Let’s Talk! - Mental Health w/ Karishma Mendes
In the United States, we’re just over halfway through Mental Health Awareness month. Starting with some statistics:
“1 in 5 U.S. adults experience mental illness each year
1 in 20 U.S. adults experience serious mental illness each year
1 in 6 U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year
50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24
Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among people aged 10-34” - National Alliance on Mental Illness, Mar 2021, https://www.nami.org/mhstats
For Gold Talk, I recently had the honor of interviewing Karishma Mendes, a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate of Texas who champions mental health awareness and advocacy. Mental health greatly affects our everyday lives, whether we or someone we know is suffering. To transform as leaders, we must consider what role mental health plays in building ourselves up, crafting motivation from within, and how we can create enduring change.
There’s one part of the interview that touched me the most. Can you guess which part? Reveal at the end!
Gold Interview with Karishma Mendes:
First, will you tell us a little bit about yourself and your journey to becoming a Mental Health Counselor?
Hello! Thank you for taking the time to interview me. It’s always an honor and joy to give back to my community. My name is Karishma Mendes and I am currently a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate in Texas. I am working toward becoming fully licensed as I gain client hours through my residency or post-graduate practicum.
I was born and raised in Houston, Texas and I am often described by others as a student success advocate. I have experience in career, clinical, and spiritual counseling. I have a B. A in Psychology and an M.S in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. I have counseled student and adult populations ranging from veterans, alumni, international and domestic. I served as a Career Counselor for the University of St. Thomas’s Career Services and Rice University’s Center for Career Development. Currently, I work as a Student Counselor for NexGenT, a start-up company and educational facility that specializes in Network Engineering and Cyber Security.
I started off college by being a biochemistry major as I use to love watching House MD and wanted to become a cardiovascular surgeon. As a counselor, I think self-awareness is key to growth and recovery. While I excelled in biology, I soon realized that I did not enjoy chemistry. I utilized my college’s career services department and took a vocational assessment, the Strong Interest Inventory, and realized that I wanted to become a therapist. While I do not prescribe medicine, I think of counseling as a “doctor” of the heart and mind.
My counseling approach is collaborative, client-centered, solution-focused, and direct. Together, I work with my clients to co-create solutions that align with their goals. Empathy, advocacy, and compassion as the driving forces behind my counseling methods. My areas of expertise include anxiety, depression, combating perfectionism, life coaching, identity development, enhancing relationships, and spirituality. I also facilitate educational workshops on mental health and wellness and I offer education on coping strategies to overcome stress.
When I am not counseling, I spend most of my time devoted to the arts. I am an artist and I have a side art business. Painting and creating are my passion. I also write my own songs. As being a South Asian therapist, I also love to dance and practice classical and modern Indian dance forms, such as Kathak or Bollywood fusion.
What is your experience with programs focusing on personal growth and leadership?
I do similar work in my current role. Specifically, I work in the Student Success team and as a leader, I do my best to advocate for my clients both professionally and ethically as a counselor. Human beings are holistic and socio-emotional creatures. What works for one client may not work with another; therefore, as a leader and educator, I take time to educate my colleagues on diversity and inclusion.
As a Mental Health Counselor, what are the top three habits women should develop to transform as leaders?
a. Compassion-remember your why-your purpose. People pay attention to your words and actions.
b. Multicultural Competence-as everyone comes from unique backgrounds. Even those from the same culture may have different experiences. We cannot afford to assume nor overgeneralize. Know your implicit biases and brainstorm ways to combat them.
c. Advocacy-Advocacy calls us to act. Even beyond a session, I am actively looking for ways to help diverse communities or researching mental health interventions. Get involved in your community.
What is the importance of internal and external motivation in developing leadership habits?
a. Internally-knowing your purpose and growing in your self-awareness of your areas of growth and strengths is key. For internal motivation, I often journal my goals (from short-term to long-term or create a vision board for myself).
b. External motivation-I mentor others and have my own mentor because two heads are better than one! I also get motivated when I am involved in my community and through attending counseling workshops.
How have you developed motivation over time that you would say contributed to your success?
I have developed motivation over time by continual self-growth via journaling, consulting with counseling colleagues, getting supervised, going to therapy myself, and attending seminars/workshops. What truly contributed to my success is admitting that I don’t have all the answers and asking for help is ok. My purpose and motivation is that I want to break the counseling stigma and assist in the healing process.
Journaling is the cornerstone activity of Learning 2 Live 4 Change. How would you use journaling as a means to grow as a leader?
Journaling increases self-awareness and is a great tool for stress and time management. Whether it is a bullet journal for organization or a written journal for expression, psychology describes writing information as “catharsis” or release. Journaling helps us to gather our thoughts on paper and can serve as a way to acknowledge our feelings that will ultimately influence our behavior.
Lastly, how can we at Learning 2 Live 4 Change apply the information from this interview regarding mental health and personal development to utilize change for women?
a. Know your strengths and areas of growth. You can’t grow if you do not know! Conduct a life satisfaction assessment or reflect on this.
b. Find a therapist that is a right fit for you! You can interview therapists!
c. It’s okay to ask for help!
It’s okay to ask for help. (Say that one more time!)
I’m still learning to ask for help. The first thing I learned in the last few years that continues to shape me, and inevitably Gold Talk, is that even if someone denies you help, there is someone else waiting to meet you and to help you.
Let’s take leadership of our lives! Let’s seek the people who will help us grow. They’re out there and they’re waiting for us to knock on their door.
Comment below some of your experiences with mental health, seeking help, and how change was made possible in your life!
This has been Gold Talk!