The Power of Perseverance with Dr. Rod Veas
Listen to the Episode Here
Topics discussed in this episode
Rod’s Education
Overcoming Obstacles
Service and Psychology
Loving-Kindness Meditation
Main Takeaways
Episode Summary
Ryan here! I got to bring Rod Veas onto the show today. It was an interesting episode as I got to peer into some intercultural aspects of education and mental health that I often don’t see because I generally work domestically with clients in the U.S. and with students and families in Canada.
Rod is a Psychologist. For those of you who are not sure how that may differ from a Clinical Mental Health Counselor or a Social Worker, a Psychologist is a specialist in the mental health world with a focus on testing and assessment. He can still practice therapy but spends much of his time in the testing realm.
Episode Main Talking Points
Rod’s Education
He grew up quite skilled in the academic world and performed well, often due to his ability to retain information and test well. This is not atypical for a lot of students, but this can present a problem. Many students who perform in this way (myself included!) can struggle once they shift to a different learning environment, which often occurs during the transition to college. Rod experienced some of this and ended up having to transition between multiple universities and programs. After he experimented with a lot of different fields, he ended up pursuing psychology in the end.
Overcoming Obstacles
I have known Rod for some time and have been familiar with how awesome he is at reducing shame and stigma around mental health hurdles. Peering into his upbringing and experiences can certainly contribute a lot to his ability to connect and empathize. Though, I know quite a few mental health professionals who have a history of personal struggles but that is not enough to empathize accurately. At times, when these struggles are not dealt with properly, it can increase the risk of burnout for therapists. So I had to know what it is that separates Rod from other professionals. He certainly gets burned out like everyone else, runs into resistance with clients, works long hours, and many things that can make it difficult. But yet, he has been able to be incredibly effective at helping many of his clients. What did I find out?
Rod certainly has been through a lot but the main outcome of these struggles was more than just his experience with distress, despair, and discouragement. He intentionally worked at improving his mindset around any of his failures and saw them as a cost to success. In addition to improving his mentality around these struggles, he was active in developing new skills that allowed him to overcome obstacles with less resistance and more motivation to spare. Some parts of this need to improve certainly could come from anxiety and pressure but for Rod, he truly wanted to connect with others and improve his own quality of life.
Service and Psychology
Helping people has always been a part of what drives him. Even after changing careers and majors half a dozen times, when he landed on psychology, everyone in his life seemed to expect this and felt like it was right for him. But to his frustration, no one told him that until he started this major. Though he wished others told him that they thought psychology would be perfect for him, it seems that the process of bouncing around helped him be more comfortable with change and accepting shortcomings as a natural process of growth.
He brings his experiences and values to his approach to psychology. Helping others be more patient in their growth and giving themselves grace is a staple in a lot of his treatment. He is thorough and meticulous in testing as well and feels that assessments can be an effective tool for improving treatment. I feel that there are too many people who self-diagnose or do a free, online assessment for disorders that do not accurately capture a child’s context and autonomy as part of their being. Appropriate psychoeducation and accurate diagnosis is incredibly important for some disorders. While stigma may be attached to this, Rod helps families accept things more as they are and reduce the shame involved with that.
Loving-Kindness-Meditation
Even knowing all of this, his mindset, his background, and his philosophy, I felt like there still needed to be more that helped him reduce the risk of burnout. He shared an exercise that was influenced by Buddhist principles that I now even utilize myself regularly. Here is what the process looks like.
It is often referred to as “loving-kindness meditation” or “Metta Bhavana” (Metta Meditation) as Metta is a word that describes loving-kindness or benevolence. You start by meditating upon your own good fortune, such as health and happiness. Then repeat the process for someone you care for deeply. Again for a neutral party. Lastly, for someone you do not like or even hate. By going through this process, you find it easier to empathize with others and while empathy can be draining for mental health practitioners, effective and healthy empathy is what keeps many of them, Rod included, driven to serve and feel fulfilled in the work.
Main Takeaways
There were several main takeaways for me but in truth, the most impactful takeaway was hearing his unique story about the hurdles he had to overcome, especially as he moved from South America to the U.S.. He constantly was facing hurdles no one in his family or social groups understood and found ways to persevere since he could clearly define what success, in the long run, looks like to him. While I like to learn techniques and skills, stories have a way of moving me emotionally and driving me to make adjustments and changes.
I do recommend for those of you who want to hear more details about overcoming failure or about what it is like in the mental health field to check out the podcast episode! You got this!
