Shownotes
In this episode of Finding Your Balance, Tiffani Fritzsche and Kirk Fasshauer shift the conversation from risk factors to protective factors—the strengths, habits, and supports that help build resilience and improve mental well-being.
From strong social connections and a sense of purpose to physical wellness and creating supportive environments, this episode explores both the factors we may already have and the ones we can intentionally develop. Whether you're looking to strengthen your own mental health or support someone else, this episode offers encouragement, insight, and actionable steps to help you find your balance.
Transcripts
00:00 Tiffani
Thank you for joining us at Finding Your Balance, a mental health podcast. My name is Tiffani
00:04 Tiffani
Fritzsche. I'm a mental health counselor. I'm joined with Kirk Fosshauer, licensed clinical social
00:08 Tiffani
worker, and we are here to jump into our next series regarding protective factors.
00:14 Tiffani
Now, if you joined us before, you heard us talk about risk factors and warning signs associated
00:18 Tiffani
with suicide awareness. Now we're on the other end of it. What can we do to strengthen your
00:23 Tiffani
resilience? What are protective factors that you may already have that will help you strengthen
00:28 Tiffani
your mental health? Right, exactly. So, hi, Tiffani. Hi, Kirk.
00:34 Kirk
You know, protective factors, you know, we've thrown that term around not just with suicide but
00:41 Kirk
even general mental health. And so what is it that we mean? So we're talking about those inner
00:46 Kirk
strengths, those conditions, those skills that you have that reduce and maybe even promote.
00:55 Kirk
mental well-being. So it's kind of, you know, with the last topic being kind of heavy,
01:01 Kirk
it's good to, and most of our topics can be rather heavy, but it's good to sit back and take a look
01:07 Kirk
at what are those things that we do to take care of ourselves? And what are the things that are
01:11 Tiffani
already there that maybe you don't realize is a protective factor? Correct. Some things that we do
01:17 Kirk
take for granted we don't realize are protective factors that we have.
01:23 Kirk
Grown up with, right? There's just, oh, that's what I always do. Yeah, believe it or not, that's a
01:28 Kirk
protective factor. Whether your parents did it knowingly or whether it was just something they did
01:35 Kirk
instinctually or because their parents did it or they had an experience that I'm going to do it
01:41 Kirk
differently. These are all things that can be there. So protective factors matter in our lives
01:48 Kirk
because Yes, we all experience stress. We all experience hardships and change.
01:55 Kirk
And that's just part of life. That's the human condition. Welcome to it. But protective factors,
02:02 Kirk
they don't eliminate these challenges. What they do is they help us to cope,
02:09 Kirk
to adapt, and to recover when those challenges come before us.
02:14 Kirk
And they give us... sometimes a different way to look at these challenges and walk through those
02:20 Kirk
experiences as we have them. And some protective factors are stronger than others.
02:28 Kirk
Some of us have stronger protective factors, which is great. But the stronger the protective
02:34 Kirk
factor, the better the overall mental health and mental well-being we experience. So when I think
02:40 Tiffani
about kids, so a lot of my world is working with kids and adolescents, a lot of the protective
02:45 Tiffani
factors that I see are things that the kids have no control over. So sometimes it's finances.
02:51 Tiffani
You do not decide which family you're born into. You do not decide which economic bracket you're
02:57 Tiffani
born into. And it makes a difference. It does. It does. It's access to care,
03:03 Kirk
the kind of care you get. And especially in our day and age where, you know,
03:08 Kirk
most households are two-income families. That's a struggle. And, you know,
03:14 Kirk
even my upbringing was in a two-income household. And that wasn't as common as it is now.
03:23 Kirk
That makes a difference. It makes a difference. And it's hard because you don't decide. And it's
03:29 Tiffani
not fair. Some protective factors, they are what they are. I know medical is another one.
03:35 Tiffani
If you have certain conditions in your family that run in the family, good health is a protective
03:42 Kirk
factor. Right. Exactly. Also understand that protective factors are not something that is
03:49 Kirk
necessarily a trait. We're talking about some of those traits that are, but it's not just a trait.
03:54 Kirk
They're not fixed. The protective factors are things you can develop. So in the absence of…
04:01 Kirk
Having that experience, you can develop your own protective factors. You can start engaging into
04:06 Kirk
some certain things. So what are some key protective factors we can talk about?
04:12 Kirk
Well, first of all, there's strong social connection. I think we've talked about isolation a lot.
04:18 Kirk
So what does that look like in the opposite, that social connection? Okay,
04:23 Kirk
so there can be healthy and unhealthy social connections, right? So there's that. There's healthy
04:28 Kirk
coping skills, and we can talk specifically about various coping skills. A sense of purpose or
04:34 Kirk
meaning. Do you have that sense of purpose or meaning? What is that for you? And that's so life
04:39 Tiffani
-giving because there are so many things that are outside of your control, but there are so many
04:43 Tiffani
things that you can improve if you make that intentional effort. And it's not easy.
04:49 Kirk
It's not. Some of this stuff does take some work. It's not just going to happen overnight.
04:55 Kirk
It's not going to be like, I decide now I'm going to do this. You've got to work at it.
05:00 Kirk
You've got to work at it. Be intentional. Be mindful. Find your balance.
05:06 Kirk
That's what we're all about. There's physical wellness kind of habits that people can get into.
05:12 Kirk
We can get into some of that. And that safe and supportive environments that we can create for
05:18 Kirk
ourselves.
05:20 Kirk
So those are some of the protective factors we can talk about right now. And social connectedness
05:27 Kirk
in particular, these are supportive relationships. Having a supportive relationship,
05:33 Kirk
those buffer some of those stressors, and they foster that sense of belonging we've talked about in
05:40 Kirk
previous episodes and even last season. We talked specifically about being a part of something
05:47 Kirk
greater than oneself.
05:50 Kirk
social groups. So when we talk about supportive relationships, we can talk about those primary
05:56 Kirk
groups, family, extended family. Yes, they can be wonderful supports or they,
06:04 Kirk
for some people, that's not an option. That's fine. But we got peer groups, friends,
06:10 Kirk
mentors. Co-workers, right? Co-workers, community groups. Those are more secondary kind of in
06:17 Kirk
nature, but those are things that we have available to us and access to us.
06:23 Kirk
With the access of social media and the different ways we can connect through the computer,
06:32 Kirk
that's one form of connection.
06:37 Kirk
Many positive things come from that as well. Having those kinds of supports in our lives,
06:45 Kirk
you know, they make time to make, we need to make some time.
06:50 Kirk
It allows us that opportunity to make meaningful connections. We have a lot of surface level
06:57 Kirk
connections, but meaningful connections. Having that conversation is about some difficult things
07:02 Kirk
going on in your life, maybe, or you can feel free and comfortable of talking to somebody about
07:07 Kirk
whatever.
07:10 Kirk
It's the kind of conversation you're having where all of a sudden time has gone by.
07:15 Kirk
It's like, oh, my God, three hours have gone by. We've got to go do something else. But those kinds
07:20 Kirk
of things, and people will understand if you've experienced that, you know, hey, when those good
07:25 Kirk
conversations are happening, time does go by fast. It also gives you the opportunity to practice
07:31 Kirk
empathy and gratitude, both receiving and giving.
07:38 Kirk
in those cases. And it's a good way, good opportunities for you to ask for the support,
07:45 Kirk
the help, and to offer help. So it goes kind of both ways, you know. And I think with protective
07:50 Tiffani
factors, a lot of it, you talked a few minutes ago about having the opportunity to create new
07:57 Tiffani
practices, create new rituals. if you will. One of them, like you said, with gratitude, it's as
08:03 Tiffani
easy as you wake up in the morning, you're brushing your teeth, you're thinking about your day,
08:08 Tiffani
and you think of one thing you're thankful for. And that may sound like, well, I don't have time
08:13 Tiffani
for that. Well, hopefully everyone's brushing their teeth in the morning while you're brushing your
08:18 Tiffani
teeth. It's just those simple practices that they turned into something bigger. The healthiness.
08:24 Tiffani
I'm the worst about drinking water, and it's always hard for me to remember. And I have it around
08:28 Tiffani
all the time, and I never remember to drink it. And just those simple things of, okay, I need to
08:34 Tiffani
care enough about myself. I need to be a good steward with myself that I'm willing to take the time
08:41 Tiffani
and the initiative to implement this practice because I deserve it. Because if you entrusted me
08:46 Tiffani
with someone else, well, gosh, I would fight hard to advocate and protect and make sure they had
08:51 Tiffani
everything they needed. I'm entrusted with stewarding myself. And so why do I fight and advocate
08:57 Tiffani
and make sure for the other person that maybe we cut corners for ourself? Yeah, sometimes it's hard
09:02 Kirk
to hold up a mirror. It's so hard, right? And so with those protective factors, I think it just
09:08 Tiffani
brings you that sense of hope that no matter where I started, I have the opportunity and everybody
09:13 Tiffani
has different opportunities, but I have the opportunity to try to make my world a little bit.
09:19 Tiffani
better, a little bit safer by creating that safe space for me.
09:24 Tiffani
And like you said, a lot of it starts with community, finding that connection, finding a purpose.
09:29 Tiffani
And those are not like easy things. They're hard, but they can be accomplished if you If you really
09:37 Tiffani
focus on what can I do today? And maybe all I can do today is wake up and brush my teeth and think
09:43 Tiffani
of one thing I'm thankful for. Right. And then maybe tomorrow I can do something different. But
09:47 Tiffani
slowly you start to build that protective environment where you feel a little bit safer and you're
09:52 Kirk
not alone. Right. Right. You know, what you're talking about is being purposeful and intentional,
10:01 Kirk
which is mindfulness. And we've talked about mindfulness in previous episodes of our podcast.
10:08 Kirk
You know, it's something we can practice. And again, it's intentional to practice,
10:14 Kirk
but it doesn't take a lot of time. People think, oh, I don't have the time, like you said, with
10:19 Kirk
practicing gratitude.
10:21 Kirk
Just looking at yourself and saying, hey, it's going to be a good day. You know, saying one thing
10:27 Kirk
you're thankful for. Positive affirmation. I do this pretty good.
10:33 Kirk
Those things, that's being intentional and mindful.
10:38 Kirk
Practicing ways to relax.
10:42 Kirk
While we were on break during our tapings here,
10:48 Kirk
we talked about goat yoga. So there you go. That's something new.
10:55 Kirk
that you tried, right? I sure did. And it was kind of interesting. And you were there,
11:00 Kirk
and I saw some of the photos. It looks like it was a good time, nice day and everything. But that's
11:05 Kirk
trying to do something creative. That's a creative outlet. It doesn't have to be all finger paints
11:12 Kirk
and writing and all that. Doing something that sounds strange. Let's try it. You did.
11:18 Kirk
And maybe it's for you. Maybe it's not. Maybe you'll continue it. Maybe you won't. But at least you
11:23 Kirk
experienced something different and new. And that does change kind of the way our brains work when
11:28 Kirk
we try something new. And it helps us relax. It helps you get a different perspective on things.
11:35 Kirk
And you start to think differently about problem solving and stuff like this, which are good coping
11:40 Kirk
mechanisms, you know.
11:44 Kirk
Be intentional about avoiding some of those harmful behaviors like overusing,
11:50 Kirk
you know, substances like alcohol, things like this, of pulling away from that social
11:57 Kirk
connectedness. We talk about pulling away from family, pulling away from friends and things like
12:02 Tiffani
this. Well, and that's hard, especially over the holidays, because, you know, sometimes you're in
12:07 Tiffani
situations, especially if you're a young adult, going back home for the holidays, it can be really
12:10 Tiffani
hard to. to set those healthy boundaries, especially with family members.
12:15 Tiffani
And later on in the season, we'll talk more about how you set healthy boundaries and relationships,
12:20 Tiffani
whether they be family members or otherwise. But knowing that you deserve to have a safe space and
12:26 Tiffani
you deserve to have your boundaries respected, and regardless of your age, you deserve to feel
12:32 Kirk
respected. Yeah, and the holidays are extra challenging because there's... and all that.
12:38 Kirk
And we can talk about that in another episode as well, how the holidays impact us.
12:45 Kirk
So, yeah, you're right. It's looking at all the way we go back into our family and we go right back
12:53 Kirk
to what we were. So you leave here at 25 going back home.
13:00 Kirk
You're back to being 10 again because you're treated that way when you go back home. It can be
13:04 Kirk
hard. It can be. It can be challenging because you've gone off and done your own thing and then you
13:08 Kirk
go home again and it's like, I don't understand.
13:12 Kirk
We talked about one of the protective factors being having a sense of purpose and meaning.
13:19 Kirk
And what that kind of looks like is having a sense of direction that you have in your life.
13:27 Kirk
How motivated you are to move certain things? Do you have certain goals? It can be found either in
13:33 Kirk
relationships or in work, volunteering, or just doing something that you want to do,
13:39 Kirk
learn something new, you know, and growing personally. So it doesn't have to involve other people,
13:46 Kirk
but just what you want to do with yourself, you know. And that gives you a stronger sense of self
13:52 Kirk
and reduces those hopelessness feelings that we can sometimes get when we get inundated with issue
14:02 Kirk
after issue. And it comes and goes in waves because we've all experienced that, you know. Things
14:07 Kirk
will go along smoothly for a while, and yay, yay, yay, we're at the top, we're doing great. And
14:10 Kirk
then the next wave hits, boom, and it's negativity, negativity. It's like, oh, my God. And it can
14:15 Kirk
wear you down. It can beat you down. But practicing some of these skills to develop protective
14:24 Kirk
factors, can help kind of lift you up and try to make doing things with a purpose normal,
14:33 Kirk
make it part of your everyday life. Well, and sometimes it can be so hard to give yourself grace
14:40 Tiffani
when you're not there yet. Yes, it is. I was at a conference a couple of months ago. You were at
14:46 Tiffani
the same conference, and there was a speaker who talked about how one of her clients was struggling
14:51 Tiffani
with motivation to brush their teeth.
14:54 Tiffani
They were kind of troubleshooting and figuring out, okay, this is a very real barrier. This is a
14:59 Tiffani
real struggle for you or struggle. What can we do to get you where you need to be? And they figured
15:05 Tiffani
out, oh my gosh, if I just had a toothbrush everywhere I was in my purse, by my bed, wherever I am,
15:10 Tiffani
I can just do it then. And they found this pre-pasted.
15:16 Tiffani
You know, single-use toothbrushes, which are terrible for the planet, but, like, it is what it is.
15:22 Tiffani
And this was in an open conference. She said that the client said, well,
15:27 Tiffani
gosh, I feel guilty using these because, like, man, isn't this bad?
15:32 Tiffani
And the therapist said she looked at her and she said, I'm not interested in saving the planet if
15:38 Tiffani
you're not on it. And that cut to the core of, like, wow. Wow,
15:43 Tiffani
what a statement. That was good. Let's meet you wherever you are and have grace wherever you are.
15:51 Tiffani
Whatever protective factor you need in that moment, let's get you there and bring you past that
15:57 Tiffani
when you're ready. And if that means having... toothbrushes, let's do it. Yeah. Until you're ready
16:03 Tiffani
for the next step, let's do it. I'm there where you are, wherever you need to be, and then let's go
16:07 Tiffani
to the next step. And so it hit me so hard because sometimes we set ourselves up for failure
16:13 Tiffani
because we try to push ourselves to a step that we're not ready for. Right. And then we criticize
16:19 Tiffani
and say, well, look at that. Right. Couldn't do it. Couldn't do it. When really you can do it,
16:25 Tiffani
but you just haven't done it yet. Right. And so if we can get to the place where you have grace
16:31 Tiffani
where you are, and then you can move forward. Absolutely. You know, that's a way of taking care of
16:37 Kirk
yourself is giving yourself grace. And that protective factor, what do I need right now to take
16:43 Tiffani
care of myself? And a lot of times, like you've said before, it goes to that sense of purpose.
16:49 Tiffani
I need to know that I'm seen. I need to know that I matter. And two of the best ways to…
16:55 Tiffani
get that need met is through connection and purpose. Right, right. So another protective factor I
17:02 Kirk
mentioned is the physical wellness habits, a.k.a. exercise.
17:07 Kirk
I didn't say exercise because it's more than that. It's more than that. It's not just about
17:13 Kirk
exercise.
17:16 Kirk
When we say exercise, people think of going to Gold's Gym and lifting weights. No,
17:21 Kirk
no, it's not. Not what I mean here. So really rephrasing it as physical wellness habits.
17:28 Kirk
We're talking about a much larger picture. I'm referring to a much larger picture, such as,
17:34 Kirk
you know, the body is connected to the mind. The head and body are attached to each other.
17:41 Kirk
Yes, people, it's all together. We're not a Lego set. They all have to work together.
17:48 Kirk
And when they're working together, it's great. So ways to kind of, you know,
17:55 Kirk
build resiliency there or start practicing that is, you know, taking a look at your sleep habits.
18:00 Kirk
What are they like? Are you getting enough sleep? You know, sleep habits is a good thing.
18:06 Kirk
Regular movement. Notice I didn't say exercise. I said regular movement.
18:12 Kirk
Often when I do a talk on relieving stress and... doing exercise and stuff like this.
18:18 Kirk
I'm not talking about that Gold's Gym thing. I was just get out of your chair and walk around.
18:25 Kirk
You know, movement. And a lot of our work nowadays is stuck with a computer. Change the scenery.
18:32 Kirk
Just turn your head. That can be enough sometimes. But regular movement, I mean, getting out of the
18:37 Kirk
chair and just walking around the office, walking down the hall, walking around the building. Just
18:42 Kirk
go for a little walk, that kind of thing. Talk about nutrition.
18:48 Kirk
Look at your food intake. What you put in your body can affect how you think and how you feel.
18:56 Kirk
And actually, I think we're going to have a guest speaker come in and share with us that whole
19:01 Kirk
process about nutrition and things like this. And be aware of your screen time.
19:07 Kirk
I'm guilty of that. I don't always pay attention to that and get sucked into the time.
19:15 Kirk
That is the doom scrolling of various things out there on YouTube.
19:20 Tiffani
And that's so hard. We've talked about those, you know, automatic negative thoughts. But a lot of
19:25 Tiffani
times, whatever you focus on is what's going to get bigger. And if you are on social media or on
19:31 Tiffani
the Internet and you're focusing on problems or destruction or sadness or pain,
19:38 Tiffani
you know, it's important to understand what's going on in the world. Absolutely. Because you live
19:42 Tiffani
in the world. But it's also important to be mindful of what you allow to constantly enter your
19:47 Tiffani
mind, what you allow to entertain your heart, because it absolutely affects your mood.
19:54 Kirk
Yeah, absolutely. You're correct. I know it does. So, you know,
19:59 Kirk
people think, well, I'm just going to change this, make this big habit. And it's like, don't make
20:04 Kirk
big changes, make small changes, you know, little things, maybe. OK, so go for a walk.
20:11 Kirk
for about 15 minutes once a day. Well, that's not going to do anything. You'll be surprised at how
20:17 Kirk
much that does. And you start to do it more and more, and it gets longer and longer.
20:22 Kirk
And it replaces something like doom scrolling, you know, when you find those little niches of time.
20:29 Tiffani
Or maybe, you know, if you have a lunch break, go eat outside. Yeah. You know, go sit outside and
20:34 Tiffani
just be still. I think for me, a lot of what helps, you know, you kind of build in those self-care
20:40 Tiffani
routines, if you will. And one of the things that I really try to do is carve in those many moments
20:46 Tiffani
of self-care kind of throughout the day. And maybe it looks like when I'm driving home from work,
20:51 Tiffani
I turn off the radio and I let my brain rest. Or maybe it looks like when I'm at lunch,
20:56 Tiffani
I'm not scrolling on my phone, right? I'm taking a minute and I'm being fully present. Just trying
21:02 Tiffani
to, even if you're in conversations with people, trying to be fully present instead of
21:05 Tiffani
multitasking. And you'll notice how difficult it can be if you're used to multitasking. I got so
21:11 Tiffani
many things to do. But the quality of your connection is so much different if you are... all in
21:16 Tiffani
when you're in those moments. So part of what you're talking about there is really another
21:22 Kirk
protective factor is creating that supportive environment that allows for that.
21:29 Kirk
Shutting off the computer, stepping away from it for a few minutes, to have your lunch. Going
21:34 Kirk
outside, we live in Florida, so there's opportunities for us to go outside, sit under a tree,
21:40 Kirk
and, you know, have our lunch, or just go outside, sit under a tree, you know,
21:45 Kirk
to have that. So other things you can do to really start to create an environment that is
21:53 Kirk
supportive is... Encourage open communication with one another, with those around you.
22:00 Kirk
Promote acceptance and respect for one another. And understand there's going to be different
22:05 Kirk
viewpoints. We're not always going to agree. Even the best of friends don't agree on everything.
22:12 Kirk
But what makes them good friends is the fact that we understand we have those differences and we
22:18 Kirk
talk through them. And there's those opportunities where you need to understand. It's okay that we
22:24 Kirk
can agree to disagree.
22:27 Kirk
And we've got a climate out there that tends to be more adversarial when trying to discuss our
22:34 Kirk
differences rather than just talk about those differences and understand we're different. We're all
22:40 Kirk
different.
22:42 Kirk
Getting out there and educating ourselves on stigma and reducing those stereotypes that are…
22:48 Kirk
being promoted all over the place, quite honestly. You know, and being mindful that those
22:54 Kirk
stereotypes exist and we're being bombarded with those stereotypes left and right and understanding
23:00 Kirk
that's not the whole picture. Sometimes it's not even the accurate picture.
23:06 Kirk
So, you know, think about that and fostering a sense of…
23:13 Kirk
part of you know we're part of a larger team things like this and then knowing when you need to
23:19 Kirk
reach out we talk about this constantly throughout our our podcast is you know knowing those
23:25 Kirk
resources that are out there do you know who you can turn to that you trust so much to open up to
23:32 Kirk
talking to a trusted friend do you know where those support groups are that many communities have
23:38 Kirk
most people don't know about Peace River Center services, you know, because they never had to
23:44 Kirk
access them. But it's, you know, and then when they do, people only have a frame of reference of
23:50 Kirk
how they have accessed the services at Peace River Center or other counseling community mental
23:56 Kirk
health organizations, you know. And so taking... opportunity to educate oneself on what's
24:02 Kirk
available. And some resource we can give you right now that can help you with that is 211.
24:08 Kirk
They're large, and that's true in any community. 211, you dial 211, they know largely about several
24:16 Kirk
community resources, about housing, about food, about finances,
24:22 Kirk
mental health counseling, substance use counseling. So there's a lot of things that folks can get
24:29 Kirk
into. And it's okay to seek help, you know, especially some of the heavier topics we talked about.
24:36 Kirk
There's resources like 988. That's a lifeline for those who are contemplating suicide.
24:42 Kirk
We've got our own crisis line at Peace River Center. Crisis line, our emotional support line is a
24:47 Kirk
-:24:54 Kirk
you know all come together and they all interact and they overlap. So you can't,
25:00 Kirk
oh, I'm just going to focus on this. And if that's how you operate and how you work, great. Focus
25:04 Kirk
on one thing, slowly build that. But other things, sometimes when you focus on the one, one heavy
25:10 Kirk
thing that you want to do, do it, do it to the best of your ability. Sometimes those other
25:14 Kirk
protective factors come in. Like if you decide to do a new hobby. Next thing you know, you get
25:19 Kirk
another layer of social support because you have friends around that hobby. You start interacting
25:25 Kirk
with other people who are interested in the same thing. So you usually,
25:31 Kirk
when you're working, again, protective factors are something you can build. It's not something
25:36 Kirk
that's inherent.
25:39 Kirk
Sometimes it's a habit that your parents or your grandparents and so forth, your family have given
25:44 Kirk
you, that we kind of take for granted. But if you take small steps to build your resiliency,
25:51 Kirk
it doesn't have to be huge, small steps, little at a time, like I mentioned before, 15-minute
25:57 Tiffani
walk, there you go. Well, and sometimes it's just kind of being honest with yourself and
26:02 Tiffani
identifying, what do I need? What do I need when I'm done at the end of the day or during the day?
26:08 Tiffani
That makes me feel safe. And if you stop and listen, usually you know that it pops into your mind
26:16 Tiffani
and you say, I'm so tired or I feel alone or whatever it may be for you.
26:23 Tiffani
I think that our body and our minds are so smart and they can't always do it on their own.
26:28 Tiffani
And so that's why you ask for help. And a lot of our podcast has been talking about if you are that
26:33 Tiffani
friend, if you're that sister, if you're that brother, but if you're listening. And this is
26:38 Tiffani
resonating for you that this is for you. Right. That is so valuable because these resources are
26:45 Tiffani
here for anyone. Sometimes it's so much easier to help the person around you, and it's harder to
26:51 Tiffani
help yourself because we have a tendency of dismissing what we need or pushing down our needs to
26:56 Tiffani
help the people around us. But you are just as valuable as anybody that you would hope to help.
27:01 Tiffani
And so if these resources or things that you're hearing and you think, man, that might help me,
27:06 Tiffani
that could be for me.Please reach out because these resources are available and the people on the
27:13 Tiffani
other end of those lines are happy to help. Absolutely, absolutely. And that's really kind of the
27:17 Kirk
purpose of our podcast is, you know, get the word out there to get you thinking about these things,
27:23 Kirk
to make it much more intentional in your life, whether it is for you specifically or for somebody
27:30 Kirk
you know. I mean, it's all the way around to get out there. Talk about these things like,
27:37 Kirk
hey, you know, I heard this on this podcast, this little podcast out there. They're talking about
27:42 Kirk
finding your balance and doing A, B, and C. And those protective factors really are the,
27:49 Tiffani
I guess, the premise behind the name of our podcast that life changes constantly.
27:54 Tiffani
And you have to constantly be, you know, finding the new balance and the new season of what do I
27:59 Tiffani
need now? Because the season that I'm in now might be completely different than the season that I
28:03 Tiffani
just left and the season that I'm going into. What do I need now to have that balance?
28:09 Tiffani
And maybe it's finding a new community. Maybe it's finding a new support system. Maybe it's
28:14 Tiffani
developing a support system for the first time. Whatever you need, reach out,
28:19 Tiffani
ask for help, ask for those things. And there is a community of support waiting for you.
28:24 Kirk
Absolutely. Absolutely. So thank you for joining us on this talk about protective factors.
