Would you mind telling me a little bit about yourself and what you do?

Hi, of course! Where to start? Well, I like to describe myself as a small person with a big heart who has the privilege of working in a field that I love. I am a licensed mental health clinician and this means that I get to talk to people about any issues they may be struggling with - sometimes this means helping someone work through a mental health diagnosis, other times it can mean helping someone through a particular issue or loss, and other times it simply means “being there”, and providing support to someone who may need it. Apart from my one on one counselling sessions, I also enjoy providing psychoeducation on mental health and mental wellness wherever and whenever I can.

Why do you think that conversations around mental health are important?

I believe that conversations around mental health are extremely important because they create an awareness of what mental health means and what it’s not. On the one hand we may have someone who is experiencing mental illness and they may not know it - let alone know that there’s a name for what they’re experiencing. I believe that when you can “name” something, then you can work towards healing and bettering that situation. Plus, as more and more people become involved in the conversation with mental health, then I think the level of stigma decreases as more knowledge, awareness, and empowerment is created.

In the past few years there has been much change in decreasing the stigma around mental illness through the media, how do you think we can further decrease this stigma and encourage help seeking behaviours in young people? Do you think that technology has a significant role to play in this?

I feel that continuing this conversation through any outlet possible will be extremely useful with furthering the mental health conversation. Social media provides a great platform for reaching people of all ages, and I think that specifically young people benefit from the information that is out there via technology. More and more often I find people seeking answers online, and thus there is a growing need to provide accurate and useful information via the online world so that people can find the help, hope, and answers they need when it comes to mental illness and mental wellness.

What advice would you give to someone who is struggling but are unsure of whether they should talk to someone about it?

I usually am one to encourage anyone struggling with mental illness to speak with someone they trust. They don’t have to necessarily reach out to a mental health professional at first; but talking to a trusted adult can help greatly with their recovery, and with preventing the issue from getting worse.

What do you do to help yourself when things are getting a bit tough?

When times get tough for me, I turn to my faith, my family and my friends. I am one who believes in the power of prayer, and so I will usually start there. Then, I’ll reach out to my husband or my best friend. Reaching out to others does not always come easily to me, but I have noticed that the faster I reach out, the faster I find relief with the tough times. When times have gotten particularly tough, and things didn’t improve within a couple of weeks, I have sought professional help via therapy.

What do you think the future of your channel, site and the community looks like at this stage?

I would love to keep growing my Youtube channel; however, life continues to get in the way… perhaps my Tumblr blog is where I am still most active, though I am also working on a more formal blog on thehumbledtherapist.blog. I would like for this community to continue to grow via engaging with questions, conversations, and feedback on mental health. I have also gained valuable friendships from this community, so my hope is that others can gain not only information from the site, but also establish good relationships and a healthy connection with others.

What are a few of the strategies you think are great to keep your mental wellness in check?

Know yourself. Know if you’re feeling off and reach out. If issues persist, then seek professional help. Practice healthy coping skills as often as possible, treat your mind and your body well, rest when you can, and treat yourself kindly.

Final thoughts?

There is help and there is hope out there. Know that you are not alone, even if life may make you feel like this. Sometimes our thoughts and our feelings can lie to us making us believe that we are not worthy of help or that no one will care - this is not true. Every life has worth and value, and there are people out there who genuinely care. If you don’t know where to start with finding help, talk to a loved one, your general practitioner/primary care physician, or look online. Help can be found and you can feel better.

Thank you so much Priscila for sharing this with us and all your knowledge and life experience.

You can check out The Humbled Therapist on Tumblr, Facebook, the Blog and on YouTube.

If you are in crisis, go to your nearest emergency room, call lifeline on 13 11 14 or dial 000. If you live outside Australia, link to worldwide crisis numbers can be found in the sidebar.