It's Where I Am with Zandra Polard

Unknown Speaker 0:00
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Unknown Speaker 0:44
Good morning Las Vegas, this is Dr. G. And you are listening to it's where I am on 91.5 FM, K, u and v. I continue to guest host on behalf of Zondra pol od who continues to enjoy a much needed respite after being on the air for four years. But don't worry if you've been missing Zondra she and I will be facilitating a transition show on the last Wednesday of this month. And then she'll be jumping back into her role full time as hosts on it's where I am starting in the month of July. It's been a pleasure for me to hold down this seat for Zondra. And to highlight and spotlight different mental health programs throughout the state of Nevada. Hopefully demystifying the process related to mental health, how to access mental health. And as I had the opportunity to interview different providers and learn about their programs, I hope I've done a good job on behalf of all of you listening to really deconstruct what you may experience what you may see the information that you may be presented with, so that you feel really comfortable accessing a mental health provider during times of of need and crisis. I also hope that for all of you that have been listening and following me as the guest host on it's where I am, have felt more comfortable being open to engage in the conversation around mental health. And it's really been one of my goals to deconstruct and decrease stigma associated with wanting to access mental health services. So again, for those who of you who just may be tuning in to the show, I am Dr. David jenis, clinical and public relations director from great mind counseling and Wellness Center. And again, I've just been having so much fun on behalf of Zondra Polad holding down her seat for her while she's enjoying a much needed rest. So on this morning show, I'm really excited to welcome a colleague of mine from great mind counseling and Wellness Center. And this morning show is particularly of interest to me because I'm gonna introduced this morning a new medium, if you will, a new service line that we really have not discussed too much on it's where I am. And and that is the utilization of occupational therapy and mental health. So without further ado, I would like to say and welcome. Good morning, Anna Khatron Cusano.

Unknown Speaker 3:53
Hi, good morning, Dr. G. How are you doing?

Unknown Speaker 3:55
Hi, thank you for first of all agreeing to come on the show with me this morning. I'm really, really excited to highlight your field this morning because I think it just offers so much to those that have the opportunity to receive occupational therapy as it relates to helping enhance and build further upon one's treatment plan and and having access to the appropriate level services and support that one's neat. So that's definitely all right. And if you don't mind, I want to really like start at the beginning. I want to start with the basics to hopefully provide a broader lens maybe a bigger picture for our listeners, and how they think about occupational therapy. So so I'm gonna really lean on you to be you know, the leader in in this conversation is Are as what I'm introducing to our listeners this morning. So can we just start off with what is a basic definition for occupational therapy? What is it?

Unknown Speaker 5:11
Yeah, so this is a loaded question. But it's basically a healthcare profession that focuses on helping individuals of all ages and abilities to achieve independence and participation in activities, or what we call occupations. A lot of people think it might be finding a job, which we can help you do that. But the main thing is really focusing on your, your performance and daily activities. And then, so it can be self care, you know, dressing, bathing, work, leisure pursuits, social interaction. And, you know, we work with people who have physical, developmental, emotional, or cognitive challenges that kind of affect their ability to engage in daily activities. Well, that's what we're basically, sorry, go ahead.

Unknown Speaker 6:02
No, I was just gonna say that's a really comprehensive explanation for occupational therapy, which I appreciate Anna, because you have just enlighten me, and you've brought in my thinking and understanding of how occupational therapy ot can can help individuals. So So I have predominantly worked in Child, Adolescent and Family Services through many years of my career. And I have accessed occupational therapist to support my younger kids on my caseload historically, to help me rule out sensory integration issues. And then in my hospital work, where I have been a clinical or an executive, clinical director overseeing mental health and hospital settings, I have also seen occupational therapists utilize in my geriatric units. So this intervention, this role is a new role that we've welcomed and brought to great mind counseling and Wellness Center, where we provide a lot of clinical services to adults, and to adults that have severe mental illness. And, and so before we kind of get into the nuts and bolts, Anna, and how we're welcoming, and rolling out your position at great mind, I'm really interested in learning more about you specifically, as a provider, I think it's really important that when an individual is considering to access clinical services from any provider, that they need to feel comfortable in the workforce that they're going to be receiving clinical services from, and that there needs to be a fit. And so I have been interviewing, if you will, the providers that I've had the privilege of bringing on the show, for our listeners to get to know them a little bit on a more personal level on a professional level, but still, making sure that the philosophy of care as it relates to treatment is a good fit for that individual in the family. So if you don't mind me asking what what drew you to the field of occupational therapy?

Unknown Speaker 8:39
Sure, so I kind of fell into it professionally. But as far as on a more personal level, my paternal grandmother was a double amputee. So she actually had a lot of, you know, different therapy, and OT was one of them, to kind of help her, you know, facilitate her new lifestyle. You know, she struggled a lot with basically finding, prosthesis and you know, those types of things. So that was my first exposure, I was, you know, probably maybe seven or eight or so. And then, as far as the professional side of it, I was actually at the hospital, when I was a student in undergrad and observing a different department, when I finally just, you know, realized that that department wasn't for me. And then someone picked me up and they're like, let's just look look at OSI for a while and I didn't even know what it was. He was at that point beyond like what I've seen. And then when I got into it, the observation portion, I just realized how broad it is and how, like how you can kind of bridge the gap as an OT because it's just such a more like, well rounded discipline of the healthcare field.

Unknown Speaker 9:56
Well, and I love how you acknowledged Anna that you the word The wording that you use was bridge the gap. And I can appreciate that and that that resonates for me. Because great mind counseling and Wellness Center, and your new a new team member for us. And we're delighted to have you as part of our team and our Executive Director, miss my, you know, has has said a lot of good things about you. And she's bragged about you a lot to me. And, and so you know, I am observing that you are just a really good fit for how we believe in helping others and how we provide overall clinical services to our community members. Because, you know, I really do believe we take that extra step, we go far and above what we provide just clinically, for our community members, because it's just what we believe in, it's what we do. And we believe in really just helping people have access to the basic things that they need in order to then move to a place where they can focus on receiving more formal clinical services. And you you bring with you this light, and this personality, that I think is a great fit, not only for us at great mind, but for all of our community members and patients that you provide services. Thank you, I appreciate that. So I just want to welcome you again to our team. So, you know, going back to occupational therapy. So I love having an OT as part of my clinical teams, because I benefit and the team benefits from having that additional lens, and how you may be interpreting an individual's level of functioning. and that's really important because as part of the treatment plan, when we talk about an access to mental health care, we're identifying right from the get go individualized treatment plan goals, as they relate to well, how can we increase the daily living the quality related to one's life? So I was wondering, maybe can you talk a little bit and about, you know, what, what is some of the initial work? And I know this is is new for us, because we're just rolling out occupational therapy services, at great mind. And so we're we're going forward, holding a mindset that we're open to developing your job description, really, and how your specific lens, your license, your expertise. It helps our patients at great mind.

Unknown Speaker 12:55
Yeah, sure. So, ot actually originated in the mental health field, actually in World War One. Oh, wow. So it's kind of, yeah, so it's kind of cool. That's just some history for you. And it began with, like, the work of psychiatrists and social social workers who recognize, you know, the therapeutic benefits of engaging in meaningful occupations or activities, which was, you know, kind of what we've been talking about. So I think for me, you know, it brings a really unique, you know, healthcare related, you know, strategy, I guess, to great mind, because these, even though we might be working on similar goals, as you know, for example, the regular counselors and a psychiatry or whatever, these, you know, ot kind of brings in a different aspect of that. Yeah. And we, we have a different, I guess, viewpoint, and, like you said, different way of assessment and different way of, you know, just seeing the patients, and we kind of have a unique perspective and activity analysis, for example, social participation and those things, and we kind of facilitate the treatment and the, the different plans of care, personally, for each client. So does that make sense? So that's kind of why I think is a really good fit for great mind. And it's going to be, I think, a really good program that's getting started. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker 14:16
no, I'm very, very excited. Because, again, you know, I'm not going to tell you how long I've been working in the field, but it's been a long time. And so I just value and I've seen the benefit over years of having an occupational therapist be part of the treatment plan, part of the treatment team. And, and I have relied though, on on the recommendations of my ot partners, to help drive me in terms of the clinical services that I provided as a therapist to to the individual or to the family. And and so, you know, I've really have experienced the benefit of Having an occupational therapist as part of the team, and I've watched though, I've watched how having an OT as part of the team and providing services to an individual has benefited the individual, I've got to see it in real time. So So that's been a really cool as well. And so again, as as Anna acknowledged, so we're kinda, you know, we're we're building out her position at great mind. And this is an exciting time for us, because we're expanding the services and how we provide clinical services to our community members. So we're just again, delighted to have you as part of our team Anna. So all right, now, now, you know, I think some individuals might be like, what, like, like me, I did not have the historical perspective of how occupational therapy developed. And I think that's fascinating, because it's almost like full circle in terms of the field for occupational therapy. I believe within our system of care here in Clark County, here in Las Vegas, and throughout the state of Nevada. O T is becoming a more widely utilized model intervention within mental health. And so what what are some of the things specifically Anna, have you been involved in at great mind?

Unknown Speaker 16:24
Yeah, so I've been kind of still making my way through the clients and who we think is appropriate, and you know, the best will receive the best benefit from Northeast services. But so far, I've been working in groups, small groups, mostly, because we are you kind of hit on the like steak and like legal side of it. But for our licensure, we can only see there's like a ratio for therapists to client, you know, so right now, I've been doing small groups, we've been working on things like socialization, social skills, some, some clients had kind of highlighted that they had goals of, you know, fine motor skills, handwriting legibility, those things which you wouldn't think would be something that even gets brought up in this kind of setting, but you know, it's, it's important to them, it's important to me, so we kind of, we've been working on a holistic approach to, you know, their quality of life and their independence in our daily life, you know, setting a schedule, you know, identifying routines, and rituals and habits that are important to them, and kind of just working on it in a group, group setting. And then also, we've also been incorporating some, some new, I guess, you can call it modalities such as vagus nerve stimulation. So that's something that I've been getting to learn more about. And it's just really interesting, because it kind of gives me the ability to focus and evolve as a therapist to and enable the clients to participate in things that are meaningful to them and in in, like, overall enhance their quality of life.

Unknown Speaker 18:05
Yeah, I really, I really love hearing this from you, Anna, because as I was listening to you share and detail so far as you roadmap, this, this rollout for us it runs parallel to the clinical work that my and Cassie who's another therapist that great mine and myself are doing with our patients and and you know, that's exciting for me, because our patients are having opportunities as they participate in different models of treatment at great mind. There's consistency, and they're having the opportunity to practice skills that they may be introduced to or learning from a different provider and they're different activities that they are involved in at great mind and so I see just just how OT is really a good fit for the patients that were that have the opportunity to receive care from you Anna because it just it all fits in with one another in terms of the overall goals that we're trying to achieve. And you also use the word Anna holistic and that's something I want to take a moment and and really acknowledge because you know so so the the second part of the name for our employer is Wellness Center. And and so you know, this this was hope from Ismail A long, long time ago to really involve different providers to welcome them into great mind and and to offer different wellness US activities to our patients. So I want to, you know, just highlight earlier this week when I was in, in the clinic, we had a nail technician, as well as a hair stylist. They were, they were there two days, actually, this week with me. And they, you know, we're providing haircuts to our patients, many of our patients who are getting their nails done, you know, what was really cool for me, though, to observe this, while it was happening, is is how the patients were feeling while they were being pampered, if you will. And then afterwards, though, having them come to me and say, Hey, Dr. G, look at my nails, you like my nails? Or, you know, Dr. G, look at my haircut, how does it look, and they just felt so good about themselves. And that was really enjoyable and rewarding for me to see. And, and so, you know, we do as much as we can to really involve so many different wellness activities that individuals can can participate in. You know, Anna, you have not participated in one of our monthly bi monthly events yet, but I believe we're going to have one coming up in the month of July. And this is open to the community and and we have a DJ, we have DJ roulette, who is just incredible. And he is a fierce supporter of great mine and what we do there, and we have a lot of fun, we do karaoke, and we have contests. And we have a taco truck. And just different activities, because it's really intended to provide a safe forum for individuals to come together and to laugh and to dance and to have a little fun. And that's something that we take a lot of pride in being able to provide, not just for our patients, but it's open to anybody. And we welcome anyone to come and participate. And that's usually on the last Thursday of every other month. So for listeners, if you're interested and and checking us out and you want to stop by please feel welcome to call great mind counseling and Wellness Center, and ask for more information in regards to these community events that we offer. Also, I just want to bring to the attention to listeners that you're not going to get rid of me that fast once Zondra returns to the show full time as host Zondra and I are going to be partnering on putting together a mental health symposium. And we're striving hoping that this mental health symposium will be at the are on the last Saturday of the month, in September. So So after the summer, later this year, we're hoping to be able to offer this symposium and I was thinking about this this morning. And so for those of you that might be working in the field of mental health, and you might be a mental health therapist, I will work diligently to submit the required paperwork to the different licensing boards here in Nevada, so that we can offer you free CPUs, which which you know, usually see us cost money and sometimes they cost a lot of money. And so as part of this mental health symposium, though, I believe we are going to charge a ticket admission because the proceeds from this event, it will go back to our nonprofit at great mind. And that is great hands. And because these are unrestricted dollars, we've been able to be really creative in how we've used this money to help our community members to help our patients. And and and, you know, we've been able to help individuals that are patients that are homeless, you know, we've been able to pay for the first month's rent and the deposit. We've been able to pay for individuals IDs, you know, we've assist individuals to get their social security cards and what what have you you know, whatever needs to get done, we we assist and we take care of things that create minds because it goes back to you know, this holistic approach and and and speaking from a mental health place, you know, mas loves hierarchy of needs, and that you know, we just really believe we have to help people meet their basic needs in order for them to be of mind where They can then focus and concentrate on their mental health needs and their emotional needs. So Anna, is there is there a going back to OT, what else would you feel is is really essential and important for listeners to know, and especially how we're incorporating it into mental health.

Unknown Speaker 25:21
Um, I think something that just comes straight to my mind is just prioritizing, you know, individualized treatments, and viewing each person, you know, as their own unique person with their own strengths and challenges, and kind of meeting them where they are. That way, you know, when you collaborate, that's how I view my my sessions particularly is more of a collaborative, as, instead of more of like a meet the clinician and patient, it's more like a collaborative environment and kind of being sensitive to what, what they view as important and what they view as a challenge, and really, kind of hone in on their skills, that way, you do have that good balance of challenge, and then also implementing their, their interests, their skills, and their, you know, what makes them feel good about themselves? Well,

Unknown Speaker 26:15
you know, if, if I was to just give you a grade, and I'm gonna give you an A plus, because you just hit the mark for me. And, you know, so that's what we're taught in grad school. And, and that's how we are asked to provide clinical services. And so, you know, at great mind, we absolutely individualize treatment we have to, and we don't provide this cookie cutter style of treatment, because each person's needs are so individualized, that we need to be really specific and not only being clear about well, what is it that we're all agreeing upon, that we're going to work on, but then you know, what, what approaches then potentially, is going to help the individual make sense out of their need, and are going to be able to understand and work on things so that they can move forward and be successful in meeting their treatment plan goals? Yeah, absolutely. And so Okay, listeners, we've been talking about occupational therapy, and, and the utilization of OT and mental health. And Anna Khatron. Cusano is a new colleague and team member of ours at great mind. And, you know, she's supporting us, and really mapping out how we'll utilize this intervention at great mind and how it may potentially benefit those that are receiving clinical services, that great mind. So I really just want to thank you, again, for your flexibility and your openness to come on the radio, and talk a little bit about OT and to be introduced to the community. I think this is exciting. And I'm grateful to have you at great mind, and I look forward to getting to know you more. And for us to work together and have more opportunities to work together directly. And so listeners, I just I just want to put this back into your ear to hold in mind that at the end of September, a great mind counseling and Wellness Center, and Zondra pol ARD from it's where I am, we will be working together to put together this mental health symposium. Our aim is for it to be on the last Saturday in the month of September 2024. And we're hoping to have vendors present and it's going to be a really good event. So I wish all of you to just you know, keep listening because there'll be opportunities where this will be highlighted again throughout the summer on the radio. And so I want to wish all of you to have a blessed morning. And this is Dr. David JENICE clinical and public relations director from great mind counseling and Wellness Center, and until we get to engage with each other next time. I hope you have a beautiful day. Bye

Transcribed by https://otter.ai