On this episode Jay chats with friend and colleague Noelani Dizon. Lani and Jay met several years ago while working at a treatment center for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, and currently she is the program director for Whole Person Wellness, a program that assists individuals who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. Lani and Jay discuss many of her recent accomplishments and some exciting things she has on the horizon, and they really dig into childhood and adolescent struggles that almost contributed to none of this being possible. Lani gets candid about two suicide attempts in her later teens, and she shares about the power of therapy, finding authentic connections, and being willing to do the hard work required to persevere and come out the other side. Lani is a true testament to what can happen when you advocate for yourself and do what is needed to take charge of your mental health.

As an aside, there is talk about suicide in this episode. If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts please contact a mental health provider or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1800-272-8255. You can also take yourself, or have a family member take you to the hospital for emergency evaluation.

On this episode Jay sits down with Nika Hirsch. Nika is the youngest guest so far on the podcast, at 10 years old. But, as you’ll hear, she’s one of the most inspiring guests. Nika and her mom run an Instagram account, This Life Rocks, which documents all of her amazing accomplishments and kind deeds. From a young age Nika has been dealing with selective mutism, which is an anxiety disorder that’s characterized by an inability to speak in certain social settings. So, it makes it all the more impressive that she could sit down with a total stranger and have this conversation. Nika uses her Instagram account to promote mental health awareness, spread kindness, and promote the various fundraising activities she’s always coming up with. Throughout her fundraising, Nika has raised several thousand dollars, most of which has been donated to various cancer foundations due to her father battling with sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, twice. In addition, at the time of recording this, Nika’s dad was in the hospital recovering from a brain surgery after a new cancer showed up.

Because Nika has been so brave through all that she faces, and because she does so much do help raise money for cancer research, Jay reached out to Nika’s mom and asked if he could set up a fundraiser with all proceeds being donated to a cancer foundation of their choosing. If you would like to get more information on this, please visit the show's Instagram page @comingintofocus, all one word and look for the post promoting this episode. And, while you’re at it, go check out This Life Rocks to see all of the amazing things Nika does.

Nika's Instagram: This Life Rocks

Jay's links:
Instagram
Focus Therapy Website
Facebook Group

On this episodeJay chats with Jason Naylor. Jason is an award-winning artist, designer, and creative director based in Brooklyn. Jason has received global recognition for his work, contributing to such names as Pepsi, Fenty, LuluLemon, Xbox and Sour Patch Kids, to name a few, and in 2018 BUMBLE named Jason one of the 100 Most Inspiring New Yorkers. Jason has become known and sought after, for his unique colorful style that regularly contains messages of love and positivity, and this passion for spreading kindness has led him to collaborate with mental health organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Jason and Jay discuss how he began to home in on his particular brand, and what aspects of his own life led him to feel so passionate about contributing to overall mental health awareness. This is an extremely inspiring episode and one that you’ll probably find yourself wanting to listen to a couple of times.

Jason's Links:
www.jasonnaylor.nyc
Instagram
Store: www.opnheart.com

Jay's links:
Instagram
Focus Therapy Website
Facebook Group

In this episode Jay chats with Rebecca Woolf. Rebecca is an extremely accomplished writer, with work in such publications as The New York Times, Time Magazine, Huffington Post, and Glamour, to name a few. She also published a memoir in 2008, and has an upcoming book release in 2022, of which the content is discussed in this particular interview. Rebecca also had a wildly successful blog, "Girls Gone Child," which ran for over a decade, and even has a feature film in the works based off of a short film she debuted at the Bend Film Festival. She is also raising four incredible children on her own after losing her husband, Hal, to pancreatic cancer. Jay and Rebecca discuss the often hard to explore topic of grief and loss, and Rebecca shares the particular messiness that came with this particular loss.

Rebecca's Links:
www.rebeccawoolf.com
Instagram
Twitter


Jay's links:
Instagram
Focus Therapy Website
Facebook Group

On this episode Jay sits down with Ian Depew. Ian is a longtime friend, who also happens to be a colleague in the mental health field, and was actually Jay's first employer when he became a therapist. Ian is extremely talented and amazing at what he does, but it’s always nice to be around someone who doesn’t take themselves so seriously... as you'll see. Ian goes into detail about the incredible program, Rock to Recovery, that he works for, and the two have a discussion about interventions and Ian’s other work as an interventionist. Ian has such great energy and is a blast to be around, which you'll no doubt pick up on. Enjoy!

On this episode Jay sits down with Dr. Laura Louis. Dr. Louis is a licensed psychologist working out of Atlanta, GA, and the owner of Atlanta Couple Therapy. Dr. Louis is also an author, a highly sought after speaker, and a coach to other clinicians that are looking to break into the speaking arena. Dr. Louis and Jay share a love for working with couples, so you can bet they get into some great relationship conversations. The two also dig into the details of her book, her workshops and how she got into coaching other therapists in the realm of public speaking. Dr. Louis seems to do it all, and they cover it all! Enjoy!

The "Coming Into Focus" podcast is supported Hemp Health One. Head over to www.hemphealthone.com to check out their full line of products. Listeners of the podcast can also receive 20% off at checkout by using code: focus20

Dr. Laura Louis' Links:
Atlanta Couple Therapy
www.drlauralouis.com

Jay's links:
Instagram
Focus Therapy Website

When I started school to become a therapist, I sort of unknowingly entered a program that had a huge social justice component. I was extremely uninformed in the area of social justice, which isn’t surprising considering that as a white straight male I’m not often directly impacted by many of these issues. Being uneducated on these topics, I found myself becoming defensive often and speaking from a place of authority about things I really knew nothing about. Some of my defensiveness was directly related to feeling comments were an attacking me, and some of it was out of complete ignorance... which is ultimately why having open dialogues often felt like an attack.

I used to feel frustrated thinking “It’s not my job to tell other people how to live their lives. My focus is to resolve mental health issues.” I couldn’t see how these larger systemic issues had anything to do with mental health. It was truly eye opening over the years to come to learn that these issues don’t affect MY mental health because of the bubble of privilege that protects me from them.

Since leaving school, I have continued to be educated daily from experiences with my clients. I have worked with clients of multiple different ethnicities, cultures, genders and sexual orientations, and I have come to realize more and more that in order to be the therapist I want to be, I need to continue seeking education and self-reflection in the areas that are in my blind-spots.

I remain committed to being being better and doing better, not only for myself but for everyone I come into contact with.

Jay's links:
Instagram
Focus Therapy Website

On this episode, Jay sits down with Andy Laub. Andy is a certified tea master, a mindfulness expert, and sound healing practitioner, and just an all around interesting dude. Andy also happened to be the very first guest that Jay recorded with, but for whatever reason the episode wasn't published until now. Andy, and Jay discuss the path that led him to tea, ways to develop mindfulness practices other than just sitting and breathing, which incidentally opens a discussion about a shared interest in contemplative photography, and the two finish off strong with a great conversation about fear, faith, and gratitude. This episode covers all the bases, and does not disappoint.

Jay's links:
Instagram
Focus Therapy Website