0038 Thrive and Connect: Family-owned Business Succession- and Operations Legal Planning

Posted on 2016-05-232016-05-23 by Gary Monti

Subscribe: RSS

In today’s podcast we sit down with Kwame Christian, Esq., an attorney specializing in family- and business law. We will discuss

Business Operations Planning and Continuity
Business Succession Planning

If you want to jump to a particular topic in the podcast click on the timestamp below.

00:00 Answer Questions Why do we need succession planning? When an owner dies what is next? Who takes care of the business after the owner dies?

03:00 Earlier The Better The funeral home is not the best time or place to start answering those questions. If left unaddressed issues from the past that need time and negotiations to resolve come to the surface and usually cause damage. Better to plan when everything is okay.

05:00 Expectations What are reasonable expectations of an attorney?

07:38 Attorney as Guide Set the stage for success by talking with your attorney before there is a problem. They attorney can guide you through the process of succession planning.

08:12 Ethics Kwame discusses ethical issues attorneys must address. This includes knowing when to withdraw due to lack of agreement between the owner and (future) survivors or between the eventual survivors themselves.

10:43 Agreement vs Disputes The law works best when used to create agreements before hand rather than as a means to resolve disputes after the owner(s) death.

11:50 Game of Thrones Kwame relates the “Game of Thrones” metaphor one of his associates uses to describe how few family-owned businesses make it to the third generation.

13:43 Plan From Beginning Succession planning works best when started at the beginning of a business. This includes:

putting an operation agreement in place
having a buy-sell agreement.

15:15 Owner’s Self-examination The difficulties associated with the owner(s) looking at their own death is discussed with regards to business succession planning and estate planning.

17:00 Peace-of-Mind There are benefits associated with planning when all is going well, the two greatest being clarity and peace-of-mind.

18:40 Costly Mistakes Unresolved issues with regards to planing for the future can lead to costly mistakes in the business today.

19:49 Arrogance and Fear Kwame discusses the toxic impact of arrogance and fear. Gary discusses some change management issues that arise in such situations – usually a sense of invincibility on the owner’s part. During family/business meetings a blanket denial of the “elephant(s) in the room” can occur making the attorney’s job that much more difficult and the number of wasted billable hours increases.

26:55 Negotiations Kwame discusses the need to negotiate and suggest going to his podcast (Negotiation For Entrepreneurs) at one of his websites, the American Negotiation Institute.

28:24 Humanity and Law The discussion shifts to humor and it reflects the challenge associated with keeping the humanity of the situation included in the legal transactions in order to avoid getting lost in the law. Kwame discusses how the law is meant to keep people within certain boundaries. The key is combining the two (humanity and law) to get to a negotiated deal that meets the participants needs.

29:46 ”Truth” Systems At least three different frame-of-mind are running through the situation:

operational “truth” – the way the family-owned business runs
emotional “truth” – the frame-of-mind and emotional state each individual has in terms of how they perceive the situation and respond/react to that situation
legal “truth” – the possibilities, options, and limits present under the law

Successful negotiations are achieved when, for everyone involved, there is alignment between the three different systems.

32:30 Earlier the Better (continued) The more work done ahead of time to resolve the emotional issues the better the legal part of the work will go. Also, this will help keep costs down. Two examples are provided regarding the breakup of two partnerships – one being amicable and the other adversarial. The cost differences in terms of client base, time, money, and residual feelings where huge.

37:16 Who Does the Attorney Represent? The question, “Who does the attorney represent?” is addressed. Representing one member of the group is much different than representing the entire group. If not careful, a circus-like atmosphere that is ridiculously expensive can be created. Ethical considerations for the attorney based on who is being represented are discussed. Essentially, and “us” frame-of-mind works much better than a “we-they” approach.

41:55 American Negotiation Institute Kwame started the American Negotiation Institute to help families and partners address the above-mentioned issues in order to achieve greater satisfaction and avoid wasting time and money not only in terms of succession and estate planning but also for day-to-day negotiations. An example is provided.

48:22 Stakeholders Kwame emphasizes the importance of considering all stakeholders when negotiating. This includes immediate family members who are not part of the negotiations but are effected by them.

49:34 Creativity and Negotiations Creativity is shown to be critical for good negotiations which includes working to understand the needs of the other sides.

50:05 Pay Me Now or Pay Me Latter The values associated with working with American Negotiation Institute when life is going well and working on issues that are present, not currently having a big impact, but can mushroom if left to linger as time goes by.

50:46 Negotiations Coaching Coaching services can be provided nationally, working either in person or via virtual sessions.

52:38 Key Professionals Needed The importance of a team of key professionals is stressed. For example, in addition to the attorney a trusted accountant and a financial advisor will help those negotiating see the consequences of their agendas and decisions being made.

Well, that concludes another podcast in the Power of Humility series.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0037 Thrive and Connect: Humility – An Overview

Posted on 2016-05-162018-03-26 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Our co-host, Jennifer, listened to the three prior podcasts on humility and today she shares with Gary her view on the topics:

In thinking about the differences between humility and humiliation real-life experiences bubbled to the surface for Jennifer. For example, her job of 11 years where her boss had a very different management style than Jennifer. Her success in that job had a large part to do with Jennifer deflecting her boss’s micro-management style by practicing humility both with her boss and her direct reports. She kept the turnover rate on her team very low.

Jennifer then gives an example from her personal life – dealing with her ex-husband. This is contrasted with having a relationship with someone who also believes in humility. It engenders trust and improves the relationship. Which led her to the podcast on humility and abundance. No need to be perfect, just willing to make room for each other and work on the relationship.

Moving on to humility and freedom Jennifer was reminded of when early in her career she felt she had to prove herself, have no flaws, and “do it all!” without accepting help. She relates a story of regret with regards to a time someone offered her help and Jennifer initially refused, to which the woman making the offer replied, “If you never ask for help no one will ever know you are human.” Accepting that help made a great difference in Jennifer’s management style, which helped later in life with the micromanaging boss.

Jennifer and Gary discuss the impact of Jungian Type on the perceptions of humility vs humiliation.

The discussion moves to the relationship between “being right” and humility/humiliation.

Why is humility difficult to practice? The relationship between humility and karma is discussed.

The final topic is the importance of humility in promoting a sense of togetherness in a relationship.

Well, that concludes another podcast in the Power of Humility series.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0036 Thrive and Connect: Humility and Freedom

Posted on 2016-03-29 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Today’s topic, humility and freedom, is a continuation of the power of humility series.

Recall the definition of humility is choosing to go to a small place, representing an awareness of what one can and can’t do. One side-effect (or benefit) of humility is experiencing freedom.

To get an idea of what freedom is let’s start with defining what it isn’t. Lack of freedom is being trapped and at the core of being trapped is suffering. In turn, suffering is based on being attached to something or someone.

An example of attachment is given: hitting my thumb with a hammer. There are two distinct components to this situation: the actual pain felt and how I decided to deal with that pain. Suffering is getting hung up on the pain, e.g., feeling sorry for myself, feeling I can take it out on others, etc.

A distinction is made with regards to the value of the physical pain, i.e., getting me to pay attention to thumb to avoid hurting it further and to allow it to heal.

At the core, freedom is being present with what is occurring and letting go of suffering.

Decision points deciding to be free or suffer occur throughout the day and I do have the power to choose to suffer, e.g., pushing my child to get an A on a test, that woman will love me, boss will give a raise, etc. Or, I can choose to simply be present with what is, immerse myself in the experience and be present. Choosing the latter approach frees me to see what is available in the moment. In other words, see options.

Choosing to attach to an experience and become reactive creates tunnel vision and options fly out the window.

Presence includes being with the specific activity or person in front of me while also being aware of the environment and what is going on in the periphery.

One example of enjoying the freedom that comes with humility and being present is sitting in the sunroom in the morning with Jeny, enjoying her presence but also being aware of the squirrel outside trying to steal seed from the bird feeder, the cats vying for position on our laps, etc.

Freedom can also be present with uncomfortable tasks. The letting go of the difficulties and/or uncomfortable feelings opens up the opportunity to see and pursue options.

Astronauts formally train to do this letting go activity by going through an risk management exercise called, “The next thing that can kill me is _______ .” This helps them learn how to respond to a situation rather than react and lose site of options.

How do I get to a reactive state? By having expectations. With expectations there is a desire to control someone or something beyond my humility boundary. Attention disappears and there is just a pushing of my agenda, e.g., pushing my child to get an A or badgering my spouse or partner to be a certain way.

Expectations lead to throwing away freedom. Suffering results.

This is an age-old problem. The Roman philosopher Epictetus (c. 50 AD) stated, “There is pain and there is torture. Pain is when we now the source of our discomfort. Torture is when we don’t.” Suffering creates torture and the associated blindness. When in pain I can see the options available and decide what to do. This is exercising freedom. This also applies to when feeling well.

Expectations lead to an unrealistic sense of control, a cause-and-effect relationship between me and the person or situation I want to satisfy me expectation.

The listener is challenged to look for situations where they abandon their freedom or decide to remain humble and embrace the freedom.

Now, there is a paradox with regards to humility and ambition. It is fine to have goals and make certain sacrifices. However, it is important to watch out for the risk of turning oneself over to the desired goal and losing oneself, only having meaning based on becoming the goal. An example is Meryl Streep’s character in The Devil Wears Prada.

In order to pursue ambition in a humble manner the key is forming a team with like-minded people. Doing this with a sense of abundance where the tasks and rewards are shared with others not only helps preserve freedom it creates an opportunity for abundance where what is achieved is greater than the capabilities of any one person.

This sets the stage for joy to surface!

It is difficult to maintain humility in situations such as divorce, especially when one doesn’t want it to occur. The power to hold the marriage together is gone. Embracing this reality is essential to maintain freedom through humility. The other person is on the other side of the humility boundary.

The courage to grieve and embrace the sadness is essential in order to be free and have options.

This gets to a willingness to accept the unfairness of life in order to be free. There’s a power in embracing being in a small place.

Remember, freedom exists inside humility. By linking with others through giving up some independence interdependence develops and, again, more can be achieved. It is expansive, both in terms of being with what is immediately present as well as awareness of the environment and what is on the periphery. It’s quite a paradox!

Freedom in the presence of failure is extremely important. Character is built based on decisions made and actions taken when in a failed state. Attachment to the failure dissolves humility and a blindness to options and possibilities sets in. Freedom disappears.

Well, that concludes another podcast in the Power of Humility series.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0035 Thrive and Connect: Humility and Abundance

Posted on 2016-03-142016-03-21 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Hi, and welcome to another episode of Thrive and Connect, the second in a series of podcasts dealing with the power of humility. Today I’ll talk about how the practice of humility can lead to abundance.

I am your host, Gary Monti, publisher of Aurelius Press, providing the only Jungian Type assessments, the Majors PT Elements and PT Inventory, that not only provide both whole Type, those 4 letters such as ESTP, but also real-time measure of the 8 Jungian mental processes, introverted Thinking, extroverted Sensing, etc., providing information on both how one tends to think based on the neural pathways established at birth but also adaptations that have been made while moving through life. For more information go to aureliuspress.com.

Let’s get back to our topic Humility and Abundance.

You might recall the last episode differentiated humility from humiliation and the results may not have been that exciting. After all, it might not sound very cheerful when even in health it’s all about going to a small place.

So what to do? This is where humility opens the door to something very powerful — abundance.

Personally, learning this lesson was a big surprise to me.

Without going into details I can say I spent a large part of my life in the confusion between humility and humiliation. The short version is I tried to make humiliation work. That created a rather painful, frustrating trap of feeling stuck in a small place with no way to get out since it was someone else’s fault I was in there and my only way out was by trying to please the other person who was rummaging around inside my head. Not a happy way to live!

In turn, I tried to compensate for this insanity by trying to please that voice inside my head believing I should be able to do everything by myself – I should be a Superman!

Well, if ever there was a death trap, that was it. No matter what was achieved it wasn’t enough. Humiliation is a black hole with an infinite appetite.

Eventually I burned out trying to fill it and started looking for something else. This something else ended up being humility, which, surprisingly, led to my discovery of abundance. Abundance makes it fine being in a small place. Abundance does this by facilitating connection.

Let me explain with a personal story — something that happened recently. I tried planning what appeared to be a rather ordinary social event. The secret reality was that while the event may appear ordinary on the surface it had importance to me. In fact it had mythic significance. Again, it was just meant to be a pleasant time, or so it seemed.

I was taken by surprise when one of the invitees said they were already planning an event around that time, it was something they did every year, the date was important, etc., etc., etc. They ended up inviting the same people that I was planning to invite. (I’ll come back to this other person later in the podcast.)

I chose to let go of my plans. This ended up being a triggering event that brought up the humiliation. Ironically, the getting past humiliations of the past was the mythic component of the event I was planning. Finally, I was free! Or so I thought. Can you believe it!

But then I thought, “Wait a minute! This is a chance to continue working with humility and getting beyond humiliation.” And that is what I did.

The work consisted of staying with the process of letting go of the reactivity humiliation creates and staying out of the personal hell created by holding on to urges to do whatever (you can fill in that blank with some of the urges you might have had in the past to set people straight, get even, etc.)

By the way, the work to free myself was done through Dharma practice (I’m a secular Buddhist) and I was able to go to the other party and actually have a good time.

But wait, there’s more! Something amazing happened at the party.

As frequently occurs at good parties, subgroups develop and I joined one. While we were sitting there talking and having a good time I asked about the cooking that others like. Several mentioned food that I had made in the past. This created an opportunity to ask, “Then what would you have for a nice meal?”

I took advantage of the situation to see if a meal could be built around the foods that I make. This led to asking, “How about Jeny and I put on a dinner party?” Everyone agreed and now we’re moving forward with the planning. The party may or may not occur. The point is, it supported me in staying with just being and connecting with myself and others.

A quiet sense of joy emerged. Behaving this way helped keep me out of the prison that hanging on to reactivity creates. Belief in abundance and committing to doing the associated work, i.e., having the dinner party, created the space within which I could experience the connection I was looking for in celebrating my release from humiliation. And if this dinner party doesn’t happen then I am free to plan something else! The abundance associated with relationships is still there because I am making the effort to care. The energy would just be moved to the work of that other event should this dinner party fall through.

In all of this it’s important to avoid sounding Pollyanna-ish. This work of abundance doesn’t come easily. Every brick on the path leading towards the creation of abundance is built from a reaction surfacing along with the urge to attach to it and then pulling energy away from that reactivity so I can let go and be free. It repeats over-and-over until the reactivity dissolves.

In Buddhism there’s a term for doing this work of sharing without expecting something in return in order to create abundance. It’s called loving-kindness. Doing the work of loving-kindness dissolves the prison created by reactive emotions.

In this case, offering to do the work of loving-kindness through a simple dinner becomes a statement to myself and to those around me that there is a way to get beyond the anger, frustration, and sense of woundedness associated with humiliation, perceived or otherwise. It can be an example for others which creates an interesting paradox. While working to take care of myself an opportunity for connecting with others is created. Pretty cool!

I want to switch back now to the individual who schedule the other party. You may have noticed during this podcast that I used the phrase, “Perceived or otherwise.” There’s a reason for doing that. When in the grip of humiliation it’s easy to perceive others with suspicion and believe they have dark motives. While these feelings may be intense they also may be inaccurate.

My feelings of humiliation actually are the reaction I choose to have in response to an action another person takes. This actually is separate from the individual’s intentions. That person may very well be intending to humiliate me or they may be doing what they honestly think is best free of intention to create harm.

This bears repeating. There are two important points here:

1. I need to take ownership of any reaction I have to someone’s behavior, and;

2. Space needs to be left to find out what the other person’s story is in order to treat them with the appropriate respect rather than trying to dump my reactive emotions on them.

Respect here simply means treating the individual appropriate for their behaviors. If I find out the person’s a jerk maybe I need to back up for a while or take action to protect myself. If the other person’s intentions are benign and I genuinely feel a sense of harm then we need to talk about making some changes. Finally, if their intentions and actions are benign then I’m back to dealing with my own reactions.

Well that’s probably more than enough for now. I hope you got something from today and can pass it on! I look forward to sharing more with you in the future.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

Join us with an iTunes subscription

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0034 Thrive and Connect: Humility vs Humiliation

Posted on 2016-03-092016-03-14 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Hi, and welcome to today’s podcast. I am your host, Gary Monti, publisher of Aurelius Press (aureliuspress.com).

Today’s podcast is the first in a series dealing with the power of humility. We’ll start with how humility is frequently viewed and confused with humiliation.

It would be an understatement to say in today’s world humility is not one of the desired traits needed for taking care of oneself and getting ahead in life. In fact, humility is often viewed as something for weaklings, those who don’t have what it takes to get the relationships they want and get ahead in the world. I strongly disagree and believe those criticisms are based on confusion humility with humiliation. (more on that later.)

Now, there is a real power associated with humility. In fact, when students or clients ask me what traits must a good leader possess both in personal and professional life I reply, “There are 3 key traits, courage, discipline, and humility.”

1. Courage. Leaders venture into the unknown where the rulebook increasingly loses its relevance. This is a pretty scary place to be. Courage based on the belief in oneself and the team is essential for success to occur. This is true in personal life when a couple are going through the challenges of their relationship. Also, when a parent is dealing with a change or crisis a child may be having.

2. Discipline. There are two aspects associated with discipline. The first one is having a stick-to-itiveness where one continues persevering in the face of discouragement and challenges. The second component has to do with building oneself intellectually and spiritually in order to have the personal tools needed to work through the situation. Think of how a piano student practices and practices until there actions are spinal and their hands just know what to do.

3. Humility. Simply put, humility is knowing what I can and can’t do. It is knowing where my limits are. The importance, then, of humility is understanding there are times when bringing in others for support is critical. This all sounds well and good and I would guess you are in agreement. We need, though to make this real — put some flesh and muscle on the bones of intellectual definitions.

A deeper dive will help where we look at the real challenges as well as the benefits associated with practicing humility.

One of the best ways to bring the concept of humility into focus is to contrast it with its nemesis, humiliation. We can start with their definitions which have some common ground but then diverge significantly.

There are two parts to the definitions of these words. The first part is the same for both and its origins are in the word “humus,” meaning rich earth. This comes from earth-based religions where one is taught to think about their roots, where they come from, who nurtured them, and that we each have a place in the world but it is a small one compared to the broader universe and is not necessarily at the center. Consequently, the first part of the definitions of humility and humiliation is “to go to a small place.”

That’s tough enough as it is. This is the 21st century. Who wants to go to a small place?! “I want it all!” “Me first!” Those are what is encouraged in order to get ahead when It’s important to win at all costs, dominate, and control. Let the other guy be humble or humiliated!

What about the second part of the definitions? This is where it gets interesting and possibly confusing.

In the case of humility I choose to go to a small place while with humiliation I am pushed there by somebody else. Can you feel the confusion? First off, I am going to a small place and, second, my options are to either go there myself or be pushed by someone else. This doesn’t sound very good.

For example, your boss might give you a job that requires 20 hours of work and you only have two hours available. You’re honest about the situations and the job doesn’t get completed. (That’s humility – you know your limits.)

If your boss is out of sorts there’s a chance you’ll be read the riot for not getting work done and might be embarrassed or have it show up on your job review. You are at risk for feeling small after all this. (That’s humiliation.)

This is where your eyes can cross! You know you’ve been humble with yourself by doing a gap analysis between the number of hours the job takes (20) versus number of hours you have available (two). On the other hand, though, you’ve just been humiliated publicly by your boss.

So the questions are, “What do you do?” and “Why would I bother with humility?”

First, what to do.

There are two options here, reacting or responding.

With reactions the individual grab onto the situation (and, figuratively, my boss) and won’t let go. Now I am locked into the negative feelings which leads to a high state of emotionality caused by replaying the event over and over and over. This is what resentment is, i.e., a re-sensing of the situation.

An interesting aspect of the human psyche is the heart does whatever the brain focuses on. By replaying the situation continually in my mind my heart says, “Oh, we are focusing on bullying today. Okay, I can do that!” I then go home kick the dog, yell at the kids, etc. You know the drill. So the outcome of that resentment is the equivalent of sitting there stabbing myself in the heart and eventually those around me. I become the object of my focus, the very thing I feel is terrible.

The other option is responding. The response is summed best by the Dalai Lama who said, “when someone humiliates you, practice humility. Let go of them and do what you can do within your limits and only focus on that.”

Now you might be wondering what that means. What the Dalai Lama is saying is you’re just one person you only have a small place in the universe, you can only do so much so why not just let go of your boss and do what you can. Instead of resenting be productive in your own way. Be nurturing in your own way. Be caring of others in your own way.

So, in conclusion, there is a real value in being humble. That value is you can keep yourself and stop the brutality of humiliation by not hurting yourself or those around you. Obviously, practicing humility is not for the faint of heart. But there is a real payoff. We’ll look at that in future podcasts.

Well, that concludes this first part of the Power of Humility. If you have a

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0033 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors: Patricia Rodemann

Posted on 2016-02-26 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

National Suicide Prevention Life Line 1-800-273-TALK, that’s 1-800-273-8255.

Today we talked with Patricia (Cia) Rodemann, the Director of Business Development and Communications for Pomegranate Health Systems, a provider of adolescent psychiatric services.

Pomegranate has both residential and crisis centers.

Pomegranate accepts patients from all over Ohio on a 24/7 basis via professional referrals only. Interventions typically start with a parent bringing a child to the emergency room or Net Care. Pediatricians and counselors can also refer directly.

If in crisis in Ohio call That Care Access, 614-276-2273, or go to the nearest emergency room. Also one can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 1-800-273-TALK, that’s 1-800-273-8255.

Cia described how a component of care is parents having a hard-to-heart connection with their children, watching for changes in mood or behaviors. It is important to pay attention to small cues.

She also discusses misconceptions and mistakes regarding suicide. She writes a personal experience where it would be better if she would have intervened.

Pomegranate has a blog serving as a resource guide for articles on adolescence mental-and behavioral health issues. The website is www.pomegranatecares.com.

In terms of periodicity, times of high drama throughout the school year can have a big impact on children.

The decision-making process has to deciding whether inpatient or outpatient care is required is discussed.

Pomegranate is performing leading-edge DNA-based diagnoses and prescribing, leading to better and more effective selection of drug regimens.

Pomegranate also provides trauma-inform care which is based on what has happened to the child.

Finally, post discharge instructions following acute care are shared.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0032 Thrive and Connect: Interview with APTi President Amy Acker

Posted on 2016-02-162016-02-26 by Jennifer Rojas

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Jung, Carl Amy Acker, president of APTi (Association of Psychological Type International) took some time to sit down with us and go over her Letter From The President, published to APTi membership.

00:00 Introduction

03:44 Current context

06:51 Board is up to the task

08:12 Value Proposition

09:27 APTi as the independent voice of Type

12:31 Dialogue with Type community

13:07 Board Agenda and Priorities

16:57 Members input: Capabilities and monitoring

18:40 Membership Survey: Understanding membership needs/concerns

23:21 Certificate of Coaching

24:33 Standards Certificate Program

25:24 Questions? Contact avenues available

27:19 Membership renewal and benefits

28:00 Strengthening and building communities

29:07 2017 Conference location

30:35 Wall of Giving/Annual Appeal

31:41 Appreciation of Support

33:41 Closing/Contact information

36:00 END

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

February 16, 2016

Dear APTi Members:

Happy New Year! It is hard to believe we are a month into our 2016 year already and I hope that it has started off well for all of you. I am looking forward to a productive and fun year serving as the 37th President of APTi. I have had the good fortune since I joined the APTi Board in 2013 to watch the role modeling of three former presidents, Linda Berens, Susan Nash and last year Maryanne DiMarzo lead this organization with such great passion for serving our community, with such great commitment to forwarding the work of psychological type and with such generosity of their time and energy to this organization in general. It is my personal goal and commitment to continue that legacy.

We have a seasoned group of professionals returning to the Board this year and several of them are in new roles. Our newest member is Doug Woodworth who joins us as Director of Finance. Please go to the APTi web site (www.aptinternational.org) if you are interested in the board members and their backgrounds. As a board, I view our chief responsibility to not only lead an agenda that creates satisfaction for our membership but to also preserve and accelerate the organization. I am confident that our board is not only committed to this but also up to the task – and there is much work to be done!

The Executive Committee of the Board spent a weekend planning session together in mid-January, heads down – aligning on our 2016 agenda and priorities. An important point and distinction that I want to make is that I purposefully did not call it a “strategy” session because as I shared with the board, it is not my intent to call a new “strategic play” or direction for this year. The incredibly hard work and great work that Maryanne lead the team through last year to create our new strategic direction, value proposition and values will remain – this year’s task is to ensure that we bring that value proposition to life in everything that we do – and I would add with execution excellence!! To remind everyone, our value proposition “is to be the independent voice of type and serve as the standard bearer for psychological type lighting and enlightening ones’ journey towards type expertise…..” I am hoping that these words sound familiar because they are part of our Mission Statement and Values. Again, I would invite you all to visit our web site if you would like to read the entire Mission Statement and Values.

I would like to share with you our priorities for 2016 in no particular order as all are important:

1. Better and more targeted communication with our members. We will be launching a new membership management system on March 1st. This will include a new front end, re-designed web site and a backend membership portal that will allow us to interact with our members and them with us with more ease. This will be our single largest investment in our infrastructure this year and most likely in the next few years. A lot of work is already underway and remains to be done and we are so excited to announce this!

2. Better understanding of our members’ needs and concerns – this is something that the entire board is so passionate about. As such, we will be doing a “Membership Survey” sometime mid-year. We have a wonderfully, diverse membership. Some of our members join for personal passion and development, some join to contribute to forwarding the research and thinking in the area of type, some join to enhance their knowledge of the practical application of type as they try to grow their own business in this area, and some join to enjoy the sense of community around type…… and there are many more reasons for sure. Trying to meet the needs of this diverse community and be inclusive of those needs can be a challenge. We believe as a board that a good first step to understanding and inclusiveness is to ask.

3. Membership renewals – APTi is built on its membership. Fay Roseman will be leading up the communication with our members to remind them of the benefits we offer and ensuring that they update their membership for 2016.

4. Continuing to strengthen and build all of our “communities” will continue to be a priority. As an aside, under the board’s leadership last year there was a re-newed sense of energy to embrace our communities. These communities include our Chapters, Interest Areas (IAs), and our global “sister” organizations such as BAPT and the Australian APT. In fact, BAPT generously started sharing their quarterly publication “Typeface” with our members last year. We in turn will reciprocate this year when we launch our new APTi newsletter.

5. Planning for the 2017 APTi Conference. We are already at work looking for locations and venues. Our goal is to announce the location and venue sometime early in Q2 and then the real work begins. Thank you to all of our 2015 conference attendees who gave feedback on what locations would be most appealing!!

6. Finally, I think it is important to mention that we will continue two very important initiatives that the board approved at the end of 2015. First, the creation of a “Wall of Giving” that will be prominently displayed on our web site’s homepage. This “Wall of Giving” will recognize those individuals who have given generously of their time, talent, service and donations to APTi. Second, we will continue with our Annual Appeal later in the year which is so critical to our ability to invest in such important items like our new membership management system.

So, a lot to accomplish in these next 11 months!!

In closing, I would like to thank all of our members who continue to be a part of such a great and diverse community that is rich in its history and the gifts that it has given to the world of type. I am looking forward to working with our members, our communities and our board this year to continue to add to APTi’s history.

All the best for a healthy and prosperous 2016!

Amy

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0031 Thrive and Connect: Wherever I Go, There I Am: Romance and Jung

Posted on 2016-01-26 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

In today’s podcast we show how the Jungian Type assessment, the Majors PT Elements, can be used with a couple to assess their relationship and decide in a very conscious way what to do with it. The couple, who have agreed to be public about the assessment are Jennifer from Aurelius Press and her partner Ben.

For more on the specifics regarding the personal response to this work go to Jennifer’s blog on Aurelius Press’s website, “Wherever I Go, There I Am: Romance and Jung.”

There are four considerations when listening to this podcast:

1. Some technical terms will be presented in fleshing out the specifics of Jennifer and Ben’s relationship. If there is any confusion regarding these terms please feel free to contact us either by clicking on the voicemail link at the right of this page, or using the comments capability indicated at the end of the show notes.

2. The personality formation component of the Majors PT Elements is discussed reflecting its two components, i.e., perseverance (reliance on oneself) and level of adaptation (how one chooses to work, or not, with others).

3. Native Type, i.e., the preferred pathways within the brain that we are born with. This is commonly reflected in the four character dichotomous code, e.g., ESTJ.

4. The eight Majors-Jungian process scores which show how one chooses to use the eight function-attitudes currently (introverted Sensing, extroverted Feeling, etc.). This is a real-time measure of how one is reacting/responding/adapting and walking through life using the eight function-attitudes.

The discussion expands to show the power of understanding both one’s native type, what one is born with, as well as what one is doing with his/her potential. This understanding rolls into being able to negotiate and build a loving relationship by seeing very consciously where connections occur along with any disconnects. The couple is then empowered to decide how they want to change personally for the sake of self and the relationship. It’s all about growth, love, and abundance.

Ethical considerations using an assessment such as the Majors PT Elements and other Jungian assessments are discussed. This includes avoiding using assessments to gather information that can be used against someone else, using assessments as job selection tools, or trying to pigeonhole someone based on their assessment results. The focus is on gaining understanding in order to decide which path is appropriate for taking care of oneself and moving through life today and into the future.

For more on the Majors PT Elements and PT Inventory go to www.aureliuspress.com/assessments.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0030 Thrive and Connect: Holidays vs Holy Days – Presence vs Presents

Posted on 2015-12-292015-12-29 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Gary discusses a personal transformation with regards to the holiday season – switch from holidays to holy days. Rather than promoting a specific religous approach the value of a secular Buddhist practice for improving everyday living is presented. This has led to greater enjoyment of this time of year.

His story starts over 23 years ago when still suffering 2 years after a divorce and feeling stuck. The desire to get un-stuck merged with the mediation portion of the 11th step in a 12 Step program. The insight gained was this: addiction is associated with expectations. Gary came to call the holiday season, “The Disneyland of Addiction.” A time of high emotionality and expectations where trying to satisfy feelings, similar to a child in the “terrible twos,” takes precedence over principle-based behavior. It can lead to suffering. This is contrasted with healthy emotional responses in line with principle-based behavior.

Consequently, holidays are about expectations while for Gary holy days are about being responsible, living by one’s principles, and treating others in a compassionate, respectful manner. Said more simply, the goal of this work is to:

“Have my butt and my brain in the same place and time zone.”

It’s about being present, which is where secular Buddhism comes into play, i.e., developing daily habits that keep Gary present, aware, and “in” life moment by moment. This leads to loving-kindness for self and others. It puts the “holy” in holy days.

The switch to holy days allowed a breaking out from the trap of expectations. Life got simpler. Pain didn’t necessarily go away but suffering lessened. This led to an increase of acceptance in contrast to just being patient. Life is as it is. Accept and decide.

Acceptance has led to the development of options and better decision-making rather than being hung up on a given expectation.

A not-so-obvious option is being prepared to still take care of self even when plans fail. Take the energy from the disappointment and move it into something construction. And, if a plan does come to fruition move that energy as well into something greater than can be built.

It’s all about abundance and expanding the space in which the abundance can grow. Joy can result!

In contrast, when there is a hanging onto expectations a tightfistedness sets in that is very controlling and leads to misery.

Gary closes with the lifestyle he has now, i.e., having left the Catholic Church but enjoying his Italian-Catholic heritage, Christmas music, cooking,etc., all of which leaves room for others, their beliefs and practices.

The listener is encouraged to have a Merry __________ . (fill in the blank with what is important to you this time of year.)

0029 Thrive and Connect: Majors Jungian Assessments: Foundations – Part 2

Posted on 2015-12-152015-12-15 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

For more on the Majors PT Elements and PT Inventory go to www.aureliuspress.com/assessments.

Gary Monti with Aurelius Press continues the interview with Dr. Mark Majors with regards to Carl Jung, his approach to therapy, and the relationship to psychological assessments.

00:48 Review of Jung and Assessments: Foundations – Part 1. The topics discussed in part one are reviewed. This includes the origins of the assessments created by Mark along with the approach that Carl Jung took and Isabel Myers approach. Mark emphasizes how young focused on what was observable and patterns within those observations versus theory. The importance of avoiding what Mark calls “theoretical punishment” is emphasized.

03:33 Avoid the Guru trap: Life of Brian. The review concludes with Mark’s comments on avoiding the “Guru Trap,” which Mark expands upon.

04:45 Theory has its place. While theory has its place, it is important to remember that the unfocused on the observable and associated patterns. The function of theory is to serve those observations rather than replace them and predict what an individual “is about” without making a direct connection. There is a risk of falsify the individuals life.

06:09 Traits vs Motivation: the risk of introducing bias. The discussion turns towards the importance of paying attention to the client’s motivations in order to better understand how to help them improve versus simply observing traits in making judgments as to how best to put those traits to work. The individual interpreting the assessment results needs to connect directly with the client to avoid making erroneous judgments and risk being abusive.

08:25 Trait bias: an example.

09:08 Interpretation bias and ethics. it is important that the client the results and interpretation of the assessment. Traits may in fact be based upon coping mechanisms that are unhealthy for the client.

10:15 Majors PT Elements (PTE)-personality formation scores: empathy & ethics. Mark shares how the personality formation scores in the Majors PT Elements can be used to ensure the client is treated empathetically and fairly.

11:33 Psychometric- and theoretical narcissism. A danger is present when an assessor assumes they can draw conclusions about the client without checking in with them. No serious perfect.

12:09 Advice to practitioners new to assessments. At the center of this work is the individual who is then surrounded with the tools and assessments. It is important for the assessor to develop their own process, which takes time.

14:44 Intentionality. Mark continues with his advice to the new practitioner. The practitioner must consciously decide how the assessment will be used. The individual must always be the focus of attention without the assessor being by theory or the assessor’s own personal experiences. There is a need to continually check with the individual for accuracy.

15:38 MPTE wealth of information/formulating questions/possible pathways. Use the scores from the personality formation portion of the Majors PT Elements to formulate questions that facilitate the client opening up and stating the extent to which they connect with the assessment results as well as what those results mean to them. Our job is to offer possible hypotheses regarding the road they would like to take. Don’t declare, ask questions, be humble.

18:18 Taking your own journey to help your clients. The importance of the assessor going through their own therapeutic process is emphasized.

21:21 The limits of free assessments/“coffee shop” conversations/ discipline. When the connection is established the conversation becomes more personal and may appear to be informal but the reality is the assessor is bringing to bear their discipline in humility to help the client go within and explore himself.

23:01 Discipline/Intentionality/Humility. The discipline of intentionality is expressed through the humility of the professional. All behaviors are focused on the intentionality of helping the client. An authoritarian approach is damaging to the client. Being authoritarian puts the focus on the assessor rather than the client.

26:28 Theory abuse. Putting the theory and assessment before the client adds to the damage done by the authoritarian approach.

27: 21 The business world: change managers, assessments, character traits. The courage required to stay with the intentionality when working in the business world is discussed.

28:33 Transaction-oriented clients vs. the unfolding of understanding. The inherent conflict between the process oriented approach of counseling and the transaction approach typically found in business is discussed.

28:48 The impact of 3rd party payment

– Payback expectations with limited sessions

– Working with conflicting intentionalities: bottom line vs healthy. The conflict inherent with the transaction approach is exacerbated frequently by limitations placed by third-party payers.

34:30 PTE enhances the brief therapeutic process. The benefits of using the Majors PT Elements in these conflicted situations are explained. In a limited-session environment having not only the type but also the personality formation scores along with real-time measurement of the eight majors-Jungian processes provides information otherwise not available, information which can help the client oriented and decide what direction to take in terms of behavioral changes that are in their best interest.

39:57 Client ownership of issues vs deferring to the therapist. Some clients are able to benefit well from the limited number of sessions when sufficient information has been provided. The important thing is they own their situation and choose to put the information to work. It is critical to the client avoids turning responsibility for their growth over to the therapist.

40:39 Dr. Dick Thomson’s research: work vs home Type. http://www.hpsys.com/About_DrThompson.htm Individuals can display two distinct types, one at home and want to work. Understanding this and integrating the information is critical for health.

41:22 Advice for neophyte counselors: intellect vs empathy. It is better for people this work to focus on maintaining humility in developing a sense of empathy and not over-focus on intellectual mastery of the theory, assessment, and methods. It is important to use the information to look for opportunities where the information can be used to support the client in the unfolding of their understanding of themselves.

43:16 Transaction-oriented clients vs. the individual’s unfolding of understanding (con’t.). It is important for the assessor to be prepared to offer the benefits of a process-oriented approach in a transactional environment. There is a definite return on investment. Specifically, the process of allowing the clients to develop an understanding of themselves can be brought back to the workplace where it can aid in changing the way work is executed to the betterment of the organization.

45:14 Ipsitive prognoses vs unfolding in team setting. Mark discusses the benefit of using the information to show the need for change by using ipsitive approach, which has to do with dealing with the extremes in the Majors-Jungian processes.

46:45 The power of the MPTE and the eight Majors-Jungian process scores. An example of the ipsitive approach in an organization is provided. Individuals at some level no the changes needed but the information provided by the Majors PT Elements provides a basis to create a healthy challenge. It freezes them in their tracks and gets them to consider changing behaviors. Progress is based on those with the power having the courage to take your hands off the system and allow healthier behavior to unfold.

48:55 Ipsitive defined. Mark provides a formal definition of the ipsitive approach. The two highest and to lowest Majors-Jungian process scores are used for each individual to show the greatest ranks and weaknesses and how, as a team, the organization behaves. It provides a high level of predictability as to what to anticipate behaviorally. This serves as the basis for bringing about change.

50:44 Speak plainly. Avoid getting caught up in theory. Rather than being an evangelist for the theory, which can create confusion, it is important to speak to the individuals in terms of what they are saying about themselves in a manner that the lay person could understand. Most people are not interested in becoming a type-savvy individual.

51:22 Jung, “Use Type to help people rather than teach Type theory.” Jung was not interested in educating people about psychological Type. He was simply interested in helping people help themselves. An example is provided.

53:40 When To You Stop With a Client. When ownership of issues has reached a plateau it is time to take a break and possibly revisit sometime in the future. One sign of needing to take a break is the therapist, change manager, or life coach is experiencing increased stress and a significant drop in energy. One of the best ways to test for this is to bring up a specific issue that needs to be addressed and see whether or not the client will take ownership.

1:00:10 CONCLUSION

For more on the Majors PT Elements and PT Inventory go to www.aureliuspress.com/assessments.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0028 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors – LOSSTeam: Dr. Lee LeGrice

Posted on 2015-12-102015-12-13 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

National Suicide Prevention Life Line 1-800-273-TALK, that’s 1-800-273-8255.

In the Dallas – Ft. Worth area you can get help at Mental Health of America of Greater Tarrant County’s web site (http://www.mhatc.org/) or call (817) 546-7826.

LOSSTeam information can be gotten at www.lossteam.com.

02:41 Introduction.

03:08 1-in-4 effected by mental health issues. Dr. Lee LeGrice (DrLeeLeGrice.com) starts by saying 1 in 4 Americans are impacted by mental health issues.

04:11 LOSSTeam formation and being a survivor. She proceeds to discuss how the LOSSTeam came about by the efforts by her and others (Regina Preatorious and Lezlie Culver). She shares the impact of her own story as a suicide survivor who lost a high school friend and how it provided impetus to be involved in creating the LOSSTeam. Similar to other survivors, she still thinks about and feels the loss of that friend and its impact, especially wondering if there was something different she could have done to help that friend. That thinking ranges out to include the lost loved one’s family and other friends.

06:36 Overcoming stigma-being there for others. Dr LeGrice encourages the listener to approach someone they may feel is at risk and get beyond the possible though, “If I bring it up I’ll be putting the idea of suicide in their mind.” If a person is at risk they are already thinking about suicide so push through the discomfort and reach out.

07:40 The LOSSTeam and community. By participating with the LOSSTeam you might just help someone who is suffering mental health issues and/or is at risk for completing suicide. It is this spirit that brought the team members together.

08:53 The importance of survivors to the LOSSTeam. Dr. LeGrice mentions the major contribution made by Lezlie Culver in getting the team started and bringing it to community.

09:54 Shame, confusion, and ambivalence. The signs of suicide may not be that clear. People at risk can be ambivalent and go back and forth between living and wanting to die. One should stay away from blaming self for missing signs of suicide because it may not be that clear.

11:56 The challenge of making sense. The difficult feelings can arise from our desire to make sense of the suicide, an event that turns one’s world upside down. Acceptance and finding a place within oneself for the lost loved one is discussed.

13:14 If at risk…connect…create a space. Having friends and being able to broach difficult topics such as suicide is recommended. It is normal to have periodic thoughts about suicide so the risk of bringing up the topic may be less than anticipated. By broaching the subject the stigma can be reduced. Dr. LeGrice recommends coming up along side the at-risk individual and listen, offer connect. Doing that first will help the person in finding a solution to the problem they are trying to solve.

18:15 LOSSTeam members walk along side. The ability to be with a recent survivor and calmly provide acceptance and understanding, even without speaking, is one of the powers of the LOSSTeam member.

19:38 Mythology – the common experience. The LOSSTeam member brings the universality of the experience of loss to the situation and is able to help the recent survivor, at times starting at eye contact.

20:56 What if they ARE having suicidal thoughts? Training models can be found that help in answering that question. It’s important, though, to be able to talk with an at-risk friend in a simple, direct, supportive manner. In other words, a lot of times it really helps for a friend to just be with the at-risk individual and affirm the sharing of the suicidal thoughts. The importance of finding a mental health professional after a conversation is opened is stressed. The friend just provides friendship. Counseling is for others.

23:59 Professionals and their understanding/training. Dr. LeGrice discusses resources available to professionals in a metropolitan area vs. more sparsely populated areas. The importance of primary care physicians including screening as part of intake interviews as well as periodically is stressed. This is especially true when dealing with a person not showing outward symptoms. Web and phone capabilities are discussed as well. LOSSTeam.com is referenced as a good place to start in looking for resources.

28:24 Personal impact of LOSSTeam work on Dr. LeGrice. Dr. LeGrice shares the growth experiences she has experienced by performing the challenging work associated with being a suicide survivor as well as a mental health professional. She shares the story of being called out in response to a 16 year old having completed suicide and having to be with the parents — the same day she was celebrating her 10 year old son’s birthday and the resulting confluence. Not only did it have a personal impact it influenced her professional practice. She discusses the heightened awareness of life and the fact we don’t know what our tomorrow will bring so enjoy what one has today.

National Suicide Prevention Life Line 1-800-273-TALK, that’s 1-800-273-8255.

In the Dallas – Ft. Worth area you can get help at Mental Health of America of Greater Tarrant County’s web site (http://www.mhatc.org/) or call (817) 546-7826.

LOSSTeam information can be gotten at www.lossteam.com.

Comments or questions? Send and email including your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or leave a message at 614-664-7650. We will respond in a later episode.

35:45 END

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0027 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors – LOSSTeam: Jennifer Fry

Posted on 2015-12-072015-12-12 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

National Suicide Prevention Life Line 1-800-273-TALK, that’s 1-800-273-8255.

Jennifer is a LOSSTeam. More information on the LOSSTeam is available at (http://www.lossteam.com/)

Jennifer is the Suicide Outreach Coordinator (OC) for the State of Nebraska as well as being a suicide survivor and can be reached at nebraskalossteam@gmail.com.

We talked about misconceptions regarding suicide and common triggers.

As to the triggers, some common ones include:

relationship breakups
financial difficulties
retirement

With regards to misconceptions: those close to the at-risk individual tend to think the person will be okay with time. Frequently the family dynamic can be broken up because no one knows what to say nor how to respond to the loss of a loved one. In her case, there was no LOSSTeam in Nebraska.

Jennifer spoke of her own journey and how it brought her to her current professional position – she had lost a cousin to whom she was very close. This led her to continue her course work and research into suicide and connecting with Dr. BeLau. Her position as the OC for Nebraska functions as the central hub for those in Nebraska who need information.

In her work on the LOSSTeam recent survivors can get a sense of understanding and support since Jennifer and others on the team bring their personal experience and, in Jennifer’s case, professional experience.

Part of the outreach work is with county boards of health and clinicians helping raise their awareness and understanding with regards to suicide, at-risk individuals, and responding to situations. This work includes working directly with clinicians, providing training in peer support, signs to watch for, and role-play training.

In determining how to work with those beyond the immediate family and friends there is only anecdotal evidence as to the effectiveness of the outreach program.

Jennifer’s team is working with the Nebraska Work Well Program to provide information for prevention and postvention as to what to do in the work place with potentially at-risk individuals as well as survivors of suicide.

In terms of what has been rewarding for her, she’s found her place in doing work about which she is very passionate.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0026 Thrive and Connect: APTi President, Maryanne DiMarzo

Posted on 2015-12-032016-02-26 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Maryanne Dimarzo, president of APTi (Association of Psychological Type International) took some time to sit down with us and offer her thoughts about APTi’s history, where it is now, and where she sees it going in the future. This was woven in with aspects of her personal journey, a journey that led to a commit to the organization.

00:26 Introduction – What APTi is about.

01:38 Independent of publishers

02:03 Product agnostic

02:07 Dedicated to high quality

03:48 Free assessments, people in a box, and Maryanne’s journey into Type

06:39 Helpers along the way and commitment to APTi

07:41 Product agnostic: The elephant in the room – 2 views

10:24 What about Jung?

11:00 So what’s the controversy?

13:22 Finding a balance as a practitioner

14:42 A constructive view: History and the value of diversity

18:20 Principles, respect, emotionality, and culture

20:48 Isabel, values, and finding common ground

24:03 APTi value statement, chapters, and members

25:43 Leadership, organization, diversity, and resistance

29:18 Membership: Standards in practice and what to offer

35:21 APTi Standards: Reversing the mis-use of type

40:55 Who does APTi want to attract?

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0025 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors: Katelyn Neil

Posted on 2015-11-202018-03-26 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

National Suicide Prevention Life Line 1-800-273-TALK, that’s 1-800-273-8255.

Katelyn Neil (myoil@outlook.com) of doTERRA Oils (www.doterra.com) discusses the benefits if essential oils for mental health problems such as PTSD.

Katelyn describes how she personally uses essential oils in managing her PTSD to get an immediate, positive effect. Nasal inhalation of essential oils creates a positive mood change. This has the added benefit of avoiding the side-effects of certain psychoactive medications. This is especially important since she breast feeds her son. Katelyn stresses there are circumstances where psychoactive drugs are needed and essential oils cannot replace them. However, as in the case of breast feeding, there is little research as to the effect of psychoactive drugs in certain situations.

The high standards to which the firm she represents, doTerra Oil, it holds itself are discussed. This is critical because in the essential oils industry there are producers who do not necessarily commit to high standards.

Katelyn describes how she carries essential oils with her and uses them during panic attacks. This includes nasal inhalation, topical application, and drinking as a mixture with water.

The impact on the limbic system is mentioned.

As an Iraq war veteran, Katelyn shares her experience with fellow veterans who withdraw and refuse help for their mental problems. She and her husband, a fellow Marine veteran teach fellow former Marine veterans the benefits of and how to use essential oils.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0024 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors: Chris Pinkelman

Posted on 2015-11-152015-12-12 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

National Suicide Prevention Life Line 1-800-273-TALK, that’s 1-800-273-8255.

Chris Pinkelman is with TCN Behavioral Health Services, Inc. He works with colleges and universities to help at-risk students adapt and integrate into college life. Insurance, financial, prescriptions, and other issues are addressed along with the stressors and other risk factors associated with leaving home.

One of the keys is the health care provider getting in with the schools and working with the resident’s assistance programs.

Students working in the Health Care Coalition were tapped for creating videos, brochures, etc.

A series of recommendations were made that can help the parents and students prepare ahead of time to facilitate integration and lower risks. This includes city, county, and state services that may not be on campus.

Students and parents working ahead of time can help reduce the sense of shame that can be present with mental illness and addiction. This is especially important if the community lacks an understanding of the difficulties.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0023 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors – LOSSTeam: Jeff Cooper

Posted on 2015-11-022015-12-12 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

National Suicide Prevention Life Line 1-800-273-TALK, that’s 1-800-273-8255.

Jeff Cooper, a retired chief of detectives currently working with a security agency, shares his story as a survivor of his son Luke’s suicide (2011) and LOSSTeam member.

The LOSSTeam was present at his house when a friend brought him home after telling his father about his son’s death.

Jeff was unfamiliar with the LOSSTeam and was reluctant to talk with them at first.

Over time he maintain contact with the LOSSTeam and began to attend survivor meetings. The one thing that struck him was how much of the LOSSTeam’s resources were women. This created a challenge for Jeff since he was raised to believe men kept their emotions in.

As a LOSSTeam member Jeff was able to help a fellow male survivor whose son had committed suicide. That survivor separated from the family group and went off by himself. Jeff connected with him to help him grieve.

He describes how showing up as a LOSSTeam member helps new survivors because they are in the presence of others who have gone through the same experience.

Jeff referred to a national simulcast regarding suicide held every November (http://www.survivorday.org/).

In seeing other survivors who had progressed in their own healing process Jeff wondered what it would take for him to heal. He realized the importance of integrating the experience of his son’s death into his life in order to both remember his son in a loving way and move forward with his own life. He needed to find meaning in the experience.

The work it took to start his own healing process let him on a journey of helping others.

As a retired law enforcement officer he is able to lend his tactical, detailed experience to helping the survivors in a way that avoids disrupting law enforcement agencies investigating the suicide. Jeff is able to tell the survivors the specifics as to how things will flow. He is also able to help them in terms of requests such as wanting to see their loved one before they’re taken away.

Simultaneously, he can help them with their grieving process… The major activity of the LOSSTeam. This can help with one of the major goals of the LOSSTeam which is to help survivors find a pathway to hope.

Jeff walks through some of the details of his own experience and losing his son.

The conversation shifted to Jeff describing how his view of life and the way he looks at things has changed. His sensitivity to what others experience and the need to take time and not just go through process after process has sharpened. He is also appreciative of those who are alive and in his life.

He describes the pain associated with the memories of how the loved one looked, sounded, etc., as time goes by. The importance of a talisman, e.g., laminated copies of a woman’s son’s fingerprints from around the house, is emphasized. In Jeff’s case he has the hat and other items his son Luke had at the time of the suicide.

Jeff talks about the paradox of in some ways having moved forward while in other ways still being back at that day when his son completed suicide.

(There is a pause in the recording as Jeff addresses feelings that surfaced.)

The importance of apathetic love ones providing support is described.

Details are given as to how stereotypes continue to be practice, e.g., men acting as if they are okay in these highly traumatic situations.

Jeff closes describing the benefits of working with others and helping them with their loss in order to process his own.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0022 Thrive and Connect: Majors Jungian Assessments: Foundations – Part 1

Posted on 2015-10-272015-12-12 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

For more on the Majors PT Elements and PT Inventory go to www.aureliuspress.com/assessments.

00:26 Introducing Dr. Mark Majors, PhD. Today were talking with the Jungian psychologist Dr. Mark Majors who in addition to being a counselor and therapist is also a psychometrician who has developed several type assessments based on Carl Jung’s work.

02:29 Origins of the Majors assessments. Mark discusses the origins of the assessments he created. It started with reading Carl Jung’s work in depth rather than summary statements made by other authors. He emphasizes the importance of chapter 10 in Jung’s seminal book “Psychological Types.” He wanted to add the missing elements back into the Type world. Mark focuses on the fact that in the Introduction Jung states, “I observed…” which means he focused on information that lends itself to the psychometric. This includes Type as well as the mental processes which Mark refers to as the Majors-Jungian mental processes. This led to the creation of questions in marks assessments based on the observable.

06:25 Isabel Myers influence. Isabel Myers, while not being a psychometrician, was looking for observable evidence to support her work on the mental processes. She settled for the 16 types.

08:07 Theory vs Observable. Mark shares his thoughts on the significance of theory versus observing patterns. Mark proceeds to discuss Jung’s approach, his own, and the impact on assessments. He references the fact that the title of your’s book is, “Psychological Types,” NOT, “The Theory of Psychological Type.” Rather than theory, Mark’s focus is on quantifying what Jung said regarding each of the eight mental functions.

This is contrasted with the static model of dominant, auxiliary, tertiary, etc.

Jung felt that individuals are very dynamic and that they can change how they work with their mental functions as they go through life. Could be healthy or could be unhealthy but the reality remains that people are flexible in how they choose to go through life.

14:15 Majors-Jungian Processes Real Time Assessment. In light of this, Mark felt he had to come up with a more real-time measurement of the eight processes in addition to the components of the static model, i.e., the four dichotomous types, e.g., ENFP.

The value of using the eight Majors-Jungian process scores to evaluate a person’s progress over time is emphasized.

16:24 Therapy: Whole Type, personality formation, 8 Majors-Jungian Processes (MJP)-real time. The conversation shifts to the realities of therapeutic sessions where it’s potentially more advantageous to start with personality formation which is the second part of the Majors PT Elements. Mark developed the personality formation portion of the assessment directly from his understanding of Jung’s intentions.

Marks application of personality formation has two components, perseverance, where the individual indicates how much they rely on self, and adaptation which shows the extent to which the individual relates to other people. He goes on to explain how the scores in this particular area of the Majors PT Elements help the therapist to determine questions that can be asked of the individual as to how they have chosen to walk through life in both dealing with themselves and with others.

23:07 Therapy: Direct connection. The therapist can make a direct connection using the personality formation scores.

23:54 Therapy: Theoretical punishment. The term “Theoretical Punishment” is described along with the need to simply listen to the individuals story as to how they have adapted rather than project the consequences of a given model.

The goal is to find a way to help them improve the way they respond to and adapt to life to help them feel better rather than to pull the rug out from under them and “take them to the woodshed.”

So, starting with the story via the personality formation scores without any theory in the way will help the client find their path. That is what is behind the development of the Majors assessments.

26:24 Therapy: Static models. With only the static model all we can do is look and guess. This is where theories are at risk for going astray.

29:17 The Importance of Psychometrics and Observable Reality. Consequently, the psychometric portion of question development is very important so that a valid connection is made with the individual in order accurately measure what can be observed.

In line with this he talks about the development of the majors PTI back in 2001 including the alpha coefficients and validity along with the search for best fit.

The key point is the assessments are based on fit with observational reality first and the psychometrics second in contrast to a lot of other assessments were the primary focus is psychometrics.

32:56 Psychometric Arrogance and Error. Psychometric arrogance and psychometric error can occur when the focus is on a best-fit psychometric approach at the end of a workshop rather than sitting with the individual as a first step to insure there is a genuine connection with the assessments results.

An example is given of the real life, flesh-and-blood common reality that is at the core we are trying to get to when using assessments. The psychometrician is saddled with trying to quantify these very human experiences and putting a label on it. One must tread very lightly and carefully.

During training sessions Mark encourages attendees to focus on and push the storytelling rather than getting caught up in the assessment itself.

In developing the PTI and PTE Mark always had in mind using the assessments to get to the story.

Working in this manner puts humanity into the instruments.

41:00 Assessment As Story Guide. The personality formation scores than the eight Majors-Jungian process scores will give a good “read” on what is going on in the person’s life today separate from what their static Type is.

A specific example of how this works is given.

45:20 Development of the 8 MJP Process Scores. The discussion moved on to the development of the eight Majors-Jungian process scores. It took Mark a decade to develop the eight process course. He explains the “frontier” work that was required. It all comes back to getting the story.

49:07 Real World Application of 8 MJPs. Mark talks about the real world application of the results of using his assessments with the 8 Majors-Jungian Process scores to help people, for example, improve their performance at work.

51:07 Uniqueness of 8 MJP. Mark points out that only his assessments measure the eight Majors-Jungian processes directly. Application in therapeutic sessions as well as during life coaching events is discussed. This includes being able to re-administer the assessment over time to see how the client is progressing, standing still, or falling back.

53:02 Intentionality, Use of Assessments, and The Guru Trap. An emphasis is placed on avoiding getting caught up in the tool in any theory associated with it. It’s all about making a connection. It’s about helping the person with what they want help with rather than pushing the assessor’s agenda. The potential trap of a “guru philosophy” and the harm that can cause is explained.

The purpose of the tool (assessment) is only to help the client gain a better understanding of himself in order to decide what to do. This is in contrast to the clinician deciding what is best for the client. Rather, the clinician/life coach/change manager can work to help the client discover what needs to be seen rather than forcing it upon them.

What can work better is more of a Rogerian approach where the client innately has a sense of what’s best for them and the assessor’s job is to help bring that to the conscious mind to be worked with.

A humorous example is given of an “I’m the boss and know what’s best” approach that was frustrating and wasted a lot of energy. It is better to have humility, empathy, and understanding to encourage the individual to move in a direction that is in their best interest.

1:01:28 Pop Psychology and Free Assessment. The challenges of pop-psych “assessments” are discussed and compared to the validated results one can get with the Majors assessments.

For more on the Majors PT Elements and PT Inventory go to www.aureliuspress.com/assessments.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0021 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors – Josh Rivedal

Posted on 2015-10-232015-12-12 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

National Suicide Prevention Life Line 1-800-273-TALK, that’s 1-800-273-8255.

In the Dallas – Ft. Worth area you can get help at Mental Health of America of Greater Tarrant County. www.mhatc.org

LOSSTeam information can be gotten at www.lossteam.com

We enter our conversation with Josh talking about how people want to avoid the topic of suicide like the plague. He had lost his paternal grandfather and then his father to suicide and no one was allowed to talk about it in the house. Knowledge of the facts would have helped Josh avoid his suicidal crisis.

He discusses the sense of shame that his father had in not wanting to talk about his grandfather’s suicide and how his father took his life on the day his divorce from Josh’s mother was to be finalized. In turn, as with other survivors, this increased the odds of Josh considering and completing suicide.

After his father completed suicide Josh worked to grow his own career and move forward. IN 2009 – 2010 he created a one-man show, Kicking My Blue Jeans In the Butt, centered on his relationship with his father.

During this time Josh was going through a difficult time with his mother who was suing him with regards to his father’s estate.

He used work to avoid his problems. Slowly he slid into clinical depression. This led to him considering suicide. While in crisis he risked calling his mother. She intuitively had the courage to ask him if he was considering suicide, something that most people are afraid to do because they fear it will encourage the person to do it. She encouraged and helped him to find professional help.

Josh’s recovery process led him to the decision to speak out. He re-framed his one-man show and re-introduced it in 2011, adding educational portions as well as Q&A sessions.

Josh shares the impact the interaction with the audience has had on himself as well as attendees of the show. He now speaks between 35-40 times a year to survival groups, colleges and high schools, and juvenile detention centers.

He is now working with venture capital firms and entrepreneurs on learning how to reframe failure along with his work with LOSSTeams and postvention. He has explored the field of human capital management.

The difficulties associated with exploring grief and the time and effort required for Josh are delineated. This includes his having to “climb in” to his father’s character in his one-man show. It led to empathy and a greater understanding of what his father went through. This helped with his own recovery process.

The interview shifted to the inheritance issue that surfaced after his father completed suicide. Moral honesty vs emotional honesty when someone dies in a power dynamic and the dysfunction comes to the surface is discussed. The importance of seeking help and not isolating in such situations is emphasized.

The pending publication of “Winning the War on Depression and Living Mentally Well” is mentioned along with the currently available “Reengaging With Life, Creating a New You” are mentioned along with information for accessing them. The later book is quite interesting because it has 50 authors who tell their own story and the difficulties they overcame to be more of themselves. Topics include LGBT, depression, disabilities, and suicide.

This led to talking about the importance of helping others get their story out to the public. It is the beginning of any great movement such as preventing and recovering from suicide.

Josh describes the importance of each of us telling our story and the fact that we don’t have to be a professional writer or actor to do so. Josh also provides direction to at-risk individuals who might be listening to the podcast.

Coming out of the isolation by helping others is advised. It can give purpose to one’s life.

Carl Jung’s approach to recovery – using one’s own wound/pain and healing process as a source of inspiration to help others is presented. This can be quite helpful for others since there can be stigma and discrimination associated with suicide.

Josh emphasizes for the survivor that getting their story out is for the reader or the listener. This can help with your healing process.

The i’Mpossible Project: Reengaging with Life, Creating a New You — www.iampossibleproject.com/one

Storytelling guidelines for more i’Mpossible stories: www.iampossibleproject.com/guidelines

The Gospel According to Josh http://www.gospeljosh.com/

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0020 Thrive and Connect: Dealing With Violence

Posted on 2015-10-142015-12-12 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Jennifer talks about the stress she is feeling living in Jerusalem right now. People are being routinely attacked on a daily basis making a challenging to maintain an attitude of thriving in connecting.

Sleeplessness, physical difficulties, and irritability have increased yet she finds it important to deal with these feelings in order to remain true to her personal beliefs. All this while there is danger in just walking down the street.

The use of mindful practice including breathing exercises and looking for what is beautiful in the environment has provided some benefit.

She talks about feeling extreme fear and the feeling of powerlessness in the sense of being trapped within oneself.

Even while there is plenty of work for her to do in her house there still is that residual sense of feeling trapped. The need to risk getting out and being part of the world in spite of the risks is discussed.

Jennifer shares how her sense of fear is changed from when she was in her 20s and in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the early 90s as well as other risky areas versus her sense of feeling smaller now that she’s more mature.

Jennifer empathizes with those who have had to live in the state of hypervigilance for any period of time. This includes being in an abusive relationship.

Gary and Jennifer discuss the similarities with those who live for prolonged periods in battle zones.

Jennifer also discusses the challenges associated with not drawing prejudice pictures while at the same time realizing there truly are perpetrators and victims.

Gary and Jennifer discuss how in order to maintain a sense of thriving and connecting humor is an important element. Some examples are provided.

The fact that parents and family worry on both sides of a violent political divide is pointed out. In line with that, efforts to bridge that divide and the associated challenges are presented.

She also talks about her views on the damage caused by religious fundamentalism and extremism regardless of the specific sect. Included with this are the parallel activities associated with racism on both sides of the divide. The danger associated with this can lead to dehumanizing people.

The discussion returns to the challenges of working to thrive and connect in such a situation. This includes dealing with one’s own thoughts of hatred and racism. They can add to the confusion due to self-loathing that can develop on top of this.

Gary discusses with Jennifer the reality that those around us do influence our lives. Consequently the fact that reactive, despicable thoughts arise can be normal. The challenge is in deciding what to do with them. This flows into the need of having loved ones around who can help create a counterbalancing influence. This is very important to Jennifer because professionally and personally she believes in diversity and finding common ground.

One solution is a heart-to-heart connection between individuals rather than some academic activity.

In line with the above Jennifer talks about her own bloodline which includes Arabs, Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, among other groups.

The significance of the media and the focus that is selected by media outlets is also discussed.

Another element that is brought into focus is the impact of close to home, low-level violence, e.g., small time theft done with impunity.

An irony is mentioned which is Israel is actually a fairly stable and safe place to be outside of disruptive incidences such as the current ones.

The situation is related to those not necessarily in as dramatic a situation but who are, regardless, feeling a sense of isolation.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

0019 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors – LOSSTeam: Amanda Stidam

Posted on 2015-10-112015-12-12 by Gary Monti

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Amanda Stidam is a LOSSTeam member (www.lossteam.com). She relates her mother’s suicide one day after her 35th birthday, which became a dividing point in her life. She felt alone and didn’t find resources until later. She now dedicates herself to helping make sure there are resources in her county.

She discusses generational issues with respect to mental illness.

Difficulties communicating with her husband and daughter surfaced over time. A big part of the difficulty was the loss of her mother whom Amanda focused on keeping happy. The death left Amanda having to decide who she would be.

Amanda compartmentalized and became and expert “plate spinner.” She became extremely task-oriented.

Through therapy she learned to like herself and process her mother’s suicide.

When working on the LOSSTeam and making contact with a recent survivor she goes back in time to her mother’s suicide and uses that experience to help the recent survivor.

Amanda shares the tools she uses for herself in helping others to deal with being recent survivors.

Her advice to someone who feels lost right now is this: “You matter!”

Amanda describes how to get a lost one’s name on her marathon running shirt via a Facebook link Suicide Sucks Run.

Your feedback is important. Choose from the following options:

Click on “Send Voicemail” over to the right,
place a review in iTunes,
click on “leave a comment” below,
send any comments along with your name to comments@thriveandconnect.com or
call us at 614-664-7650.

Listen to future episodes for our reply.

Thrive and Connect

Create more abundance and lower confusion!

Category: Podcast Episodes

0038 Thrive and Connect: Family-owned Business Succession- and Operations Legal Planning

0037 Thrive and Connect: Humility – An Overview

0036 Thrive and Connect: Humility and Freedom

0035 Thrive and Connect: Humility and Abundance

0034 Thrive and Connect: Humility vs Humiliation

0033 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors: Patricia Rodemann

0032 Thrive and Connect: Interview with APTi President Amy Acker

0031 Thrive and Connect: Wherever I Go, There I Am: Romance and Jung

0030 Thrive and Connect: Holidays vs Holy Days – Presence vs Presents

0029 Thrive and Connect: Majors Jungian Assessments: Foundations – Part 2

0028 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors – LOSSTeam: Dr. Lee LeGrice

0027 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors – LOSSTeam: Jennifer Fry

0026 Thrive and Connect: APTi President, Maryanne DiMarzo

0025 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors: Katelyn Neil

0024 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors: Chris Pinkelman

0023 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors – LOSSTeam: Jeff Cooper

0022 Thrive and Connect: Majors Jungian Assessments: Foundations – Part 1

0021 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors – Josh Rivedal

0020 Thrive and Connect: Dealing With Violence

0019 Thrive and Connect: Suicide Survivors – LOSSTeam: Amanda Stidam