We’re happy to introduce a new segment in our newsletter, featured staff spotlights! This new feature will highlight a TR staff member so you can get to know the people behind our work. These interviews will offer a closer look at our staff and their experiences, perspectives, what drives their commitment to our mission, and the moments that make this work meaningful.
Meet Jacob, one of TR’s Outpatient Case Managers at TR. Jacob has been at Transitional Resources for just over a year, and he makes our TR team special with the dedication, creativity, and enthusiasm that he brings to the office each day. Continue reading to learn more Jacob!
Can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into the behavioral healthcare field?
I got my bachelor’s degree in anthropology, and I learned a lot about marginalized communities through history and to present day and the systems that impact them. Additionally, I’ve had my own experiences with mental health, and that was always something I was interested in.
I randomly decided to get a job at an inpatient evaluation and treatment facility and worked my way up from there and learned a lot on the job, so it just kind of happened. And here I am.
People with mental health issues face a lot more challenges, especially right now. From the anthropology perspective, it just follows that history of people being pushed to the sides and not being cared for and shut out of society. It has just always been something I wanted to be part of fixing and ultimately, preventing.
Can you share a bit about our clients and the challenges they face?
It’s really been eye-opening to learn that some tasks that seem simple and easy can be major obstacles to people living with serious mental illness. I work with clients who can barely go grocery shopping to take care of themselves because of how scared they are of the store and being around that many people, especially in a big city like Seattle.
A lot of the systems our clients need to interact with, like food stamps, insurance, social security, they require a lot of documentation and paperwork. Many of our clients are on social security, and this is my first job really dealing with social security income. It is a very complex system, and I’m often on the phone with them a lot and getting contradictory information from the people who are supposed to know what’s going on! I just can’t imagine being someone who, firstly, is relying on that money to live, but then also on top of that, having to sift through all the information alone and advocate for yourself while navigating symptoms of serious mental illness. It’s just really unfortunate it’s set up that way.
A big thing I get frustrated with is I’m helping people apply to programs that are supposed to be for people who have disabilities or a severe mental illness, but the system doesn’t take their behaviors into account. Many of our clients have schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or something similar, which by their definitions are thought disorders. Some mental health symptoms can make linear thinking difficult, which makes it hard to do things like find documentation, fill out paperwork, and follow up with tasks, all things that are important when applying for services. The way these systems work is you have to do everything in a concrete, step-by-step fashion. You have to fill out all kinds of paperwork, and for a lot of our clients, concentrating on these things is hard. Plus the stakes that are involved can make their anxiety a lot higher. I just wish that the system could be more accessible to the people it’s supposed to be helping. If people are applying for a program that’s supposed to be helping them, they should be able to do it on their own.
I am honored to work with people and help them get through this process, and I think I normalize their confusion and anxiety a lot because I tell them, “hey, I feel the same way.” Often we’re making these calls together, and while it can be tedious, we get through it and we eventually figure it out, and I think that is important.
What do you think makes TR special and helps us see such high success rates?
I think the agency size is a really big part of our success. We’re just a lot smaller compared to some of the bigger systems and programs that are out there. I think it just naturally lends itself to having closer relationships with everyone involved.
One thing that I really like about here is we kind of do a little bit of everything for our clients. In some of my previous jobs, it was very focused on just one specific part of treatment or whatever the case was, and here, we take a more holistic approach to helping people.
We honestly sometimes go beyond our bounds a little bit to take care of our clients, but there are not a lot of places who are willing to do a little bit of everything for people. [In my old jobs] it would always be referring people to a different program, then that comes along with all the paperwork, documentation, the coordination that goes into that itself. A referral to a different service for people could be a barrier just by the nature of having to go somewhere else for the support and care they need.
The people we serve do a lot better when they have things all in one spot, and I think that’s a really big part of why it works here [at TR].
Can you describe a specific example?
I have a client who, when I first came to TR, they were going to the emergency room a lot for seemingly minor physical problems. There was nothing ever physically wrong with them, but repeated trips can get really expensive for people. Even when people are on Medicare, there’s still co-pays, you still have to pay part of your bill, and that was really adding up for them.
They felt unheard by their providers and it really stressed them out, because they thought they something was seriously wrong with them but no one was listening. So, I began working with them to understand that our bodies feel weird and sometimes we have pain, and helping them understand what contributes to that and ways we could go about fixing it so they don’t feel weird anymore. I have been helping them learn to sit with discomfort a little bit better, teach them coping skills, and educate them more about what’s going on with their bodies and symptoms. We have a nurse who can educate clients on health issues more than I can, and we collaborate and think of ways to help clients understand their health and take care of themselves.
Previously, they were going to the ER almost every month, and now they haven’t gone to the emergency room for a few months now, which is a really big change for them. We’re still working on some things, but just in the year I’ve been here, there’s been a good amount of improvement because of the wraparound support we have for people.
What’s your favorite part about working here at TR?
I really like having variety in my day-to-day. I get really bored sitting at a desk all day or doing the same thing every day. I mean, routine is great, but some days I’m taking people to the doctor, to the dentist, grocery shopping. Sometimes I’m just getting lunch with somebody or taking them to go see a family member. Some days I do have desk days because that is an important part of our job, filling out the paperwork for people. I just like the variety.
Since we do a lot of wraparound stuff for people, there is always something to do. I’ve learned a lot from it and it’s also neat to see how having a hub for people to go to for almost everything is really helpful for them.
How would you describe the community here? Do you think our community plays a role in helping people improve?
I think the community here [at TR] is really special. A lot of our clients are friends with each other, they go do things with each other in the community, and they really do help and advocate for each other.
I have some clients who when I first started, they could barely use their cell phones, which is such an important part of everyday life. They’re learning from other more tech-savvy clients on how to do things that better support their recovery as a lot of places are pushing apps like MyChart and other apps for healthcare needs. The clients who have trouble navigating the technology, the other clients step in and create space for them to not feel judged for not knowing how to do something like text or download an app.
I just really like how the clients really take care of each other here. When they’re concerned about someone, they come to staff and let us know, and then we can usually do something and help them, so that’s a really special thing here, too. I’ve only been here [at TR] a year, but the relationships I’ve built with clients and the staff are just, it’s really awesome and I’m happy to be a part of it.
What’s one thing that you would want people to know about our clients or serious mental illness?
I think if there was one thing that I would ask people to take away, it is that people with serious mental illness and people who have been homeless have been so ostracized by people. I’ve heard stories from clients who were living on the street about how people would just walk by them. They wouldn’t even look at them, they wouldn’t reply when the client had just said a simple “hi” not even asking for anything. They just can be so marginalized and forgotten.
I think it’s important to understand that many of the issues that people are working through [at TR] stem from past experiences of not being listened to, not having the support that they need to get through challenges, and being judged, ignored, or shamed. A lot of their anxieties about things like going to the store and going to doctor’s appointments have to do with past experiences that they’ve had in those places and the stigma that comes with mental illness; it really affects them for the rest of their life. It makes them nervous to do things that are good for them like go to the doctor and to take care of themselves, and I wish people understood that treating people poorly really dampens their recovery, and it’s important to treat everybody like the people who we each personally care about. I always think, “If this client were my family member, how would I want them to be treated? Or if it was me, how would I want to be treated?”