All posts by Evan Leong

Dr. Denis Mee-Lee, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine and Medical Director and Principal Investigator of Valden Medical has worn many hats in Hawaii’s behavioral health sector. In relation to coping with the COVID-19 pandemic, he shares with us his relatively recent perspective on whole health and the benefit to all aspects of our health when we don’t separate it into parts but look at how everything works together. He discusses with Beth-Ann how this approach improves our immune system, better prepares us for physical and mental challenges and how he practices it in his own life.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has created enormous unforeseen challenges for individuals and families, causing not only difficulty and discomfort but also trauma that younger generations have not lived through before. How can we learn from the experiences of previous generations and grow from the pain? Dr. Eduardo Jones, Director of Behavioral Health at Sutter Health Kahi Mohala, joins Beth-Ann to talk about “post-traumatic growth” and the opportunities we have to redefine our priorities and sustain meaningful change in our lives.
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As Hawaii allows residents to move about more freely, soon low risk, safety-modified businesses will reopen to help restart the local economy. Even so, many residents face post lockdown and financial anxiety, especially for the great numbers of unemployed. If there’s a positive note in any of this, it’s that it has become easier and more acceptable to talk about mental health. In this episode, Kumi MacDonald, the Executive Director of the Hawaii chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) joins Beth-Ann.
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230 thousand unemployment claims have been filed since the start of lockdown. Many people left without jobs and some working from home are taking relief into their own hands buying low cost priced beers and spiked seltzers. In this episode, Beth -Ann talks with Heather Pierucki, the former Director of Behavioral Health at Helping Hands Hawaii, now consulting full time for her own company, ChangeWorks, about substance use in the COVID-19 era.
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Children and teens are feeling the impact of Hawaii’s stay at home order no less than adults. In a deeply charged environment, old routines have upended, morphing into constrained, new ones. How can parents and guardians best help their kids? Dr. Adam Coles is a child psychiatrist with the State of Hawaii’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Division and clinical director of the Maui Family Guidance Center. He joins Beth-Ann in this episode with his take on supporting the needs of children and teens in a COVID world.
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Most of us have been staying home for weeks on end. We’re watching our nation and Hawaii grapple with COVID-19 while trying to plan for a staged reopening of business. In this episode of From Anxiety to Clarity, Beth-Ann talks with Dr. Nikki Moravec about how couples can navigate the additional stressors to find connections now and beyond the current circumstances.
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In From Anxiety to Clarity Episode #1, Beth-Ann talks with Dr. Martin Johnson, psychologist, about coping with the anxiety brought about by the many changes to daily life caused by the novel coronavirus.
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