Heath Poston

I attribute my success to the healing I received from my own therapist after my brother's suicide. Through doing the work myself, not expecting magic but actually working for it, I gained the ability to help someone else. Everything that happened, as far as healing goes and finding my purpose, all happened after such a tragic loss when my brother took his life. It was life-changing - I grew up that day. The lack of a support system during my grief actually pushed me even harder to find answers on my own. I couldn't get away from the need to understand what happened and why. Learning about mental health and suicide healed me, and that healing journey gave me the empathy, guidance, and hope I can now offer to my clients based on what worked for me.

The first thing I would say is take care of yourself - self-care is everything. Be empathetic, but also have that ability to differentiate what is yours and what is theirs so you can lead and guide effectively. You're about to hear some really, really tough things, and some of it creates judgment, so we have to be very careful to keep our prejudices or our judgment out - people are people, and you have to remember that. Be cautious of burnout, because burnout is really real, and vicarious trauma is very real too. Maintaining who you are and yourself through self-care, making sure you reward yourself and take time, means you can better serve your clients. Boundaries are so important - set them from the second, the first appointment that you have with someone. That way this is how it's tailored, always. There's a certain way to lead a session, and it becomes habitual. And be careful not to be emotionless or lose empathy. We carry sympathy, but empathy is what matters.

In both my professional and personal life, confidentiality is crucial - even in my personal life, I believe loyalty and trust is key, maybe the most important. I like to relate with my clients in a professional manner, being relatable and building rapport while being open. Boundaries are very, very important to me from the very beginning in both cases. My children know their boundaries, and there's respect there, but I also uphold my end of the stick too. Professionalism at work is key and important to me, along with empathy for what my clients may be facing, whether I have dealt with the same thing or not. Pretty much listening instead of talking - listen more is what I hear in my mind all the time, both personal and professional. They are a lot alike, there's just more emotion in my personal life, and I have to be careful about my emotions in my professional life because I could trigger someone or make it about me, and that's not the way it is. I try to maintain a grateful heart, because if you maintain a grateful heart, leisure comes with just living.