THRIVE Episode 18: Interview with Rhonda Johnson
We are in the middle of a series about mental health. May is Mental Health Awareness month. I am so excited about this series. I hope to debunk myths about mental health issues, provide resources, help you gain insight that will help you understand mental health issues. We’re going to be talking about addictions, bipolar, suicide, and childhood mental illness.
Dr. Johnson has been working with children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families in private practice since 1999. She became a TBRI Practitioner in 2011 for her specialty of working with children who have been adopted domestically or internationally, children in state foster care, and children who have experienced trauma. Dr. Johnson has a personal story of experiencing infertility and being an adoptive parent, which allows her to bring a multidimensional perspective to working with children and families who have adoption as part of their stories. She is a teaching fellow for B.H. Carroll Seminary.
Dr. Johnson is the owner of a large group private practice, the Center for Counseling and Family Relationships, which was established in 2007. She is also the owner of CCFAM Training, established in 2012, specializing as a Live, Virtual, and Online CEU provider with a focus on supervision, Texas Ethics, play therapy, and children who have experienced trauma. Through CCFAM Training, Dr. Johnson also provides private practice coaching and consulting for mental health professionals in leadership and supervisory roles, as well as supervision for LPC, LMFT, and RPT.
MC: As you know May is Mental Health Awareness Month. During our conversation today, I’d love to discuss children and mental health issues. How did you begin working with children?
RJ: The truth is that as a recent graduate I believed in being loyal to my employer and doing whatever it took to succeed. I was given children as clients with no play therapy education and little supervision. It was a sink or swim situation. I enjoyed working with kids, but remember trying to figure out “how is this different than babysitting?”, which was my main experience with children. Thankfully, I was in a group practice similar to the one I have now. I learned from others, but had no idea that the play therapy world had as many theories to work with as counseling with teens and adults. The techniques they gave worked, but were from all different theories.
I had seen children for over a decade before I hired a play therapist who changed my entire perspective of play therapy.
I attended a Trust Based Relational Intervention 40+ training at TCU and learned about neuroscience and relational needs to health trauma for children from hard places. We couldn’t have children and my daughter is adopted. Even though she came to live with us when she was 12 days old and knows her birth family, we still see the impact adoption has had on her throughout her lifetime.
At that time, I realized I wanted the foundation I never received in play therapy and began pursuing my RPT/RPT-S.
MC: Which mental disorders are often seen in children and teens?
RJ: Adjustment Disorders
With children, we take a very cautious approach in our private practice to diagnosing and billing diagnoses with insurance.
Symptoms we see are congruent with:
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Autism
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Major Depression
Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder
Reactive Attachment Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Dissociative Identity Disorder
MC: What are warning signs indicating a child might of mental health issues?
RJ: Changes in:
Eating and sleeping patterns
Grades
Hygiene
Friendships/relationships
Mood/temperament
Fight, flight, or freeze patterns/window of tolerance
MC: How can parents help their children with their mental health?
RJ: The main way for any caregiver to help their child is through the relationship with their child. As school begins, much of the influence transfers to teachers and coaches. The need for a caregiver to be invested, interested, and listening in their life doesn’t change.
Caregivers can also set an example of healthy relationships, spiritual growth, and a willingness to be challenged.
MC: I have seen a genuine faith and Hope in Christ help so many but religiosity brings shame and stunts growth. I’m curious about your thoughts on faith and mental health.
RJ: Our practice doesn’t advertise as a Christian counseling practice to allow it to be a ministry to clients in the community. The church used to be the source of counsel for its members. Through the decades, counseling became separated from the church and lacked a focus on values.
My view on faith and mental health is the same approach the church we attend takes. By providing clients opportunities to assess their values and ask questions that cause them to explore their belief system, a client can determine what their next steps are for growth. It’s also important to explore what their spiritual journey has been and what God (or life) may be teaching them in that moment.
For those who are believers, the focus is on hope through their relationship with Christ and how their life makes an impact for the Kingdom vs. the religious rituals that can be associated with shame. Most churches lack a connectedness and vulnerability that set an example for others of all of us being sinners.
MC: What’s the biggest crisis you have been through and how did you grow in your faith through that time?
RJ: Five years ago, the world as I knew it turned upside down as my husband and I entered the biggest crisis point of our lives. My husband and I had been in ministry together throughout our marriage with him on staff or as lay leaders. Our daughter was 9. He let me know that he had developed the sin of gambling addiction that had been occurring for a year and a half. He lost his job and it had a major impact on the state of our finances.
My first words were “we need to go to (name of our church)”. I didn’t mean the physical building, but the people of our church. We called some close friends from Hope and that was our first choice of many more to come to turn to our faith, our support group and friends, and to a vision for the future vs. the current crisis.
In the weeks that followed, I reached out to several women who sacrificed of their time to listen, to encourage, and to challenge me to constantly look in a mirror. The temptation was to question every decision I had ever made and the foundation of our marriage, but the challenge I was given was to use the crisis as an opportunity to find out what God was wanting to teach me and how He was providing me an opportunity for growth.
I had to learn to trust God that He wasn’t going to rip me off, and to trust my husband that he did want to change, that he did care for me, and had the best interests of our family in mind.
We are complete opposites in personality and how we respond to situations. God used that time to show it was more important to listen to my husband and grow in our relationship.
What I appreciate about our church the most is that the support came without judgement, without gossip, with wisdom from others when I asked for it, and continued opportunities to make God, his values, and our family a priority.
Although we walked through this crisis, I can honestly say that we are closer in our relationship with God, with each other as a couple and with some key friends who loved us and supported us as we were in the middle of it. We’ve grown so much because of this crisis and have really seen the Lord’s provision and help as we have turned to him for help.
My goal is for our practice to be a place of support for believers whose churches who don’t have as healthy of a church to depend on.
MC: How can parents raise mentally strong children?
RJ: Having a healthy attachment creates trust, a belief that they are worthy of love, and the knowledge that they have a voice. These 3 things are the foundation for a child to developmentally grow mentally, emotionally, and physically. Our brains and nervous systems are directly impacted by the environment we grow up in and the relationships we have with our caregivers. Just like a child is unable to skip certain developmental stages, the same is true for mental and emotional growth as well.
Growth is stunted when a child is living in fight, flight, or freeze survival mode. This can occur from a one time “little t” trauma or a “big T” Trauma. It’s how the child experiences the situation, not the actual event.
Being in tune with themselves and others or “mindfulness” is what allows them to see themselves as who God wants them to be and be in touch with the world around them.
MC: What is your biggest weakness as a parent?
RJ: Spending the time with my daughter that she needs. Because the practice is a ministry, I’m supervising, leading training weekly, and coaching other practice owners, I’m never caught up. I have trouble knowing my own limits and the limits I should put on work. There is always more to be done.
I’ve made up for that by having rituals. Rituals are times your child can count on you to connect with them. Ours are snuggling/wrestling, COVID park days, wake-up time etc. Even though my daughter is now 14, these are the memories and rituals that connect us.
Interested? For more of this conversation, check out the podcast and listen in for details about:
Eye & The Tyranny of the Urgent
MC: What advice or recommendations do you have for parents who think their child might have a mental health disorder?
RJ: To take steps to find a play therapist who aligns with your faith values. It is important to find out how the counselor receives information before each session and how they communicate back with parents.
Seeking help early gives children the experience of knowing what counseling is like without it feeling like a punishment. It can change their view of themselves and others.
MC: What have been your child’s biggest struggles that have challenged you as a counselor and a parent?
RJ: We found out this past year that our daughter had several learning disorders including dyslexia along with being ADHD inattentive. Through that testing, we found out that she has an extremely high IQ. She had always struggled with writing and learning has been hard for her. I wasn’t sure if college would be something that she would pursue. God used her childhood to remind that He had given her gifts that weren’t focused on obtaining a specific degree and recognizing her strengths.
She began eye therapy, which is like physical therapy for eyes, this past year. I didn’t even know it existed and felt the guilt of not having pursued the testing sooner.
It’s good to remember God can use any circumstance for His good even not having sought help for her sooner.
MC: Where can parents go for help?
RJ: Find a play therapist who has other staff available to work with you or another counselor they highly recommend and will communicate with. Part of our expansion was because we were turning away 100 clients a month, but the other part was to meet the needs of the entire family. We have a 3 tier system approach. If your house is really messy and you just want to clean 1 space, you could Clean the Table. This would equate to bringing the child to counseling. The 2nd tier is Cleaning a room. This would be the child coming to counseling and parents coming for Parent Guidance counseling. The final tier is the child coming for counseling, Parent Guidance sessions, and Family Play therapy.
MC: What is getting you excited right now?
RJ: We have 7 counselors who have been trained in Eye Movement Desensitization Training. Many are working towards or have become certified. It is exciting to find new ways to help children who have experienced trauma by applying EMDR in play therapy. I recently became a Consultant in Training which will allow me to help other EMDR Trained therapists work towards certification.
MC: What material are you into right now?
RJ: I’m learning about Mindfulness, EMDR, Robyn Gobbel’s work on attachment and neuro-biology. Also Marshall Lyles sandtray and attachment work.
MC: What podcasts are you into right now?
RJ: Adoption, Trauma, and the Enneagram with Suzanne Stabile
MC: What book are you reading or recently read that you’re loving?
RJ: The Road Back to You and Mind by Daniel Siegel
MC: Where can we find you?
RJ: Center for Counseling and Family Relationships (7 play rooms and play therapists in our office)
www.ccfam.com, Free Parent Resources here: https://ccfam.com/resources/
For books and free trainings on Secrets of the Screen (impact of screen time) and Addressing Trauma and Loss (symptoms to watch for, how to respond as a caregiver, assessing values in your home)
www.training.ccfam.com To see trainings I am leading in the area check @Ccfam on Facebook.
Thank you for joining me this week on Thrive: Mental Health and the Art of Living Free. Make sure to subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher so you never miss a show. Hey, while you’re at it, help me out by adding some stars to the rating and tell a friend about the show.
Be sure to tune in next week, where we continue our conversation about Mental Health.
Have a great week!