Combat Burnout Through Holistic Self-Care with Dr. Nekeshia Hammond

Jennifer Norman:
Hello beautiful humans. Welcome to The Human Beauty Movement Podcast, your source for hope, healing, happiness and humanity. My name is Jennifer Norman. I'm the founder of The Human Beauty Movement and your host. This podcast is here to guide you on your journey of self love, empowerment, soul alignment and joy. With each episode, I invite beautiful humans from all corners of the globe to join me for open conversations about their life lessons and the important work that they are doing to help heal humankind. Take a moment now to subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss an episode. I'm so glad you're here, joining me for today's show.

Jennifer Norman:
Did you know that according to recent studies, nearly 77% of professionals report experiencing burnout in their current jobs? What's more, about 60% of individuals feel significantly overwhelmed by their daily responsibilities, impacting both their work and their professional lives. These alarming statistics highlight a critical need for effective strategies to combat burnout and enhance mental well being. To help us navigate these pressing issues, we are honored to have Dr. Nekesha Hammond with us today. Dr. Hammond is a renowned psychologist, executive coach, and the founder of Hammond Psychology and Associates. With a wealth of experience and a passion for mental health, she's a leading voice in the prevention of burnout and mastering this thing called life.

Jennifer Norman:
Dr. Hammond's experience extends beyond her private practice. She is an international speaker and bestselling author whose insights have been featured on major networks like NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, and in Essence Magazine. She's also graced platforms such as the Corporate Council of Women of Color and TEDx, where she shared her wisdom on mental wellness, leadership, balance and self care. In today's episode, Dr. Hammond will share invaluable strategies for maintaining mental health, preventing burnout, and leading without depleting yourself. You'll get practical tips on achieving work life balance, enhancing personal resilience, and relating to others with empathy and effectiveness. Whether you're feeling the weight of stress in your personal life or looking to foster a healthier environment at work, this conversation is packed with actionable insights to help you thrive.

Jennifer Norman:
So, without further ado, let's welcome Dr. Nekesha Hammond to the show. Welcome, Dr. Hammond. It's so great to have you here today.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

Jennifer Norman:
It's lovely to have you. Okay, so now let's first talk about burnout. What inspired you to want to focus on burnout prevention in your work?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, it actually came over time. So this is my 15th year in private practice and when I started originally in the practice, I was in my office and learning what I was learning about mental health. But as time went on, I recognized that mental health really was not just what was happening in my office, but it was so much broader. So fast forward to 2020 when COVID 19 global pandemic struck all of us. A lot of the calls that I was getting for the speaking engagements I was doing was like, how do we deal with this? Like, how do we deal with the stress? How do we deal with the burnout? So the last couple years, I've really dedicated myself more into that area of burnout prevention, because even though, well, the global pandemic is over per se, we're not necessarily talking about vaccines and masks right now. There's a lot of people who are still dealing with burnout having a hard time integrating back into office life, family, friends. Like, there's a lot of stress that's still happening, and people are feeling very overwhelmed and stressed out. So that's what led me to where I am today and the work that I do in burnout prevention space, which I absolutely love.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah. There is no question we have been through it and we still are through it. I mean, you look at the news and there's just crises after crises over dilemma over quandary, and between school shootings or wars in Gaza or the election or just everything is just mounting upon us all at once, let alone the environment and all of that. So let us step back for a moment and really talk about what burnout is and how it differs from regular stress or fatigue.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, yeah, that's a great question. So when we think about burnout specifically, it's not, I'm having a bad day. Right. That's not what burnout is. Maybe you feel that way, you're having a really bad day. But really, burnout happens over time. It's chronic. It is exhaustion.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
And this can come in the form of physically, mentally, emotionally. Like, you are burnt out. You're like, I don't think I can go anymore. And again, sometimes it's physically where you're just so exhausted, you don't feel like getting out of bed, you're having trouble eating or sleeping. Or sometimes it occurs mentally. For a lot of people, it's just mentally, like, shutting down. Like, you're physically at work, but, like, mentally you're not there, or you're physically with the kids, but mentally you're not there. So that just mental shutdown is really what burnout is.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
But this happens again over months and months of time. So it's a very chronic condition that can happen.

Jennifer Norman:
And so how would people know if they are burnt out or depressed? Like, how do you tease out the two? Or are they completely related?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, they can't. It can absolutely be related. So burnout is not a clinical diagnosis per se, whereas depression, well, clinical depression is a diagnosis, so that's really something. There's very fine lines between the two. So if someone listening to this is like, I don't know if I'm in that place or not, it's really important to seek the help of a mental health professional who can tease that out because again, there's a lot of overlap. So with clinical depression, for example, it's also not like, I'm really sad, I don't want to get out of bed today, I don't feel like going to work. And it happened one day. That's not by definition clinical depression.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
It takes weeks and weeks of time of feeling sad, of maybe trouble eating, sleeping. You don't feel like doing your activities of enjoyment, those sorts of things. But it looks different depending on the person. So five people standing in front of me that have clinical depression or burnout can look very different. That's why it's really important to make sure that you're reaching out to a professional who can make that statement and say, yes, this is what's going on with you and here's how to deal with it. Here's a plan you can put into place to deal with this.

Jennifer Norman:
Is the rule of thumb two weeks of feeling in this kind of downtrodden, I guess, frame of mind for depression?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah. Typically it's a two week or more period. But it just varies so much in intensity. So there's mild depression, moderate and severe. And also a lot of people have what we call episodes. So it may be like you're depressed for three or four months and then you're good the rest of the year. Maybe next year it pops up again. Five years from now, it pops up again.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
So it just depends. There's a lot of ways that mood disorders look like, but it depends on the person for sure. And then, of course, things pop up in our lives. Right. Like we have the disappointments or we have the grief. I know for myself personally, a couple years ago when I lost a very close mentor of mine, it was, of course, this was in 2020 and the midst of a pandemic and everything else was going on. It was very difficult, a very difficult place of grief. So I empathize with anyone going through grief.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
But it can be that or even success sometimes when we have massive changes in a direction of success. Talk to a lot of corporate professionals. And that next promotion. The pressure, like all of that, also can cause us to have more stress and also can lead to depression or burnout. But again, just going back to make sure that you're taking care of yourself and making sure that you're reaching out to a mental health professional when needed.

Jennifer Norman:
Okay, so in a moment, we'll talk about what kind of help mental health providers can offer. But first of all, what are the long term impacts of chronic stress on your physical and mental health?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, there's a lot. So that's the thing that we don't realize sometimes of how it literally can, stress can manifest in our bodies as well, and increased stress, which leads to increased inflammation in our bodies, can lead to heart issues, it can affect blood sugar, lead to diabetes, it can lead to stroke. Like all the major diseases that we can think of, stress can be a factor in them. Or if you are already prone to have those certain conditions, it just can make it worse. Right. So physically it does attack our body sometimes, the way that you carry your stress and the same thing mentally when you're in turmoil. I've met probably thousands of people I feel like, at this point who have struggled with sleep, for example, because of mental, not really physical, but because of the mental anguish.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
They're like, I can't fall asleep at night, I can't turn my brain off, I'm having trouble sleeping. So then that mental, what we call rumination, just thinking of something over and over, what if this, what if that? It can affect your ability to sleep as well. So then you have the mental side effecting the physical. So those are just a couple of examples. But it really is critically important that we are taking care of ourselves because the physical affects the mental health and vice versa.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about taking care of ourselves, because obviously as a psychologist, you're like, go see a medical professional. Yet in a lot of communities, there is a stigma around asking for help and people feel like they can tough it out or that they can just go on YouTube or listen to some meditation apps or whatnot. And certainly all of those things can and may help. But can you really, from an advocate's perspective, tell us why somebody would really benefit from seeing a mental health practitioner in this case?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, and you're absolutely right. And to be completely honest, therapy is not for everyone. I know that's not a popular belief. When I first started in graduate school, actually, I was like, oh, every single person needs therapy. Like, that's what I thought. That's what I was training. Like, everybody needs therapy, but everyone does not need therapy. Can it be beneficial? Absolutely.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
However, there are certain things that you can do at home. Again, like I said, the meditation, the self care. We hear self care all the time now. But there's a certain place sometimes that people can get to that is so difficult to manage. Like, this is beyond like talking friends, talking to family, doing some self care on your own. Like, there's a certain point where you're like, I really need a professional to understand what I'm dealing with. Sometimes, depending on our journeys, there's a lot of inner work that we need to do that can be really difficult and emotionally challenging and draining if we're doing it on our own. So when, when you have a competent and hopefully culturally competent mental health professional in front of you who's helping you work through, whether it's your traumas, whether it's your current day, whether it's something in your childhood, whether it's just you're stressed out, whatever that thing may be, it can really make your life a lot easier.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
I hear what you're saying. The research is still showing there's still a lot of stigma when it comes to seeking a mental health professional. But my hope and what I've seen over time, thankfully, is that there is more of an acceptance and understanding, especially for communities of color and communities that are not, that have more of the stigma with mental health. There's more of an acceptance and understanding that you deserve to be happy too. You deserve to be emotionally healthy, you deserve to have joy in your life. And one of the paths can be through seeking a mental health professional.

Jennifer Norman:
Brilliant. Brilliant. I know that in many, I guess it's like communities of color. I'm actually doing a project right now on the Filipino community and how I think of religion and just cultural aspects. And in many cases, men have a struggle, a hard time seeking help or going out and asking for help from therapists or from other people. And the good thing is that we're talking about it more. There's podcasts like mine. There's a whole lot more access now.

Jennifer Norman:
Now that telemedicine, telehealth, teletherapy is becoming more prominent. Seems like prices are starting to come down and be a little bit more affordable for more people. And I know that the government and cities, counties, different areas of just the social public aspect, are really trying to reach out and get to communities that have not necessarily had access before, which is certainly a step in the right direction, because, yeah, we are in a bit of a crisis right now when it comes to mental health. And so let's talk a little bit further about specific areas of the population. I know that you do a lot of work also on youth and the fact that a lot of our youth are facing depression, facing anxiety, facing ADHD and other kinds of issues, and it's almost like, well, of course they do. I mean, look at what we've done with nutrition, look at what's happening with media, with being on our screens. I mean, it's almost like the perfect storm of mental unwellness. And it becomes so hard for a young person to manage on their own when they've got everything flying at them at once.

Jennifer Norman:
Can you say a little bit about what you're seeing and what seems to be potentially working to help?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, yeah. And what I'm seeing, same thing after Covid was there was so much stress and tension and anxiety prior to Covid, and it has worsened in some communities because there was so much fear during Covid I mean, for adults too, but specifically with youth, there was so much fear out there. And when you're already a child that's struggling with anxiety and something like a global pandemic comes around, the level of fear, the level of social anxiety that I've seen over these last couple of years is outstanding because it lingered. So, again, we tend to think like, pandemic's over, but when you're dealing with a mental health condition, it doesn't magically go away all the time. You can treat it, but anxiety is this similar to depression, where it can pop up in episodes. So what has been working, though, in a positive way is there are a lot more mental health education platforms, reputable ones, that are helping youth to understand what they're going through, because it's really scary when your heart is racing, your palms are sweating, your. At school, you think you're about to die, when really it's not. You're not having a heart attack, you're having a panic attack.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
But understanding what that even is like, that is so huge for youth to understand. Like, this is what it is. We have to label and understand what it is. Otherwise it's scary. You're like, oh, my God, I'm about to die. No, it's not a heart attack, right? It's a panic attack or everything you're going through. No, you're not stupid, you're not lazy, you're, you actually have a learning disability or you actually have depression or whatever it is or ADHD or whatever it is that these children and teens are going through.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
We're starting to help them label and understand that. And another thing that I love that I'm seeing too, is helping them understand that just because you have a certain condition doesn't completely define you. That's not all you are. I've seen a lot of kids that have ADHD and it's like that's a part of who you are. You have so many, so much else, so many other strengths and positive things about you. You're to the arts or you're into sports or you're making good grades or whatever it is. Right.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
That defines them outside of just a label like adhd. So there's a lot of great work that's being done right now, thankfully for our youth as well, but we have a long way to go.

Jennifer Norman:
Very well said. And likewise for people of color, for people in other communities where because of systemic racism and bullying and these things still persist, I think that they're getting better because so much awareness has been brought to making change. However, there's still pockets and ways to go until everybody feels unity and feels that we are completely equal. So what are you seeing in the marginalized communities in terms of access or any kind of trends from a mental health standpoint?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, the major issue, unfortunately, is what I've seen, actually it's been the case for a long time is there are more and more mental health resources that are available. But the issue that we've had in the mental health community is trying to bridge the gap of people knowing where to find the resources. So it's one thing to create support groups and to create maybe low cost or free counseling and to create all these resources. But then the people who need said resources are not aware of them, are not sure where to reach out or not sure the next step. So it's happening, it's starting to happen more, of course, the education piece, as I mentioned, but there's such a gap of like, here are the resources. This is what you need. What is it that you're going through? What are the next steps? Also, reaching out to a physical health physician is important too, even in the mental health process, because there's a lot of physical health conditions that look like mental health conditions. So it's important to take that step too, making sure you're well physically in the holistic approach.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
So again, I keep going back to this, but there's a lot of need. There's a higher need for education that really has to be happening. In communities, which is starting to happen, but we need more of it.

Jennifer Norman:
Yes.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
In order to access the resources that are available. And it does depend on the community. Of course, I've been in some communities that just are lacking in resources, but then I've been in a lot of communities that have the resources but people don't know about them.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah. Building awareness for them. Okay, so let's get down to some tips and tools that I think might be helpful for our listeners. And certainly this is not medical advice that everybody should go and seek their own medical practitioner for what works for them. What we're providing is a bit of education and a bit of understanding so that you can make choices which are right for you and your health. We're not going to make your health decisions for you. We're just going to provide you some information here today. But if somebody is experiencing burnout, they've worked, they're exhausted, they can't get out of bed, they are lacking enthusiasm for life.

Jennifer Norman:
What is something that they can do right now in order to help themselves out of this?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah. One of the things I love recommending to people to try to get out of burnout because burnout is a place sometimes where you might be so overwhelmed, you're like, I don't have time for the self care thing. I don't have time to take care of myself. You might be in that thought process. I know I was many, many years ago, frankly. But taking a baby step, like taking a minute a day for yourself, and you can even time it if you can use your cell phone in time, 60 seconds, everyone has a minute. So you take that time and in that time you do for you, what brings you enjoyment. So for some people I've talked to, they said, I just need to take some deep breaths because my day is so hectic.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Do that. Or for some people who believe in prayer, they may say a short prayer, you may have a cup of tea. I'm a tea drinker myself, so you may choose to do that or whatever way that need to spend that one minute of time. And again, we're talking about baby steps. But what this does over time is it starts to train your brain to understand that you deserve to have that time for you. You deserve to have the me time, you deserve to take care of your emotional health, you deserve to take care of your physical health. There's tons of research on the benefits of deep breathing and what that can do to cleanse your body physically. So it's making a commitment even to that.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
If you're just like, I can't think of like when we think of self care, we're like, take a whole weekend. Like, yeah, take five hours to do something. I mean that and that is self care and that's great. But when you're in a place, yeah, maybe you're in a place of burnout, you're not thinking about like, let me take a week off of work.

Jennifer Norman:
Right?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
So you start with the 60 seconds a day, you start with that and you do that as many days as you can, right. And don't worry, please don't play the self blame game. If you miss a day or two during the week, you're like, oh my gosh, it's okay, right? If you're like out of my seven days I only had three or four or five days, like it's all good. Like you're just starting the process to try to work on recovering, right. And coming back from burnout. The good news about burnout and the research shows that a lot of times rest can also be something that can help with burnout can help with that exhaustion. A lot of times our bodies just need rest. So however, if those things don't work again, you may want to head to a mental health professional if things are starting to worsen.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
But that's just one practice technical tip that you can do to start the journey back into wellness.

Jennifer Norman:
Oh, that is so helpful and it's great advice because I remember I actually many years ago was myself diagnosed with PTSD depression and it was hard to get out of bed. I quit my job. I just was like, yeah, I'm done. I hit burnout at this, you know, shortly thereafter. And yeah, the time for me was critical. And I have to say, I mean I was in a place of privilege. I was able to take the time and have just time to sew, time to paint, things that would focus on my own creativity and my self nurturing, which was brilliant. But fast forward, where I don't have the luxury of having like weekends and lots of time to be able to do that anymore.

Jennifer Norman:
Getting outside first thing in the morning and looking at the sun, just getting outside first thing in the morning and seeing the sun and breathing to me is like therapy in a bottle. It really, it's just magic. And I was like, how in the world did I not know to do this before? But you know, it resets your circadian rhythm and then you find that you're actually sleeping better and sleep has so much to do with your mental health. I mean it's just so intertwined with your mental wellbeing. So in order to be able to even get off the screens as much as possible before you're going to bed and try to let yourself have those moments to unwind. Having a ritual before going to bed and then waking up and then getting outside to breathe fresh air and see the sun has been like life changing. Truly life changing.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, I totally agree with. I started to a couple actually I think it's been about two years. I started a morning routine as well because I before that I was heading straight to the cell phone in the morning. As soon as I woke up, like straight to like. What's the email? Yeah, what's the email?

Jennifer Norman:
It is addicting.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah. But I don't anymore. I'm proud to say.

Jennifer Norman:
That's very good because sometime. Yes, I do too.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, I am like, no, absolutely not. First thing is gratitude practice. Like what am I grateful for? And saying a prayer, doing devotional. Like it's very specific. Like you said, either nighttime and or morning routine will change your life. It's really beneficial for you.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah. And I know everybody talks about gratitude practice and it's because it works. Really does. If you think of those, you know, even if it's three things or one thing, whatever it is that you can be grateful for because you can't be grateful and angry at this time. It just don't coexist.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah.

Jennifer Norman:
Yes. Things like that. I actually started journaling again and that has been quite therapeutic. And I just started seeing my own psychiatrist. A therapist. I mean it's like I really wanted to make sure that I was tending to my own mental well being and going through it. Yeah. Going through the process to be able to say what is it like? Because for years I've just been like, you know what? I've tried therapy and it wasn't for me.

Jennifer Norman:
To your earlier point. I just. Yeah, I felt like I could do it on my own and perhaps I still can. But it's like, you know what? I'd really still like to see what kind of new things that I can learn on from a one on one basis that are specifically tailored to me, which is not something that YouTube can do. Can certainly go and find certain relaxation techniques and stuff, but. And even tapping eft things like that. But doing it, just having that time for yourself with somebody else helping to mind you and guide you I think is an intriguing concept.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
It's not your sister, your mom, whoever, someone that knows you like this is an objective person who's trained and it's really important Also as a side note, to find a therapist that you connect with, that's important. Just like friend finding someone you connect with. But there's just something special about it because they're going to tell you the truth. Right. And be therapeutic about it. You're going to learn things about yourself. You're going to work on being a better version of who you are. When I went to therapy back when I was in graduate school, like that was something.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
That's a whole story. I share my book, but it changed my whole life, frankly, like massively changed my life to take that step. But it was scary. I'm in the mental health field, so I remember I was like, oh, like trying to make the call and I was all scared to do it. I'm like, this is crazy. Like I'm in the mental health field. But it was scary at first. But then I went and like I mentioned, it completely changed my life and I'm forever grateful.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
And I'm still doing inner work, frankly, because it's not something that go to therapy once and that's it. No, it's a lifelong process, hopefully that you commit to, to do the inner work in the way that you need to to heal from whatever it is. We all have something that we're healing from. It's really great when you get to the place where you make that commitment to make yourself your number one priority.

Jennifer Norman:
Now I know that there are a lot of parents out there who are depleted and then they've got children who are very needy and it becomes so hard for them to not only manage their own well being, but then also to assist their children who are in need. What are some things that you can tell parents in terms of being able to manage their own sanity and also tend to children that might be in need? Need.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, yeah. And that's a tough one. Shout out to all the parents out there. Because it's just tough. Right?

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
But really self care comes in different forms. So I always highly suggest to people that you have multiple ways for self care. Meaning you have to have your own space when it comes to self care. Like your thing, like one of my things, like you mentioned before, is spending time in nature, even if it's a couple minutes, like very huge on that. Having a cup of tea, I'm a tea drinker. Like that brings me some sanity.

Jennifer Norman:
Right.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Because things are crazy hectic. I have a child too. We're doing basketball all the time, like we're running around. You have to make a conscious effort to be like, okay, for myself what is it that I need to do? And then the second level of self care is also having the family time. Like there's family self care too, where you do have that time. Kids need their time too, of course, with parents. So what can you do as a family? Even if it's one on one with kids, or maybe there's multiple kids, like, what are you all doing? That's a calming activity. That's teaching them also how to self.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Self soothe. No one teaches kids. I know when I was growing up, I didn't really have conversations about self care. Like, everything was so hectic and busy. No one was like, hey, here's how to like take care of yourself. That's something I had to learn as an adult. But teaching your children also, and they're always watching. But teaching your kids also by modeling your own self care and teaching them how to reset, recharge.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
So my son, he's almost 12 now, and I'm like, okay, yes, school is, is highly important. He has basketball, he has all these things. But also there's a lot of conversations that's like, hold on, like let's. How do you take care of yourself? Like, you need some downtime too. For him right now, it's video games, of course, but, but it's like, here's like, make sure you're taking care of yourself. Like, make sure you're taking your deep breath. Right. So it's really multiple ways for self care.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
So the individual self care that we do as parents and also family, teaching the kids and doing something together as a family, however that family look looks is important too. So there's really multiple levels of self care. But I will say specifically for the women listeners because just by research, there's a lot of us as women sometimes that tend to want to nurture and do everything for everyone else except for ourselves.

Jennifer Norman:
Oh, I can't relate...

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
It's even more important to make yourself your number one priority. Work on making that the case.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah. Oh, I love that. There is this notion that kids these days just don't have the toughness or the resiliency that previous generations had. I mean, labeled snowflakes and whatnot. For good reason, I would imagine. But I think that there's also just this kind of like a divide between like criticizing them and saying they're never going to be able to make it in the life because they just haven't been able to build up this kind of resiliency that they will need to get through normal activities. And kids in therapy, kids needing medicine. And I think that there's a stigma around that.

Jennifer Norman:
Can you say something about how we might be able to change our attitudes or to be able to have more empathy towards young people that are truly struggling?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah, yeah, and I hear you because I see it all the time and I see it societally. Like, if you look at social media, we see what's being said about young adults and teens, but we have to...when I say we, I'm no longer a teenager, obviously...so we adults have to really stop and think, though, because the kids and teens right now, they're living in a completely different time period than we did. The digital race, the chaos, the social media, the cyber bullying, the world that they live in is really hard, actually. We think they have it easier. And in some ways, yes, technology has changed. Some things, of course, are easier, but a lot of things are a lot harder.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
So when we think about even the research on bullying, for example, and how, I mean, kit, like, teens are on their phones 24/7, practically, it feels like. People are able to access them all the time, which can be great if you're supportive and you're a great friend and you're talking and FaceTiming or whatever you're doing, Snapchat, all the things that they're on. But there's also the flip side of that, which are the kids that are being severely bullied, are extremely anxious, are struggling socially, are dealing with depression, are dealing with things happening in their family life. Like, we don't see all of that. And we make a lot of assumptions, unfortunately, especially when it comes to youth because of how they live. But we're not understanding that this time period they're in, everything is massively different than how we grew up.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Like, there was no social media when I grew up. I didn't know when I went home from school that was. I mean, I may have talked to some friends on the phone, but there wasn't someone that was accessing me through a DM on social media or constantly saying something negative or whatever it is that's happening. That wasn't the case then. So, again, they're living in a very different world. So I hope, like you said, that we can work on having more empathy towards our youth, because as many kids that I have talked to, the struggle is still there for them, too. It's just in a different way and we can't always see it.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah, it's absolutely true. I think that young people have it really, really rough. And I think that to the point of just living in a world of fear. I think that a lot of media or the insecurities or the news cycle, a lot of what we have kind of piled onto our youth is it's not safe to go outside. You can't trust anyone. And so we've disconnected them. We've created isolation, and now there's this loneliness epidemic where people are just starved for real connectivity and they don't really have it because the phone is a surrogate for connection. And it's really not the same, is it?

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Yeah. No. And to your point, last year, the US Surgeon General, you probably heard of it, but he declared a loneliness pandemic or epidemic because of how bad the isolation is. And it's the same with teens as well. And I mean, it was bad before the pandemic definitely didn't help, especially with kids who are already prone to anxiety. Yeah, there was a lot of hundreds of thousands of kids that actually lost their primary or secondary caregivers. So like moms or aunts, grandmas or whomever it was that was taking care of them. That's a heavy loss.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Like, we don't think about things like that. Like, kids have been affected by the pandemic in a lot of different ways and continue to be affected, like you said. So hopefully we can really take a minute and make sure that we're also checking in with our youth. And even if you're listening to this and you don't have kids of your own, you might know someone with kids.

Jennifer Norman:
Yeah.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
I promise you their family members need support too. So however you can support them as well is going to be really important because there's a lot of kids that are really struggling right now.

Jennifer Norman:
Let's switch gears because you have a book coming out which is Mindset Training: Conquer Your Mind And The Rest Will Follow. Can you share some insights from your book, maybe regarding stress management or how to cultivate a positive mindset to help contribute to overall well being? For sure.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
I'm super excited about it. Yeah. This is my new book coming out. I'm so excited because everything that I've learned over the past 15 years as a psychologist has really pointed to your mindset. Like, our minds are so powerful, we live with our thoughts all day. So some of the things I and I wanted to make sure the book had, like, practical strategies and things you can actually start to implement. So I really took a holistic approach to self care. So, like, how can you grow physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally? How can you deal with your self talk if you're having negative self talk.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Most of us do. How do you deal with the day to day? What are some strategies you can put in place to really think about training your mind to get to a point where you're like, I want to thrive. I want to make myself my number one priority. Because again, as I mentioned earlier, there was a time when if There were like 10 things on my priority list, I pretty sure I was at about number eight or nine on that list. Like everything else came above me, like work and family and like all these things which are important things. But when you spread yourself so thin and you don't make yourself your number one priority, you start to fall apart, which is not okay. And then the places where you want to show up for others, you're not the best version of who you are. Right.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
But there's a path to get to that point. So that's what I talk about essentially in the book. Like, how do we take those steps? How do we work on improving who we are and having a more powerful mindset and also working on resilience? Because again, there's a lot of things that just pop up in our lives and it can be really difficult if we're not arming ourselves. The right mental health tools for our wellness.

Jennifer Norman:
Oh, Dr. Nekesha Hammond, such helpful information. Thank you so much for your work and for being so open about all of these wonderful tools that people can use. The book is called Mindset Training: Conquer Your Mind And The Rest Will Follow. I encourage everybody, go and get yourself a copy and look Dr. Nekesha Hammond up so that you can follow her on social media as well as on LinkedIn.

Jennifer Norman:
Dr. Hammond, thank you so very much for being on the show today. You are a beautiful human.

Dr. Nekeshia Hammond:
Thank you. So are you. And thank you so much for having me.

Jennifer Norman:
You're welcome.Thank you for listening to The Human Beauty Movement Podcast. Be sure to follow, follow rate and review us wherever you stream podcasts The Human Beauty Movement is a community based platform that cultivates the beauty of humankind. Check out our workshops, find us on social media, and share our inspiration with all the beautiful humans in your life. Learn more at thehumanbeautymovement.com. Thank you so much for being a beautiful human.