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97.3 WZBG 8:22, third Wednesday of the month, monthly visit with McCall Behavioral Health Network. Our timing for this month of course being the month of June. This is Pride Month, it’s a month we celebrate inclusion and equity and the strength of community. Clinical Program Director for the McCall Behavioral Health Network,
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Mary Beth Tedesco, is our guest this morning. Good morning. Welcome to the show.
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Thank you, Dale.
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Good morning. Thanks for joining us. Now, you’ve been with McCall for a number of years, I guess, right?
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I have been. I started out as just an intern in 2010 and I was fortunate to be hired by them and have moved my way up to one of the clinical program directors.
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When we talk about this month, you know, we talk about the month of June with it being Pride Month and and now we have Juneteenth as a national holiday. There seems to be kind of a mainstream acceptance of these celebrations of members of the community that have been marginalized or set aside in the past. But there’s some warning clouds here right now in the current national conversation, isn’t there?
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There absolutely is. We made such great strides with helping people feel included. You know, this is all about inclusion and diversity. We’ve taken a few steps back. That national conversation is saying, nope, we want to go back to the way things were a long time ago. And it’s scary. It’s scary for folks who are in that marginalized community.
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Do you think that there is going to be this big rollback though or do you think that in the social mindset, not so much the political mindset, but in the social mindset, we have in fact moved beyond that?
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I think that we have for sure. I mean, when I think about, you know, I came out in 1990-ish.
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What was that like? That’s 35 years ago you think. Well that’s not that long ago, but that’s 35 years ago.
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It feels like a long time ago. And it was very different back then. But in coming out I only came out to, initially to my mother feeling she’s the safest. And when I blurted that out to her, it was a very scary time for me, but I felt that she just needed to know this.
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And her initial response right off the bat was she just burst into tears. I took it as oh my gosh, she hates me, she doesn’t love me, she thinks I’m something’s wrong with me. But what she said is no, no, I love you. I will always love you. I’m afraid for you. That’s a hard road ahead. I didn’t really grasp what that meant and in 35 years. I have grasped what she meant by that.
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You know society it thrives on, you know when any every individual has the opportunity to like prosper, but society You know is more looking at what they value things on the outside instead of the inside Which is what truly matters they push the others to the fringes of society. And it’s frightening when you are falling in these categories of the marginalized population, LGBT, people of color.
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My favorite quote, and one that I use because it applies in so many conversations, including this one, is from the late Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, “when we judge someone by not the color of their skin but the content of their character.”
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And that content ofcharacter speaks to that from within never mind the without you know and I think that that applies in so many situations now it is worth revisiting because McCall is so much about helping folks who are dealing with mental health challenges, ergo the things that result in folks becoming dependent on substances to cope. As someone who’s part of that community, as someone who talks with folks who are in that community, let’s talk about that toll on mental health, being part of this group, especially in the current pressures of today.
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So when society and people prioritize the external appearances rather than the outward appearances, the external attributes, what happens is it perpetuates harmful stereotypes, reinforces feelings of inadequacy, chips away at self-esteem. One questions their worth, their sense of belonging in a society that values conformity. It’s a lot of external pressure to conform, and it takes a toll.
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Anxiety, depression, and McCall Behavioral Health, what I love about our organization is we are so diverse. Our clinicians are so talented. We are treating the whole person. It’s not just addiction anymore. It’s really the mental health, interpersonal relationships, all of that comes together.
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And I think that that’s what that’s what folks need to feel this sense of compassion and that they do belong. I’ve been fortunate enough to do these interviews with McCall now for five or six years.
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A different guest every month, some repeat guests, but you’re absolutely right. The the spectrum of folks from all walks of life, from all experiences, from all communities have been at the microphone like you are right now. And it really is a great cross-section of who we really are and who is in our community. And having that understanding and that compassion really is job one. I want to give you a chance to mention there is a peer-to-peer support group that is kicking off later this month for the LGBTQ plus community.
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Let’s just mention that. All right so on June 28th at 5 p.m. that’s a Saturday we’re gonna do this peer-to-peer LGBTQIA plus group where we’re gonna have some pizza we’re gonna maybe have peer-to-peer LGBTQIA plus group where we’re gonna have some pizza, we’re gonna maybe have some Qigong sound healing, and just let the people in that population come, meet each other, and then we’re gonna take a step back.
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This is not gonna be run by McCall. We’re gonna take a step back and let those folks, it’s all about them having a place where they can feel safe, heard, and to sense their own community there.
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This is going to be right at the campus at 58 High Street. Correct. Yeah. If you’ve never been down there, by the way, it’s a beautiful campus. I really like it. Our guest this morning is Clinical Program Director Mary Beth Tedesco with the McCall Behavioral Health Network.
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And Mary Beth, we’re down to about two minutes left on the show. I want to give you a chance just to articulate the importance of this month as a month of inclusion and indeed for folks who are part of communities that have been marginalized and maybe feel like they’re being marginalized to a greater degree again. A message to them and to the broader community about hey can we all just get along?
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Can we all just see that we’re all humans? Yeah. And it really doesn’t matter what’s on the outside. It really does matter what’s on the inside. And he, you know, you use the quote, I’m going to use my own quote, Harper Lee, one of my favorite authors, you never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view, until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. And I think if we look at individuals as a whole and walk that, we can have a whole different world.
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So take a little time and understand that person and always go in with compassion at the forefront, I think.
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Compassion at the forefront.
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Mary Beth, a pleasure having you on the show. Again, the Peer-to-peer support group is going to kick off on the 28th, 5 to 6 30 at McCall’s campus at 58 High Street. Mary Beth Tedesco has been our guest. Have a wonderful month and thanks for joining us. Happy Freedom Day. Happy Freedom Day, indeed. I’ll head and thanks for joining us. Happy Freedom Day. Happy Freedom Day, indeed. I’ll head back to the newsroom coming up in just half a minute on 97.3 WZBG.