The Power of Trauma-Informed Care & Self-Care with Wellnest CEO Charlene Dimas-Peinado | ANew Ep 55

 In this compelling episode of the ANEW Body Insight Podcast, Dr. Supatra Tovar sits down with Charlene Dimas-Peinado, President and CEO of Wellnest and Chair of City Club LA, to discuss the critical role of trauma-informed care and the importance of self-care in mental health and community well-being.

With over three decades of leadership in behavioral health and nonprofit services, Charlene has made a profound impact in expanding access to mental health resources for underserved communities. Under her guidance, Wellnest has grown into a pioneering organization in trauma-informed therapy, youth mental health support, and affordable housing services for vulnerable populations.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
 ✅ The foundational principles of trauma-informed care and why it matters
 ✅ How childhood experiences and intergenerational trauma shape mental health
 ✅ The impact of social determinants of health on well-being
 ✅ Why self-care is essential, not selfish, for leaders and caregivers
 ✅ How mental health accessibility is evolving in Los Angeles
 ✅ The connection between social media, anxiety, and youth mental health
 ✅ The role of cross-sector collaboration in expanding mental health services

Charlene also shares her deeply personal experiences that led her to a career in mental health advocacy, her vision for Wellnest’s future, and how her leadership as a Latina CEO is shaping more inclusive mental health services for communities in need.

This conversation is a must-listen for anyone passionate about mental health, leadership, and creating lasting change in the way we approach psychological well-being.

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For more information aboutCharlene Dimas-Peinado  here are her Social Media links:   https://www.wellnestla.org/about/leadership/charlene-dimas-peinado/,  https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlene-dimas-peinado-3a955312 , https://www.facebook.com/charlene.dimaspeinado/ 

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Thank you for joining us on this journey to wellness. Remember, the insights and advice shared on the ANEW Body Insight Podcast are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making any changes to your health routine. To learn more about the podcast and stay updated on new episodes, visit ANEW Body Insight Podcast at anew-insight.com. To watch this episode on YouTube, visit @my.anew.insight. Follow us on social media at @my.anew.insight on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads for more updates and insights. Thank you for tuning in! Stay connected with us for more empowering stories and expert guidance. Until next time, stay well and keep evolving with ANEW Body Insight!

Transcript

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Welcome
to the ANEW Body Insight podcast,


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empowering and inspiring your journey to optimal health.


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Hosted by Dr. Supatra Tovar, clinical psychologist,


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registered dietitian, fitness expert, and author of Deprogram Diet Culture:


00:00:16:14 - 00:00:20:11
Rethink Your Relationship with Food, Heal Your Mind, and Live a Diet-Free


00:00:20:11 - 00:00:25:12
Life, and Chantal Donnelly, physical therapist and author of Settled:


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How to Find Calm in a Stress Inducing World.


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Here at City Club Los Angeles, we follow our guests journey to optimal


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health, providing you with the keys to unlock your own wellness path.


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Tune in and evolve with us.


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Hello and welcome to the ANEW Body
Insight podcast at City Club Los Angeles.


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I am Dr Supatra Tovar
and I am honored to have Wellnest


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President and CEO and Chair of City Club,


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Charlene Dimas-Peinado with us today.


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Thank you so much for being here.


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(clapping)


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Thank you, thank you.


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Yay, I'm
going to read a little bit about Charlene


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and then we'll get right
into our questions.


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Charlene Dimas-Peinado serves


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as the president and CEO of Wellnest,


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a distinguished organization
in Los Angeles dedicated to providing


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trauma informed behavioral health
and housing services to children,


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young adults and to families. With over three decades


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of experience in behavioral health
and nonprofit leadership.


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She has significantly expanded Wellnest’s
reach and impact,


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emphasizing innovative programs
that tackle mental health


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disparities in underserved communities.


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Notably, under her guidance,
Wellnest celebrated its


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100th anniversary in 2024.


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I was there, it was epic and beautiful,


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marking a century of commitment
to mental health services.


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In addition to her role at Wellnest,
Charlene serves


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as the chair of Board of Governors
for City Club here in Los Angeles.


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A prominent social
and business club in the city.


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She also holds leadership positions
with other organizations,


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including the Los Angeles
Chamber of Commerce and the Natural


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History Museum, as well as Rotary LA five.


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Her dedication to mental health
and community well-being has earned


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her recognition as one of the top women
leaders in Los Angeles.


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Charlene,
I'm so honored to have you here today.


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Thank you.


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Thank you, Dr Tovar,
for inviting me to be here.


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And, we are just thrilled to share
all the great work


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that we are doing at Wellnest.


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And I can't wait to hear more.


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And I really want to delve
into your history.


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I want to know everything
about what motivated you


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to pursue a career in mental health,
but also,


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how did this journey lead you
to becoming the president of Wellnest?


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So, as a


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I was born and raised in New Mexico,
and, grew up in rural New Mexico,


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small town and, small town where
community it was a close knit community.


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And, I often witness my own mother,


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just perform
these random acts of kindness.


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And I always say
she was a quasi social worker.


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So I saw that,
you know, growing up as a child.


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And then, you know,
my dad was a World War Two veteran.


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And so there was always commitment
to serving.


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And, you know, contributing to our community.


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And so with that, foundation,


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I always knew that I wanted to go
into the helping profession.


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And so that's really what, you know,
helpt to, inspire me to, to serve others.


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So I went on to college
and got my master's in social work


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and then became a licensed social worker
and got trained in child and family


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psychotherapy
and worked as a psychotherapist,


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at a community based mental health
service agency.


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And just loved the work
and was able to experience the, the,


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the importance of doing trauma
informed work and the impact


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it had on children and families
and how it could really make a difference.


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So being able to experience that and
and see the impact,


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it really inspired me to continue to,
to grow in my professional services.


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And that's when I pivoted
to doing more administrative work,


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where I wanted to make sure
that we were growing services


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so that there would be more accessibility,
affordability, and that,


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they would be available to all children
and families, regardless


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of their socioeconomic situation
or whatever community they may come from.


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Because access
and affordability is so critical,


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and being able to provide mental health services
when it matters the most.


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Absolutely, absolutely.


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So give me just a little glimpse
into your career progression.


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You started as a psychotherapist
and then when you went


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into administration, where did you serve?


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So I, you know, work my way up from
being a therapist to supervising students.


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And then from there
I became a associate director.


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And then from there became an executive
director.


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Was the CEO for, another organization
serving the suburbs


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of here in Los Angeles.


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And I was there for, many, many years.


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Then I got pulled here to L.A.


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my predecessor at Wellnest was retiring.


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And so they were, doing a nationwide
search, and they found me in Whittier.


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And so I came to L.A.,
and I was, you know, my youngest was going


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off to college, and it was a good time
for me to kind of, you know,


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lead a another organization.


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And so it was a good time
for me to come to L.A., a big city,


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and an organization that had amazing
legacy and history, which I loved.


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It was formerly known as the,


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Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic.


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And, you know, we together


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with my staff,
we rebranded the organization


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to its new name, Wellnest Emotional Health
and Wellness


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because we wanted to move away
from governmental, governmental names,


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the history of pathologizing


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children, and reducing stigma and using,


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changing the narrative, using content
that was focused


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more on emotional health,
emotional well-being, wellness.


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These were terms that landed
more comfortable in our communities.


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And, so we, established a new vision


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and, excuse me, a new mission, new
vision, new core values,


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and have been using this to continue
to promote and support,


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education around mental health
and the idea of


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speaking openly about mental health.


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Absolutely.


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And you mentioned and I think we hear
the term so often, trauma informed care.


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Can you just explain to the listeners
who don't really understand what that is,


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what it is exactly? And how did it differ


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from how people approached,
mental health care in the past?


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So, I’ll share personal experience.


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You know, as a child, I come
from a traditional Latino Catholic family,


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eight children.


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And I was, the youngest and,


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my mother had another baby after me.


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And that baby died like, three days
after birth.


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Oh, no.


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And then,
and I was about four at the time,


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and so not a lot of discussion
around that, you know, like,


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I can remember my parents were,
of a different generation.


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And then a couple of years later,
I was in the car and experienced


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my older sister dying, because we couldn’t get her to the hospital quickly enough.


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And so within a couple of years,


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I had experienced
losing two of my siblings.


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And I remember at that time I remember
being in first grade, and I remember


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going to my teacher, and I know it is
funny how you remember things.


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And I remember saying, you know,


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did you know, Miss Barbie,
that two of my sisters just died?


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And I looked at her
and she did not know how to respond to me.


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And she just said, I know. Go sit down.


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No. Oh my goodness.


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And then, you know,
my mom was grieving the loss. Yes. She went 


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to the priests, shared
how she was feeling,


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and the priest response was,
you have so many other children,


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focus on your other children.


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Oh my goodness.


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And, and and you know,
that was not uncommon.


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Yes. Okay.


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Is that just that not talk about it.


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So then, you know, I grew up in
a household where my parents did not know


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how to talk to us about the loss,
and so we didn't talk about it, you know.


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And so we just lived our lives.


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And these are experiences that children
have, whether it's the loss of a parent,


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the loss of a grandparent,
a sibling, a loved one,


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and we need to be able to process
that loss so that we can move on.


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And so from that experience,


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you know I and I witnessed
my mother grieving silently


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because we all have to grieve.


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And often time we will grieve silently
or we will look


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to other unhealthy behaviors to cope.
Of course.


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And so so from that experience I,


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you know, and then going on to college
and doing internships and also recognizing


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that families were affected
when there was a mental health issue,


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whether it was a mild or more severe one,
such as bipolar schizophrenia


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and the loss that families


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would experience and the impact
it would have on them emotionally.


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And oftentimes
the difference it would make was they sat


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with a therapist
and had the opportunity to just


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speak openly about what
they were experiencing


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process the information and begin healing from it.


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And, and really just had it required


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the support of others to help normalize


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because these are universal issues
that we all experience.


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And and need help with.


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And so from that I just, you know, going,
you know, through my adulthood and my


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profession and recognizing, oh my goodness
we need to do more and more of this.


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And in through time we have gotten better.


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There is more resources.


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There is more accessibility.


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We still need to bring parity to it
and also


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as it relates to access
to, you know, affordable care.


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There's been some great legislation
being pushed every day.


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The governor right now has has a mission
to transform the mental health system


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here in California.


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All of that is making a difference.


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And then all of us also need to
especially, you know, like ourselves.


00:11:07:18 - 00:11:08:08
Continue,


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this podcast makes a huge difference
in getting the message out.


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Yes. That it's okay to talk about it.


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Yes. Educate
and just go get help when you need help.


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And you don't have to worry about
whether or not it's affordable.


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There's always services there
for everyone. Yes.


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Wellnest is one of those agencies.


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We don't turn anyone away.


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And and mental health
start from the moment a baby is born


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all the way
up to the end of your lifespan.


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And we can never


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lose sight of that.


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Yes. Because we experience
all these, life transitions


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differently as we, you know, our aging.


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And so it's not uncommon that
at each phase of our life, we may need to


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you know, recalibrate and ensure
that our emotional well-being is intact


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and that we are seeking the support
that we need.


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From outside resources. Of course,
our loved ones, our family members


00:12:06:00 - 00:12:07:15
and professionals. Yes.


00:12:07:15 - 00:12:12:23
I'm so glad that mental health care
is changing in this direction.


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And if you kind of look at it,
the history it.


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I was just at the Los Angeles, County


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Psychological Association's conference,
and we had Derald,


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Derald Sue, who's a very prominent,


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researcher, and he's written
kind of the textbook in terms


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of multiculturalism, in psychotherapy.
If you look at the history,


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it was so Caucasian, white, male centric. Yes, yes.


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And what is wonderful is that
it's really expanding and opening up


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and depathologizing,


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especially conditions
we find in minority communities. Exactly. 


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It used to be, oh,
you know, so racist, centric.


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You know, saying, oh, it's a problem


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within the community as opposed to
this is a universal problem.


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Exacly. So I'm so excited
that you are at the forefront of this.


00:13:03:17 - 00:13:04:23
Let me say something about that.


00:13:04:23 - 00:13:09:12
So when Wellnest was founded in 1924,
and as I mentioned, it was the Los Angeles


00:13:09:12 - 00:13:13:15
Child Guidance Clinic,
and it was subject matter expert


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and community leaders
that came together and founded Wellnest.


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And the idea


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was that we needed to do it differently.


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We needed to ensure everyone had access
to professional services.


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That they were cutting edge


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because at the time who was talking about
children, mental health.


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Nobody was.


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And then also


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it was a time
when in communities of color,


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they didn't even feel that people of color
could participate in psychotherapy.


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Yes. Okay. Yes.


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They did not feel that
they would attend appointments


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or that they had the ability.


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Intellectually. Yes. To process.


00:14:02:20 - 00:14:07:08
The insight oriented psychotherapy
that would occur. Yes.


00:14:07:09 - 00:14:10:08
Now one of our psychiatrist,
who was one of the first African-American


00:14:10:08 - 00:14:13:16
psychiatrist, Doctor James, who came to,


00:14:14:22 - 00:14:17:17
Wellnest, he, was also connected


00:14:17:17 - 00:14:22:15
with USC and all the universities
and was able to demonstrate


00:14:22:16 - 00:14:26:09
through research that, on the contrary,
that was not true.


00:14:26:18 - 00:14:28:14
Good, thankfully.


00:14:28:14 - 00:14:33:00
Because what they did with people of color
when they were seeking out


00:14:33:00 - 00:14:36:05
mental health, they were either
hospitalized or medicated.


00:14:37:12 - 00:14:39:03
Or placed in groups. Yes.


00:14:39:03 - 00:14:41:22
And not given the opportunity
to participate in insight


00:14:41:22 - 00:14:43:20
oriented psychotherapy, so they said.


00:14:43:20 - 00:14:46:14
And he was able to demonstrate through his research,


00:14:47:01 - 00:14:51:13
all of the people,
children and adults and families


00:14:51:13 - 00:14:56:01
that actually were able to move on
from the trauma and heal from the trauma


00:14:56:07 - 00:14:59:07
and live, lead normal lives


00:14:59:08 - 00:15:02:13
because they did benefit
from psychotherapy. Yes.


00:15:02:13 - 00:15:07:18
So those experiences throughout the years
have helped us to continue to evolve


00:15:08:03 - 00:15:11:00
and continue to, you know, promote


00:15:11:00 - 00:15:14:11
and support the important work of trauma
informed services. Yes.


00:15:14:11 - 00:15:17:16
Because it does matter,
and it does help us heal from our trauma.


00:15:17:20 - 00:15:19:19
It absolutely does.


00:15:19:19 - 00:15:23:02
And tell us, as the
the first Latina president


00:15:23:02 - 00:15:27:01
and CEO of Wellnest, I loved saying that
because it's just so beautiful.


00:15:27:09 - 00:15:31:13
How do you approach leadership
and what unique perspectives


00:15:31:13 - 00:15:35:19
do you bring to the organization
coming from your cultural background?


00:15:36:15 - 00:15:41:06
So I bring a visionary yet
hands on approach to leadership.


00:15:41:23 - 00:15:43:17
Blending a strategic


00:15:43:17 - 00:15:48:13
direction and personal experience
to the position.


00:15:48:21 - 00:15:51:06
As I mentioned I'm a psychotherapist.


00:15:51:06 - 00:15:54:22
I’m a Latina, I understand culturally
what are the needs.


00:15:54:22 - 00:15:59:14
And and come in not only the Latino
community but other communities of color.


00:16:00:06 - 00:16:05:08
And it's very important that we continue
to grow services for all communities,


00:16:05:15 - 00:16:08:17
but also ensuring that we are competent,


00:16:08:17 - 00:16:10:03
culturally competent.


00:16:10:03 - 00:16:11:14
and culturally sensitive


00:16:11:14 - 00:16:14:14
to meeting the needs of our community.


00:16:15:13 - 00:16:20:02
And would you say the Wellnest
community is primarily black Latino?


00:16:20:13 - 00:16:23:15
It's actually predominantly, Latino
we serve.


00:16:23:17 - 00:16:27:06
Right now we're serving
three geographic areas South L.A.,


00:16:27:06 - 00:16:30:06
Downtown L.A. and East L.A.


00:16:30:13 - 00:16:33:08
We continue to grow our geographic
footprint to serve the greater


00:16:33:08 - 00:16:34:20
Los Angeles area.


00:16:34:20 - 00:16:37:20
So it is predominantly
Latino and African-American.


00:16:38:03 - 00:16:40:14
But even that is changing. Okay.


00:16:40:14 - 00:16:44:03
And so the other important role


00:16:44:03 - 00:16:48:10
I play is ensuring that we're growing,
that we are sustainable


00:16:48:22 - 00:16:52:14
and that we are relevant
to the needs of our community,


00:16:52:21 - 00:16:56:11
which could include different
ethnic groups, languages.


00:16:56:16 - 00:16:57:17
Yes. Right.


00:16:57:17 - 00:17:00:07
And ensuring
that our staff are highly trained.


00:17:00:07 - 00:17:03:07
And are able to again


00:17:03:12 - 00:17:07:12
meet the cultural and trauma needs


00:17:07:12 - 00:17:10:12
that our communities will have
because communities


00:17:10:15 - 00:17:14:16
I mean, excuse me, children and families
are coming with different experiences. Yes.


00:17:14:21 - 00:17:18:12
We have children, families
coming from other countries


00:17:18:12 - 00:17:21:12
who have experienced trauma. Yes.


00:17:21:14 - 00:17:24:04
And just imagine right now
everything that's going on.


00:17:24:04 - 00:17:27:09
And again
our staff are well trained to ensure


00:17:27:15 - 00:17:31:03
that we're going to be able to address
those traumatic experiences


00:17:31:03 - 00:17:35:03
in a way that is going to, again,
help our children and families


00:17:35:11 - 00:17:40:03
develop and build that resilience
they need to cope and manage successfully.


00:17:40:05 - 00:17:43:06
Yes. Because we wanted children
to be successful in their home


00:17:43:19 - 00:17:46:17
and their school and their community.


00:17:46:17 - 00:17:49:18
Oh, and plenty of research has shown
that if children receive


00:17:49:18 - 00:17:54:15
mental health services, housing services,
any kind of services that help them


00:17:54:15 - 00:17:58:14
move along, they have such a better chance
at succeeding


00:17:58:14 - 00:18:02:11
as they age and go into school
and go into the community.


00:18:02:13 - 00:18:05:13
And, you know, you're speaking
to the social determinants of health.


00:18:05:19 - 00:18:06:10
Right.


00:18:06:10 - 00:18:12:16
That our you know, our environments
will impact our ability to, you know,


00:18:13:17 - 00:18:15:21
be an emotionally healthy individual.


00:18:15:21 - 00:18:18:21
Because those social determinants
of health


00:18:18:22 - 00:18:23:09
include housing our community access
to good schools.


00:18:24:04 - 00:18:27:17
Access to good jobs for our families,
our environments.


00:18:27:17 - 00:18:30:08
Are they, you know, do we have clean air?


00:18:30:08 - 00:18:33:08
Do we have access to good doctors?


00:18:33:11 - 00:18:39:02
Medical education, all of those things is
what helps us to, prepare for adulthood


00:18:39:02 - 00:18:43:07
and and contributing to become
contributing members to our community.


00:18:44:13 - 00:18:50:03
Well, I mean, this organization
a hundred years old.


00:18:50:03 - 00:18:53:15
And I have to tell you
that your centennial celebration


00:18:53:15 - 00:18:57:09
was just such a special, amazing event.


00:18:58:00 - 00:19:03:07
Give us some insights
into how this organization evolved.


00:19:03:08 - 00:19:06:08
I mean,
I know that you have rebranded it, but,


00:19:06:15 - 00:19:10:18
you know, just give us a little bit
of a picture of the evolution of Wellnest.


00:19:10:22 - 00:19:13:07
So as I mentioned, it,
you know, was first developed,


00:19:14:20 - 00:19:17:15
in 1924 as a small agency.


00:19:17:15 - 00:19:21:07
And then the idea was again to bring,


00:19:21:19 - 00:19:25:10
cutting-edge innovation to the community
for children and families,


00:19:26:13 - 00:19:29:19
but to also be a training organization.


00:19:29:20 - 00:19:32:10
Yes. For future psychotherapists.


00:19:32:10 - 00:19:34:18
Psychologist and psychiatrists.


00:19:34:18 - 00:19:37:16
So that was also a part of our evolution


00:19:37:16 - 00:19:40:16
that we were a training organization.


00:19:40:19 - 00:19:43:10
And we began as a


00:19:43:10 - 00:19:47:08
diagnostic assessment
and treatment agency.


00:19:47:15 - 00:19:51:07
So when you came to Wellnest at that


00:19:51:07 - 00:19:54:07
time, you were going to be able to


00:19:55:05 - 00:19:58:19
build your skills because
it was all happening right then and there.


00:19:59:02 - 00:20:03:05
They were bringing in the subject matter experts and 
and then students


00:20:03:12 - 00:20:06:19
to train them so that they could serve,


00:20:07:17 - 00:20:11:13
whether it was the same organization
or other organizations in the community.


00:20:11:23 - 00:20:16:08
So at this time we were the first children mental
health agency on the West Coast.


00:20:16:15 - 00:20:17:23
And then others followed.


00:20:17:23 - 00:20:22:22
Oklay. So you can see
we were already setting that trend and,


00:20:23:05 - 00:20:26:04
and we wanted others
to replicate our models.


00:20:27:09 - 00:20:27:19
And so


00:20:27:19 - 00:20:31:12
from there we just continue to build on
that, grow the organization.


00:20:31:13 - 00:20:37:00
You know we started at the Baldwin
Hospital as you know, which was the


00:20:37:05 - 00:20:42:04
in the baby unit with a small staff
that went on to the USC campus.


00:20:42:12 - 00:20:45:12
Then from there, just with the growth.


00:20:46:19 - 00:20:48:14
Build our first building on Exposition


00:20:48:14 - 00:20:51:20
and Vermont,
and now we're at seven locations.


00:20:51:23 - 00:20:53:23
And continuing to grow.


00:20:53:23 - 00:20:56:22
We have two housing developments
in the pipeline right now.


00:20:56:22 - 00:21:00:10
So soon will be at eight locations,
nine locations.


00:21:01:12 - 00:21:03:23
So just that evolution, the need,


00:21:03:23 - 00:21:09:00
the sustainable growth.
Part of the sustainable growth


00:21:09:00 - 00:21:12:10
is as a, as a result of cross-sector
collaboration.


00:21:12:23 - 00:21:14:18
We simply cannot do this work alone.


00:21:14:18 - 00:21:17:23
So that's part of our evolution,
is partnering


00:21:18:06 - 00:21:21:04
with healthcare, schools,


00:21:21:04 - 00:21:25:05
other publics organizations,
private foundations.


00:21:26:01 - 00:21:26:19
Community.


00:21:26:19 - 00:21:30:22
Because philanthropy also plays
a big role in the the effectiveness


00:21:30:22 - 00:21:33:20
or effectiveness. And our ability
to grow our services.


00:21:33:20 - 00:21:38:20
And so that cross-sector collaboration
has been part of our evolution as well.


00:21:39:13 - 00:21:42:06
So when we celebrated our centennial


00:21:42:06 - 00:21:44:20
we celebrated our past.


00:21:44:20 - 00:21:46:06
That we have survived.


00:21:47:13 - 00:21:50:20
Including a pandemic. Yes.


00:21:51:04 - 00:21:56:09
A worldwide pandemic that destroyed
many organizations but we survived it. Yes.


00:21:56:12 - 00:21:58:15
And then to thinking about the future.


00:21:58:15 - 00:22:00:20
What do we need to continue to do?


00:22:00:20 - 00:22:03:03
What are the current needs
and how are they change changing?


00:22:03:03 - 00:22:06:08
And what are we doing to be
responsive? Yes. And relevant.


00:22:06:18 - 00:22:10:10
I know as a, you know, a psychologist,
having gone through training


00:22:10:17 - 00:22:14:11
how important
the philosophy is of an organization.


00:22:14:18 - 00:22:18:20
And I've been in ones that are wonderful
and then ones that are really need


00:22:18:20 - 00:22:24:22
some extra help. As you know,
training facility for future therapists.


00:22:25:03 - 00:22:30:19
What do you hope that they take with them
once they're done training with you?


00:22:30:19 - 00:22:32:08
So that's an excellent question.


00:22:32:08 - 00:22:35:21
So we at the, agency, we utilize


00:22:35:21 - 00:22:38:21
various evidence based practice models.


00:22:39:09 - 00:22:41:21
That have been well researched
and demonstrate that


00:22:41:21 - 00:22:43:17
we will have good results. Yes.


00:22:43:17 - 00:22:46:05
So again
I mentioned training is very important.


00:22:46:05 - 00:22:49:11
And so from that we want them to be able


00:22:49:11 - 00:22:53:10
to either
stay and continue to be part of our staff


00:22:53:10 - 00:22:57:04
and many are. Or do they go out
and they take their skills


00:22:57:10 - 00:23:00:04
to continue to serve children and families


00:23:00:04 - 00:23:03:04
and continue to, think


00:23:03:09 - 00:23:08:02
innovatively of how they're going to help
other communities where they may go. Right?


00:23:08:02 - 00:23:10:04
Because they're going out into the community


00:23:10:04 - 00:23:13:23
and serving all different, 
types of agencies.


00:23:13:23 - 00:23:14:20
Right? Yes.


00:23:14:20 - 00:23:18:03
I think the other thing
that's really important is.


00:23:20:05 - 00:23:22:09
That they understand


00:23:22:09 - 00:23:26:15
what we're all moving towards,
this integrated care approach. Yes.


00:23:27:04 - 00:23:28:11
Is that


00:23:29:12 - 00:23:31:15
you cannot just, you know,


00:23:31:15 - 00:23:34:15
we're complex as individuals
and we're multi-dimensional.


00:23:34:15 - 00:23:38:01
And sometimes the issues we're dealing
with are multi dimensional.


00:23:39:11 - 00:23:42:18
They're
there may be issues of generational trauma


00:23:43:16 - 00:23:45:18
that haven’t, haven't been resolved.


00:23:45:18 - 00:23:51:09
So again being sensitive to
these issues that individuals may have


00:23:51:19 - 00:23:55:23
and the impact
as it relates to the entire family system.


00:23:56:00 - 00:23:57:06
Yes. Okay.


00:23:57:06 - 00:24:01:00
So although we serve children,
we serve the entire family


00:24:01:00 - 00:24:03:01
in the context of the child.


00:24:03:01 - 00:24:06:06
So the importance
of looking at the environment.


00:24:06:08 - 00:24:10:03
Yes. Looking at the community
and just taking that approach


00:24:10:12 - 00:24:15:11
to not only recognizing whole person.


00:24:15:12 - 00:24:20:03
But also the importance
of accessing as many resources as you can


00:24:20:03 - 00:24:24:04
and helping to create
a supportive community for that individual


00:24:24:04 - 00:24:29:02
in that family and taking a very holistic,
integrated approach to that care.


00:24:29:07 - 00:24:29:14
Yeah.


00:24:29:14 - 00:24:32:07
So I'm getting evidence based care.


00:24:32:07 - 00:24:36:09
I'm sure you probably are training in CBT. Yes.


00:24:36:22 - 00:24:38:05
all of the, you know,


00:24:38:05 - 00:24:42:14
especially the trauma informed
care practices, but also really helping


00:24:42:14 - 00:24:47:10
people look at a client
from a bio psychosocial model


00:24:47:10 - 00:24:51:14
where you're looking not only at the home
environment, but you're looking at all


00:24:51:14 - 00:24:54:14
the the different layers that, exactly, you know,


00:24:54:19 - 00:24:58:07
impact the child, exactly, on that note,


00:24:58:08 - 00:25:03:08
what do you think
are the most salient difficulties


00:25:03:08 - 00:25:07:20
that children, especially in Los Angeles,
but in general are facing today?


00:25:07:21 - 00:25:10:17
I mean,
I think there's a wealth of things,


00:25:10:17 - 00:25:14:15
but if you're looking out in society,
but what are you seeing in your practice?


00:25:14:18 - 00:25:19:10
So there are three areas right now
that, our young people are being impacted


00:25:19:10 - 00:25:20:08
the most.


00:25:20:08 - 00:25:23:06
And the,


00:25:23:06 - 00:25:25:07
symptoms and behaviors
that they're struggling


00:25:25:07 - 00:25:28:07
with are a tremendous amount
of anxiety. Yes.


00:25:28:15 - 00:25:30:04
Depression.


00:25:30:04 - 00:25:32:14
And the suicide rate is high. Right now


00:25:32:14 - 00:25:36:05
It's the second leading cause of death
for young people ages


00:25:36:05 - 00:25:39:05
10 to 24 in the United States. Wow.


00:25:40:01 - 00:25:43:04
Now Covid has really had an impact. Yes.


00:25:43:11 - 00:25:44:08
On all of us.


00:25:44:08 - 00:25:45:10
So think for a second,


00:25:45:10 - 00:25:48:14
as children,
you know, your whole life was disrupted.


00:25:48:16 - 00:25:51:23
The social isolation was very disruptive.


00:25:52:14 - 00:25:53:21
You weren't able to go to school.


00:25:53:21 - 00:25:55:11
You weren't able to see your friends.


00:25:55:11 - 00:26:00:05
Many children and especially in
our communities, lost loved ones.


00:26:00:11 - 00:26:03:07
Absolutely. Many of our children
lost their parents, grandparents,


00:26:05:11 - 00:26:08:15
siblings because of the, the virus.


00:26:09:18 - 00:26:14:01
Many of our community,
members were, essential workers.


00:26:14:01 - 00:26:16:00
That were not protected.


00:26:16:00 - 00:26:20:12
They were out working every day
and were exposed and came home and,


00:26:20:18 - 00:26:23:22
you know, they became very ill or also,
you know, spread the virus.


00:26:24:14 - 00:26:27:03
Many children went into foster care. Yes.


00:26:27:03 - 00:26:29:20
Because they lost their parents. Yes.


00:26:29:20 - 00:26:32:12
So the impact was horrific.


00:26:32:12 - 00:26:34:00
Horrific.


00:26:34:00 - 00:26:36:21
And we’re still trying to recover from it. Yes.


00:26:36:21 - 00:26:39:20
I did my internship
in a community mental health organization


00:26:39:20 - 00:26:42:20
in Los Angeles right before the pandemic.


00:26:43:00 - 00:26:45:20
And all I could think of it
when the pandemic hit


00:26:45:20 - 00:26:49:19
was, I wonder what's happening
with the kids that I treated


00:26:49:19 - 00:26:52:22
and, you know,
what is going on in the community?


00:26:52:22 - 00:26:56:21
And, and you're painting a picture
that is very heart wrenching.


00:26:56:22 - 00:26:57:16
Absolutely.


00:26:57:16 - 00:27:01:13
Now, the other issue that we're seeing
is technology.


00:27:01:15 - 00:27:06:22
Yes. As much as it serves as a
great purpose and we all use it, I use it.


00:27:07:11 - 00:27:09:02
For our young people.


00:27:09:02 - 00:27:13:17
We need to, look at
how can we better, support them.


00:27:13:17 - 00:27:15:10
And appropriate useage.


00:27:15:10 - 00:27:18:11
Because often times young people,
especially adolescents,


00:27:18:23 - 00:27:22:15
they're engaging in that, social media


00:27:22:22 - 00:27:27:19
where they may get a likes and, you know, 
great feedback but it's not a person.


00:27:28:10 - 00:27:30:22
They're not developing
interpersonal skills. Yes.


00:27:30:22 - 00:27:34:13
And it’s also contributing
to isolation and loneliness. Yes.


00:27:34:20 - 00:27:39:13
It's very important that we help them
to understand the, value


00:27:39:13 - 00:27:43:19
of social skills,
social interactions with people,


00:27:44:03 - 00:27:47:14
to develop those interpersonal skills
and to,


00:27:47:23 - 00:27:51:02
reduce the social isolation. Oh, yes.


00:27:51:02 - 00:27:55:03
Right now the millennial millennials
are the most lonely


00:27:57:07 - 00:27:59:20
group of people right now.


00:27:59:20 - 00:28:02:05
They are experiencing social isolation


00:28:02:05 - 00:28:05:23
and loneliness because remember
they're this is native to them.


00:28:05:23 - 00:28:07:13
This is what they grew up with. Yes.


00:28:07:13 - 00:28:11:00
And they were
there's a lot of reinforcement.


00:28:11:06 - 00:28:14:23
But is that the right type of
reinforcement that they should be having?


00:28:15:05 - 00:28:18:04
So, you know, again,
we're starting to see that


00:28:18:04 - 00:28:21:04
we're recognizing
that this is not such a good thing.


00:28:21:14 - 00:28:25:12
And everything, you know needs moderation
such as helping


00:28:25:12 - 00:28:28:17
our young people to understand
this is good to a certain degree.


00:28:28:17 - 00:28:32:08
But then what are you doing to interact,
to build relationships,


00:28:32:09 - 00:28:35:14
to develop your social skills,
to problem solve. Yes.


00:28:36:03 - 00:28:38:21
Yes. I work with a lot of adolescents.


00:28:38:21 - 00:28:41:18
I work with them with problems
with eating,


00:28:41:18 - 00:28:45:06
eating disorders or disordered
eating and social media plays,


00:28:45:07 - 00:28:50:14
I think one of the biggest roles
in, you know, the


00:28:50:14 - 00:28:53:21
the difficulties
that they're facing in mental health


00:28:53:21 - 00:28:59:20
because they're seeing this very limited
view of a certain kind of, quote, ideal.


00:28:59:20 - 00:29:05:06
I put it as an ideal because it's really
an unhealthy ideal, and I help them really


00:29:05:06 - 00:29:09:13
look at their social media
feed and determine for themselves.


00:29:09:20 - 00:29:13:08
How are you feeling
when you're looking at this material?


00:29:13:17 - 00:29:16:18
If it's negative,
if you're feeling terrible about yourself,


00:29:17:03 - 00:29:20:10
do you have to follow these certain
people?


00:29:20:17 - 00:29:25:18
I help them kind of reprogram
their their social media feed to great,


00:29:26:01 - 00:29:29:14
success in terms of their,
you know, improvement in mental health.


00:29:29:22 - 00:29:31:10
But I absolutely think you're right.


00:29:31:10 - 00:29:35:20
And I do think the pandemic itself was,


00:29:35:20 - 00:29:39:20
devastating for everyone, kids,


00:29:39:20 - 00:29:43:21
especially because they,
you know, fell behind in school.


00:29:43:21 - 00:29:46:19
They had difficulties,
with online learning.


00:29:46:19 - 00:29:51:14
And we have so much
that we need to help clean up.


00:29:51:21 - 00:29:57:05
And so I'm very hopeful
that we're past that emergency.


00:29:57:05 - 00:30:00:00
And now we can do all of this repair.


00:30:00:00 - 00:30:02:08
And it really sounds like you're doing
that.


00:30:02:08 - 00:30:04:12
Exactly. And, you know, eating disorder.


00:30:04:12 - 00:30:07:12
We're seeing a rise in eating disorder
with young girls. Yes.


00:30:07:23 - 00:30:11:00
And so that's the adolescent


00:30:11:07 - 00:30:14:08
phase is a very vulnerable time. Yes.


00:30:14:11 - 00:30:15:20
Because this is a time


00:30:15:20 - 00:30:19:01
where your individuality
and developing your own self identity.


00:30:19:12 - 00:30:24:07
And so when we're being influenced
by social media, that often is skewed, yes


00:30:24:08 - 00:30:29:11
or not reality based, then,
we need to be able to help


00:30:29:12 - 00:30:33:03
our young people understand that
and really love what you said.


00:30:33:11 - 00:30:38:13
And helping to guide them and step back
and have them reflect on that and come


00:30:38:13 - 00:30:43:04
to their own conclusion that this is not
healthy interaction for me to have. Yes.


00:30:43:04 - 00:30:45:02
And how I need to redirect that. Yes.


00:30:45:02 - 00:30:48:12
And you can have a healthy relationship
with social media.


00:30:48:21 - 00:30:51:14
I mean, especially if you're like me
and you only follow like puppies


00:30:51:14 - 00:30:56:07
and kittens and pandas and, you know,
just like baby goats and things like that.


00:30:56:18 - 00:30:59:15
It can be a really wonderful place
to go and decompress.


00:30:59:15 - 00:31:03:00
And in a see
what's good out there in the world.


00:31:03:00 - 00:31:06:06
But you have to curate
your feed to be able to do that.


00:31:06:17 - 00:31:12:10
I just want to add one more component is that as parents,
as adults, as caretakers,


00:31:12:18 - 00:31:16:18
you know, whether you know,
and I'm a mother and or I'm an aunt,  I'm


00:31:16:18 - 00:31:22:02
a sister, you know, the important role
we play also in also helping


00:31:22:11 - 00:31:27:01
our community, helping others
and and again, helping them to,


00:31:27:01 - 00:31:30:08
you know, know look you're not alone
and whatever you may be facing.


00:31:31:02 - 00:31:33:20
But also we play a very important role in,


00:31:33:20 - 00:31:37:23
demonstrating what being a healthy person
looks like. Yes.


00:31:38:03 - 00:31:41:14
We have to model for the kids


00:31:41:14 - 00:31:45:23
because they're little tiny sponges
and they will they watch everything.


00:31:45:23 - 00:31:47:05
I always counsel


00:31:47:05 - 00:31:50:08
my parent clients like, be really careful
what you say in front of your child,


00:31:50:17 - 00:31:53:11
because you may end up regretting
saying that.


00:31:53:11 - 00:31:53:20
Exactly.


00:31:53:20 - 00:31:58:20
And you often speak about the importance
of, you know, healthy eating and, fitness,


00:31:59:04 - 00:32:04:11
and those play a very important role
in our emotional well-being as well. Exactly.


00:32:04:14 - 00:32:07:03
So thank you for everything
you're doing in that space as well.


00:32:07:03 - 00:32:08:13
Thank you. Charlene.


00:32:08:13 - 00:32:12:04
Well, we are out of time for this
half of this, podcast.


00:32:12:04 - 00:32:15:11
But we're going to be coming right back,
for the second half.


00:32:15:11 - 00:32:18:23
And we cannot wait to learn more
about Wellnest


00:32:18:23 - 00:32:23:21
President and CEO and chair of City Club,
Charlene Dimas-Peindo.


00:32:24:04 - 00:32:26:06
Thank you so much, Charlene, for coming.


00:32:26:06 - 00:32:28:00
Thank you Dr Tovar.


00:32:28:00 - 00:32:30:23
(clapping)


00:32:33:22 - 00:32:36:22
Thanks for tuning into the ANEW Body Insight podcast.


00:32:36:22 - 00:32:40:10
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00:32:40:10 - 00:32:43:11
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00:32:43:21 - 00:32:44:23
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00:32:44:23 - 00:32:49:01
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00:32:49:05 - 00:32:53:11
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00:32:53:20 - 00:32:56:16
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00:32:56:16 - 00:33:00:13
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00:33:00:22 - 00:33:03:16
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