The Intersection of Purpose, Success, and Mental Health | Dr. Ajita Robinson of The Book, The Gift of Grief

Three industries saw a mass exodus of professionals. So our MD counterparts and nurses is who they're referring to. Mental health professionals specifically, and educators. Folks in critical positions left their industries at alarming rates during the pandemic. We've never recovered from that, and we likely won't for the foreseeable future. And so we have to think intentionally about how do we, how do we navigate this climate and what does that mean for the way that we want to serve? I think direct practice. We all know that at some point we tap out and we're no longer doing our best work. We're no longer doing work that serves us and maybe the clients and we maybe don't want to see another client. But there's other ways that we can provide access. It's part of what prompted me to write my book. There's some people that are not coming to therapy that still need to understand that this is grief, even though no one died. And that can be a way that we can provide a resource and provide some support to folks that don't have access to a therapist for a variety of reasons.

Welcome to the Mental Health Entrepreneur Podcast. We are here to inspire creative ideas and connections for entrepreneurs and advocates working to address our mental health crisis. As you listen, I hope you will experience new ideas and motivation to innovate in your business, your community, and in your life.

welcome back, everyone, to the Mental Health Entrepreneur Podcast. I am your host, Rachel Harrison, and today we are going to be inspired by the innovation of Dr. Ajeta Robinson. Ejetta is an entrepreneur who is doing all kinds of things to support mental wellness, including coaching, running a group practice, retreats, writing a book, speaking, speaking, teaching all kinds of great ideas. So, Ejeta, welcome.

Thank you so much for having me.

Of course. What are you spending most of your time doing these days? I'd love to just kind of hear what you're working on.

So outside of the small caseload that I still carry as a group practice owner, I'm spending a lot of time focusing on diversification and so speaking consulting, training, universities, government officials, and hospital systems. And so that's kind of where I spend the bulk of my time these days, and then helping other therapists do the same thing.

What do you see as kind of the needs there? I mean, you're talking about hospital systems, universities. Let's kind of establish a baseline. Where are we with mental wellness in all of these places? What are you seeing that wherever there's

people, mental health is needed. We spend a lot of our time talking about and Training on burnout prevention and intervention. I think prevention is just a part of the conversation. What are we doing when it's already present? And so we spend a lot of times helping organizational leaders understand how to properly recognize it and assess it in the workplace and then what to do and then the ways in which organizational culture influences impacts positively and negatively overall mental health and well being. The other pieces that we're seeing, especially on college campuses, is just the increase in suicide. Unfortunately, you know, it's a pressure cooker. And so what we're noticing is that campuses are looking at becoming cultures of health and integrated health centers and they're needing lots of support with figuring out how to do that. And so we spend a lot of our time helping them with understanding what a trauma informed campus looks like, because we see a lot of need for services and that doesn't match utilization of services. And so when we really dig in, we find that many students report having disparate experiences with university counseling centers, not sure who to connect with, and then even faculty and staff not being sure when to refer, when they can escalate things when it's a crisis. And then university faculty and clinical staff really feeling overwhelmed and outnumbered and not feeling adequately trained to respond and do crisis intervention, although they are the crisis intervention team. And so we're seeing things not only at the individual level, but also at the macro level. Right. At all levels of organization. And so I think folks are becoming more aware of the intersection of people, productivity and profits. And we do that work through the lens of mental health and wellness.

Wow. I feel like there's so much there. What do you feel like is the highest need that you see? I mean, you said people and mental wellness. Is it the suicidality? Is that the biggest issue?

I think it's trauma. I think that we are pretending that we're operating in a space that is a post something. Right. We keep talking about, you know, after Covid, as if we're out of the woods. And yet life is fundamentally changed. Our social interaction has fundamentally changed. The way that we even perceive and navigate work is changed, our identities are changed. Right. Our parenting styles are changed. And so we're operating in a period of transition that is riddled in loss of safety, loss of identity, loss of stability, especially with this current economic climate. And so I think what we're looking at is cumulative trauma that's pervasive, that is being unnamed and unaddressed. And. And so I think that is then having a ripple effect. We know that for folks with unaddressed Mental health challenges that can lead to increases in suicidality, non suicidal self injury, depression, isolation, so on and so forth. And so what I think we're seeing is unaddressed mental health challenges and this collective grief that we are pretending we're not experiencing, or we're pretending we're on the other side of. And we're still, I think, in the midst of what new normal looks like. And for many folks we're being pushed back to a normal that doesn't actually exist yet. And so how do we navigate that? It sits somewhere.

Yeah, well, and you're bringing up this whole idea that I have come face to face with too is that there doesn't seem to be enough therapists for the level of need. And I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. And you just described that perfectly, sort of. At the university level there are so few providers for a huge student body. What are you seeing as some of the ways that we can work with this or be innovative about this?

I think there are a lot of ways, ones that I find that maybe are more accessible for folks as well as for therapists to be able to kind of provide while also protecting and honoring their own propensity for burnout is being able to do non direct practice work. So we've done a lot of psychoeducational trainings in workplaces at all levels. Corporate, federal government, universities, hospitals. I think that piece is important because people are still looking for self help and they're looking for the healers. We are navigating in a space where there's folks who are popping up providing wellness related services without the adequate training and experience. And it's a disservice to folks actually seeking support. And so I think therapists have an opportunity and a responsibility to serve in their zone of geniuses in ways that are more accessible. And so it's part of the reason that we, we speak, right, we provide workshops in the community, we provide workshops at the, you know, a broader level domestically and internationally because we know that self help still works. It can be a tourniquet and for many people it is an intervention. Self help and self awareness is an intervention, especially when you're not in crisis and you're, and you're at a level of self actualization. There's a lot of power in being able to name your experience. And I think it allows us to be better help seekers and more self aware as the experts in our own wellness journey. And so I think therapists being able to lend their voices as Speakers as consultants, as, you know, media personalities, I think is really important because there are ways outside of direct practice that we can increase access to information, increase access to tools and skills that could help people that are in the gap between needs and that need being met. Right. And so I think those are some ways that are increasingly important. Even before the pandemic, we were outnumbered, and three industries saw a mass exodus of professionals. Healthcare providers, so our MD counterparts and nurses is who they're referring to. Mental health professionals specifically, and educators. Folks in critical positions left their industries at alarming rates during the pandemic. We've never recovered from that, and we likely won't for the foreseeable future. And so we have to think intentionally about how do we navigate this climate and what does that mean for the way that we want to serve? I think direct practice, we all know that at some point, we tap out and we're no longer doing our best work. We're no longer doing work that serves us. And maybe the clients, and we maybe don't want to see another client. But there's other ways that we can provide access. It's part of what prompted me to write my book. There's some people that are not coming to therapy that still need to understand that this is grief, even though no one died. And that can be a way that we can provide a resource and provide some support to folks that don't have access to a therapist for a variety of reasons.

I want to circle back to the burnout with therapists specifically, but then make sure we put a pin in your book, because I want to come back to that. So a lot of your services, I'm understanding, really are trying to help therapists actually stay in the field, even when they're experiencing burnout. Because like you're saying, if we saw all of these therapists leave the field over the pandemic, it's still happening. And we already know that we don't have enough therapists to serve the community. So I think this piece of the work that you're doing with working with therapist burnout specifically is really important. Can you talk a little bit about how you do that? Yeah.

So one way is through diversification of income, namely passive income, which isn't as passive as sometimes we like to pretend that it is. It does require some active visibility and marketing strategies, but it can create some breathing room. I had someone that messaged me the other day that said, hey, Doc, I just want to thank you for the things that you've done and the things that you've taught me about building sustainably. And their mom died and they had the room in their practice to be off for 30 unplanned days possible if they didn't have other things built in. And so that really being able to identify how do we build an automation and leverage that to create access to information, to create access to tools and knowledge, whether it be through creating a course or writing a book or templates or something else that allows you to package your zone of genius and make it available to folks on demand without you having to be a part of the process. Creates room for us to be where we are most needed and where most honors us. And for me, that's something that has been important in my own life, having lost two very significant figures back to back and being out for four unplanned months as a grief therapist. So members of my team not having to work through their own suffering and engage in self abandonment is a gift that we can offer ourselves and others by doing the intentional work of diversification. And that's coming full circle in light of the things that we're seeing in the insurance industry with some outages and delayed payments, is there's things outside of our control that can jeopardize the stability of our business and of our livelihood. And we can mitigate that risk by stacking the deck in our favor.

Yeah, I love that. I love that you're trying to help people stay in this field because it is so needed. So let's talk a little bit about your book, because I know grief is your thing. So tell me a little bit about the gift of grief.

Yes, I wrote this book kicking and screaming. I don't know if I told you that before. I was trying to write, you know, autobiography or something, something other than grief. And what I recognized was that I was navigating a grief that I hadn't named grief that was really from my childhood. That the grief of not knowing whether or not I am who I am as a result of who I had to be or as a result of who I was destined to be. Right. And so that kind of loss of self as a result of cumulative and complex trauma is what was showing up for me. And so I didn't feel qualified to write a book on grief. And yet that's the thing that kept showing up. People kept asking me about, and I was like, oh, okay, fine, Right. And so kicking and screaming. And then I had two pivotal, like, major losses of my father figure and then my oldest brother within nine months of each other and had to do that publicly because there was a public nature to the loss that then influenced me to write a chapter on grief and social media. The good, bad and the ugly. Right on that. Right. And, you know, being an untrained PR rep for the family and all the things that comes with that as you're navigating, you know, grief and serving while grieving. And so I wrote the book, for me, it was as part of a kind of returning to self more fully and being able to find the gift on the other side of loss. The loss itself is not the gift, it's what we're able to reclaim on the other side. And for me, that was a sense of purpose and a sense of meaning in life post loss. Nothing like, you know, there's a lot of things that can wake you up to the very present moment, but nothing reminds you of the finite time that you have like losing a loved one. And then also that we are navigating symbolic losses every single day that we often aren't naming, that often aren't recognized. Like, divorce is one that is a major loss of identity, of stability, of finances, of, you know, a whole lot of things. And we know that at least 50% of folks navigate divorce and then how do we support kids? And so I wrote the book while I was still a professor, looking for a grief book in my courses and finding myself coming up with all the content and then looking for resources that more fully honored grief across the lifespan. Grief in kids and, you know, grief when no one died. Grief of being a first generation trauma disruptor and poverty disruptor, like being the first in my family to go to college, carried a weight and a cost that we often don't talk about. And so being able to name those for myself and for others. But the other piece is I was also deciding whether or not to scale back direct practice at the time. And I really felt some guilt around when folks would look for a, you know, African American woman that was a grief and trauma therapist. Nine times out of 10 land on my practice, then land on me and really feeling the weight of being one of few. And so I also wrote this for folks, other therapists that wanted to increase their capacity and their knowledge to do right by folks who are grieving. Because as therapists, we are all doing grief work. Some of us just have more training than others. And so I wanted to make sure that it was practical and accessible, regardless of what side of the grief continuum you were on as a helper, healer, or someone that's grieving. That's what prompted me to write the book, but involuntarily.

I love that the book kind of wrote itself. And so now can I talk about your podcast?

Yes.

Okay. Just want to make sure. I know it hasn't released yet, but now you are doing another sort of pivot and talking about some new things. So tell me about how your podcast came to be.

So, in kind of really being able to identify who I am in this kind of iteration of my life, I recognize that I pivoted from a very successful corporate career and then, you know, dabbled in law school for a minute and then, you know, was a full time professor while also doing direct practice. And for a really long time, I felt like I was off track. But what I recognized as a result of doing my grief work was that those pivots had purpose. And a big reason I pivoted from successful careers and, you know, a dream job was as a result of feeling really missing and dishonored in spaces that really weren't designed. Right. They weren't designed for me. They weren't in alignment with the life that I desired and the way that I wanted to serve. And so my podcast is called the Purposeful Pivot. I interact with folks every single day that are in, you know, second and third iterations of their life, and purpose has continued to ground them and continue to guide them as their pivot, even when they're not, they're in the midst of it. They don't know that it's working out yet. Right. But they've committed to living more fully and that we are not having to sacrifice having a purposeful life with having financial stability and being worthy of whatever the things are that we desire, the life that we desire. And so that podcast is really designed to talk about the intersection of purpose, of success and mental health.

That sounds fascinating. I'm excited to give it a listen. And it sounds like that has also come from a lot of your own experience.

Yeah, being a, you know, a first gen kid that often had more month left than I had money, I really didn't realize how much my money narrative was showing up in the way I was building my clinical practice. I was very much, I will do it myself because it's free. It's not free, friends. You're just unpaid. It's more unpaid labor for you. It is not free. It's costing you something. Time, money, what have you. And my practice could now grow me. And so I had to do a lot of grief work, but also mindset work around what it meant to be and be able to say that as a therapist, I desire to generate wealth ethically and responsibly without shame and guilt. And so my larger brand is called the purposeful and profitable therapist. And it took a really long time, almost 11 years, for me to be able to, you know, in private practice, serving in the community, to be able to say, I want both, it's both, and I don't have to forego one. And in fact, I can do more and have a greater impact and a living legacy. Not the thing that happens when I die, but the things that I can do today that changes lives, including my own. I get to change my life, too. And in order to do that, I have to have the resources so that my mask is on first. I am no good to other folks if I'm worried about, you know, my lights being cut off or, you know, not being able to send my kids to school or having the adequate support I need. So I can be right here with you, serving with my full self, my undistracted self, because my needs are met and that I can ask for more than basic needs to be met. I actually can ask for a fulfilled, stable, consistent life that allows for rest and creativity and nothing. Right? I get to do nothing without having to earn it, because those aren't in conflict. And that was something that I had to unlearn in order to kind of really fit in this space and lead from that place. That's been a pivot for me as well. And so I wanted to bring others along on that journey, as I'm still curious and still learning and still exploring, as opposed to what we often do is we wait till we're on the other side and then we reach back and look back, as opposed to who's willing to go on the journey with me. And so, for me, that's what the podcast represents, that's what the community represents, is being able to lock arms with folks who are willing to be curious as you move forward and to do that work with you.

I think that is such. It's so apropos for the entrepreneur journey, especially in helping communities. Right? So many entrepreneurs have this strong purpose, this desire to help, this desire to do something, and then also feel like. I think there's a lot in our society, or at least in helping communities, that is like this sacrifice mindset, like you're supposed to just grind yourself or not worry about your needs and just take care of others. I think that comes from so many different places, and I think sometimes women struggle with it more than our male counterparts. But it is so difficult. It is exactly what you said, putting the mask on first. We all reference the airline and that there's a reason that they tell us to do that. But I think that's so fascinating that you've had to unlearn that, because I think that's a really like, if. If there are people out there in the entrepreneur world listening to this, I think that you're also providing a lesson of entrepreneurship is that you do have to learn how to take care of yourself and lead yourself. And it's okay to do that in the process. Otherwise you're really no good to anyone. Yes.

And if your business doesn't generate the revenue that it needs to survive to sustain you, in itself, that's a loss to the community that you were called to serve. It's a major loss to the community. You know, after Covid enduring, I went back and, you know, I walked my neighborhood where my office is located on the unofficial welcoming committee. And I remember just walking down the street and being in absolute tears at the small family owned businesses that were just gone. And there was a sign, you know, across the street at my favorite Thai restaurant where they knew my order.

I did that one with you. Yes.

They knew my name and my order when I walked in. Right. It made me feel like an episode of Cheers every single time. Because they're like, hey, Doc. And I'm like, hi. You want your usual? Yes. And then I saw the sign that said, after 35 years of serving the community, we are closing our doors.

Wow. 35 years.

35 years of a family owned business. That business changed the trajectory of that family and the community. And now they're gone and there's nothing in its place. It's just vacant and a reminder of what is no more. And so we have a responsibility, a fiduciary responsibility to generate revenue, but we also have a community responsibility. There's impact even from the people that we employ when we do our job right as CEOs. My number one job outside of taking care of my team is to generate revenue. Because none of the rest happens if I don't do that piece. But I don't have to do it in a way that compromises my team. And I think sometimes we think that we have to choose and we don't. Everything gets tested against. Does this leave my team and the clients we serve feeling seen, heard, and cared for? It's an easy filter that you can adhere to that. It influences the programs and services that we offer, our SOPs, our employee handbook, guidelines, does it match and does it pass that the vibe check, as my kiddo would say. Right. And if it doesn't, how do we get in alignment with our lived values? But it requires revenue, and so we have to unpack. I think the guilt and the shame around revenue being a necessity. It is if you're doing legacy living work.

That's inspiring. You have done so many things. I mean, we haven't even touched on all of them yet here today. But I'm really curious about your creative process. You are a person with lots of big ideas. You've already done big things. How does that kind of go for you? How do you get in the zone? How do you decide what to implement, what to wait on? Yeah.

So I will always say that God is my CEO. I go back and I check like, okay, you know, every now and again I'm like, really? Do I have to? Have I not done enough when I'm resisted? Right. But that piece for me, my faith grounds me and I always filter things through the why? Because there's a lot of ideas that I have and not everything requires me As a first generation trauma disruptor, I also have to make sure that my productivity is not a function of, you know, the productivity is, for me, has been a trauma response and previous kind of iterations of my life. And so I always have to check it with the why because that helps me with understanding whether or not this is legacy work or if this is like I'm running from my self work. Right. Because sometimes quiet and being with yourself can be the most vulnerable and the most painful pieces. And so we fill it with the doing. And so for me, that's a filter that I have to always kind of check. Also build in space to be still and to be creative. As a neurodivergent adult, I have learned to lean into my gifts and that it is a gift that means I have these peaks of creativity and then there's times in which I'm not. And so for me, it's kind of honoring the process. But I think the most important thing that I do is I protect time to be creative. And so if I'm always sitting in the CEO seat of doing in revenue generation, that doesn't leave time enough for my brain to wonder about what's possible, about what I desire, and the difference between what I should do and ought to do. I spent a lot of time doing what I should do, and that was not what I ought to do. Right. With my time, with my skills, with my creativity. And so I protect Usually every Friday I am not working on anyone else's business. Mondays are reserved for my business only. And then the last week of every month is protected time. Those are often creative times for me. There are often times where I will do things that replenish and refuel me. And then I take quarterly get stuff done retreats. Sometimes they're in my house and I send the kids with the grandparents. Sometimes I pick a tropical island and lock myself in and check out the beach. But I think creativity shows up when we have room to dream and to rest and to be inspired. And so I keep myself surrounded by people who inspire me, people who understand the calling that I have on my life, but that also remind me that rest is not something that's earned. It just is. And so I think my daily naps help me as well.

I totally the daily naps.

I'm a much better parent when I

am a power nap fan myself. Like, yeah.

And I think we rest what we rest when we're forced to. Like, I don't want to get rest because my body shut down. I want to do that in a way that is actually restorative and in a way that's actually honoring. And so I protect sleep. And rest for me doesn't always mean sleep. It just means I get to do or not do. But there's no guilt there. Right? And so that there's usually french fries involved as well.

If you know what you love, you know, why not. That's great. Is there any last tidbit you want to give to our listeners or any topic that you wanted to address before we wrap up?

I think I would just, you know, probably say just stop asking for permission to do the thing that you are qualified and called to do and do it on your terms. Whatever that means, whatever that looks like. That time is also a gift. That is, it's a non renewable currency. And so use the time that you have today to do work that is actually fulfilling, to live a fulfilled life. And that fulfilled life, we have the opportunity to kind of grab hold of that in each moment. We don't have to wait until this far out date. It's available to you today.

Thank you so much for being here. If anyone wants more details on Ejeta and her book and all her great programs, you will find that all in the show notes. And I just want to thank you so much for being here.

It's a pleasure. Thank you so, so much for having me.