Brandy Williams, the Coordinator of Counseling Services for Flagler Schools sits down with us to talk about mental health, services available to our students, and a special screening of a documentary regarding screen time and teenagers.
Brandy Williams, the Coordinator of Counseling Services for Flagler Schools sits down with us to talk about mental health, services available to our students, and a special screening of a documentary regarding screen time and teenagers.
There's a quote that goes something like this. The strongest people are those who win battles we know nothing about coming up one person who helps people win those battles This is focused on Flagler Schools and I'm Jason Wheeler, Community Information Specialist with Flagler Schools want to share the achievements and challenges facing our students, teachers and staff right here in Flagler County, Florida. So let's dive right in. We're joined this go around by Brandy Williams. She's the coordinator of counseling services for Flagler Schools. First off, thanks for joining us with this podcast.
Brandy Williams:Thank you for having me.
Jason Wheeler:Ready? First, your background. How did how did you get here to Flagler Schools in your current position? Where are you from? Your background and everything.
Brandy Williams:Thank you. So my background is actually military background, I was raised as an Air Force brat, both my parents were in the Air Force. So I got to live in a lot of different parts of the country. Awesome in some ways. In other ways, not so much lots of change all the time. But I graduated and after, oh, I spent my early 20s running around and taking care of others. I knew I wanted to make that a part of who I was for the rest of my life. So I went back to school, finished my master's degree. And then I spent most of my clinical life in Colorado, providing direct care, clinical services. So my specialty would be trauma, depression and anxiety. I worked in community mental health in Colorado for five years so.
Jason Wheeler:And Florida. How did Florida come in, in Flagler County come come into your life?
Brandy Williams:Well, originally, I was from Florida, okay. My husband is works for a government contractor. And he loves water. Perfect. Ultimately, what it comes down to is he loves water. Yeah. So as everybody knows, Colorado, you're a little landlocked.
Jason Wheeler:A little bit. Yeah, you have a river. That's about it.
Brandy Williams:That's it, and it is cold. The benefit though, is we don't have gators. You can get in the water. So ultimately, when our kids were old enough, he decided he needed to be back next to water again. We came back but I didn't...
Jason Wheeler:Colorado's loss is our gain. Yes. Oh, yeah. Orlando. Yeah,
Brandy Williams:I wasn't okay with Orlando. So we moved beach side. And that's how I ended up here.
Jason Wheeler:Well, what is the coordinator of counseling services do for Flagler Schools? Oh, wow. What's your day like? A day in the life of Brandy Williams?
Brandy Williams:Everything I hoped for and dream to have as never having the same day twice. And definitely could say that that's that's where I land on a daily basis here at Flagler Schools. I have a lot of experience with, with clients and seeing and being able to provide direct care. But I really feel like I am so honored to work beside the people that that support these students on the day to day basis. We have a great team of clinicians, a great team of social workers. I mean, I think that if you're at Flagler Schools, you know that most people are here just because their heart is is willing to be here and they want to support kids.
Jason Wheeler:We see now that school is more than just reading, writing and arithmetic. How have counseling services changed over the years in schools?
Brandy Williams:Wow. Big question. Well, I would say, you know, we definitely have different a different tiered system for our schools for our kids right now. And over the years prior to us, having this mental health allocation in the school district. The school had to partner with community agencies to get services provided for their students. But now that we have the mental health allocation, we are able to provide those direct care services with our licensed clinicians. It's a significant change and being able to be available and on site for our students as they need us. So a big benefit has just been this change in being able to have the funds allocated to provide mental health services by our team and employees. It's not cheap. It is not cheap. No, and we always need more. We have a great amount of funds that are allocated to us and we're grateful for it but at the end of the day, it only a lots for five mental health clinicians for the entire district. So yes, we could always use more funding.
Jason Wheeler:And it's a growing district. Flagler Schools is still though is seen as a small rural district. The problem is the difficulty in trying to connect students with providers. It's it's still there. It's been it's been I've been with the district for seven years and it was a problem seven years ago and here we are seven years later still an issue isn't it?
Brandy Williams:Absolutely. And unfortunately, the pandemic hasn't helped or coming out of the pandemic hasn't helped. But yeah, being in a rural community, even when we were in Colorado, I struggled with that we would work with teletherapy, in Colorado, because some of our folks were so just distant, you know, in the mountains and not accessible, right. So it's something that they shifted to here when the pandemic happened. And I think it's certainly it can provide services for some, when it's when it's a good connection, right. But there are some that that's just not the best delivery format. So but we do still struggle, we have great partnerships with with our MOU providers, but they are also struggling with keeping people, you know, on staff and Flagler County, because it is so rural, the cost of living is going up here. Unfortunately, pay doesn't go up with the cost of living. So it's definitely a nationwide problem.
Jason Wheeler:I know there may be many people out there listening to this, who may not have kids in school and have not been in a school in many years. And you start talking about mental health services for students. And they're like, I didn't have that back. And I didn't need that. Just because we didn't talk about it back then doesn't mean that the need wasn't there. We now know more. And we know the importance of mental health supports, how is it getting that word out the challenges of saying it's okay to talk about this kind of stuff. And we have people here to help, maybe as many as we want to have. But there are supports here.
Brandy Williams:Our team works really hard to address stigma but we I just want to put a shout out there to the students and our families. They also work really hard to reduce stigma for one another. Our teams are readily available. We constantly are talking about mental health being just another form of health, right mental health, we know the science has indicated that there's a correlation between our mental health and our physical health. So we want to be healthy in all aspects body, mind and soul. Right. So I think that we definitely are coming around to having folks be more open to the services that are available. But we're also very respectful of those who declined services. Sometimes it's just not appropriate or something. It's not a right level of care for a student. But we're here if it is.
Jason Wheeler:There is still a stigma and I guess what does it say about our community or about our about people that we don't really talk about mental health until after there's been a horrific violent attack on a school? That's what it looks like. I mean, it's like every time there's a headline, I imagine you probably guys, your phone started ringing. Yep. What does that say about our, about who we are?
Brandy Williams:Yeah, as human beings, right? Like we say, I saw this thing the other day that said something like what said, what said at a funeral should be spoken at every birthday. Right? And it's kind of the same concept is the more we talk about it, the more the list, stigmatizing it is, and the less shame there is. And so I think that that's just part of what our role is on on school grounds, as well as just to remember that we want to bring more attention and a compassionate and empathetic way.
Jason Wheeler:And to you, you may mainly deal with students, but what about our teachers and staff? They're going through a lot of the same things, especially after the last couple of years. And I'll get to that in a second. But are there supports for them? For us?
Brandy Williams:Yeah, yeah. So I'll say that our team this year has come to be probably more often to just talk about the multi level of supports that that just kind of organically happen on campus. There are teachers and staff that come to us occasionally and just need a just need a place to, to dump whatever's going on.
Jason Wheeler:Right. A lot to be said about just to talk it out.
Brandy Williams:Yes, there is really science behind putting words to what we feel right and, and being able to let go of some things. So we are available, not at not on an ongoing, you know, basis for our teams. Because again, we we only have five for the whole district. So we barely covered, you know, enough for the students. But but we are here and we want to be able to support. We want to offer ideas for self care. We want to offer things that they can use techniques that they can use. But ultimately, we do have the employee assistance program that we offer for folks who need a little bit more support.
Jason Wheeler:Sure. What have we learned after the past two years, when it comes to mental health? I'll be talking about COVID Because about me, we were shut down this time two years ago. I mean literally shut down, everybody was shut in. I guess we learned a lot about ourselves and, and probably lost a lot about ourselves during that time period. How's it been coming out of that?
Brandy Williams:You know, I think I was having this conversation the other day, I think the adrenaline of the exit from the norm on the day to day basis, kind of helped almost support or protect our psyches in some way. And the reentry has been a lot more challenging. But I think one of the things that that I would like to consider is to remember how resilient we are as human beings. I have seen people overcome amazing things. And so I always try to remember that. But we all have our own stories, we all have our own traumas. And I think that one thing that is driven home for me is just that as human beings we are, we are just wired to be in relationship. We're wired to be amongst others. We're wired for connection. And we need to share those experiences, not just of the despair and the challenges, but also, and our triumphs and our joys. Being able to feel someone LOVING YOU IS is a human experience. And we need those experiences. So connection is really important.
Jason Wheeler:I'm a dad, two boys 20...17. I don't know how that is since I'm still 25. But our family dynamic, my wife and I, it's changed, obviously over the years. And there's no longer the dinner table because everybody's coming and going. And everybody's connected electronically now. What has that the electronic say? I don't want to blame anything. But...but life is different. dramatically different than it was 5 or 10 years ago. What is the the proliferation of, of online, electronics done to to mental health?
Brandy Williams:Yeah, well, that's a huge question. And something that's near and dear to my heart, too, because I have a 20 year old and an 18 year old and I'm still 20. So how that happened. But But I think that prior prior to the pandemic, the research was showing that just like anything else, too much of a good thing can be too much. Right? It definitely impacts brain development. We're actually airing a documentary called screenagers, that was filmed pre pandemic, based on pre pandemic research about how screen screen use impacts the development of, of our brains, specifically as a young person. But I have said, quite often since the pandemic, I think almost all of our adults are struggling as well, we are seeking input, right. And so when we are built and designed for connection, and relationship, if that connection is, is being achieved by getting online and getting, you know, on social media, or even shopping, or whatever it is, right, we're getting that input, we're getting that sensory input of feeling something. So I'm a big advocate for balance. Because I also recognize that some of our some of our young people find a lot of value in and how relationships are now being built. And I think when it's done in a healthy way, and in good balance, and someone's helping support that process for our young people, it does have value,
Jason Wheeler:And I was speaking again, and my dad had on, my oldest when he started getting into gaming, you would see him change, and we would have the conversations like you'd realize, screen life is not the same as real life that there is no, you know, if you're doing a first person game and you lose a life, you're not going to go back into a corner and you're automatically reconfigured. Because I understand that Dad, I know, you know, I know what their life you know, real life and gaming life, but then it would get a little bit more and then we'd actually have to pull away from the game and he would over time he would he would see it in himself. And he also sees in his brother when his brother got into the gaming it's like oh my gosh, there's a change so they know that it's just a matter of just having that that fortitude to pull them away from it.
Brandy Williams:It's amazing to me the the interventions they put in place for themselves again, we as human beings are so resilient and including our young people probably the most resilient yeah now of us all. They're able to recognize Wow hours have gone by I don't even know what's happening in the world. Yeah, well, I miss dinner. That's usually what my 20 year old something's happened, right. I miss dinner. But yeah, I think that they recognize it, but that's why we that's why we as parents guide them. They have us there for us. To help them
Jason Wheeler:As we record this, we're a week away from you mentioned screenagers. It's a growing up in the digital age of what it's called, talk a little bit about this project and bringing it to Flagler County.
Brandy Williams:Yeah, I'm so excited to show this. So I initially was exposed to this one, I was in Colorado, doing my work in Colorado, and the research that's in it, and the studies that are in it is so interesting to me as a parent, but also, after the pandemic, it's, it's interesting to me as an adult, because some of again, some of us as adults are struggling with getting away from our screen use as well. But I think it's really a valid and important conversation, what we see with our students coming back into schools and being required to, you know, be on time and be in a seat and, you know, complete their coursework in a different way than maybe what they've been doing for the previous year and a half. Part of how we want to support them is being able to balance their digital screen use time. And that is really just the essence of this documentary is how do we help you learn how to be an adult of a technology driven culture, because at the end of the day, when they leave us from Flagler Schools, they're gonna be in a, in a culture and in a community and the business community or whatever they choose to do next, where they're going to need to know how to navigate technology. So we are, you know, charged with teaching them that piece. But also, how do you step away from it when it's time to step away?
Jason Wheeler:And I know people point fingers at us like, hey, Flagler Schools, you give our kids devices, we're one to one, and we tout that, but again, the these are not an end all be all devices, they are just a tool in a toolbox for learning. And and I guess part of gaining that device over to a child is to teach them how best to use this. And this goes into that I imagine,
Brandy Williams:Oh, absolutely, we still need to be supporting how they use technology, just like we support, how they're, you know, what they're eating and their exercise and all the other parts of their their health.
Jason Wheeler:And I give a little plug Tuesday, April 26 Flagler Auditorium, begins at five o'clock. It's free, doesn't cost anything to see it. We also have supports there. We will talk about things afterwards before
Brandy Williams:Yeah, we were going to have some of our local providers are coming out to share what they do for our Flagler families, they're going to have resources available for parents. We do have a few food trucks that are coming out to be available, low cost food trucks, and then we'll show the documentary and have a panel discussion afterwards. So come with questions. On You know how we're addressing digital use at Flagler Schools
Jason Wheeler:A dinner in a movie. It's great right. Now, Brandy my last few questions for you. And I asked the same question of everyone who sits in that seat there by that microphone. First one is what makes you sad?
Brandy Williams:Oh, what makes me sad? I think passing up on an opportunity to praise especially in our with our young people. I never want to miss an opportunity to encourage a student by constantly bringing awareness and attention to the quote unquote bad side, right are the things that aren't happening well for that students. So missed opportunities to remind people of their power. It makes me sad,
Jason Wheeler:Because everybody has a story. What makes you happy on the other side?
Brandy Williams:Oh, wow. Relationships. Good, bad or indifferent, right? Like I feel like I learned so much from other people. And again, it's such an honor to be walking the life that I walk next to the people who are around me. I truly do believe that they're all next to me for a reason. And I'm really grateful for those things.
Jason Wheeler:We're grateful for you to spending time with us. Randy Williams is the coordinator of counseling services for Flagler Schools. Wish you the very best and almost done with the school year. Almost there.
Brandy Williams:That's right. Thank you Jason. I appreciate having the time with you.
Jason Wheeler:And we want to thank you for listening to Focused on Flagler Schools, a production in the Flagler County Schools district. New episodes are released every Thursday. If you like what you hear, subscribe. And check out Flagler Schools at WWW dot Flagler schools.com or on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where there at Flagler Schools. Thanks for listening. And remember, let's keep Focused on Flagler Schools.