Cultural Providers Network Podcast Episodes
Welcome to the Cultural Providers Network where we seek to build and sustain a network of culturally and ethnically diverse voices to promote policies, practices, standards, and research that improve the mental health of children, their families, and communities.
This multimedia cultural mental health project, focused on children’s mental health, is a powerful and innovative initiative to bring new perspectives, learnings, and opportunities to the field.
Why We Need the Cultural Providers Network
with Joel Helter
Dr. Hetler received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1976. He was employed by Ramsey County Human Services for almost 30 years, serving as their first Children’s Mental Health Manager. He was influential in developing public policies and services for children’s mental health case management, crisis, early intervention and school based mental health.
He is particularly proud of his leadership in the development of children’s mobile crisis teams and multi-cultural mental health services and supports. As Ramsey County became increasingly diverse, he made it a priority to bring leaders and providers of color to the table to help create a system of care that could meet the needs of their communities.
From 2007 to 2022 Dr. Hetler provided community engagement and research support for various programs at the University of Minnesota. His last appointment was as Director of Stakeholder Collaboration, at the University of Minnesota Center for Precision Care (2016 to 2022).
While at the University he helped found the Cultural Providers Network, bridging the gap between behavioral science and community practice for children and families of color. Joel retired at the end of 2022.
The Cultural Providers Network Podcast seeks to build and sustain a network of culturally and ethnically diverse voices to promote policies, practices, standards, and research that improve the mental health of children, their families, and communities.
In this episode, we hear from Dr. Joel Hetler, who discusses the origins of the Cultural Providers Network and his participation in forming a diverse group of providers. It is important, he explains, to have development opportunities like CPN, because there is no singular perspective for any given community or culture. “It clearly helps to have broad cultural knowledge, but it’s not enough because everybody has a unique cultural and personal background that you have to pay attention to.”
Bridging Generations: Mental Health in Hmong American Communities
with Maria Moua
In addition to being a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Moua is also a certified perinatal/postpartum counselor. Being a first-generation Hmong American, and a daughter of Hmong refugee immigrants, she is passionate about working in the community, helping people strive and grow to reach their best potential.
Maria Moua has been practicing in the mental health field for over 14 years, with the foundation of her work being in intensive in-home family-systems therapy, multisystemic therapy, and Children’s Crisis. Maria is also the co-founder and coordinator of the Hmong MFT Support Group. She currently runs her private practice, Maria Moua Therapy.
You can find Maria Moua on Facebook at Maria Moua Therapy; on LinkedIn; and online at mariamouatherapy.com.
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In this episode, we hear from Maria Moua, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Moua discusses the family systems within Hmong American culture, intergenerational trends and the impacts on the mental health of its community members.
Walking Alongside BIPOC Families in Therapy
with Jade Miles
Jade Miles currently works with Fernbrook Family Center in Rochester, Minnesota, and Canopy Mental Health and Consulting in Richfield, Minnesota. She has experience working with multiple populations in the psychotherapy world but has focused her practice on working with BIPOC folks. She is currently the BIPOC specialist with Fernbrook Family Center and assists the company in continuing to grow to be an inclusive and affirming workplace for employees and clients alike.
In this episode, we hear from Jade Miles, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. Miles discusses a breadth of topics centering cultural awareness in therapy.
She also discusses her work with children and families of color in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and how acute the awareness of difference became.
As a provider, Miles walks alongside her clients when she shares resources, making sure they have the skills and knowledge to use them.
Reading recommendations to accompany this episode:
- “My Grandmother’s Hands” by Resma Menakem
- “The Politics of Trauma” by Staci K. Haines.
Connectivity through Cultural Consideration and Curiosity
with Lambers Fisher
Fisher is a marriage & family therapist and national speaker on the topic of multicultural awareness and diversity. With over 20 years of therapeutic experience, Fisher offers encouraging, practical and shame-free strategies for reducing unintentional cultural offenses and repairing cross-cultural personal and professional relationships.
In this episode, we hear from Lambers Fisher, who discusses the importance of being culturally considerate. “Cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness as a whole is just an acknowledgement that there is more to us than just one thing,” he says.
Whether it be race, ethnicity, gender or other, we can all find something that connects us to another person. Use this as a bridge for empathy. When folks think about cultural sensitivity, it may focus on the word sensitivity as “walking on eggshells.” Fisher encourages us to think about the word “sensitivity” more in the “considerate” sense.
Reading recommendations to accompany this episode:
Video recommendations to accompany this episode:
- Lambers’ TEDx Talk: “What to Do When You Offend Someone“
- An Interview with Lambers on “Diversity in the Therapy Room“
- Lambers’ Diversity Dude Podcast on BIPOC Awareness Month
Know Yourself First, Doing Good Will Follow
with Brittany Clausen
Bio coming soon.
In this episode of the Cultural Providers Network Podcast we hear from Brittany Clausen, who shares an insightful perspective on the relationships providers have with their families, themselves, and their growth. Listen as Clausen shares about her journey to therapy and consulting, and how she learned that the best way to do good was to be present, offer support, and ask clients how they want to move forward.
Facilitating the Individual Revolutions
with Rachel Surratt
Hi! I’m Rachel Surratt (She/Her), and I am a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor working at RHI with clients in Minneapolis and the greater Twin Cities area. I believe that while individuality has its place, it is not the only place we should turn to for healing. I believe in collective care in the therapy space, and am not here to assume where and when help is needed, but to help give you the tools to identify, ask for, and provide your own support in all aspects of your life. I believe that there is not, nor should there be, a normal that you are trying to work towards by coming to therapy, rather there is a balance that we can build in your life between light and dark.
I utilize several aspects of my training as a clinical counselor to provide a holistic, explorative approach to wellbeing and self-actualization. These aspects include radical empathy & acceptance, unconditional positive regard, and commitment to self.
You are more than the sum of your parts. You are capable of healing and are inherently resilient. It is my goal to help you see that, and to help facilitate holistic healing that can be carried on past our therapeutic journey together.
My background in psychology combined with my personal interest in spirituality can help you focus, reflect, and heal your life. I am also open to getting a little non-traditional & incorporating things like astrology, energy & ancestry into our practice. What I ask of you is that you come to therapy with a drive to improve and are ready to take a holistic look at your life!
Learn from Rachel Surratt in this episode of the Cultural Providers Network Podcast. As therapy and psycho education continue to evolve, Surratt hopes clinicians and providers can move in the direction of teaching clients not about themselves, but rather about humans and the human experience.
“I want the future of therapy to be a place where you come to do your work with a person that cares about you.”
This direction, she hopes, will help to move away from the therapeutic image of the old white man with glasses and a sweater vest sitting in a chair telling clients about themselves.
“It is our job to help facilitate revolution,” Surratt shares. And sometimes, at an individual level, that revolution is helping one client at a time dismantle thought systems.
Guidance From The Starfish Story
with Rose Joiner
Rose, MS, LMFT, has been a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist since November 2014 and a MN Board Approved Supervisor since 2018. Rose has been trained in EMDR, to help people who have experienced trauma. Rose considers therapy to be a vital and intrinsic part of our journey in life. In a world that is continually changing, finding ways to adapt to life stressors can at times become overwhelming. Rose believes therapy can be as lighthearted or challenging as client desires, allowing clients to find their desired path.
Therapy can be a place to reflect, grow and challenge old ways of thinking or being, and create a new way of viewing life, loved ones and ourselves. She believes that all people are valuable, irreplaceable and worthy of growth, change and positivity. She loves working with children, teenagers and adults. She also is an advocate for fostering healthy relationships, within families or couples.
She has experience, but is not limited to people struggling with ADHD, anger issues, trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship issues, gender issues and more.
Rose grew up in southern California, she loves travel, photography, coffee and spending time with friends, family and her two doodles.
In this episode of the Cultural Providers Network Podcast, we hear from Rose Joiner who shares stories and analogies to help us think about our impact in the world.
“You can’t be everything for everyone, but you can be respectful and curious,” Joiner says. Sometimes doing the hard things is the most rewarding.
Connecting Over Emotional Experience
with Jodi Holzemer
I spent approx 20 yrs working with adolescents in their home, community, and in special education setting 3 and setting 4 programs, with a focus on Emotional Behavioral Disorder and Autism. I returned to school to obtain my LADC in 2018 and in 2019, I was fortunate enough to beign working with Carol Ackley, facilitating trainings in the trauma responsive Covington Curriculum as well as facilitating the curriculum for women in Intensive Outpatient programming.
I graduated in 2020 from Metro State University and began working for Horowitz Health and starting up Gateway Recovery Center. I spent approx 3 years taking an innovative approach to withdrawal management and developing an understanding of what effective clinical services are for clients at this stage of recovery.
I have spent time deepening my understanding of addiction and the interplay between addiction and trauma in Outpatient settings, withdrawal management,MOUD programs and residential programs. I am currently a clinical supervisor for Northstar Behavioral Health Network, overseeing one of our 90 day mens’ residential program in St Paul.
With over 20 years of experience in the field, Jodi Holzemer shares her perspectives during this episode of the Cultural Providers Network Podcast. .
Holzemer has found it important to acknowledge with clients that though her experiences may not be congruent or directly reflective of each other, she can relate to their feelings. Holzemer doesn’t need to have walked a client’s exact journey. She values connecting over an emotional experience instead of an actual event.
Listen to and learn from Holzemer’s thoughts on the field and navigating spaces with clients from all backgrounds.
The Impact of Cultural Communication Styles in Therapy
with Jimmie Heags, Jr.
Jimmie is a graduate of Metropolitan State University where he earned a BA in Individualized Studies. He earned his MA from Adler Graduate School and holds 3 licenses in school, clinical and alcohol and drug counseling (LSC, LPCC and LADC). In addition, Jimmie has a certificate in Trauma Informed Practice from the University of Minnesota and a certificate in Co-Occurring Disorders certificate from Adler Graduate School. He is also a board approved clinical supervisor by the Minnesota Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy (ACS).
Jimmie has over 20 years of experience in the field of counseling and education. He is a trainer and consultant in Restorative Practices, Trauma Informed Practices, Crisis Prevention and Intervention (CPI) as well as other related areas. He has served in a variety of capacities ranging from adjunct instructor to chair of the Minneapolis NAACP Integrated Health committee to President of Community Mediation and Restorative Services. Notably, he was one of the original founders of Canopy Mental Health & Counseling, a provider of culturally informed therapy services for historically under-served and marginalized populations in the Twin Cities.
Jimmie is a PREPaRE crisis responder as well as a master level trainer in Crisis Prevention and Intervention. PREPaRE curriculum has been developed by the National Association of School Psychologists as part of a decade-long leadership in providing evidence-based resources and consultation related to crisis prevention, response and grief support. Crisis Prevention and Intervention is a trauma-informed de-escalation training exceptionally suited for deescalating and debriefing a crisis.
Jimmie’s work has been mostly focused on black indigenous people of color (BIPOC) and Diversity equity & Inclusion with a mental health lens. He approaches his work with genuine curiosity and believes in the psychological principle that “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards,” ~ Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard.
As a therapist, Jimmie Heags, Jr. says his job is not to assume, but culturally, the amount of context clients may use when discussing their feelings and experiences may differ. He looks to find a balance to respect cultural communication styles, while also making sure he does not assume anything a client is trying to say.
Heags joins us in this episode of the Cultural Providers Network Podcast to discuss the relationship between culture and communication, as well as the scalability of resources, connections within the field of mental health, intersectionality, stigma, and more.
Part of Therapy is Who You Are
with Dionne Trice
I have always been intrigued by how life experiences shape our stories and influence our future. Personally, I bring nearly 20 years of experience working with domestic violence survivors, 30 years of ministry, and community activism, which has deepened my understanding of trauma, loss, and their impact on our relationships and worldview.
My own experiences, including the loss of a child and almost 40 years of marriage, have led me towards marriage and family therapy.
As a therapist, I believe in the power of family systems and the importance of support. I am committed to creating a safe, non-judgmental space where individuals and families can explore their stories, understand the connection between their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, develop skills, and build supportive systems.
As an African American therapist, I specialize in working with minority stress and trauma related to being part of a marginalized group. My approach integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS), Experiential therapy, Brainspotting, and Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT). I am passionate about helping others navigate life’s challenges and find healing. With a background in psychology and family studies and years of experience, I am ready to collaborate with you on your journey.
Dionne works with individuals, couples, and families ages 14 and older. Dionne’s specialties include grief and loss, Trauma/PTSD, Perinatal Mental Health, Depression, Interpersonal violence, Spiritual abuse and trauma, and Cultural stress and trauma.
Website
In this episode of the Cultural Providers Network Podcast, we hear from provider Dionne Trice.
Trice saw four therapists as she navigated the grief of losing her son to cancer. Those experiences demonstrated to her the importance of leading with curiosity in the therapeutic space. When it comes to a respectful, safe space for clients and providers, transparency is important, because “part of the therapy is who I am,” she said.
Trice shares insightful conversation about leading with curiosity and encouraging it from your clients.
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This podcast was made possible with support from the Minnesota Department of Health.