Summary: In today’s episode, John and Jim welcome Josh Spurlock back to the mic for Part 2 of their conversation. Josh is the founder of My Counselor Online, an amazing organization dedicated to the mental and emotional well-being of leaders. In this powerful follow-up to Episode 167, John, Jim, and Josh explore where the mental and emotional health landscape is going in the United States, and how leaders can create a culture of mental and emotional health in the organization they lead. Once again, this a can’t miss episode!

You can listen to the audio version here. Here is the video version.

Here are the show notes:

Episode 168

1. Where do you see the mental and emotional health landscape going? Are we making progress or falling behind?
   • The challenge has morphed. We are being forced to face and deal with things that less challenging times don’t force us to face and deal with.
   • These problems are presenting us with opportunities to find healing and experience transformation. We can lean into transformation in a way that leads to more effectiveness in how we help people.
   • How do we know we’ve grieved a loss adequately?
     • Become attuned to your own nervous system – When I can talk about the loss and view it in a historical perspective.
     • “If I relive it when I retell it that means I’m not over it.” When it’s alive in my nervous system as if the loss was happening today, I have more grief work to do.
     • Unresolved trauma lives in a non-time-stamped place in our brain, and it is perpetually in the present until it is resolved
     • Anger is a part of grief.
     • It’s not just the sharing of our grief that helps us . . . it’s what that sharing is met with.
2. What practical steps can leaders take to create a culture of mental and emotional health with their staff? With the congregation or ministry they lead?
   • Recognize that all of us carry mental and emotional scars and wounds.
   • Be with your own wounding and lean into your own healing. Be vulnerable with sharing your journey and process with your leaders and the people around you. This gives others permission and the courage to do the same.

To reach out to Josh’s organization go to https://mycounselor.online/