ocial Work Awareness Month Kickoff

SPEAKER_02 0:09

Hi guys, welcome back to Preview Alliance Podcast. We are in March, and I am so excited to bring a awareness of what this month is to be celebrated with one of our favorites. And you guys be being like, okay, what is March? It doesn't connect. Well, it's Social Worker Awareness Month. And I brought my main one who I love, adore you all do too, Paige Mount Baum. Welcome, Paige, my friend. You're back again and we love it.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

I'm so glad to be here. Anytime you invite me, Sarah, I will drop everything. And I couldn't be more excited to be here to celebrate Social Work Awareness Month. In all honesty, I didn't even have this on my calendar. So when you reached out to me and told me that it was here, I celebrated. And as somebody who teaches in an MSW program, I am going to go into class this week and I'm going to encourage all of my students to celebrate too. It's so wonderful.

aige’s Path Into Social Work

SPEAKER_02 1:03

And it's, I think, and when I reached out to you, you know, what our whole core of listeners is to really kind of get in your head what is social work and what it can empower you as a mother. Is someone trying to get pregnant? Is someone experiencing mental health disorder? Or someone being like, I just don't even know. I have them as this like grumpy old lady who has like a briefcase and snarls at me. We're going to blow it all up. So, Paige, let's go back. Why did you choose social work and what drew you specifically to mature mental health?

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Oh my goodness. What an interesting question. So when I was in my 20s living in San Francisco, trying on all kinds of different jobs that were not a good fit for me after I graduated from college, I found myself volunteering at a homeless shelter down the street. And it got to the point where I was volunteering more than I was working, literally. Every day I would get home from work, I would go to the homeless shelter for families, I would volunteer with the kids, I would go through art activities, gym activities. And then I started volunteering on the weekends and I was there all day Saturday and Sunday until finally the executive director of Hamilton Family Center said to me, You know, Paige, you're here a lot. Do you want a job here? And at first I was like, oh no, I can't do that. I have this other job. And then after a few days of thinking about this, I was like, yeah. And so I started working in this homeless shelter. My first job was working with homeless families to help them identify affordable housing options in the Bay Area and then provide financing for them to be able to put down a first month's rent and to help subsidize their rent over the first year. It was like such a brilliant HUD-funded program. I put families in the car. We would drive to all kinds of different houses, check them out, get them moved in. We got them free furniture. It was literally one of the greatest jobs I ever had. And it was two years into that job where I was like surrounded by social workers at this shelter. And I was like, I want to do this professionally. I want to get my social work degree, and I want to continue to work in the field of helping others and working with disadvantaged communities. And so I hopped on a plane, flew out to New York from California, spent two years working in various nonprofit and educational settings here while I was getting my MSW. And then really launched my career, which first and foremost, I thought I wanted to be a clinical social worker. But I actually took a class my final semester of my second year getting my master's. And it was a community organizing class. And I was like, this is everything. And I fell in love with my professor, and he told us all about the social justice lens and the macro lens of social work, which I kind of learned a little bit about, but I was like, this is where it is. And so when I graduated, I really had a focus on trying to make systemic change and macro level change, all the way from a community level to the city government level to a federal level. And that's really where my heart was. But the last thing that I'll say before I tell you what got me into maternal mental health, when I did graduate, I was offered a job at my field placement. It was called the Center for Family Life. And it was this, it's still this amazing organization in Sunset Park, Brooklyn that provides all kinds of wraparound services, including counseling and supportive services to families living in this community. And when I decided I wanted to do community organizing and social justice work, I went to the executive director and I said, she was like literally a four foot seven nun who was in her 80s. Her name was Sister Mary Paul Janchill. I will never forget her. I love her with all my heart. And I said, I wrote a job description for myself. I said, I want to be a community developer in this neighborhood. These are all the things I want to do. And she looked at the job description and she said, okay, I can see a lot of value in this. I think we can create a position like this for you. And she said, but you're going to carry a caseload of families. And I said, no, no, no, you don't understand. I want to do community organizing and community development work. I don't need to see families anymore. I want to make macro change. She said to me, Paige, I'm going to give you a little bit of advice. If this is the direction that you move in professionally, you must never ever take your finger off the pulse of people that are living in the very issue areas that you are looking to change, because this is where things get lost in translation. And so she said, you're going to carry a caseload, you're going to continue your clinical work, and you're going to keep your finger on the pulse. And as much as I dragged my feet to do that, I never forgot it for the rest of my professional career. And now, no matter where I've shown up in the field of social work, whether it was working with the homeless population, working with youth that were formerly incarcerated, doing workforce development, working in the supportive housing field, or even in maternal mental health, I have always managed to keep a caseload or continue in the clinical space so that I can stay connected. And then just to answer the last part of your question, I got into maternal mental health in particular because of my own lived experience. And when I was in the social work field at the time, working in affordable housing and with youth that were formerly incarcerated, I had my first son and I had severe postpartum depression and anxiety. And at that time, 20 years ago, nobody was talking about it, nobody was doing anything about it. And I struggled silently for about nine months until I got desperately needed treatment. And when I got better, I started to ask around. And it turned out that just about half, if not more, of the people around me had had a very similar experience to me. And that's when I decided to use my own lived experience as a tool for change in the field of social work practice.

hat Social Workers Actually Do

SPEAKER_02 7:32

Well done. And none of this surprises me about you that I mean, you're like hop on a plane and I'm going for this and I'm making these changes. But I think one of the biggest things that I want you to kind of to break down this, they're seeing the heart. And I think you represent the majority of like the heart of why people go into this field, right? This is not a field that's lit and glamorous, but people tend to think, you know, okay, that's great. They're crisis only. Or they only help with resources. Like if I need, like, what's if I did need those benefits? But like, what's if I'm good, Paige? Like kind of debunk some of the common myths, right? Because they're going, okay, well, that's amazing work that she did for reform. But I'm a mom here, and why would I need one? Or okay, where do I fit in this picture?

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Such a good question. And before I debunk the myth, I want to substantiate the myth that you're speaking of. So many of us, when we think of social worker, we think of, we might have a negative connotation, right? As you described, we think back of an image of somebody, most likely a woman with her hair in a bun and big, bulky glasses carrying a briefcase showing up at your house to tell you something's wrong, right? We think of social workers, right? There can be a connotation of social workers primarily being involved in social welfare and being the people who will come into a house where, you know, a complaint or concern has been called in, and the social worker is the one who is responsible for separating families, right? No matter how we interpret social work, oftentimes we have a misconceived notion of what social workers actually do. So I want to just create a little bit of a framework of the different types of licensed professions that exist in somewhat of a similar sphere, right? We have psychologists, which everybody is very familiar with. We also have a newer licensure called the LMHC, the licensed mental health counselors, and we have social workers. We also have marriage and family therapists. You know, there's a grouping of these different licensures, and there is some overlap between what these different licensed professionals do. But when we pull out social workers from this cohort, they play very specific roles. Now, as I mentioned, what's indicative of social work and social work practice is this concept of micro to macro. As social workers, we are trained and educated not only to look at one person or one group at a time, but we are trained and educated to look at systems and to learn how to explore the world through a social justice lens and how to make macro level impact. That is not something that you are taught of in some of these other licensing programs. Social workers are trained to meet people where they're at, right? What does this mean? As a social worker, if we're working with a client or a couple or a small group, we pride ourselves on not entering the room with preconceived notions, right? Although many of us are diagnostic and work in a clinical realm, there's also a lot of social workers who approach the field not looking through things diagnostically, right? But meeting someone where they're at in using their language to describe and characterize what they're experiencing. Listening to what are the goals and objectives that they have in working together instead of identifying what we think is best for somebody, right? And really understanding the context of the person in environment. So not only are we focused on the individual, but we're also focused on all the systems that play a role in having an impact on this individual, right? So we're taking into consideration their socio-cultural and economic experience. We're looking at the types of relationships that they have with people and others around them, right? All of these things surround how we determine what is working best with an individual. And again, in some of these other licensures, right? So in psychology and LMHCs, a lot of this is more focused specifically on the clinical diagnostic aspect of the individual in front of us. So let me give you an example. If I'm a social worker and I'm working in a case management capacity and I have a client sitting in front of me who's struggling with mental health issues, but one of the reasons why they are struggling is because they don't have appropriate transportation to get to their mental health appointment so that they can see their provider and pick up their medication. As a social worker, I'm gonna look at what are some of the obstacles and barriers that are getting in the way of that person accessing the care they need and deserve. And right here, as I'm looking at the kind of ecosystem, I'm finding transportation is an issue. So as a social worker, I'm gonna try to help that person overcome that obstacle, right? Perhaps we're gonna see if we can identify some funds within the organization that are set aside for transportation costs that we can share with clients so that we can help them get to their mental health appointment, right? So we're not just looking at what's happening to that person, we're looking at that person in their environment and all of the things that play a role in creating the situation that they're in. And then to take it one step further, because social workers have this very comprehensive and holistic training and education, we find ourselves in so many different places, right? We have social workers that are working in hospitals, we have social workers that are working in schools, we have social workers that have their own private practice and are doing specifically clinical work. We have social workers that are administrative, working in HR departments in major corporations, and we have social workers that are doing policy work, right? We have social workers that are elected officials. We are showing up everywhere because we have such a comprehensive understanding of not just individuals, but all of the things that surround the individual to contribute to the situation that they're in.

hy Pregnant Moms Should Open Up

SPEAKER_02 14:10

Oh, I love that. I I love all that. And I think that is a good approach of that. People may say, well, Paige, that's okay. So it behooves me to be more honest. It behooves me if I am pregnant and there is a social worker. I mean, I can say, yes, this is one of my concerns, right? Is X, Y, and Z. You know, it's just not my anxiety. It is that my husband's deployed and I don't know how this is gonna affect my home, or I did lose my job, or so speak to like the pregnant mom or maybe postpartum mom who's encountering a social worker. Why should she open up and why should she embrace that?

SPEAKER_00 14:49

I'm gonna answer that. And one thing I want to say that I forgot to add about social workers that will connect to your question is as social workers, we are trained and educated to work with vulnerable populations. We work with disadvantaged populations, we work with low-income communities. That is our work, right? That is where we come from. And that is why you will find social workers across the socioeconomic divide, because that is one of our foundational pillars in the work that we do. So when we're talking about new and expecting mothers and birthing people that might be struggling with a mental health condition or are just having a really hard time with this overwhelming transition to parenthood, social workers, depending on the context in which you are meeting them, their sole purpose is to help connect you to services and supports that will help you feel better and feel well. So if I'm a new mom and I literally just gave birth in the hospital and it's suggested that a social worker come down and visit me, right? Because I've explained to my doctor or a nurse I'm feeling really overwhelmed, I'm crying all the time, I don't feel connected to the baby. When the social worker comes to meet with me, they're gonna gather some more information about me, right? What's my living situation? What are some of the things that were going on before I gave birth to the baby? What was the pregnancy like, right? They're gonna want to get a really thorough understanding of what are the things that are going on in my life right now that might be contributing to me having these distressing feelings. And in a hospital situation, the social worker's sole job is to provide me with resources that I can access once I get discharged that can help me feel better. And that might be giving me resources on mental health providers that specialize in perinatal mental health. If I'm a low-income mom about to be discharged from the hospital and I have a lot of economic concerns, I don't have anywhere to go get a stroller or I don't have any baby clothes. The social worker is going to work with me to identify free and low-cost resources so that I can have the things I need to take care of my baby. These are the kinds of things that social workers are there to do and what they excel at. And so that's just one example of how a social worker might show up with a pregnant or postpartum mom or birthing person. Now, taking that to the next level, I might have gotten my resources from a social worker, get discharged from the hospital. And if mental health was one of the resources that they gave me, a place where I can call and go to start therapy, I might call that resource and I might get paired with a social worker who is a clinician who is trained in working with perinatal people clinically, exercising appropriate therapeutic modalities to help me feel like myself again, that are evidence-based and focus specifically on the perinatal population. And so I also, as I'm trying to receive services from this social worker, I might reach out to my insurance company because I need to find out whether or not I have in-network or out-of-network behavioral health benefits. And I might speak with a social worker who will explain to me how my behavioral health benefits work. So that's just one example of where we can see social workers pop up around people in general, but also in particular perenatal people.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

And I think that's what throws people, right? They're like, okay, wait, I talked to the social workers. I think it's this the hospital only give me resources. Wait, there's a social worker I could see to treat me for my depression. It's like, I think that's the whole goal of this conversation is the different hats, the different arenas that you're experiencing them is such a benefit because they can do all these, right? And you are it's just it's something even me being a nurse, I I did honestly have a certain little bucket. I put social work, my little social work colleagues in that I loved and was very thankful for. I was like, I don't know, maybe happy with my friends. To when I needed therapy, she was a social worker. And I didn't really put two and two together because it wasn't, I just knew she was trained in maternal mental health. Now, so the question I think I have, and a lot of listeners is okay, pay attention, how many social workers do you think out there at the pool is versed in maternal mental health? Or do you think that's something that you can love to speak on too about what you're doing to increase that? But are they gonna have you know good odds in their favor, you know, of finding a social worker who is versed in this or not?

erinatal Mental Health Provider Shortage

eaching Perinatal Mental Health To MSWs

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Well, not only do we have a dearth of social workers that are trained in perinatal mental health, we have a dearth of clinicians, therapists, and doctors alike that are trained in perinatal mental health. In some rural communities, thanks to research from the Policy Center on Maternal Mental Health, we see perinatal mental health deserts, right? Where for miles and miles and miles and miles, there is nobody accessible around that specializes in perinatal mental health. Even places as saturated as New York City, you know, New York City in and of itself, per capita of pregnant people, we have a woefully low amount of clinicians here in the largest city in the country that are trained to do this work. So absolutely and emphatically, no, we don't have enough of any clinician trained. As it pertains to social workers, right? And where I think social workers play such a critical role in perinatal mental health is we know that in lower-income communities that we see even higher rates of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. And we understand why, right? It's the social determinants of health, it's the external stressors that have contributed to the mental health condition. And so this is where social workers can play a critical role because these are underserved communities that oftentimes don't have access to mental health care for financial reasons or all kinds of accessibility reasons. And so with social workers, we play that, again, that really important role where having any kind of perinatal mental health insight, whether it's clinical or it's macro or it's social justice or it's case management, we can serve a vital role in either helping to connect perinatal people to care or even treating them with evidence-based interventions. So, one of the ways that there has been an effort to kind of tackle the dearth of mental health providers that are specialized in perinatal mental health has been through Postpartum Support International. And several years ago, they initiated the perinatal mental health certification, which clinicians and even lay people can go through extensive training and sit for. Or an exam and get their PMHC, right? And that means I am a clinician or a layperson that has specialized experience and training in perinatal mental health support and treatment. Even MDs can go through it and get their PMHC. As wonderful as that program is, we're still not hitting the target. And so for me, as somebody who is specialized in this field, who is surrounded by some of the most clinically attuned and effective clinical social workers that are doing the treatment work in particular, I recognize that we simply need more. And so one of the things I'd always fantasized about doing to help close this gap is through the lens of education, right? As a social worker, as somebody who was so moved by my own social work education experience, as I shared in the beginning, I had this professor who turned me on at community organizing and it rocked my world. I know what having one class, when you're moving through undergraduate or graduate, can do in shaping your professional lens and trajectory. So I'd always fantasized about being able to give back to my social work community and developing and teaching a course on parenal mental health to new and emerging social workers. And it's something I toyed with for years. And it wasn't until about two years ago where I was connected with an assistant professor at Hunter Silberman School of Social Work here in New York City. Hunter is one of our CUNY public universities, and Silverman School of Social Work is one of the best in the country. And I started talking with her about wanting to develop and teach this class. And she was like, oh my gosh, we're doing this. And with her support and connections, we're able to get this course that was at the time only an idea in front of the curriculum committee, get it by, gave me full permission to develop a 15-week course and curriculum and start teaching this back in late 2024 to Masters of Social Work students at Silverman. I'm currently in my third semester of teaching this class. This will be 75 students that I will have taught and trained under my belt. And when I tell you, Sarah, and again, this is was my impetus. How do we create more parinatal social workers? I started to do my own back of the envelope research and I generated a survey to all of my students. It was a post-survey at the end of the class asking them all a series of questions, one of which included, as a result of this class, I am likely to pursue a career in perinatal social work. And when I tell you that after having done this three times now, 93% of my students are extremely likely to pursue a career in perinatal social work, then I have done exactly what it is that I hoped to achieve by even offering this class only in three semesters. And when I tell you the amount of time that I have spent with a large percentage of those 93% of students having individualized calls with them, helping them better understand what it looks like out there as it pertains to perinatal mental health in New York City, helping to make connections for them in places, whether it's hospitals or schools or nonprofits that are looking for perinatal mental health social workers, and then seeing them get those jobs. Well, I'm just going to hang up my hat because like it just doesn't get much better than that. And seeing how successful this is, and with again my social work macro level lens, I started to think about, okay, well, what if we were able to magnify this impact? And what if we were able to get all CUNY and SUNY public university schools in New York that have a school of social work, of which there are 10? What if we were able to require that a perinatal mental health course be offered as an elective so that we ultimately, having crunched the numbers, could be graduating 500 students across New York every year that have a perinatal mental health class under their belt. And even if they don't decide to pursue a career in perinatal mental health, they have the knowledge that so many providers out there don't have. So even if it's in a case management capacity, right, and they're meeting with a brand new mom or birthing person who's crying throughout the whole session, they know what this looks like. And as a result, they know what to do and where to refer to this person for care. So I'm really happy to announce that after my gentle persistence, this is what I call it, although I'm sure it probably feels irritating to city council members and the governor's office. I just was informed a couple of weeks ago that New York City Council will be introducing a resolution in May, which is Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month, that will strongly encourage CUNY and SUNY universities across New York State to offer a perenatal mental health elective. And it will go in front of the entire full council in May. And then I'm also working with the governor's office, who's expressed a lot of interest in making a similar announcement at some point this year. And the hopes being that look, we've got it. It's ready. We have the curriculum, we have 15 courses, we have all of the readings, all of the assignments ready to go. How do we now encourage public universities to adopt this model to be able to teach this elective? And ultimately, can you imagine on a national front how many social workers would be graduating from these programs, entering their communities, whether they're rural or urban, having the training and education to better serve this population? And that's what I'm hoping to do.

SPEAKER_02 28:17

I mean, if anybody can do it, Paige, it's you. And I have seen so much value. And I literally said this yesterday to someone. I said, you know, the power of your lived experience and speaking out and changing truly. You know, we're saying micro to macro, like you live it. And that's one thing that I hope listeners inspire from this is that it is isolating to be a mom. It is isolating to be a parent. It's isolating to navigate, but to tap into resources that social workers often are. That is their realm, that is their kingdom. And now the knowledge of what maternal mental health is, you don't have to do that alone, right? And then you can then become a resource for someone else, right? So then we keep that will going of the number one complication of pregnancy doesn't have to be this hidden secret thing anymore, right? Because we were attacking it from again, our micro, I'm telling my friend who's pregnant, right? And you're up here at a higher level, educating so that eventually people meet in the middle, right? So we really want our listeners to know like what you experience matters. Share it. You know, if the doctor never knew about it, in your follow-up, say, hey, I had this, I experienced this. If you do encounter a social worker who's not versed in it, now you know now, hey, this is not something that's on everybody's education. I listened to Paige. This is new and upcoming New York. Like what should be a normal is not a normal. And I think that's what gets lost too is we assume doctors have maternal health training. We assume all social workers, we assume, you know, labor delivery nurses, ER nurses. And they simply have not had what I mean, I can't even imagine what value these social work students of yours are. I mean, they should all just be so grateful because that is something that I think took a lot of shame and guilt off me. And I hope it's for our listeners, is this conversation is not not everybody knows better to do better sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 30:24

So important to say that, Sarah. And look, I'm just I'm scratching the top of an iceberg. It's like one molecule sitting on an iceberg of opportunity when I talk about targeting the social work profession. Because all of those other licensed professionals that I mentioned in the beginning, I don't know for certain, but I would venture to believe in their educational trajectory, they also didn't receive a perinatal mental health course or elective. And so, in all of these areas, including doctors, including psychiatrists, including OBGYNs and more, and nurses, to your point, we cannot assume that these different professionals are receiving parinatal mental health education and training. And so if we don't know, we can't do, right? You said it much more eloquently than I did, but yes to that. And so, in a perfect world, we'd be able to adopt this kind of a model in all different types of licensed programs, so that it would be a requirement nationally that at least even one class was being offered to any type of student as they're moving through medical school or they're moving through getting their psychology degree, so that there would be more exposure. We would have more people who know. And as a result, we would see less people suffering and struggling because everybody in their ecosystem of awareness would know what this is and they know what to do.

SPEAKER_02 31:55

Yeah. No, I think this is such an important conversation of what social workers value are, what we need them so much more than ever. But that you really, your voice individually makes that ripple effect that really you can be a community asset to someone by just speaking up or knowing, hey, you know, I struggled with X. And did you know this was a valuable thing in our community? Or like, hey, when that happened to me, this occurred. So just the value again of that is what social work is is sharing and realizing you gotta step outside of yourself, right? And look at the whole. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:39

And you keep coming back to this, and I just want to reiterate it to your listeners. Everybody who has gone through the transition to parenthood, whether you experienced a parental mood and anxiety disorder or you didn't, chances are there were parts of it that felt so almost impossible to you. Unless you all, we all share our lived experiences with everyone, we can never assume that the person sitting in front of us knows how hard this was for you or can be for others. And by sharing our experience, we are providing that desperately needed education to the person who has a white frock on sitting in front of us with doctor in front of their name. When we talk about what's happening or happened to us, we are giving them the information that they need to pay attention to, to look for these conditions better and differently in the future patients that they work with, right? It's so important if we feel comfortable, because not everybody does, and so much understanding and a respect and appreciation for that. But if you do feel comfortable sharing your experience and going back to the very beginning of our conversation, when I did get better 20 years ago because I went on medication and started therapy for my severe depression, I went to every single provider that touched me in that time. I went back to the midwife practice. I created a fact sheet on maternal mental health and I gave it to every single person there, including the administrator at the front desk. I talked to all of them, even if they rolled their eyes when I walked in and I was like, no, I need to talk to you too, to let them know what happened to me and how common it is for that to happen to people, to my doula, to a lactation consultant. I told everybody, right? And again, not everybody is as obnoxiously loud as I am, and that's fine. I maybe you shouldn't be, but even just a little bit, right? Using your own lived experience can make such a big difference.

et Social Workers In And Trust

SPEAKER_02 34:54

No, I love that. And as we celebrate this month, I know our listeners now have a different perspective, but what message do you want to leave them of the power importance of not just this one month? Like, because we're not doing maternal mental health month, just one month either, right? It's this is our everyday, all day. So what do you want to leave our listeners about? You know, social work awareness.

SPEAKER_00 35:17

I mean, my first thought was um, and this is what I want people to know, and I'm gonna direct it a little bit differently. Social workers, I see you. I see you doing some of the hardest work with the populations in our country that need help and support the most. I see you giving a hundred percent of yourselves to elevate people to get to a better place. I see you striving to make a difference. I see you striving to not only improve the experience of an individual, but to improve the structures and systems that are designed to keep people down. And I see as a result of conversations like this, more and more people recognizing who you are, who we are, what we do, opening their minds and curiosities to wanting to learn a little bit more about social workers and being more open to social workers showing up in their lives. And I just want everybody to know if you are so lucky as to come across a social worker, particularly a social worker in pregnancy or the postpartum period, right? Let them in. Trust them. Tell them what you're going through because ultimately that's what they're there to do. They're there to help you feel better and feel well.

ow To Advocate In Your State

SPEAKER_02 36:55

That's beautiful. And we're cheering you on page. And if listeners are like, I am a social worker or I'm thinking about this, or I want to advocate for this to be in my state, what do you tell them in your policy hat the best way for their voices to be heard, to get this brought to their social work schools, to get this mandated for physicians or you know, all therapists? What would you give them a call to action if they're like, okay, Paige, I'm ready. What how do I get my voice heard?

SPEAKER_00 37:25

Oh, it always takes an advocate on the inside. It always takes somebody, usually who had lived experience, right? So, whatever system you're trying to penetrate, it's always helpful to find an ally on the inside who gets why this is so important. Do the research, right? We have great organizations like the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health and the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance that have done expansive and extensive research on where are the perinatal mental health deserts, right? Where do we need to have trained perinatal mental health clinicians the most, right? Do the research, understand your community, what are the needs look like? Pull the data, pull the statistics, put it together and make a case, right? Understand what the maternal mortality rates look like in your community, right? Because we know, depending on what state you're in, but if we're gonna take a national perspective, mental illness is a leading cause of maternal death, right? That's perenatal mood and anxiety disorders and substance use disorders, right? If this is something that is important to your city, to your state, we're gonna pull together all of the compelling evidence and data that suggests that we have a need right here under our noses to be generating an army of social workers or clinicians of a different licensure to be able to go out and do this work, right? We know that we don't, we have hardly anybody trained in this community to do this work. We know it's a need. This is a way that we can do it. And that, you know, I will certainly say putting together a 15-week curriculum is not for the faint of heart, but happy to speak to anybody who might want to do this. Reach out, be happy to share my contact information in any way that you post this, happy to talk it through with you. But I will say it's the initial upfront investment that's the most time consuming. What makes it worth it every single day is when I have my students leave the classroom and say, This is my favorite class. I never knew about any of this. I can't wait to do this work after I graduate. And so I want to tell you if you have the gumption to make this happen, it's totally worth it. So do it.

hanks And Closing Thoughts

SPEAKER_02 39:51

I love that. And I will listen, guys, these resources will tag how to get a hold of Paige. And I just hope it inspired you because Paige, you always inspire me and we're cheering you on, my friend, always. And guys, I'm gonna throw this in too. If you have not gone back and listened to other episodes I've done with Paige, we've had some really good ones. And she goes more in depth about her personal story. Because again, if you're challenged to feel like I can start hearing about my lived experience, one of my favorites is you of how you're just you're so open and honest about it. So go back and listen to it. But listeners, we love Paige, we love you guys, and we appreciate you. And you know what? If you come across a social worker this month, tell them thank you and celebrate them. Thank you, Paige. Thank you, Sarah, as always. It's such a pleasure to be with you. All right, guys, we'll be back next week.

SPEAKER_01 40:44

Maternal mental health is as important as physical health. The Preview Alliance podcast was created for and by moms dealing with postpartum depression and all its variables, like anxiety, anger, and even apathy. Hosted by CEO, founder Sarah Parkers, and licensed clinical social worker Whitney Gay, each episode focuses on specific issues relevant to pregnancy and postpartum. Join us and hear how other moms have overcome mental health challenges as well as access tips and suggestions when dealing with your own challenges as moms. You can also browse our podcast library and listen to previous episodes at any time. Please know you're not alone on this journey. We're here to help.