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822-973-WZBG. Beautiful autumn day. I want to welcome back a guest we’ve had in before. Every third Wednesday of the month, we speak with professionals from the McCall Behavioral Health Network. We want to welcome back John Fecteau. He’s director of mental health there. John, welcome back to the show. Thanks for having me.
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Appreciate having you on the show. So our theme for October is embracing change. And you know, it’s emblematic of course for the changing of the seasons that we’ve going on and recognizing that whether we like it or not, things don’t necessarily remain the same.
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And we need to embrace that. So again, using the beauty of the fall season and transitions, let’s talk about how we approach that from McCall Behavioral Health Network and the challenges that it presents.
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Sure. I mean, this time of year, people definitely, you can’t help but notice change in the air, and it does make us think of that a little bit more. And, you know, the idea is that change is inevitable. You know, we oftentimes like to get kind of stuck in our old ways of dealing with problems and, you know, have quite a bit of fear over embracing any kind of change because of the uncertainty that’s out there.
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You know, am I going to be able to do this, whatever it is. And you know, the idea is to try to break out of some of those old patterns and to embrace change. And in order to do that, the idea is to have more of a growth mindset where when you focus on growth and learning instead of kind of clinging to those, you know, the old ways of dealing with problems, you know, it opens up a whole new world for you where you start to see challenges as opportunities and mistakes as learning opportunities and not failure.
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And that really just changes your whole idea on how you can embrace change that happens in your life and it’s inevitable.
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Another pattern people get stuck in is sort of comparing themselves to other people. So after you adopt a growth mindset, the idea is to set some goals for yourself around your change, small, measurable goals, not these huge goals that you have to wait months and years to accomplish, but these small, measurable goals. And if you monitor your goals, comparing yourself to other people, you’ll sense that change is happening and that you’re actually accomplishing what you set out to accomplish.
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And in all that, a huge thing is making sure that you have supports or whether you need more professional help with that. And that’s where we can come in.
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Well, you call it, you know, doing small measurable goals. They call them baby steps for a reason, you know. And setting those goals and allowing it to reward yourself, you know, because change is hard and there is comfort in what you know. And going outside of that into the unknown, that’s where that self-doubt just amplifies, doesn’t it?
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It does. It does. And that’s where we get stuck, you know, and setting those small measurable goals. And a huge change in mindset for people is looking at that growth mindset, like I said, is mistakes are not failures. Mistakes are opportunities to learn and grow. And that’s a big intentional mindset shift that is important to make.
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And in that, where a lot of supports come in handy, actually it’s the goal of a lot of therapy, is to help people to change that internal monologue. That’s what gives you that sense of, oh, I made a mistake, I’m a failure, versus I made a mistake, what can I learn from that? And that change is where a lot of professional supports come into place.
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And you can see what services that we have to offer on our website at mccallbhn.org or if you don’t want to surf on our website, you can just call us at 860-496-2100 and we can guide you through what services might be helpful to support you in that change journey that you’re in right now.
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Right, and as people deal with the doubts of trying to make the changes that they know can and will improve for them. One of the things that tends to make us more hesitant to do that is if you’re preparing those goals or comparing those goals to others. Yes. Because your journey really is an independent one, isn’t it? It is. It is.
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I mean, you know, you see this a lot in, you know, athletes and a lot of other areas where they really have to, you know, am I shaving seconds off my time? Do I feel better, you know, in my body? Things like that. And that’s really the only person you have to compare yourself to is yourself. So, in order to do that functionally, because it’s easy to say, it’s a little bit harder to do, but in order to do that functionally, that’s why setting those small attainable, measurable goals so you can say, I’m gonna quit smoking.
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Not, am I gonna quit smoking for the rest of my life? Am I gonna quit smoking for this week? Sometimes this day, sometimes this half day or hour. However small, you have to break those goals down. That way you get to see your individual accomplishment and in doing so you build your self-esteem which helps you view mistakes as learning opportunities and not failures again.
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So it kind of all comes together.
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If you’re just joining us this morning, John Fecteau is Director of Mental Health with McCall Behavioral Health Network. The theme this month is letting go and welcoming change. So whether you’ve got a serious challenge to your mental health that you’re dealing with right now or just for all of us who are just looking at uncertain times,
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I think this is a helpful exercise in just recognizing that change is going to happen and just roll with it.
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That’s it. John, appreciate having you on the show. Thank you for having me. Enjoy That’s it. John, appreciate having you on the show. Thank you for having me.
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Enjoy the season and we will talk with you folks from McCall BHN once again coming.