Befriending Our Bodies with Ruth Tessema, M. Ed, NCC, LPC: The difficulties of navigating mental health support for BIPOC Communities
Finding a therapist is difficult, but finding a therapist who understands your lived experinece without explanintation is even trickier. Join Ruth Tessema, licensed psychotherapist, as she addresses aspects of mental health, trauma, and BIPOC healing.
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Our Host
Ari O’Donovan
Links & Resources:
Learn more about Ruth and the services she offers at: risingselfwellness.com.
Follow Ruth on Instagram @talkwithruth
Transcript:
Ari O'Donovan: (00:00)
Thank you so much for listening to boosting our Voices. This program has been brought to you by Boost, Oregon. You can find them online@boostoregon.org.
Ruth Tessema: (00:13)
Dial it back, and just be a little bit more self-aware about what's happening internally in our internal world, in our body sensations and in our thoughts of course, and how do we navigate that? Define healing defined progression.
Ari O'Donovan: (00:33)
Welcome back everybody, to another brand new episode of Boosting Our Voices. Today we're gonna talk about some really special topics. My guest is Ruth Tema, licensed psychotherapist, and a very good friend of mine. Ruth, can you tell listeners a little bit more about who you are and what you do?
Ruth Tessema: (00:55)
Yes, of course. So good to be here. I'm so excited for this, just cuz you know, I know you, you're a good friend and this is gonna be fun. But yeah, for listeners, I am a psychotherapist in private practice here in Portland. I grew up here in Portland and just started my own private practice in 2020, which I'll talk more about. I come from an immigrant family based in the Tigray region of Ethiopia. Came here when I was four. Yeah. And it's been an interesting ride being here and seeing all the changes within Portland. But back with my private practice, I am very passionate about working with communities of color with complex trauma. I'm so complex trauma survivors, that's kind of my, my niche. Love to work with these people. I combine like a nice combination between western psychotherapy and non-traditional healing practices with the work with my clients. They're primarily adults, individually and in group again and with telehealth as well. That's kind of my main modality of seeing folks. I'm somatic focused, so I use a lot of different modalities, but primarily somatic focused. I'm sound healing and breathwork certified and I do incorporate that with my work with clients. Yeah. So that's kind of a little bit about, you know, just in a nutshell, but I'm sure we'll get into it. .
Ari O'Donovan: (02:29)
I love it. Girl, you out here thriving doing your own thing with your own private practice. She a black woman out here doing so well. Aww. I'm so proud of her.
Ruth Tessema: (02:39)
. Thank you. I'm proud of you. I'm proud of you too. This is awesome. I love that we get to do this together. You've got this amazing platform. I've been listening to the other episodes too and they're amazing. So I'm excited.
Ari O'Donovan: (02:52)
Thank you. I'm so glad I get to add you to my list of amazing guests doing amazing things. And you've been in your own private practice now since 2020. Are you taking new clients? Is that something that you are doing now?
Ruth Tessema: (03:10)
Yeah, as of right now, not so much, but I have openings, you know, and maybe in the next couple of weeks. It just really depends on my caseload. So I have to kind of have discernment about when I'm opening up to new clients. But right now I'm full. But I see primarily folks who have O H P or who are open to out-of-pocket. I'm in the process of getting paneled with Pacific Source and Kaiser right now. So just kind of waiting on that. And by the time that kind of gets settled and done, then I am probably gonna be open to new clients. But I did start out as a school counselor, so I wanna preface that too. That's kind of my in in this world. I went to school for school counseling in Pennsylvania and that's kind of, I did a track with school counseling and clinical mental health, but I was, you know, really looking forward to being in the schools.
Ruth Tessema: (04:09)
And I did that for about six years. Then the pandemic hit and I was actually wanting to figure out if I wanted to do another year or do open up my own practice, you know, halftime and see if I can do both. And I actually did that for two years, you know, after 2020. 2020 was like the catalyst of this huge shift. And then I just recently went full-time. So it's been kind of a, a lot of mixed feelings. I do miss the kids that I worked with and all of that. I was in the elementary school for pretty much the whole time in Portland Public schools and it's amazing. But divinely kind of the path opened up to open my own business and use my skills and training to work with adults. And so a lot's happened, I would say the last two or three years for sure. But for the best.
Ari O'Donovan: (05:08)
So I believe that. I know it's definitely for the best. I remember you telling me about your journey and how you were gonna start shifting gears and doing new things and you really, you said you were gonna do a bunch of stuff and you set out to do that stuff and now you're doing all the things.
Ruth Tessema: (05:25)
Yeah, I do remember having a conversation with you and I was just like, IRA, I don't know. Should I do this full-time ? Should I do this full-time or not? Yeah. Gosh. It feels like forever ago when we were talking about that.
Ari O'Donovan: (05:39)
Yeah, I know. And I'm glad that you went that route. I really am. I feel like you have gotten into the space that you will be most happy and the space that you're going to be able to help people who really need it in the best way. And speaking of 2020, I know that since 2020, everybody's mental health has changed dramatically. like anxiety, depression rates for that for people I know have gone up. It's been crazy. I went from going out every day to not leaving my house for days at a time. Mm-hmm. , I'm like, I don't know. I don't know if I can live like this.
Ruth Tessema: (06:23)
Yeah, yeah.
Ari O'Donovan: (06:25)
What kind of changes have you seen when it comes to anxiety, depression, or any other, um, mental health concern over the years since 2020 and before? Because I know it's changed a lot since, since I was a child. Like it's so different the way that iPOC community members view mental health today. Mm-hmm. than 20 years ago. Mm-hmm.
Ruth Tessema: (06:50)
. Yeah, I definitely agree with that. I think that there are some shifts happening with mental health awareness and what wellness is and accessing it and you know, there's online therapy nowadays, you know, where you could text your therapist and you know, everything else is kind of situated. And I definitely see the shift and I definitely agree with you with the pandemic that's heightened. And it's not just the pandemic, the pandemic on top of all of the, you know, social unrest and racism that you just see like on your phone or every single news station's covering some sort of, you know, attack on humanity and just lots of unrest. And so there's that. And I do work with, uh, a lot of the younger college student population too, as, you know, not just, but I do work with them and I've noticed a trend with, you know, their mental wellness and their going through in terms of distance learning and then the lack of social supports and then trying to figure out how they want to create a path of wellness and understand what's going on in the middle of everything.
Ruth Tessema: (08:06)
So it is a lot. It's a lot. So I mean I, I agree with the shift in a positive direction, like the progression of just how we see mental health and the importance of it. But I also see that there's still this stigma around mental health and the access and the mistrust and you know, just a lot about, you know, specific communities and their relationship to what mental health and wellness means to them. And you know, not just accessing it, but like seeking treatment, staying in treatment for things that some people might think is just things you might wanna just get over, like anxiety or, you know, maybe it's seasonal depression or maybe it's just too much that we're absorbing on social media and that that's not something that we need to see a therapist for or that we need some supports for. But it is, and I think there's still this stigma that mental health, it's either you're well or you're not, you know.
Ruth Tessema: (09:10)
And so I like to champion the term wellness a lot with my clients because it does promote this element of, you know, you have this proactive way of strategizing your life. Like you're proactive in terms of how you want to, in this like, cyclical journey of how you want to reach emotional, social, and psychological wellbeing. And it's not that you have to reach an ultimate, you know, happiness or something. You're either, well, you're not well or you're, you're healthy, you're not healthy or have mental illness or you don't, that it's a journey and that we all need support and trying to destigmatize that as much as possible, especially with the younger communities because most of them I've noticed are the first ones in their family to seek support. You know, and then this just generation is also tough too, of navigating everything in this economy and, and you know, all sorts of things.
Ruth Tessema: (10:10)
So yeah, just championing that access to mental health in a normalizing kind of way. And I think specifically with our communities of color, black and brown people, you know, they are the first ones usually that are trying to promote wellness and sometimes their families are like very dismissive or you know, they don't know where to begin, you know, so there's some progression, but I think that ultimately there's a lot of work with the dis destigmatization and the access of it. And also finding representation in therapists as well, or mentors or coaches. Yeah. There's just such a lack, you know, you're from Portland too, so you see it, you know,
Ari O'Donovan: (11:01)
You we're dealing with two native Portland Oregonians, and let me tell you, if you are out here trying to find a black therapist, you gonna have some trouble. It is not easy to find a black therapist, a Latinx therapist, someone that looks like you, because it's really hard to talk to somebody about specific concerns you're having when you walk into the room with them or start a meeting with them virtually. And you can tell that they have no idea what kind of lived experience you have. It really matters when you have somebody that looks like you.
Ruth Tessema: (11:40)
Oh yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And, and even in like, you know, I maybe you've noticed in Portland there's just a lot of wellness spaces too, like yoga studios and things like that that I don't think are also representation of maybe people who wanna be served or even the roots of those type of practices as well. It's a great thing that we have all that, but I strongly believe that certain communities who have this mistrust in these organizations or you know, what wellness means to them, healthcare, you know, and mental wellness as well, there needs to be more representation in that sense as well. So yeah, I've just noticed like, gosh, yoga studios, breathwork studios, specific yoga studios like Kundalini, which is really good for trauma healing and, and we'll talk more about this later on, but communities of color where there's a lot of trauma around racial injustices, discrimination, that's also stored in the body.
Ruth Tessema: (12:50)
I mean, I feel like these communities, not to say that one community needs more of this kind of work than others, but there's a lot of research that these communities really do benefit from that access and representation to make it more meaningful and more attainable and sustainable. And that's kind of like hopefully where I see the community going in Portland, I mean just everywhere obviously, but gosh, there's just so many barriers. There's access for some people and there's opportunity, maybe that's the better word. There's opportunity, but the barrier to bridge the gap between the specific groups that really need this kind of support, it's not there. So that's kind of unfortunate and hopefully there's progression in that area too, but it's pretty tough to kind of think of a bigger picture that way. But that's kind of the reality that we're in.
Ari O'Donovan: (13:46)
I see that too. I've never, never in my life have I seen it. Have we had a time where people are wearing shirts that say, if it costs you your peace, it's too expensive, maybe I am anxious, maybe I'm depressed. So the awareness about these things are real, people are noticing it. But I think we're still kind of, we still need to come up from that surface level. Like we know it's here and we're trying to interact with being more conscious about mental health and providing those resources to the people who need them most, who are disadvantaged and don't have access to them like you were talking about. But I still think a lot of work needs to be done. I also believe that a lot has changed. I mean, in a previous episode I was talking to Rebecca Rodella and I told her, I told my mom I had a issue with anxiety at one point.
Ari O'Donovan: (14:42)
I was really anxious about something and, and she told me to take a nap. You'll feel better when you wake up . Like, I'm not gonna be able to take no nap. My anxiety will keep me from taking the nap. And then I have even less time to be anxious about what it is after that. So, and she's like, don't tell nobody that you have these feelings except for me. You'll end up in a padded room. I'm serious . And she, I don't blame her. I don't blame her. Like it's not her fault. She's just working with the tools she had. She's like 72 now. But it's like, we can't live like that though,
Ruth Tessema: (15:18)
. I know. You're like, mom, come on. Like hop on this bandwagon with me. Like what's going on here? I remember that and I totally resonated with that when I listened to that episode because gosh, like, you know, like the statement, you know, strong, independent black woman, you know, or like there's this message that we have been hearing for decades and you know, obviously stems from this need to be strong and independent. Like there you don't have a choice. Like you really just have to be resilient and persevere. But it can be a double-edged sword, right? Because if we're continuously getting this message that we just need to like, just take a nap, you'll be fine , you know, keep it going, keep it pushing, like you'll be fine. You don't need help. You can do it on your own. These messages kind of really condition us to thinking about our mental wellbeing in a certain way.
Ruth Tessema: (16:14)
Like if there is any ounce of stress or trauma that's surfacing up or you know, some sort of pain or discomfort that we have to bury it or we have to suppress it and then, you know, you'll be fine. . So my mom said the same thing, like, and she is very much like epitome of resilience, you know? Um, and I'm sure you could say very similar about your mom too. Like just very resilient and go-getter and all of that. And um, it could definitely be a double-edged sword because I want to, and I've had to learn, you know, personally speaking, uh, kind of the hard way, which isn't a bad thing, but learn that, you know, having a balance between your divine femininity and divine masculinity doesn't necessarily mean, you know, you don't have to have one or the other and you're not gonna be vulnerable and weak if you're asking for help or you're wanting support.
Ruth Tessema: (17:15)
And you know, on the other end of it, you don't always have to do things on your own, you know, and you don't, you know. So having a balance between that also means recognizing, okay, what's my body like being responsive to our bodies? You know, what does my body need from me right now? What is it saying, like with your example of you having anxiety and then you know, mom saying maybe you just need to take a nap. It is being responsive, but in a different way where you're kind of not really paying attention or recognizing what is it that your body needs. So you being curious, I'm hoping that, you know, people can still be very curious about what their body is saying. Like, so the anxiety, what does that mean? Or what's my body trying to tell me? What are the worries? The fear is kind of just getting really curious about it.
Ruth Tessema: (18:08)
And then hopefully, you know, following certain processes for healing that we recognize and we're attuned with ourselves and our body and we can give our bodies what we need. And if it is external resources, like, mom, actually I just want a hug, or I just wanna talk to you about something, you know, I know this was way back for you in your example, but like, it could be that now, right? Like external resources and then also your internal resources. Like what is it that I can give myself? Like do I need a ground? Do you know, what is it that I need? So yeah, it's a lot of rewiring. I'm noticing like just within myself too. But I know that our communities for sure are dealing with a lot of this confusion of, I like that I'm very resilient and a go-getter and all of that, and I can do things all on my own, but I also wanna find space where I can be self-compassionate and and actually listen to my body and get the help that I need. You know, external resource resources or internal resources. So I don't say that strong black independent woman mantra as much as I used to . But um, I like, I like obviously like to still do it, but
Ari O'Donovan: (19:25)
Yeah, there's nothing wrong with that too. But there's more to it than that. There's more to it than that girl rap about it. Tell the people what they need to hear.
Ruth Tessema: (19:34)
. Yes,
Ari O'Donovan: (19:35)
Yes. You really gotta do it. And yeah, you've talked a little bit about trauma and I really wanna know more about that. What would you say, how do people, how are people affected by trauma? And how can bipo communities better heal from trauma? Cause that's a big deal for all of us, whether we wanna accept it or not. And to not look at it and try to figure it out and move forward from it, you're only doing yourself a disservice in the long run. Mm-hmm. ,
Ruth Tessema: (20:10)
I use a bottom up approach with my therapy models that I use for clients and then also with myself. So it's very body-centered, you know, so if we think about trauma, we think of, sometimes we think of like an events, like something happened or, you know, if we kind of trace where anxiety came from, maybe it's trauma, some sort of event. But I've learned that it really goes back to our body's response to it. So we have this innate ability to be in survival mode, which is a great thing that our bodies can do to tap into surviving and adapting and to stressful situations. But really taking time to recognize that our body is where it begins and ends with. So if our body is responding to a stressful stimulus environment or traumatic memory or whatever it may be, we want to start with that and regulate that rather than maybe the top down approach would be like, what are we thinking?
Ruth Tessema: (21:13)
What are our thoughts? You know, how do we maybe use traditional cognitive behavioral therapy to coach ourselves? Or if it's in a therapy session and kind of work with our thoughts, that can help too. But I've noticed specifically with trauma, if the trauma is stored in our bodies and our bodies are reacting in that kind of way that we need to, you know, kick in our fight, flight, freeze fond associate, you know, kind of strategies to survive and figure out what's going on, then that's kind of where we might want to start. So that's something that I really try to hone in on with my clients because they're primarily trauma survivors, complex trauma survivors as well. So long history of trauma symptoms. And that is really kind of where the gold is in my opinion. I really do a lot with trying to help people understand how to regulate their nervous system again, so that they're not constantly in survival mode.
Ruth Tessema: (22:17)
And it might not look like, you know, you're frantic fight flight freeze like all the time or whatnot, or fight flighting all the time. It, it could very much look like that's your baseline. Like especially for complex trauma survivors where there's a history of it and it's, uh, prolonged that they just think that this is just how they are, you know? But then you start to notice, like if we do some of the deep diving and we really pay attention, our breath is very shallow. Our, you know, we have a lot of tension in our upper body or you know, we have gut issues or you know, maybe it's like constipation or just like a lot of dysregulation happening and we don't really know, we don't know what an appropriate baseline is because that's just kind of how we are, you know, or we're always anxious.
Ruth Tessema: (23:09)
Like I'm just an, I'm an always, you know, an anxious person or overstimulated person, but really taking the time to understand. So there's a lot of psychoeducation here. Understand, you know, what our bodies are doing to kind of help protect us. So yeah, there's a lot of storage of trauma with, whether it's memory or sensation, but the healing really happens when we're focusing on the body and finding ways to not just recognize symptoms, but helping train our bodies to get back into like, like a parasympathetic state, you know, where we're able to completely regulate and we're able to find safety and find safety and fulfillment in life, you know? So we don't always have to feel like we are in survival mode or alarm in our body is constantly going off, you know, like for example, people who, which is very common, like have panic attacks at night, you know, and they wake up with a panic attack and nothing is happening around them, but their body is recognizing, you know, they think about like a, a siren, like, you know, it's like body is completely hijacked and on overdrive and we feel like we don't have control and we don't know what to do and how to regulate.
Ruth Tessema: (24:32)
So that's just an example. But just taking the time to kind of train our body and be patient and compassionate and in control, trying to train our body to feel like, hey, you are safe and you are, you do have control, you have, you can regulate and maybe our brain and our rest of our system, like our brain might not be communicating with, you know, everything quite yet. And so we just wanna bridge the gap. So working with the body sensations first, regulating that nervous system. There's a lot of work here, there's a lot of research I should say, but that is kind of the focus when in terms of, you know, trauma healing in our communities, focusing on the bottom up approach maybe of just really working with your body, finding release and safe ways. But yeah. I hope that answers your question,
Ari O'Donovan: (25:27)
Girl, you answered my question and a whole lot more. I feel like I'm in a class, I wanna be taking notes. , you're teaching me so much that I didn't know that. A lot of people probably don't know just how complex trauma and its effects really are. And especially people that have panic attacks. You wake up in the middle of the night, you can't sleep, you never get an equality sleep and then that affects you. It's, it's just a whole cascade of, uh, biological issues that are connected to a trauma experience that it's just a whole cascade of biological and psychological issues that you haven't taken time to address.
Ruth Tessema: (26:13)
Yeah.
Ari O'Donovan: (26:14)
Learning a lot of
Ruth Tessema: (26:14)
Things. And I'm continuously learning as well, you know, I obviously have my own healing journey, you know, and I just love the idea of befriending our bodies and befriending our anxiety, befriending our depression, befriending, you know, the scared parts of us, the courageous part of us, you know, and not being mad at ourselves for having a panic attack in the middle of the night, if, you know, as an example, or, um, being mad that we're so stressed out and overstimulated in a workplace environment that maybe not be suited for us if we have a trauma history or if we're just naturally, um, highly sensitive, you know, or overstimulated. So it's really just befriending our body. I, I really like that mantra because it ties into this bottom up approach to trauma healing and wellness. You know, really understanding what is it that is working for me in social settings. Like if it, if it's choosing friendships, if if it's workplace environment, you know, boundaries with family, what is it that my body really needs and how do I listen to it through the sensations and the messages that I'm getting? And that, that takes time. Like very non-linear. Sure. Very, you know, can be in cycles and it can be ongoing. It's definitely a journey.
Ari O'Donovan: (27:45)
I know you gonna write a book or something
Ruth Tessema: (27:47)
. I was,
Ari O'Donovan: (27:48)
I know you gonna do that. You gotta trademark some of that. That was just so perfectly worded. Thank you. I really love that. Befriend your body, befriend your anxiety, just listen. Mm-hmm. , listen to yourself because your body is trying to tell you something, is trying to tell you something that you need to address. Something that's new, something that's old, something that is in the way of just daily activities that you just listen and then seek out someone that can help you, like you mm-hmm. deal with these problems. Yeah, it, it's, I think that's where a lot of the first steps, right. Take place. And what do you think are some of the most important aspects of mental health Yeah. That you think more people need to know about?
Ruth Tessema: (28:40)
Ooh. Um, it's a great question. There's so much I would start with kind of like what I said earlier around that to kind of differentiate between mental health and wellness a little bit. That there isn't a perfect, you know, mental health that, you know, we do want to be mindful as we're talking about befriending our parts and our body and all of that. We wanna be mindful that mental wellness really is a journey and it's gonna be ongoing. We live in this human experience. Like there's a lot of things that we're not really supposed to be naturally supposed to be absorbing and being exposed to like, so we really have to be kind and gentle in this wellness healing journey that each of us should have. And it's not that we have to be perfectly fixed or if we have any kind of illness that we need to be cured of it.
Ruth Tessema: (29:41)
And I also, it's way more than coping too. It's beyond coping, you know, coping symptoms. It's really getting to the root of understanding what your body needs to have, you know, fulfillment and to enjoy life. Even though we've got all these external situations happening that can be really harmful. How are we proactively engaging in our wellness? So not to kind of go from again, like mental perfect wellness, you know, or health versus wellness and that journey that's really just guided, self-guided and understanding what you need. And I kind of said this earlier too, but I think another important aspect is if we are engaging in our healing journey, that it's, again, it's a journey and it's non-linear. So some people think like, okay, I'll be fixed. This kind of goes back to the mental health stigma. Like either we have illness or we don't, or you know, flaws or we don't, but that healing is non-linear.
Ruth Tessema: (30:48)
So once we start supports, it's not going to be a straight, you know, incline of success and progression. Like there's going to be, you know, some big waves, some small waves, you know, I think of like, I think of that in the healing journey too. It's definitely going to be in a progressive manner, but there's gonna be some ups and downs into kind of guide yourself as like a nurturing higher self within this journey that you are going to go through some ups and downs. And so kind of keeping that in mind, I think that's an important aspect. And mental wellness, just to know that it's not going to be always easy or perfect or seamless. Like again, human experience. Like we gotta be very gentle and patient with ourselves. But the bottom line I think would be really just the self-awareness, uh, piece. I think that is a big component in my own and also in kind of the treatment plans that I have for a lot of my clients.
Ruth Tessema: (31:56)
It starts off with, let's just dial it back and just be a little bit more self-aware about what's happening internally in our internal world, in our body sensations and in our thoughts of course. And how do we navigate that to find healing and defined progression. And one thing I think I'll just like end with on this question is I hear a lot, again, specifically with my trauma surviving clients, they often feel like that because trauma happens, that they are damaged or they're broken and there's, it's just, okay, how do I cope with this cuz it sucks. Like how do I just cope with it? And I think a big important aspect to understand it within trauma healing work is that, you know, we're not broken. We're not damaged. Maybe it's more so like an emotional injury and just like any kind of physical injury, we need some time to maybe it's, you know, healing work with some, some sort of kind of treatment plan.
Ruth Tessema: (33:06)
But essentially it's recalibrating, rewiring, it's a lot of gentle love and attention for all of our parts within our internal world and making peace with the past and being present as much as possible so that we can feel more confident in our future. So the recalibration is, is a nice word that I, I like to use as, as well as restoration. Like restoration for trauma work, trauma healing. And that it's not your, just your damage damaged permanently forever because of maybe complex trauma or because you witnessed a very horrific accident and you just can't get that image outta your head. But you are able to recalibrate and reset your nervous system so it can find healing and safeness and and comfort. So it's very possible. But I do hear that a lot and I think that that's something to be mindful of, that that's not the case. That you aren't broken and you just need some restoration in your healing journey. And that looks different for everyone. But it's, it's important to know that
Ari O'Donovan: (34:17)
That's so wildly important. And there's so many people that may not be aware of that, that think that just because they went through this situation or experienced this thing, it can never get better. That's just imprinted on their hearts and souls for the rest of their lives. And that kind of permanence, I wanna believe it doesn't exist when it comes to mental health. Anything can be worked through. Yeah, I really believe that. And I can tell that you believe that and that's, that's so hopeful for people that that gives anybody listening to this podcast so much hope. Yeah, I love that. Yeah.
Ruth Tessema: (35:00)
Oh, me too. I
Ari O'Donovan: (35:01)
Really love that. Mm-hmm. . And I know I'm looking at, you've got like three or four credentials here. Oh okay. Remind me what they all are. Yeah, so listeners can know too.
Ruth Tessema: (35:10)
Masters of education. Um, and then I'm a national certified counselor through the national and board of certified Counselors organization. And then I'm a licensed professional counselor. So the L P C and therapists, you know, usually, you know, if they're licensed, they're typically licensed clinical social worker, licensed professional counselor or licensed marriage and family therapists. But L P C, licensed Professional Counselor, that's what I meant. Um, licensed with the, the Oregon Board
Ari O'Donovan: (35:43)
Girl, quit playing. You always gonna be needed in this setting.
Ruth Tessema: (35:47)
Ari O'Donovan: (35:47)
Always, always, always. There will always be people that need help in any of those departments that you have mentioned. Yeah. That you specialize in. That's amazing. Yeah.
Ruth Tessema: (35:58)
Thank you. That's
Ari O'Donovan: (35:59)
Truly amazing. Thank you. And I'm gonna say right now this is an overview episode. I want listeners to know that we will talk again if you are
Ruth Tessema: (36:07)
Willing. Yes, absolutely.
Ari O'Donovan: (36:09)
I want you back. Yeah, I want you back on the show so we can do a deeper dive into specific aspects of mental health cause Oh yeah. I think it would just be a disservice if we didn't chat again. Yeah. And I just love chatting with my good friends, so Yes,
Ruth Tessema: (36:25)
I
Ari O'Donovan: (36:25)
Agree. We all get something out of it.
Ruth Tessema: (36:27)
Yes. Yeah, I do realize, yeah, this is such a overview and there's so many avenues we can take. Yeah. So I definitely, I'm here for it. I will definitely be back. , I would love to talk with you more about this. Yeah,
Ari O'Donovan: (36:44)
This is a class for me. . We have some more stuff. When is the next lecture? And where can people find you, Ruth? Where can they, do you have a website? Do you have social media? Where can people find you?
Ruth Tessema: (36:55)
Yes, so I'm actually revamping my site and all that right now. But if you go to my website, it will, whenever it's ready it will take you to the right page. But right now it's healing bird counseling.com, that's my website. And on social media, Instagram, my handle is talk with Ruth. And then in my bio on Instagram there's a link tree that goes to my website, which obviously will be updated when I revamp my site. But yeah. And then I have meditations that are recorded on there. There's a link to Insight timer app that I upload meditations to. And then any groups that I'll be having, there will be some links on the link tree as well as my website. Um, typically I'll run groups like in the late spring, early summer. But yeah, that's kind of where you'll find me. Um, and just to say real quick, I'm revamping because I want to extend more than just counseling so you know, sound healing and a lot of the other non-traditional practices. I want to start incorporating a little bit more with clients. So yes, so stay tuned for that revamp. But healing bird counseling.com, that's my
Ari O'Donovan: (38:16)
Site. I'm excited for it all. I can tell that you have a lot of love and care for what you do and the clients that you meet with. I know that. And the next episode that we have together, the next update episode where we do a deeper dive into a specific topic and just hear more about what you're doing. I can't wait to hear about how your website revamp is going and any new classes or anything that you have going on, go take a look at her website. Follow her y'all. Cuz I follow her , so you should do it too. Thank you so much for being a guest. Ruth, I love talking to you. I love hanging out with you. It's just another conversation with a good friend. Really.
Ruth Tessema: (39:00)
Yes. Thank you so much. I appreciate this and for having me. This was, this was so fun. Yes. So we'll talk
Ari O'Donovan: (39:08)
More. Yes, you will be back. I'm excited. Don't be a stranger. Email us or send us a voice memo at boosting our voices gmail.com with your health related questions. Your questions may even be featured on an upcoming podcast episode. Follow Boost Oregon on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok. You can find all of our social media and our website information in the show description below. Until next time, thank you for listening and be well.