Unlearn The Lies About Mental Health

How can receiving a text make mental wellness easier to attain? How can we endeavor to boost the opportunities for individuals undergoing the continuum of mental and behavioral healthcare to receive support? 

In a world with so many distractions, giving your full attention to one thing at a time is powerful. There is an existing struggle for many of us to be honest, open, and transparent with the things we feel in certain situations. Consequently, it influenced us to wear the mask of being strong and able as we present ourselves to the world. 

However, we must realize that we all need a friend who can be there to listen, accept, support, and encourage us because we can surmount life's anxiety and hardships when our minds absorb positivity and honest conversations, especially when we're at the moment of struggling with our careers, family, and various responsibilities. Thus, we must explore user-friendly solutions that bring mental wellness to people's fingertips. We must recognize that we can leverage technology to integrate mental health into our daily routines so that we can efficiently deliver the message of positivity to someone and uplift them with some words of encouragement. 

So, in this episode, we seek to help people recognize the advancement that our technology can contribute to assisting people in accessing mental health resources and supporting them in meaningful ways. Join us in an insightful conversation with Keenan about the supremacy of a simple message of encouragement can do to someone who's going through a tough time.

Today, we're joined by Keenan Hart, a growing business builder, positivity soldier, and healthcare entrepreneur that has been working in the mental and behavioral health space for a decade. He has been building a business with his family since 2014 and has enjoyed every step of this fantastic journey. Keenan prides himself in making mental wellness and mental health improvement as easy as receiving a text. 

Keenan is the co-founder of FRANSiS and a mental health advocate who believes everyone should have access to mental health improvement in 2022. Technology can play an amazingly supportive role for mental/behavioral health providers to enhance how they care for their clients/patients in the digital world. He helps mental/behavioral health professionals utilize technology through personalized videos and simple text messages to meet their clients wherever and whenever needed.

"Sometimes, because of the stigma of mental health, we don't want to talk to a particular friend because that's scary. But if everybody could have the same experience having that person who's always willing to engage with them and always deliver that message of positivity and uplift them, then that would be amazing." – Keenan Hart

Show Highlights:

(00:00:00) Episode disclaimer, highlight, and introduction

(00:01:54) Welcoming today's guest, Keenan Hart

(00:04:26) The Passionate Entrepreneur: Who is Keenan Hart?

(00:05:09) Starting a Telehealth Company

(00:06:46) Technology: A Bridge for Efficient Telehealth Services 

(00:07:27) What is Telehealth?

(00:08:17) Life is full of distraction.

(00:09:12) A Letter of Positivity

(00:11:30) We all need a message of encouragement and positivity.

(00:14:17) A Safe Place: The inspiration behind the Purple Gorilla 

(00:15:50) Everybody needs a friend.

(00:17:49) HOT: Honest, Open, and Transparent

(00:19:09) Alignment with our true self

(00:21:31) Relationship Resilience

(00:22:44) The challenge of leading by example

(00:24:19) We need human connection.

(00:25:02) How can you find kindness around you today?

(00:26:41) Stephanie: A Testimony of Gratitude and Acceptance

(00:28:44) Keenan's letter of encouragement from Francis

(00:29:41) Phenomenal feedback from healthcare workers

(00:32:54) Some stigma and shame around mental health

(00:34:35) The Performance Anxiety

(00:36:33) Creating opportunities for helpful conversations

(00:36:59) Developing a Culture of Care

(00:38:09) If you need that support for your mental health, reach out to the National Suicide 

Prevention Lifeline by calling 9-8-8 now. For local and national resources, go to 

http://www.speaks2inspire.com/resources. Join the Unlearn The Lies About Mental Health 

Facebook group: https://bit.ly/UTLcommunity.

(00:38:57) How can we eradicate the existing stigma of Mental Health?

(00:39:51) Providing lower-barrier conversations

(00:40:48) Mental Diet: Support rather than discouragements

(00:42:03) What is mental health for Keenan? 

(00:42:57) Mental Health is a sense of self-awareness.

(00:44:19) Where to connect with Francis? 

(00:44:34) Get your gift for a free 30-day subscription to Francis.

(00:45:16) The Challenge: Send encouragement and support to someone.

(00:46:10) Connect with Keenan Hart

(00:46:46) 14 Ways to Support Your Students' Mental Health [free guide] - https://bit.ly/mentalhealthguide4

(00:47:05) Resources for Listeners

Key Takeaways:

"Because we are so used to traditional ways of doing things, our minds are closed off as it relates to how can we reach young adults with our generation and the way we do things now." – Abraham Sculley

"I've always been somebody who's seen technology as a tool that should increase access to healthcare services or something that can serve us." – Keenan Hart

"A lot of people didn't believe in telehealth as being something that patients would want to experience." – Keenan Hart

"Telehealth is the use of all pieces of technology to increase access, engage with, and support patients through their care journey." – Keenan Hart

"I think about how distracting life is today. We do so much stuff that is outside of our therapeutic experience with our trusted healthcare provider or advisor." – Keenan Hart

"I started to find that everybody can use a message of encouragement, positivity, and support in their lives, or a mental wellness resource that maybe, they don't have the time to give themselves to recharge and access traditional resources." – Keenan Hart

"I just want to give other people a lived experience of support and encouragement that I've always had from my family, and also the experiences that we've shared." – Keenan Hart

"It's difficult to know that I can open up with someone and potentially be rejected, but it's also necessary to build these meaningful relationships." – Keenan Hart

"Sometimes in my life, I found myself cheating myself by not being honest, not being open and being transparent about how I felt in certain situations." – Keenan Hart

"Surrounding myself with friends that I can trust reshaped my world and gave me a better understanding that there were people around me who were going through similar experiences, and they often appreciated having honest conversations." – Keenan Hart

"Being able to build those relationships with people who connect with me for who I am, not the person who I try to be, are some of the most fulfilling relationships, and they make me feel the most like myself." – Keenan Hart

"I've recognized that the relationship I have for myself is more important than the relationships I have with the people in my life because I spend so much more time with myself than I spend with anybody else." – Keenan Hart

"Other people can only love you as much as they love themselves." – Keenan Hart

"Sometimes leading by example is putting ourselves in situations where it's going to be scary." – Keenan Hart

"We need human connection in terms of our survival and ability to thrive, and having those relationships with people where we can drop the mask accelerates our ability to do anything." – Keenan Hart

"Sometimes, as an entrepreneur, I get so focused on what's happening right now that I lose the forest for the tree that's right in front of me." – Keenan Hart

"I get so worried about how much time we spend on our mobile devices today because we're almost fed so much negativity through them." – Keenan Hart

"We had some of the most amazing men in our lives who taught us fundamental life lessons about teamwork, respect, accountability, consistency, and hard work, but we never had the conversations around the mental aspect of supporting each other." – Keenan Hart

"The conversation around mental health still is stigmatized because there's a preconceived notion with mental health." – Keenan Hart

"Our brains are naturally going to start to adapt what we're being fed." – Keenan Hart

Mental health in itself is a unique process of understanding what is going to be supportive and fulfilling for us and the things that will give us the opportunity and safe place to be able to grow." – Keenan Hart

Connect with Keenan via the following:

• Website: https://fransis.us/

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%A6%8Dkeenan-hart%F0%9F%92%9C-65419811a

• Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089218045804

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@keenanheart

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keenanheart/

• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KeenanHeart

Unlearn The Lies About Mental Health is Hosted by Abraham Sculley

• Contact Speaks 2 Inspire to learn about S2I programs: https://speaks2inspire.com/services/.

• Mental health resources for students: https://speaks2inspire.com/resources/.

• Connect with Abraham on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abrahamsculley/.

• Order a copy of Unlearn The Lies https://amzn.to/32B2jRh.

• Join the Unlearn The Lies About Mental Health Facebook group: https://bit.ly/UTLcommunity.

This episode is powered by Speaks 2 Inspire, the mental health solution for young adults 

suffering in silence. Speaks 2 Inspire works with colleges and universities to create and 

implement safe, comprehensive programs for campuses across the nation.

If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis, don't hesitate to get in touch 

with the Crisis Text Line by texting "Home" to 741741 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

by calling 1-800-273-8255.