A life-changing “yes” doesn’t always come with a plan or even a passport. Sometimes it begins with a dream...quite literally.  

Jamie L. Nappi joins us in the driveway to tell the story of how an unexpected invitation to travel to Vietnam open her ideas about facing fear, leadership, and what it really means to learn from another community. Her guiding mantra from Thich Nhat Hanh “Fearlessness is not only possible, it is the ultimate joy. When you touch non-fear, you are free”. 

Jamie brings years of clinical social work experience plus doctoral-level research to a question global education often avoids: how do we build study abroad programs that are ethical, rights-based, and genuinely collaborative? 

We dig into servant leadership, bi-directional learning, and the practical tools she has built for a Vietnam faculty-led study abroad course including a geopolitical positionality self-assessment and a human rights checklist rooted in participation, non-discrimination, strength-based practice, capacity building, activism, and accountability. The goal is simple and hard: center host voices, slow down, and stop confusing “helping” with imposing. We also get real about the risks: saviorism, orientalism, and how social media can turn people into content. Jamie shares why consent and dignity matter in photography, and why sharing images raise urgent questions about privacy, self-determination, and who benefits from a story being told.

If you care about ethical travel, human rights-based social work, or study abroad done right, subscribe, share this conversation with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find us.

Special thanks:

We could not have got started without Ellen and her fabulous branding and photos. If you need a photographer or graphic designer, esnapsone@gmail.com

Johnny Peacock Music for the music into/outro. Looking for a custom sound? Reach out to Johnny.  johnnypeacockmusic@gmail.com 

My cousin Gab for sharing your expertise. The best resource and expert to help pull this together. For any podcast assistance, contact gabdac@gmail.com 

Monmouth University: School of Social Work; Department of Communication (WXCM 88.9FM); and the Department of Psychology for all your support. Go Hawks

My capstone committee, and my fabulous professors and mentors, for pushing me past my comfort zone

“Team B” for supporting this…so honored to know you all

Special thanks to my children, just because <3

humanUpNJ

Your body keeps score long after your shift ends and sometimes it forces you to listen. I’m joined by Shantice Wright, a Trenton raised social worker, quality assurance analyst, doctoral candidate in social work and human rights leadership, and the founder of Wright Holistic Realms LLC, to talk about what it really costs to stay on autopilot in high stress helping professions. Shantice shares the moment her “big girl job” in child welfare collided with a life threatening spinal infection, months of recovery, and the shock of having to relearn how to walk. From there, we unpack the everyday patterns so many of us normalize: not sleeping, not drinking water, eating whatever is fastest, never doing anything fun, and feeling unable to say no because of power dynamics, people pleasing, or fear of looking incompetent. We connect burnout, compassion fatigue, and nervous system overload to the ethical reality that we cannot provide safe, high quality care when we are depleted.

We also zoom out to the system. Shantice explains how her capstone links intersectionality, child welfare leadership, and human rights, including why representation matters, how racial disproportionalities intensify stress for staff and families, and why she advocates for cultural humility rather than “cultural competence.” Finally, she walks through holistic wellness practices she uses and teaches, plus what you can find through her business, including mentorship and community resources designed to help helpers thrive. If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a colleague who’s carrying too much, and leave a review with one boundary you’re committing to this week.

Book List: (just for fun) Hidden Pictures-Jason Rekulak; None Of This Is True-Lisa Jewell; The Only One Left-Riley Sager; Razorblade Tears- S.A. Cosby; That’s Not My Name-Megan Lally.

How to reach Shantice:

Website: www.wrightholisticrealmsllc.org

Email: connecthere@wrightholisticrealmsllc.org

YouTube: @wrightholisticrealmsllc

Instagram: @wrightholisticrealmsllc

FaceBook: wrightholisticrealmsllc

Tiktok: @wrightholisticrealmsllc

X: @wrighthrllc

-----------

Special thanks:

We could not have got started without Ellen and her fabulous branding and photos. If you need a photographer or graphic designer, esnapsone@gmail.com

Johnny Peacock Music for the music. Looking for a custom sound? Reach out to Johnny.  johnnypeacockmusic@gmail.com 

My cousin Gab for sharing your expertise. The best resource and expert to help pull this together. For any podcast assistance, contact gabdac@gmail.com 

Monmouth University: School of Social Work; Department of Communication (WXCM 88.9FM); and the Department of Psychology for all your support. Go Hawks

My capstone committee, and my fabulous professors and mentors, for pushing me past my comfort zone

“Team B” for supporting this…so honored to know you all

Special thanks to my children, just because <3

humanUpNJ

A lot of people assume that when the time comes, end-of-life care will simply be there: a safe place, the right meds, and someone to guide the family through. The reality can be far harsher. We’re joined by Alison “Ali” Kepple, MSW, LSW, ACHP-SW, a certified hospice and palliative care social worker, end-of-life doula, and psychopomp, to name what too many patients and families only learn in a crisis: coverage is complicated, and the biggest gaps often show up at the exact moment you can least afford them.

We break down the difference between hospice care and palliative care, why the Medicare hospice benefit covers some things but not others, and how out-of-pocket room and board fees can reach hundreds of dollars per day in hospice houses or skilled nursing facilities. We also talk about what happens when someone is “ready for hospice” but cannot go home due to caregiving needs, housing insecurity, or lack of funds and why some patients end up pushed into unsafe or exhausting workarounds.

From the social work side, Ali shares what she’s seeing across New Jersey through her capstone research: moral distress, pressure to discharge, and systemic incentives like hospital morbidity and mortality metrics that can shape where people die. We end by reframing the entire conversation around human rights: death care is health care, and everyone deserves the chance at a good death with comfort, dignity, and support.

Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help more people find these conversations. What do you think should change first so access to end-of-life care isn’t decided by money?

Resources:

International Federation of Social Workers. (2025, April, 14). Health. IFSW.org. https://www.ifsw.org/health/

Singh, S., Furman, C. D., Flint, L. A. & Teno, J. (2026). Rehab and death: Improving end-of- life care for Medicare skilled nursing facility beneficiaries. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 74(1), 26-32      https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.70067

United Nations, (1966). International covenant of economic, social and cultural rights. https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights  

United Nations. (2025, March 7). Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages. UN.org. https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal3

World Health Organization. (2020). Palliative Care. WHO.int. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/palliative-care

Special thanks:

• Alison Kepple, for sharing her expertise, grace, and compassion.
• Ellen for her fabulous branding and photos. If you need a photographer or graphic designer, esnapsone@gmail.com
• Johnny for the music into/outro. Looking for a custom sound? Reach out to  johnnypeacockmusic@gmail.com 
• My cousin Gab for sharing your expertise. The best resource and expert to help pull this together. For any podcast assistance, contact gabdac@gmail.com 
• Monmouth University: School of Social Work; Department of Communication (WXCM 88.9FM); and the Department of Psychology for all your support. Go Hawks!
• My capstone committee, and my fabulous professors and mentors, for pushing me past my comfort zone
• “Team B” for your unending support.
• And, to my children~ just because. <3

humanUpNJ

What if the most misunderstood diagnosis in mental health is also one of the most treatable when we get the language, skills, and alliance right? Today we sit down with Ivelisses Cooke, LCSW, SIFI, C-DBT, and doctoral candidate—who brings both professional expertise and lived experience to a candid, compassionate look at borderline personality disorder (BPD).

We start by naming the problem: stigma that reduces people to “the borderline in room two.” Ivelisses (Eevee) explains why person-first language is not cosmetic; it’s clinical. She unpacks the nine DSM-5TR criteria, clarifies how BPD differs from bipolar disorder (think hours-to-days fluctuations vs weeks-long episodes), and shows how mislabeling derails care. 

From there, we get practical. Drawing on Wampold’s research on common factors, Eevee outlines the core of effective therapy (EVS): empathy, validation, and support. Then she layers in DBT’s engine—distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness—translating each into real-world tools like urge surfing and radical acceptance that help intense feelings crest and recede without causing harm.

The conversation then widens to a systems view. Media tropes and burnout can push clinicians toward cynical shorthand and avoidance. Eevee offers a different roadmap: person-centered care, intersectional assessment, and flexible use of modalities like schema therapy, CBT, and REBT alongside DBT. She anchors it all in a human rights framework, reminding us that Article 25 (UN, 1948) affirms access to quality mental health care as a basic right. We also talk authenticity in the therapy room, when careful self-disclosure helps reduce shame, and how many people move into remission or live with features rather than the full syndrome as skills and supports grow.
 
If you’re a clinician, student, or someone navigating BPD, you’ll leave with language that heals, skills you can practice today, and a hopeful, grounded vision of what remission can look like. 

 “Educational and informational purposes only. If you are experiencing symptoms, please speak to your mental health expert or your physician”

Thank you Ivelisses Cooke for sharing your story, knowledge and expertise. For further information, visit her website: IvelissesCooke.wix.com 

~Donna

Always special thanks:

Ellen for her fabulous branding and photos. If you need a photographer or graphic designer, esnapsone@gmail.com

Johnny Peacock Music for the music into/outro. Looking for a custom sound? Reach out to Johnny.  johnnypeacockmusic@gmail.com 

My cousin Gab for sharing your expertise. The best resource and expert to help pull this together. For any podcast assistance, contact gabdac@gmail.com 

Monmouth University: School of Social Work; Department of Communication (WXCM 88.9FM); and the Department of Psychology for all your support. Go Hawks

My capstone committee, and my fabulous professors and mentors, for pushing me past my comfort zone

“Team B” for your unending support.

And, to my children~ just because.

References:

Chapman, A.L. & Gratz, K.L. (2013) Borderline personality Disorder. A guide for the newly diagnosed. New Harbinger Publications

Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. Guilford Press.

Linehan, M. M. (1987). Dialectical behavioral therapy: A cognitive behavioral approach to parasuicide. Journal of Personality Disorders, 1(4), 328-333.

UN General Assembly. (1948). The universal declaration of human rights. https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

Wampold, B. E. (2015). How important are the common factors in psychotherapy?

humanUpNJ

In this episode, my mentor, colleague, and friend, Dr. Michael Kaufman, MSW, reflects on his journey as a helping professional and educational and organizational leader. 

Dr. Mike has worked in psychiatric settings, schools, and clinics, with Veterans, with people with PTSD, abandoned children, and, of course, in special education, while mentoring many people along the way. His formal training in accounting, social work, and clinical psychology has led to a successful career building outstanding support services for children, adolescents, and adults, grounded in a strengths-based perspective and elevating others. 

Adding author to his list of accomplishments, “Doing good & doing well- Inspiring Helping Professionals to Become Leaders in their Organizations,” shares lessons from a 30+ year career through personal stories and lived experiences. It aims to inspire helpers to exercise the power they already possess and to pursue a fruitful, fulfilling path of professional development and organizational leadership.  

I have personally called Dr. Mike's book “A must-read for any helper who truly wants to be the change that makes a difference-you will be so inspired to step into your purpose with integrity and live the life of your dreams.” Helpers, we can do it!

May he inspire you as much as he has inspired me.

~Donna

Show Resources

• You can reach Dr. Mike at https://www.michaellkaufman.com/author
• You can find the book here:
  • https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/doing-good-and-doing-well-9798216205753/
  • https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/doing-good-and-doing-well-michael-l-kaufman/1143512095
  • https://www.amazon.com/Doing-Good-Well-Professionals-Organizations-ebook/dp/B0C5SHJCFH
• Pew Research Center https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/09/24/key-facts-about-public-school-teachers-in-the-u-s/
• Women's Empowerment Principles: Make Today Your Organization's Signature Moment on YouTube  https://youtu.be/TJKWwcoXduI 

References

Council on Social Work Education. (2023). 2022–2023 statistics on social work education in the United States. https://www.cswe.org/Research-Statistics/Research-Briefs-andPublications/2022-2023-Annual-Statistics-on-Social-Work-Education 

Kaufman, M. (2023). Doing Good and Doing Well: Inspiring Helping Professionals to Become Leaders in Their Organizations. Bloomsbury Publishing 

Special thanks:

Ellen for her fabulous branding and photos. If you need a photographer or graphic designer, esnapsone@gmail.com

Johnny Peacock Music for the music into/outro. Looking for a custom sound? Reach out to Johnny.  johnnypeacockmusic@gmail.com 

My cousin Gab for sharing your expertise. The best resource and expert to help pull this together. For any podcast assistance, contact gabdac@gmail.com 

Monmouth University: School of Social Work; Department of Communication (WXCM 88.9FM); and the Department of Psychology for all your support. Go Hawks

My capstone committee, and my fabulous professors and mentors, for pushing me past my comfort zone

“Team B” for your unending support.

And, to my children~ just because. 

humanUpNJ