Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: Hello there, and welcome back to another episode of Just say Something podcast.
Before we get started, I want to make sure that you, like, subscribe and share, knowing that you can always find us wherever you find your favorite local podcast or your favorite podcast, period.
So, you know, I always say I have a special friend with us. And so we have another special friend we just met. And so we've just been going back and forth, talking a little bit. So I would like to welcome. I would. I was about to say, to the stage, Shamika Channel.
[00:00:49] Speaker A: Oh, pretty close. Pretty close.
[00:00:51] Speaker B: Chanel.
[00:00:51] Speaker A: There you go.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: Oh, okay. Shamika. Chanel.
And she is with points of Origin.
All right, so the first thing I'm going to ask you is. So points of Origin suggest maybe a return to roots or beginnings.
So how does that concept shape the way you approach counseling and support for your clients?
Where does. Where does that come from?
[00:01:22] Speaker A: Well, that is kind of a multifaceted question for me, because it comes from several places. Part of where it comes from is the fact that I am from Kansas. So Kansas is, in a lot of ways, my point of origin, hence the sunflower in our logo. So when I think about. When I thought about starting this foundation. Right. Of Points of Origin, one of the things that came to mind is, what do I want to do? Why is this something that's important?
It. And one of the things that I came up with is, you know, regardless of what I experienced in Kansas from. From birth to 18, because I left Kansas 7 o' clock in the morning.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: The day after, as soon as you could.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: As soon as my family came. And they said, hey, what are you doing after you graduate? And I said, I'm going to Virginia to go to school. They said, how you getting there?
I don't know, but I know that's where I'm going. They said, okay, you want to ride? I said, yeah, I don't have anything packed.
But Kansas is where I started, right? So in honoring those first 18 years of my life and that story, I did not want to do anything other than integrate who I am as an individual. And Kansas is a big part of that. So part of this, what we're talking about, what we're doing here is identity, right? Me being able to honor who I am in every single corner of my story. And so when we talk about how do we bring that into our counseling space, every single client person that we touch, we support them in being able to connect with their truth of identity, including those zany decisions. Like, it wasn't really zany. I'M here. Right? I'm here now.
[00:03:01] Speaker B: Right.
[00:03:01] Speaker A: I made lots of beautiful things of that decision, but in that moment, it was not grounded. It was just something that I knew I needed to do do. And the same thing with honoring where I came from. And so we. We support our clients and even helping them to own their story and connect with the truth of their narrative so that they can very much so do. A lot of the things that you and I talked about when we first met and started our conversation today, that's a lot. Yeah.
[00:03:31] Speaker B: I'm trying to think of how to. How to say this, but to go into yourself and to have that.
I don't even know what that is, but have that.
Whatever it is, to go that deep, to realize where your origin is and that your journey has started from there, but by no means ended there, that you're continuing down that path.
I don't think. I don't know any scientific research, but I highly doubt a lot of people out there listening think that deep.
And I know this is probably an impossible question to answer, but what makes people.
What made you go that deep? What.
What drove you? What was that piece in you that said, this is what I'm going to do?
[00:04:39] Speaker A: That is a very beautiful question. And this is probably your list of questions that Wendy sent over were probably one of my favorite list of questions, in part because they do encourage me to go where I like to live, and that's in those deep spaces.
Back to the name of Points of Origin, I honestly believe that so much of what I have been doing and even naming the company, what I named it, I remember, like, what is Points of Origin? You don't know what that is just by the name. So I ended up adding, like, counseling, support and education center, Right? Because not everybody, like you said, is going to go that deep to inquire what is this thing? Because it doesn't make sense. Just the name, right? So when I think about, like, answering your question, it really is just my nature, right? It very much so is my nature. And I may, whenever I touch the depths of those things and the depths of me, I am able to touch my passions, right? I'm able to kind of electrify myself. And so when I look at other people and I see. I'm a therapist, right? So I see the grayness and the sadness, the darkness in their faces, and I'm like, oh, can I give you some of this?
[00:05:44] Speaker B: Right?
[00:05:44] Speaker A: If I give you this natural medicine of self, I know you'll light up, right? So the real, like, the the depth of my response here is I see the light that it cultivates, so I have to go deep.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: Wow.
I'm like, why have we not met before?
Okay, we'll continue this conversation after this podcast.
So what you do with the point of origin is you emphasize the holistic well being in the whole self integration.
What does that look like in a practice for someone beginning that journey?
What?
I don't want to, you know, you just got me flabbergasted. So, so what does that journey look like from oh, heck to I need help, but I don't know where to go. I don't know where in that process.
I don't even know what I'm trying to ask anymore.
[00:07:03] Speaker A: I have an idea.
[00:07:04] Speaker B: Okay, go for it. Read my mind. Which is dangerous unto itself.
[00:07:09] Speaker A: I, I'll be intentional here. I'm putting out some barriers so I don't go too deep.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: One of the things that we do when people realize that something needs to be different in their life and they make that call or they go on the website and they request that appointment is we help them. I, I use this activity often that I refer to as just putting it on the table. Right. We help them to put all those things that they are experiencing that they feel are problems in their life or on the table. And we sometimes we will sort them out. We'll compartmentalize them intentionally put them in individual vessels. And now we have an idea of what each specific point of origin is. And then we help them to organize in a lot of ways those individual vessels and then integrate them back together so they have that whole self vision. Because so many times when we're talking about like mental health and mental illness, people don't understand that they are functioning with these compartments that are dissociated. Dissociated. Right. And so they're just hopping in and out of dissociative pockets and they're never accomplishing anything. And it's because there's no integration.
So a lot of what we do is we support people on that very dark journey. Right. Of depths in developing secure attachment.
Right. So that they're also developing within themselves, secure attachment within yourself. Right. But then also within your community. Because of course, if there's no community, there's always going to be therapy.
[00:08:35] Speaker B: Right?
[00:08:35] Speaker A: Right. And we don't need to bleed that well dry. Right.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: No, we won't go there.
[00:08:40] Speaker A: Right. Because then how do the helpers help if they cannot help?
[00:08:43] Speaker B: Right.
[00:08:44] Speaker A: Right. So we don't believe that. We don't believe the whales Drive. But what we do instead is we empower them to start being able to understand that they are actually the authors of their life. They are actually the off the authors of their origin story.
And when they do that, when they are able to confidently pick up their own pen.
Now we say, I see you now please continue to see yourself.
[00:09:11] Speaker B: And as you were saying that I'm like, I need to go get a notebook and a pen. Well, and start writing.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: I am an lpc. Yes. And an intuitive and a spiritualist. Would you like for me to preach some more?
[00:09:25] Speaker B: Let's get through this podcast is you are daddy something.
[00:09:29] Speaker A: Something that I hear very often. Right. Most people who talk to me, they. They want a pen pad.
It's something that I am kind of embodying more and integrating more within myself even at this phase of my life. Simply because back to something I said earlier. I don't see this as something that I can not do at this point in my life. I kind of have to.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: And I understand that.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: Very, very, very well just sitting here with you.
So, okay, back to, back to our wonderful questions.
So many people struggle to find culturally responsive or inclusive mental health support.
How does the points of origin address those gaps and help create a safe space for all identities and. And all experiences?
[00:10:24] Speaker A: I. I keep hearing as you're like talking in that and asking me that question, come as you are.
Right. So a lot of what we do from the very first hello. Is to start fostering that secure attachment and supporting people and understanding that. Come as you are means something different here.
Right? It. It means what we are saying. It means come as you are. And so we foster that within our team as well.
And one of the things that we do, even with our educational pathways, is I'm cultivating everyone to understand that they are both student and teacher. Right. So we do the same thing with our clients. Our clients are also students and teachers. When they are talking, we listen.
Right. And so we also, we. We contract with a variety of different people and we support that. Come as you are. So it's not that we're just talking, we're also doing that. And it's very visible in a way that we don't necessarily have to say it because it is simply part of our practice.
[00:11:22] Speaker B: And then those sitting on the other side self identify and see, I see where you're going. I see what you're trying to do.
I see. I see. So what role does education and community engagement play in your work beyond the one on one therapy sessions?
[00:11:47] Speaker A: Heavily I mentioned earlier that Wendy got me these questions over, I want to say yesterday. So I had a little bit of time to look over it. And when I was looking over it this morning, one of the things that crossed my mind is we do this holistically as well. Not only with our program members, but also our. Our entire team, even the administrative team. One of the things that we talk about often is that the clinician also enters the room as an individual.
And I had an intern tell me about a month and a half ago, he said, I love that not only are you teaching this, but you're practicing it.
So we are integrating these things everywhere, including in our community engagement events. So we have four different annual groups that we do at the beginning of the year. We offer Parents United to survive parenting, right? So this is a support group with parents coming in the room and they are learning secure attachment, right, in that co parenting relationship, but also learning how to actually develop secure attachment within their family system. So they are developing secure connections with partners and people who are not necessarily partners, but they're having maybe similar experiences while also developing a foundation for what do I do? How do I take this home with my kids and also have an impact on my family system and my friends. We also offer the Park Chats, which is actually in the community. So we were at Unity park at the beginning of the summer, late spring, teaching confidence to the community, right? And then we also have a Somatic Attachment group and a SOMA series. So I am a certified in Somatic Attachment. So so all of our program members that come in, they are learning how to develop secure connections. We are sending them home with homework assignments. I also have developed literatures like Self Sleeping Color, which is available on Amazon, that they can utilize outside of sessions to work on uncovering their individual biases. And then they can bring that into session and have conversations. So we have a lot of opportunities even outside of working with humanized movement working, we are developing connections with allies who are also finding that they have passion in supporting humanity, right? So we are connecting with other people who are also making an impact because at the end of the day, we h all have vessels of. Of passion. And the more that we are able to connect those, the easier it is for us to actually do something with these things.
[00:14:16] Speaker B: Right?
[00:14:17] Speaker A: For us to do something with our identity and understand what, what it means to actually love ourself first versus, you know, giving from that empty cup.
[00:14:29] Speaker B: So, okay, you do individual, you do community outreach.
Do you do group sessions as part of your regular everyday business? What does that look like as far as the different opportunities for people to engage.
[00:14:46] Speaker A: So we don't necessarily do group sessions as part of our regular. We do have the four groups that I mentioned. They are six to eight week programs and they do run year round. So we have one of those per quarter.
As far as them engaging with us outside of the office, we do have a lot of opportunities, including ERC calls, which is actually, it's an internal program.
Right. But it is where clinicians are able to actually contact and spend time with supporting clients outside of those individual sessions.
Group wise. They are of course, welcome to join us, but also welcome to join us in some of those partnered events and we do support those year round and weekly.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Okay.
So for someone that's listening to our conversation today and they may be hesitant. Yeah, scared.
Because they don't know what message or encouragement would you have for them at this point of where they are.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: Message of encouragement.
What comes to mind for me is, is systems, right? The, the what you put in impacts what you get out, right? So the, the understanding that we are naturally already existing and there's not necessarily anything wrong with how we existing other than the way that we don't necessarily like it. Right. It's not what we want, right. So changing those things that we are putting in has an amazing impact on our output or in this particular case, our experiences of life.
So trying something new is important. Points of origin is something new. Therapy is something new, right? So being mindful of the fact that I get it right, things are difficult and it's okay for them to be difficult. That difficulty more than likely has several faces, right? How can someone else help you see a different face? And how can you right now condition yourself to be open to receiving the fact that maybe you don't have all the answers.
[00:17:04] Speaker B: But people expect us, everybody to have all the answers.
[00:17:09] Speaker A: That is a fallacy.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:17:12] Speaker A: I remember being young and I think I've. I've always been considered bright, right? And it's in part because I apply myself to learning, right? How can you not be bright and no stuff if you're actually learning, Investing in learning, right? And so even though I know a lot of stuff, even as a kid learning a lot of stuff and knowing more about so many other things, and maybe my classmates did, I still had a thirst for more, right? I ended up teaching myself and conditioning myself to understand that I will never know everything.
So why am I lying to myself to know, to say I'm supposed to know everything. Why there are so many people that can help Me. And they can hold things for me.
[00:17:55] Speaker B: So let me ask you this.
In your 18 years in Kansas, who was the one person that had the most impact on you?
[00:18:13] Speaker A: One person that had the most impact on me. There's so many people.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: If you just. If you just reach up and grab one, who would that be?
[00:18:24] Speaker A: First person that came to mind was Roxanne Whaley. She was my accounting teacher in high school. And I cannot say that I've ever had, like, I felt like, oh, people aren't paying attention to me or they're not investing in me. But she did it differently.
Ms. Roxanne Whaley hopped around the classroom and. And she was. She let us know that I have no idea how old she was, but I. I know that at that age she had kids that were like young adults, Right. And so she would hop around the classroom with such a Tinkerbell spirit and would remind what I. Part of what I got out of that is that you can be a lot of things, including someone who cultivates joy.
And I remember one of the things about Ms. Roxanne Whaley is I am.
I've always been the person who do, like, that. The, the masking work in my house. Like, I'm going to do the electronics. I would work. I built my son's bed and his trundle. I. I have a big garden that I built. Like, yes. I've been like this since I was young.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:19:25] Speaker A: And Ms. Roxanne Whaley helps me get a car. Right. I'm an African American female at 17 years old in Kansas. Don't have any credit. I. I'm working at Burger King. Right. But I have parents who are, you know, they are. It's not first generation, but think first generation, right? So they can't help me, right? They can't help me.
And I don't remember what I told her or if I ever said anything to her, but Ms. Roxanne Whaley helped me get my first car.
[00:19:54] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:19:55] Speaker A: My teacher in high school helped me get my first car. And after I got that first car, I came outside and there was a toolbox sitting on top of my car that Roxanne Wavy put on side. On top of my car. So it would be her. It would definitely be her. And as I'm saying that, I'm like, I'm tearing up just thinking about, like, the beauty of, like, what I do now and pouring my heart and sharing my heart. And then this question was not on the list, right. So I didn't surprise.
But it's. It speaks A lot to. To what I do. Right. And. And she reminded me, like, just her present is. Keep touching that.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: But it also should, well, hopefully would remind our listeners that in. When engaging with our young people, you have no idea what influence or what impact you will have on that child, whether they belong to you or not.
I know for so many kids out there, they're searching for that person.
Many people think, well, it should be their parents. Well, if you don't know where they're coming from, you can't say that. Yeah, I know for us, I always say we, we grew up like the Cleavers. The, you know, dad went to work, mom stayed at home.
There were four of us, though. And so I know that was not the normal for a lot of people, and I realized that. And so knowing that, seeing the different faces of people that I encountered along my path, not everyone has the same experience.
And so that was just a little. For the adults out there listening.
And one thing we try to get across is no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing, kids are watching. Yes, kids are watching.
[00:21:52] Speaker A: I want to say this because you. This came up for me while I was listening to you, Sharon, just then, one of the things that I see and that I really, really hope that the listeners will get is that it's never too late pour into yourself. It's never too late to grow past those pain points.
And when you're thinking about, like, there's so many, like, adults who feel, you know, slighted for having taken care of a family of four kids, and now they don't have a connection to those four kids. And in so many of those situations, what the kids are really asking for is that the parent grows up too. Right. That they pour into themselves. So maybe you're not comfortable or you're not feeling safe, you're not feeling confident. But. But in so many spaces. I've seen it time and time again in my life. What you want is on the other side of that discomfort. So move through it.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: And so in our classes that we teach, part of it is telling your child that you love them.
[00:22:47] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:22:48] Speaker B: Parent. A lot of parents are like, well, they know that. Well, have you ever told them? Well, no, but they know I do.
[00:22:54] Speaker A: My kid hears it, like 20 times a day.
Like 20 times a day.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: But for most parents, that's not an everyday thing.
[00:23:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:23:05] Speaker B: So, yeah, there's. There's just so much. So as we wrap this up, because I feel like we could probably go on for quite a while.
So as you look at your clients. What age spanned how young and how old are you and your team equipped to work with?
[00:23:28] Speaker A: So I worked for many years in Level 6 facility with little ones. I have all the comfort and confidence in training and working with two down to age two. But that is not our current population right now. Our current population is 8 up. We have worked with many of people who are aging as well. We have a client right now who is 84 and and she's in therapy because again, it's never too late.
[00:23:57] Speaker B: Right? Right.
So how can people get in touch?
How can they reach out?
[00:24:04] Speaker A: We've actually made it very easy. Pointsoforigin.net you can send us an email from pointsoforigin.netyou can also request an appointment from Pointsoforigin.net points of origin.net, you can find our social medias on there, also our community events and engagements. There are also some links to some allies on there as well. If you're looking for something else and you want to get an idea of has this company been vetted, we are working on also growing that list but there are resources online at Points of Origin. Net.
[00:24:34] Speaker B: Okay. Well Shamika Chanel, thank you for coming in today. Thank you for sharing, probably more than you normally do but then again I don't know.
But thank you for sharing with Our Listeners and Points of Origin.net is the website and so thank you very much for being with us and I look to having you back sometime time in the future.
So that will do it for another episode of Just say Something podcast. Remember to like share and subscribe and we will see you next week. Until then, have a good one.
