fueling the fire to further disparity. In this episode I walk through some general Instagram hashtags to see what kinds of posts are being made related to mental health. It’s not shocking to see the majority of these posts are made by women for women, but the reason for this may surprise you. I also speak about different articles related to Men’s mental health from different theoretical orientations and socio-political backgrounds. I’ll offer some resources you can use to get help if needed, or potential ideas to get your foot in the door to growth opportunities. When you say “what’s good bro,” do you really mean it? Keep on Pushin’ Sources shown in episode: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/12/datapoint?utm_campaign=monitor&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_content=1545345600 https://www.talkingaboutmenshealth.com/why-most-liberal-media-and-liberals-dont-talk-about-mens-problems/ https://www.talkingaboutmenshealth.com/does-concern-for-boys-put-you-in-the-alt-right/ https://www.localdvm.com/infocus-2/the-state-of-mens-mental-health-why-fewer-men-seek-medical-attention-than-women/ https://www.talkingaboutmenshealth.com/why-every-man-needs-a-mens-group/ https://evryman.com/evryman-event/open-source-norcal/. General resources and help: Suicide Prevention Hotline 24/7: 800-273-8255 https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/ https://mhanational.org/finding-help https://www.samhsa.gov/find-treatment https://www.nami.org/help