Understanding Teen Mental Health - Turning Winds Podcast Series

The Transformative Power of Gratitude

• Turning Winds • Season 3 • Episode 9

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In this episode, Clinical Director Jared Sartell joins host Kevin Zundl to explore how gratitude can be a powerful tool in fostering mental and emotional well-being. From the positive effects of gratitude journals to the profound joy found in noticing life's small miracles, Jared shares how Turning Winds integrates gratitude into daily life on campus, especially during the holiday season. Discover how practicing gratitude can reshape perspectives, build stronger relationships, and even transform mental health.

To learn more about Turning Winds, visit turningwinds.com or call 800-845-1380.

 This is what it sounds like when you understand gratitude is the key to happiness. People are attracted to those sorts of films. I think gratitude really is at the core of that. Welcome to the Turning Winds podcast. My name is Kevin Zundl. Turning Winds is a full continuum of care for teens who would really benefit from additional support clinically and academically. Today I speak with Jared Sartell, clinical director. That's something maybe a lot more important than we know. Thanksgiving is here and I'm curious, how do you celebrate on campus? Yeah. So regarding how churning winds manages gratitude, because what we know about the positive effects of gratitude on depression, anxiety, on sleep, on general affect, and know that there's a direct correlation between practicing gratitude and your mental and physical wellbeing. And so it's interesting. We have a lot of group therapy sessions every day. And I find myself on a regular basis, especially with our newer kids that are struggling with being there. And they tend to have a lack of gratitude in their lives. They always ask what's the secret to feeling better. And it's so funny because the secret to feeling better in most cases, even when you have significant mental health issues. It is diet, exercise, sleep, and a regular dose of gratitude. I would say a daily dose of gratitude. And so one of the first assignments that many of our students get from a therapy standpoint is to create a gratitude journal where they end the day doing a journal outlining things that they were grateful for that day, they do a lots of different ways. It could be one or two things they're grateful for. Some of them have a set number of things that they're grateful for, but there's something. about the effect of focusing on gratitude and focusing on those things to be grateful for really. Changes the way our brain sort of interfaces with the world. Most of the world's religions have some refrain to the effect of seeking. You shall find a knock in and it shall be opened unto you. And that's a universal sort of thing amongst all the major religions. And, and myself personally have been choosing to apply that related to gratitude. So every day as I'm driving to work or whatever, thinking about those things that I'm grateful for, thinking about those things that, The little things, the bigger things, thinking about those things that bring me joy, even though all of the problems in the world still exist, and all of the problems in my life still exist, and this is true for our clients as well, even though all of those things still exist, if we're seeking for feelings of joy and happiness, we'll find them just by virtue of seeking them, and from a clinical perspective, um, Very much is as a therapist, you can get caught up in all sorts of modalities and get caught up in all sorts of theories. A lot of people really like hearing all of the letter acronyms of the clinical models that you use and all of that. I have found that it's more effective with clients. To focus more on principles related to joy and happiness and principles related to how to propagate that, then paying attention to models and modes and those sorts of things. And so it's a little bit of a catch 22 because people like the language of CBT or EMDR or whatever, and those are incredibly valuable models. If they're not, if you're not operating based on principles that will make people happy. And so what's fun to see and what I really appreciate about Turning Winds is there's a lot of a peace and joy that comes with being in the wilderness. There's, when you don't have the noise of the world, it's easy to pay attention to the little things like the moose that ran across the front yard, or to be excited that, that you got to see a bear on the mountain, or even just the deer, life becomes more simple and our brains have less to navigate. And so it's easier for those struggling people to find joy and to find happiness. And those are directly correlated with. The amount of gratitude that we're able to see in SEAL. Our students write letters every week and we give them guidance as to letters that they want to write. And it's interesting because we see a shift occur in the nature of those letters. As our students start becoming successful in their treatment program, and they start recognizing things that they're grateful for back home that they miss or that they have in place there. And that really is a major difference. We can see a shift and it's pretty marked and it's fairly predictable. But what is always correlated with that is a measure of gratitude from those students. And so it changes the nature of their interactions with their parents. And so during the Thanksgiving season or the holiday season, we remind those kids that To a greater degree to think about those things that they're grateful for to express that there's a lot of data suggests that if if we express gratitude on a daily basis. That it has a significant value and just how we experience the world. I'd say it's interesting. Our parents of our students get nervous around the holidays for fear that their kid is going to be miserable and sad and lonely and all of those things. And what's really interesting is the way that we celebrate holidays. It turning winds is the parents struggle far more than the students do. Um, and then from a clinical perspective, it's a good opportunity to teach those parents to have. A life separate from their kids and a calibrate your kids are more resilient than you think, and you're not as important, you know, as you think. So naturally they miss each other and there's homesickness and those sorts of things. But we operate, we operationalize our holidays in such a way that the kids have a really good time. And so you get to talk to their parents on those holidays and those sorts of things, but they're already having a good time. They're doing activities together. They're perhaps serving the community. Fair amount of that. I don't know. And so we have parties, we have good food, we have good music. We have good times. We take lots of activities that get kids out and doing things that are valuable and important. Whether that's in the wilderness or, or something in the community. And so our, our kids end up really enjoying our holidays, which is not at all what you would think for a kid that's in treatment, largely without wanting to be there. And really, thanksgiving is great as a cue for gratitude. And it's common to have people sit around the table and give thanks. How do we use that as a launching point? To do more and figure out how to extend the routine for you as an end. So, as you said, for me, the car ride, I have a fairly long commute to work. And I have found for myself, personally left to my own devices on a long drive with a quiet. We start thinking about things that I'm troubled by that are really not that important. And so I decided to start listening to blogs and listening to uplifting talks and that sort of thing really more as a way to keep my brain focused on something. So it doesn't chase down these rattle. And as I noticed that what I've noticed is I'm directing like that drive is the cue and I'm directing my brain to think about those things that are important and valuable in our bigger picture and more important than this trifle that I'm thinking about. Um, With our, our students specifically turning wins, ending the day with a gratitude journal really has an effect on when you go to bed and you're thinking about positive things. When you're thinking about uplifting things that settles your brain down and it gets your subconscious when we're asleep and our brain, our subconscious brain is processing the day. If it's processing it through a positive lens that you just created and that will affect how you're waking up the next day. Or much the same for, so as a family, we also get together most evenings and we offer a prayer together as a family. And that really is as a joint, what are the things that we're grateful for today? What are those things that we have seen that are favorable? And when you have a pattern of doing that regularly, you have to start expanding. The sorts of things that you're grateful for. So you're not just repeating the same things over and over again. And it's the same with these gratitude journals. And so you start finding little things that are mundane, that are every day that are really not on the face of it. Garner a lot of attention, but that you can be grateful for whether it was the clouds look cool as they're cruising over the mountain or the spotted fawns are out right now, we live in a wildlife rich area and we do that on purpose and our school is in a wildlife rich area on purpose because it gives millions of little things every day that you can find a little bit of gratitude and, and joy, and so when you start ever immersing yourself in thoughts, About noticing the little things that promote gratitude and having gratitude for them. Again, that it changes your brain chemistry, which is awesome from a scientific standpoint. But even if we didn't know about all of that, it just feels better. And, and we are more likely to move towards uplifting and positive things and mindsets. When we're thinking in that way versus when we're thinking about those things that are troubling to us or whatever. And so really it's a matter of noticing all of the little things. When I'm in group and we're talking about this and the kids are asking questions, the things that we take for granted, like those are things we take for granted, but they're really incredible. The fact that little things like I'm going to get a little bit weird on this, but. I think about you and I are sitting across from each other when we're thousands of miles apart, having a real time conversation, right? It's, that's miraculous. Um, or even to, to get, even to drill it down even more like the mechanism of our eye that allows us to see the world around us. Every little thing if, if you choose to think about it, is pretty miraculous. And if you immerse yourself in that way of interacting with the world is, how cool is this? It has a profound effect on really every interaction that we have, whether it's with something material or immaterial and as social beings, those people that are positive and charismatic tend to also point out the positives and those folks around them and the things that are going on around them and people are attracted. To those sorts of folks. I think gratitude really is at the core of that. If you are an alumni or an alumni family and would like to share a story about time here on campus, just reach out to Enoch at enochaturningwinds. com. But importantly, if this conversation gives you hope for the situation you are in, I encourage you to call Turning Winds 800 845 1380, where you can check out the wealth of resources they have at turningwinds.com.