How can we maintain an
emotionally healthy family?
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Stay tuned to listen
in on my conversation
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with an
award-winning Psychologist.
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My name is Yvonne Lewis
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and you're
watching Urban Report.
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Hello and
welcome to Urban Report.
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My guest today is
Dr. Nekeshia Hammond
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winner of the American
Psychological Association's
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2015 Early
Career Achievement Award
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and the Florida
Psychological Association's 2014
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"What a Woman!" award.
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In 2014, Tampa Bay
Parenting Magazine gave her the
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Extraordinary Woman Award.
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Welcome to Urban
Report Dr. Hammond.
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Hello...
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Yeah... we're so happy to
have you, what a blessing.
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Thanks for having me.
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Sure, sure, so,
before we get started
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into your work,
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let's hear a little
bit about your journey
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because, everybody has a journey
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and so you won
all of these awards,
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you have done so
much at such a young age,
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if I may say so,
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during your life, what have been
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the primary
focuses of your journey?
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I would say... when
I was seven years old,
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I knew that I
wanted to be a doctor
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and I've always had a
passion to work with children
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and the older I've
gotten, I've just realized that
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the Community can
have such an impact
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and positive influence
in the life of children
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and it's so incredibly
important in making them
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very successful
and productive at all
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so it's been a
very exciting journey
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and I'm grateful to work
with children and families.
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Yes and how long
have you been doing it?
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So, this month
makes seven years.
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Wow! that's God's
perfect number, right? Seven...
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Yes...
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So that is
incredible and it seems to me,
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based on all the
awards and the accolades
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that you've gotten,
you're loving what you're doing.
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Absolutely.
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Tell us what you
do with children.
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So, currently, I've done
different things along the years
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currently, I specialize in
doing evaluations for children
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and adults but
primarily children
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and that can be
just seeing if they have
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ADHD or Learning
Disorder, Depression, Anxiety
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or just really finding
out what is going on with them
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because we know...
once we know what it is,
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then we can better prescribe
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what the treatment
should be for them.
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Yes, what has been
the Community's reaction
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to your services, in general,
the African American Community?
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So our office does a
couple of different things
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as you mentioned... or
as I mentioned earlier,
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I do, specifically, evaluations,
we also have therapy here
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one of the difficulties though
with the Therapy piece is that
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there is a stigma
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particularly in the
African American Community
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of getting therapy
for mental health issues.
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Why do you think that is?
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I think because... there
is that long-standing belief
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that you keep it in the family
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or you only go to
church with your problems,
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which I definitely...
I'm an advocate that
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I think that's a great
resource... one resource
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but sometimes you need a really
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specifically-trained individual
in mental health services
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when the issues are so intense
and we see, unfortunately
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a lot of conflict in families
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and there's everything that we
see on the news and in the media
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so it's really
important to receive
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that mental health treatment.
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Absolutely, I think
it's such a misconception
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to think that God
only works in one way,
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He works through
people... you know...
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He works through trained people,
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He works
supernaturally, of course,
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but we can put God
in a box and think that,
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"Well, if I go
over here to get help,
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that means my faith is weak
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or that means I'm not a
good Christian or whatever...
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No, you have to get
help from the right person
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because, of course,
sometimes there is advice
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that is not necessarily...
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it doesn't go well
with your belief system
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so you have to make sure
that it's not conflicting.
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However, God will work through
people to accomplish His goals.
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So, I think it is a
misconception that, you know,
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"Well, I'm a Christian,
all I have to do... is pray,"
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no, pray... but
ask God to lead you
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also to the right person to help
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because He works
through people as well.
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So, at the
center of it... you work
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and you offer diagnosis
and treatment to children.
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What are some of the cases,
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walk us through a
couple of cases of children
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that you've been able to
help through your service.
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So, specifically,
well unfortunately
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what I'm seeing a lot of now...
every week, what I'm seeing
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is that there is a huge issue
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in terms of education
and as far as learning
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and as far as
learning disorders.
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So,
unfortunately, many children...
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what's happening
in school system is
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they're being labeled
as "a behavior problem"
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or they're "lazy"
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or they just don't
feel like doing their work,
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but really... or
they're not smart,
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but really when I
do testing with them,
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I'm finding their IQs are fine,
and they are able to learn,
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it's just that they may
have a learning disorder
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that hasn't even
been addressed as yet.
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So once that's
addressed it changes...
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potentially, the
life of this child.
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Yes, oh my goodness!
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You know, one of my
favorite interviews here
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was Marco Clark, who,
himself, had a learning disorder
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and he didn't know it
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and he was labeled a
functional illiterate
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and went on to
become Dr. Marco Clark
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and I'm sure you know who he is
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and I'm just... so
many children are mislabeled
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and thought... they
think that they're dumb,
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they think that
they can't achieve...
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and these are bright children
who have a learning disability
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it's such a tragedy
because like you said,
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their whole lives are
affected by the mislabeling...
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their lives are affected.
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Their lives are
very much affected
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and I've seen also
which is downright disturbing
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is that I had...
actually last week
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there was a child...
she was in third grade,
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she repeated 2nd grade
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and now they're
thinking of her repeating again
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in third grade, and it's like...
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by the time you're in fifth
grade... you're 13-years-old,
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obviously it's
going to impact you...
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you're probably not going
to graduate from high school
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and then there is a
whole slew of other statistics
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so it's just so
disturbing that the answer is,
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"Well, we don't know
what's wrong with them,
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just repeat the grade... "
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well you repeat so many grades
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and now you're
looking at other issues.
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Absolutely, where
does your self-esteem go?
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If you have repeated a grade
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and then you
repeat the next grade
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and then... you
have no self-esteem
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you feel like a failure already,
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you haven't even gotten out
of elementary school almost...
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and you feel like a
failure, I mean, it's...
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it is such a tragedy
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and I feel like our
kids are thrown into
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Special Ed and they're not
getting... in many cases...
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they're not getting the
education that they need
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because they're always labeled
as behavior problems or "dumb"
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and it becomes... as you said,
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it brings forth other
problems on top of that,
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so now... now you have a cascade
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of problems with these
children and... let's talk about
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the violence and how
violence affects our children.
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Violence has... I mean
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there are plenty of
research studies to show
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how negatively
violence can impact children,
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whether it is violence in
the home... domestic violence,
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whether it is witnessing
violence in their Communities,
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and it is so sad to say
that there are some children,
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they witness so much violence by
the time they're ten years' old
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more than most
adults would even see
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and it becomes the
norm and it's scary
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so walking over a dead body,
witnessing someone get raped,
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witnessing... hearing bullets...
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that's... that's normal
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and it's not
normal... it shouldn't be normal
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but it's normal to
them so, later on...
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Middle School, High School,
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when you're
trying to feel like...
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you're trying
to protect yourself
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of course you're going
to bring a gun to school,
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of course you're
going to pick fights,
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of course, then at least
you do Juvenile Detention
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and all these
other negative things
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so again, the same thing,
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there's a snowball
effect and it's awful
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and one of the issues is because
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no one is speaking
with these children
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about what they're seeing,
it's just... you see it...
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come on inside,
let's have dinner... no...
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Exactly, exactly... I
wrote an article recently
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for our 3abn World
Magazine about PTSD and children
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and one of the statistics
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that I read was
30 percent of our
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inner-city adolescents and kids
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have from mild to severe PTSD
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because they're in a combat zone
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and the difference
between soldiers and our kids
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is that soldiers get to leave,
our children don't get to leave
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so they're in that combat zone
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every day... watching...
people get raped as you said,
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beat up, stabbed, shot,
stepping over dead bodies,
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I mean... it's something
that... is unfathomable
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for most of us,
we've never lived like that
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so we can't relate to that,
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but these children are
in a "war zone" every day
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and it's just impacting them.
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They are... they
are in a war zone
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and then as you mentioned before
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that violence... it
leads to even more violence
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and now you're repeating a
cycle and then, we know that
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for African American
youth in particular... males...
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the number one
killer is homicide
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it's like well...
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Yes, yes, so what do...
it's kind of like... okay...
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what do we do
now for our children
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that are beset by this violence
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because... how can
we give them strategies
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to cope and to deal with
what they're seeing everyday?
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One of the major things...
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whomever it is
in that child's life
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whether it be the parent,
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if it's grandma, aunt,
uncle, neighbor... whoever...
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someone has to be in charge
of making sure they are okay.
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You don't have
to be a Counselor,
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you don't have to
have a Ph. D. in Counseling
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but you need to
sit down with them
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and start to
process what they are seeing
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because... especially
the children that are silent,
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that's very scary, to
come in and witness that,
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and come inside and not
speak of it, is very scary
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because it's festering inside
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and they need to talk about
it so that's the first step.
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There are a lot of
families that maybe...
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they're working a lot of
hours and things like that,
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so, find a mentor,
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anyone that's positive
in their lives for them
00:11:46.57\00:11:49.40
to really process
what they're going through.
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Yes, if you don't
have someone to talk to
00:11:53.51\00:11:57.48
about what you
see, then, as you said,
00:11:57.51\00:12:01.38
it festers in there,
it doesn't go anywhere
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and it ends up
like a pressure cooker
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you end up just... exploding...
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because you've
buried all of this pain,
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and children are seeing this
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this is not just
adults, you know,
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when we think of PTSD and
all... we think of veterans
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and people that have
come out of the war, whatever,
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but don't normally
think about children
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and I believe that
the work that you're doing
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is so, so important because our
children don't have an advocate
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they don't have an
advocate, give us an example
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of a child that you've treated
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or that has been
treated at your center
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that has had...
that kind of background
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and what was
done for him or her.
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So one... I can think
of one particular child
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where... they weren't sure what
was going on with him in school,
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and they were
trying to figure it out
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they knew that
he was very anxious
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but no one really stopped
to ask, "Why are you anxious?"
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It happened to be
an African American boy
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a younger boy, and
when I spoke with him
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and was doing the evaluation,
00:13:14.86\00:13:16.32
one of the things
that he was afraid of
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was whether someone
would come in and hurt him
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that is what he was
worrying about in school
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whereas most kids...
they should be worrying about
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if they got the answer right...
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the teacher is
going to call on them
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or something of
that nature but instead,
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he's worrying that
someone's going to hurt him.
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Is a police
officer going to hurt him?
00:13:35.28\00:13:36.88
And this is a serious thing,
00:13:36.95\00:13:38.28
I mean, he's
anxious about this every day
00:13:38.31\00:13:39.85
he couldn't get his work done
00:13:39.91\00:13:41.25
so obviously it was
impacting him in school
00:13:41.28\00:13:43.49
so... luckily I was
able to do the evaluation,
00:13:43.52\00:13:46.19
find that piece out
which was a huge piece for him
00:13:46.22\00:13:48.89
do some other type of testing
00:13:48.92\00:13:50.56
and then we set
up a treatment plan
00:13:50.63\00:13:52.56
to help him with that,
but it's scary when again...
00:13:52.59\00:13:55.56
when you don't know
what's going on with the child,
00:13:55.60\00:13:58.77
all of a sudden the
teachers sometimes too say,
00:13:58.80\00:14:01.94
"Well, he's just
not doing his work... "
00:14:01.97\00:14:04.17
but there's so much
more to it than that.
00:14:04.21\00:14:06.34
Are you finding that teachers,
in general, are cooperative
00:14:06.37\00:14:13.05
with trying to
find out and discover
00:14:13.08\00:14:15.38
what's going on
with the children
00:14:15.42\00:14:17.72
or are they... a
lot of them burn out
00:14:17.75\00:14:19.59
and just don't
want to deal with it?
00:14:19.62\00:14:21.42
And we're not
saying all teachers,
00:14:21.46\00:14:23.46
but I'm just
saying, what do you find?
00:14:23.49\00:14:25.46
Yeah, it's really a mixture...
honestly, it depends...
00:14:25.49\00:14:28.33
what I've seen in my experience,
it depends on the school
00:14:28.36\00:14:31.50
so our school... we have
one of the largest districts
00:14:31.53\00:14:34.60
in the Nation and I
will just go ahead and say
00:14:34.67\00:14:38.94
on maybe an "A" school,
there's a different experience
00:14:38.97\00:14:42.01
and there is the "F" school,
00:14:42.04\00:14:43.38
so I've seen very
different experiences
00:14:43.41\00:14:46.85
with teachers...
some, like you mentioned,
00:14:46.92\00:14:48.62
are very burnt out,
00:14:48.65\00:14:49.98
they say, "I can't help,
00:14:50.02\00:14:52.19
there are too many
children in the class,
00:14:52.25\00:14:53.82
there's overcrowding... "
00:14:53.86\00:14:55.19
other schools...
they're more accommodating,
00:14:55.22\00:14:58.19
but there's a responsibility
really for teachers
00:14:58.23\00:15:01.30
that if you are overwhelmed
00:15:01.33\00:15:03.97
then... there are things
that need to be discussed
00:15:04.03\00:15:06.37
and addressed
with the Administration
00:15:06.40\00:15:07.97
because we all... I think...
00:15:08.00\00:15:10.07
working with
children owe it to them.
00:15:10.11\00:15:11.71
I mean, we have a huge
responsibility in their lives
00:15:11.74\00:15:14.98
not just for third grade
or not just for first grade
00:15:15.01\00:15:18.21
but in their life, so...
00:15:18.25\00:15:20.45
Absolutely, to help
to guide them through
00:15:20.48\00:15:23.82
so, someone comes
into your Center...
00:15:23.85\00:15:26.86
and we can put
your website up as well
00:15:26.89\00:15:29.82
so that people will
know how to reach you
00:15:29.86\00:15:32.33
and what goes on there
00:15:32.36\00:15:33.73
but if someone
comes into your center,
00:15:33.76\00:15:38.27
walk us through
the whole process,
00:15:38.30\00:15:41.84
walk us through the evaluation
and then the treatment segment
00:15:41.87\00:15:45.94
I'm sure that's differential
depending on what's going on
00:15:45.97\00:15:50.01
but walk us through a
typical kind of situation.
00:15:50.05\00:15:53.52
So, generally,
we get a phone call,
00:15:53.55\00:15:57.85
the first call... just to say,
00:15:57.89\00:15:59.65
"I don't know what's
going on with my child,
00:15:59.72\00:16:01.66
I think they may need testing. "
00:16:01.69\00:16:03.02
I speak with them over the phone
and just do a free consultant
00:16:03.06\00:16:06.90
to see what's going on to
make sure we can help them
00:16:06.93\00:16:09.06
and then the
very first interview
00:16:09.13\00:16:11.40
what we do... it
takes about an hour or so
00:16:11.43\00:16:13.10
where we go through all
the background information
00:16:13.13\00:16:16.24
so everything from
how was the child born
00:16:16.27\00:16:19.54
to how are they doing
in school with friends,
00:16:19.57\00:16:22.78
medical history, everything,
we want to be very thorough.
00:16:22.84\00:16:25.75
I mean, excuse me, one second...
00:16:25.78\00:16:28.58
what is the significance
of how was the child born
00:16:28.62\00:16:32.89
because I think
this is important
00:16:32.92\00:16:34.26
for parents to hear too
what's the significance of that?
00:16:34.29\00:16:36.83
So the significance
would be, we want to see
00:16:36.86\00:16:40.03
if there was any stress or
any trauma during delivery,
00:16:40.06\00:16:42.93
so, was the child born on time
or were they born, maybe earlier
00:16:42.96\00:16:49.50
35 weeks or 34 weeks
or in a premature state
00:16:49.54\00:16:52.97
did they lose
any oxygen at birth,
00:16:53.01\00:16:55.21
things like that because
that can, for some children,
00:16:55.24\00:16:59.78
cause developmental delays
and maybe walking or talking
00:16:59.81\00:17:04.32
we try to look
at... was that delayed
00:17:04.35\00:17:06.49
or was that on time,
those sorts of things,
00:17:06.52\00:17:08.76
we want to know
all the way from birth,
00:17:08.79\00:17:10.96
all the way to the
present however old they are.
00:17:10.99\00:17:13.33
That's great, what
about prenatal aspects,
00:17:13.40\00:17:16.30
what was going on, was
there prenatal rejection,
00:17:16.33\00:17:20.04
was the mother happy or was
she sad that she was pregnant,
00:17:20.07\00:17:24.64
was there inter-utero rejection?
00:17:24.67\00:17:27.54
Yes, we also
look at... I mean...
00:17:27.58\00:17:30.38
and then there are a
lot of different ways that
00:17:30.41\00:17:33.48
children are conceived nowadays,
00:17:33.52\00:17:35.25
there are a lot of
different fertility treatments
00:17:35.28\00:17:37.29
or... like you mentioned,
00:17:37.35\00:17:38.69
sometimes some
pregnancies are planned,
00:17:38.72\00:17:41.42
sometimes they're unplanned,
how in the very beginning
00:17:41.46\00:17:44.79
did the child bond
with the mother and father
00:17:44.83\00:17:48.50
and also we tend to look
at what type of baby it was,
00:17:48.53\00:17:54.30
was it a fussy
baby or were they calm
00:17:54.34\00:17:56.20
to look at their temperament,
00:17:56.24\00:17:57.64
so we're looking at a lot of
different factors at that point
00:17:57.67\00:18:01.01
and sometimes they can pinpoint
00:18:01.04\00:18:03.18
if there has always
been an issue with the child
00:18:03.21\00:18:05.61
from the beginning,
from when they were a baby
00:18:05.65\00:18:07.52
versus what we see a lot
of is, eight, nine, ten...
00:18:07.55\00:18:11.15
it's an all-of-a-sudden thing,
00:18:11.19\00:18:13.25
and it usually, there
are behavioral issues,
00:18:13.29\00:18:16.02
whatever other
issues, and usually,
00:18:16.06\00:18:18.23
that links to
something that was going on
00:18:18.26\00:18:20.00
in a child's life at that time
versus a long-standing problem.
00:18:20.03\00:18:23.77
So, many times a
parent might say,
00:18:23.80\00:18:27.80
"Well, my child
just... I don't know,
00:18:27.87\00:18:29.90
he was really
good before and now
00:18:29.97\00:18:31.94
he's acting out and all that
and usually... you're saying
00:18:31.97\00:18:35.11
you can link that to
some specific occurrence
00:18:35.14\00:18:38.58
in that home or
school or whatever.
00:18:38.61\00:18:41.18
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we
see that a lot as well
00:18:41.22\00:18:43.69
so if the child is
an "A" and "B" student,
00:18:43.72\00:18:47.26
all of a sudden,
it's Fourth Grade
00:18:47.29\00:18:49.82
and now it's D's and
F's which is very different
00:18:49.89\00:18:52.79
because we know... you
shouldn't go to D's and F's,
00:18:52.83\00:18:55.70
when you start
out with A's and B's,
00:18:55.73\00:18:57.43
that's drastic... then we
try to pinpoint, if we can,
00:18:57.47\00:19:01.34
what may have
happened, so was there a move,
00:19:01.37\00:19:05.17
was there a loss,
00:19:05.21\00:19:06.54
a lot of our families
are from divorced homes
00:19:06.57\00:19:09.54
sometimes that
impacts children, was there...
00:19:09.58\00:19:12.61
did someone pass
away in the family?
00:19:12.65\00:19:15.08
So there can be a lot of
things that have happened,
00:19:15.12\00:19:17.55
and as you mentioned
before specifically with...
00:19:17.59\00:19:19.99
well, I hate to say it,
00:19:20.02\00:19:21.82
but cases where
children are in war zones
00:19:21.89\00:19:24.83
there's a lot that
children hold on to
00:19:24.86\00:19:27.33
that parents are
not even aware of
00:19:27.36\00:19:29.43
or caregivers are
not even aware of.
00:19:29.46\00:19:31.67
Yes, and one of
the things that...
00:19:31.70\00:19:33.87
an article that I read
about trauma with children
00:19:33.90\00:19:39.07
is that... if you have a
child that has been traumatized,
00:19:39.11\00:19:43.24
you have to really
start noticing things
00:19:43.28\00:19:45.81
really take... really
observe what's going on
00:19:45.85\00:19:49.05
because many
times, parents are so busy
00:19:49.08\00:19:52.69
we live in such
a demanding society
00:19:52.75\00:19:55.49
that, you know,
you got your kids
00:19:55.52\00:19:57.86
and you're trying
to raise your kids
00:19:57.89\00:20:00.16
but you got your job and
if you're a single parent
00:20:00.20\00:20:03.33
which a lot of our
inner-city situations
00:20:03.37\00:20:06.00
are either, a child is
being raised by a grandparent
00:20:06.03\00:20:09.10
or a single parent
00:20:09.14\00:20:10.87
and there might not
be a father in the home
00:20:10.91\00:20:13.81
it's just... like...
overwhelming... so...
00:20:13.84\00:20:16.64
and then you've
got... it's... to me...
00:20:16.68\00:20:19.41
it's such an onion, Dr. Hammond,
because there are so many layers
00:20:19.45\00:20:23.49
you've got the family
dynamic, the school dynamic,
00:20:23.52\00:20:26.32
the community dynamics,
00:20:26.35\00:20:28.26
and then you have
everything in between,
00:20:28.29\00:20:30.03
you know, everything
within each of those things,
00:20:30.06\00:20:32.93
impinging upon our
children and it's...
00:20:32.96\00:20:36.87
what do we do to
help them, so, I hear you,
00:20:36.93\00:20:40.77
you go through this
evaluation so you can find out
00:20:40.80\00:20:45.57
and identify just
where this happened
00:20:45.61\00:20:49.71
or what has happened... and
then where do you go from there.
00:20:49.74\00:20:53.88
So then, the
next step that we do
00:20:53.92\00:20:56.75
is a Comprehensive Evaluation,
Psychological Evaluation,
00:20:56.79\00:21:00.49
that part generally
takes a couple of hours
00:21:00.52\00:21:02.89
because we're
looking at everything,
00:21:02.92\00:21:04.79
we're looking at IQ,
00:21:04.83\00:21:06.19
what's your
intellectual potential to learn,
00:21:06.23\00:21:09.40
sometimes we're
looking at academically,
00:21:09.43\00:21:12.53
what grade level the child's at,
00:21:12.57\00:21:14.24
for Reading, Writing and Math,
00:21:14.27\00:21:15.90
we also look at...
00:21:15.94\00:21:17.47
we have a lot of
different scales,
00:21:17.51\00:21:19.11
socially, how you're doing,
emotionally how you're doing,
00:21:19.14\00:21:21.98
processing information
so it's pretty thorough
00:21:22.01\00:21:24.58
to look at a lot
of different pieces
00:21:24.61\00:21:27.15
to really see how
that child is functioning
00:21:27.18\00:21:29.28
and then a couple
of weeks after that
00:21:29.32\00:21:31.72
we go over the
results and the report
00:21:31.75\00:21:34.12
that the parent has
or the caregiver has
00:21:34.16\00:21:36.49
and from there, we can recommend
00:21:36.52\00:21:39.49
"Okay, they need
individual therapy
00:21:39.53\00:21:41.60
or they may need group therapy,
00:21:41.63\00:21:43.26
family therapy might be
something that they need
00:21:43.30\00:21:46.20
or a combination,"
00:21:46.23\00:21:47.57
a lot of children really
can benefit from mentors,
00:21:47.60\00:21:50.61
I am a huge advocate of that
00:21:50.64\00:21:52.27
because
00:21:52.31\00:21:53.64
to have someone
positive in your life
00:21:53.68\00:21:56.21
and again... it
doesn't have to be the parents
00:21:56.24\00:21:58.08
like you mentioned... it is
a very demanding environment
00:21:58.11\00:22:00.08
that many of us are in
00:22:00.12\00:22:01.48
but someone has to
be in that child's life
00:22:01.52\00:22:04.35
as a positive
role model for them.
00:22:04.39\00:22:06.76
Yes, that is key and often it is
a female-dominated environment
00:22:06.79\00:22:15.63
it might be the
mother and the grandmother,
00:22:15.66\00:22:17.53
there might not be a dad there
00:22:17.57\00:22:19.23
so boys and girls
need a male mentor
00:22:19.27\00:22:23.47
and the thing is, you
get real concerned about,
00:22:23.51\00:22:26.54
like... "Is this person
okay to mentor my kids?"
00:22:26.57\00:22:29.51
Because, you know,
there are all kinds of issues,
00:22:29.54\00:22:32.41
pedophiles and stuff like
that so you have to be careful,
00:22:32.45\00:22:34.68
but yet,
somebody... as you just said...
00:22:34.72\00:22:38.75
somebody has to be
concerned about the child
00:22:38.79\00:22:42.72
and kind of take
that child under your wing
00:22:42.76\00:22:46.43
and nurture the child
because the environment is so
00:22:46.49\00:22:50.30
stressful, and
we expect our kids
00:22:50.33\00:22:53.50
to be in a stressful
environment and then learn...
00:22:53.54\00:22:56.91
it's like... how can you learn
00:22:56.97\00:22:59.04
if you're seeing
all this violence
00:22:59.07\00:23:01.11
and you're the victim
of it, how can you learn?
00:23:01.14\00:23:04.55
And as you mentioned
it's very difficult to learn
00:23:04.58\00:23:07.42
and one of the things
that you mentioned earlier
00:23:07.48\00:23:10.29
about being in that
"war zone" if you will,
00:23:10.32\00:23:13.02
the major difference
too is when you're an adult
00:23:13.05\00:23:15.86
being in that
environment versus children,
00:23:15.89\00:23:18.09
their brains are not even
developed yet to handle that,
00:23:18.13\00:23:21.43
we're talking about seven-,
eight-, nine-years old...
00:23:21.46\00:23:24.97
they're babies and
they're put in this environment
00:23:25.00\00:23:28.40
and it's like, "I don't know
why they're acting out in class"
00:23:28.44\00:23:30.71
because there's a
lot on their minds.
00:23:30.74\00:23:33.44
That's right,
that's right, they can't...
00:23:33.48\00:23:36.14
they don't know how to
express what's on their hearts,
00:23:36.18\00:23:40.42
what's happened to
them so they act out
00:23:40.45\00:23:42.68
so what kinds of strategies
do you use in treating
00:23:42.72\00:23:47.52
kids that have depression
00:23:47.56\00:23:49.69
or ADHD and things
like that, what do you use?
00:23:49.72\00:23:53.03
So, once we know
where to go with them,
00:23:53.06\00:23:57.40
then... a lot of
times... a lot of kids we see
00:23:57.47\00:24:00.87
have
difficulties with self-esteem,
00:24:00.90\00:24:02.80
for a variety of reasons,
00:24:02.84\00:24:05.37
sometimes they're
the victims of bullying
00:24:05.41\00:24:08.04
and we know, unfortunately,
00:24:08.08\00:24:10.15
everyone gets
some type of bullying
00:24:10.18\00:24:12.15
but some... more
severe than others...
00:24:12.18\00:24:14.08
socially... some children really
need help with social skills
00:24:14.12\00:24:18.02
as they don't know how
to act in certain situations
00:24:18.05\00:24:21.26
don't know how
to act appropriately
00:24:21.32\00:24:23.43
because of lack of social
skills a lot of times with ADHD,
00:24:23.49\00:24:27.80
we try to teach them
self-control techniques
00:24:27.83\00:24:31.00
especially for the younger group
00:24:31.03\00:24:33.47
but just ways to
have self-control
00:24:33.50\00:24:35.97
and a lot of times for anxiety,
00:24:36.00\00:24:38.41
we look at what is
triggering their anxiety,
00:24:38.44\00:24:41.34
so... is it...
00:24:41.38\00:24:42.71
because of the social
setting that you're nervous,
00:24:42.74\00:24:45.15
is it, you're nervous,
speaking in front of your class,
00:24:45.18\00:24:48.48
is there something else
00:24:48.52\00:24:49.98
that really is
triggering your nervous feeling
00:24:50.02\00:24:53.25
so we make it
age-appropriate for them,
00:24:53.29\00:24:55.56
because that's the
thing sometimes too...
00:24:55.62\00:24:57.86
we have to be careful as adults
00:24:57.89\00:24:59.46
not to really
talk over their head,
00:24:59.49\00:25:01.00
if they're eight-years old,
00:25:01.03\00:25:02.36
we can't explain things like
we would explain to our friend
00:25:02.40\00:25:04.83
we need to make it
more age appropriate.
00:25:04.87\00:25:07.14
Yeah, yes, yes, so tell us about
00:25:07.17\00:25:08.90
one of your clients
that has gone through
00:25:08.94\00:25:17.08
your whole Center,
from evaluation to treatment
00:25:17.11\00:25:20.85
and how they're doing now.
00:25:20.92\00:25:22.68
So, I would say, I
would say in general
00:25:22.72\00:25:31.59
we see a difference as far as...
00:25:31.63\00:25:33.70
the major thing is self-esteem,
00:25:33.73\00:25:35.70
we can definitely measure
that if you will... because
00:25:35.73\00:25:38.87
even the way the children
look when they first come in
00:25:38.90\00:25:41.97
I mean, you can see
it, they appear depressed,
00:25:42.00\00:25:44.97
they have no
confidence in themselves,
00:25:45.01\00:25:46.98
we'll ask them,
00:25:47.01\00:25:48.34
"What do you
like about yourself,
00:25:48.38\00:25:49.74
what's something
that's good about you. "
00:25:49.78\00:25:51.31
They'll say, "Nothing... "
which is really sad to hear
00:25:51.35\00:25:54.15
because every child...
00:25:54.18\00:25:55.52
everyone has
something good about them,
00:25:55.55\00:25:56.89
but they can't even
list one thing... nothing...
00:25:56.92\00:25:59.22
and they really believe that
00:25:59.25\00:26:00.59
so, it's been really neat
to see the transformation,
00:26:00.62\00:26:04.39
if you will, and
sometimes it's six months,
00:26:04.43\00:26:07.46
sometimes it's
eight months but later
00:26:07.50\00:26:09.26
we see the
improvement in school,
00:26:09.30\00:26:11.03
we see the difference,
00:26:11.07\00:26:12.40
I had one girl which...
I love her success story
00:26:12.43\00:26:16.64
she worked so hard in therapy
00:26:16.67\00:26:19.11
and she was at the
point where we thought
00:26:19.14\00:26:21.41
she wasn't going to
make it through high school
00:26:21.44\00:26:22.94
and she was going
to fail but actually...
00:26:23.01\00:26:25.31
she just really turned her
life around and worked so hard,
00:26:25.35\00:26:28.35
and she actually
graduated a year early,
00:26:28.38\00:26:30.52
whereas when she was
in 9th and 10th Grades,
00:26:30.55\00:26:32.79
she was almost to the
point of failing school
00:26:32.82\00:26:35.42
but we got to the
point where she graduated
00:26:35.46\00:26:37.99
basically in 11th Grade
so she graduated a year early
00:26:38.03\00:26:40.56
because she
turned her life around
00:26:40.60\00:26:41.93
which was so amazing, so...
00:26:41.96\00:26:43.43
It's so rewarding,
it's so rewarding isn't it
00:26:43.47\00:26:46.40
to see how... you
know... for example,
00:26:46.43\00:26:49.47
she came in to you
with low self-esteem
00:26:49.50\00:26:52.54
and the more success you have,
00:26:52.57\00:26:55.44
the more successful
you feel and you become
00:26:55.48\00:26:59.51
and so, it's like...
again, that's a cascade
00:26:59.55\00:27:03.02
because you don't
want to go back to feeling
00:27:03.05\00:27:05.55
like you didn't have
it together, you know,
00:27:05.59\00:27:07.89
and as children... to
know that there's someone there
00:27:07.92\00:27:11.13
to say, "Hey,
you're doing great,
00:27:11.16\00:27:13.33
you are somebody,
you can achieve... "
00:27:13.36\00:27:15.46
it's an awesome thing,
00:27:15.50\00:27:16.97
I can't believe our time is up
00:27:17.00\00:27:19.20
you have been so wonderful,
00:27:19.23\00:27:21.37
thank you so much
for this information.
00:27:21.40\00:27:23.54
No problem at all.
00:27:23.57\00:27:25.21
We appreciate it so much
and hope you come back again
00:27:25.27\00:27:27.98
sometime and bless us again.
00:27:28.01\00:27:29.94
Dr. Hammond: I would
love to. Dr. Lewis: Thank you.
00:27:29.98\00:27:31.38
Violence and mayhem
00:27:31.41\00:27:32.78
often plague our
communities and families
00:27:32.81\00:27:35.15
our children need help
00:27:35.18\00:27:37.15
in learning how
to deal with conflict
00:27:37.19\00:27:39.22
and how to
handle life's pressures,
00:27:39.25\00:27:41.26
parents need it too,
00:27:41.29\00:27:42.96
so if you're in
trouble, get help.
00:27:42.99\00:27:45.13
Don't feel that it is ungodly
to seek a Godly Counselor,
00:27:45.16\00:27:48.63
get the tools that you
need to build a healthy family.
00:27:48.66\00:27:52.10
Well, we've reached
the end of another Program.
00:27:52.13\00:27:54.44
Thanks so much for being here
00:27:54.47\00:27:55.97
and join us next time
because you know what?
00:27:56.00\00:27:58.77
It just wouldn't be
the same without you.
00:27:58.81\00:28:01.54