Dr. Jessica Green welcomes Cadre World, shares where she's licensed and her roles as a clinical supervisor and CEU provider, and sets a warm, professional tone for the talk.
Dr. Jessica Green welcomes Cadre World, shares where she's licensed and her roles as a clinical supervisor and CEU provider, and sets a warm, professional tone for the talk.
She introduces the session's focus on psychological safety, emotional and relational safety, intrinsic motivation, and why these areas matter for mental health and personal growth.
Dr. Green tells a story about a coworker who overworked herself due to difficulty setting boundaries, describing the toll on her mental health and the turning point when she decided to prioritize her needs and begin personal growth.
She explains that boundaries protect mental health, preserve energy, and build trust in relationships—comparing growth to caterpillars blossoming into butterflies and emphasizing balance and mutual respect.
Dr. Green gives three steps: reframe guilt, start small by saying no to low-stakes requests, and anchor boundaries as opportunities for expansion; she frames boundaries as acts of love, not rejection.
Good morning cadre world. This is Dr. Jessica Green and it is Wednesday. It is wonderful Wednesday and we are going to definitely make the best of it. Again, my name is Dr. Jessica Green in South Carolina. Good morning and I am licensed in Florida and North Carolina. So I get the great opportunity to expand my services in North Carolina and Florida. I am a licensed clinical supervisor, so I supervise those LPCAs who are gaining those skills. Good morning, Michelle. gaining those skills towards full licensure.
And then I am also a CEU provider for the great state of South Carolina. So I offer CEUs to our counselors, to our family and child therapists. So as you can see, my world seems to be busy, busy, busy all of the time. So You know, with this month, we're focusing on that psychological safety, which is definitely important, but also boundaries, right? So today, my topic is going to expand on the theme of trust blossoms when you create spaces of emotional security. All right. So we're going to be focusing on that intrinsic motivation and ways we can be our best selves and our ability to dive into not only emotional but also relational safety.
You know, it's that kind of safety that allows that trust to blossom, right? Because that's what we want. And this isn't just about relationships, all right? Those relationships with others. It's also about our mental health and then also our personal growth, all right? So we're going to talk about that mental wellness, but then also that personal growth. And you may say, why is that important? It's important because when we feel safe and we have that psychological safety, both inside and out, we're free to grow into our best selves, right?
And that's what we want. We want the best version of us. So I'm going to share this short story about a coworker, a past coworker of mine, I should say, and she shared that She worked so much and so hard that she felt drained all the time because she had issues of saying that one simple word, no. She always took on extra sessions at work, helping her colleagues, even when she was at the state of exhaustion, the state of fatigue. And she continued to answer those late calls when she needed to get that rest, you know, and take care of herself and take care of her family.
So on the outside, you know, she definitely looked as if she was dependable and she had on that superwoman cape. But on the inside, her mental health was suffering. You know, she continued to feel anxious. She was restful, restless, and she felt invisible in moments. So one day she realized, hey, I have to start teaching people that my needs matter. Because right now, they don't think my needs matter. And in that moment, she had to take on that sense of vulnerability, that sense of accountability, and acknowledge that, hey, this is what I need to do in order to build me And this is the beginning of my personal growth journey.
So with her, it started with setting and learning those boundaries without having that inappropriate guilt. Because sometimes when individuals ask us to do something, we have that sense of guilt. Well, I don't know. Let me try. Let me see if I can change this around or change that around. No. We need to have those boundaries in place because when we continue to do that, we allow the other individuals to get the best of us and fill our schedule as opposed to us. And a lot of times we're more likely to write in pen those things that we have to do for other people, but those things that we have to do for us, we write it in pencil and tell me Which one is the easiest to erase?
Ours. Ours are the easiest to erase. So when we talk about boundaries, boundaries aren't about pushing people away. They're about creating that emotional security. And that emotional security not only for you, but for others. So when we say no, hey, we can say no, but we can also have that recommendation. Hey, I can't do it, why don't you ask Sarah? Why don't you ask Michelle? Why don't you ask Christy? Because when we set those boundaries, you are protecting your mental health, you are preserving your energy, but then you're also laying that foundation for healthier relationships, not only with yourself, but with other people, and here's why.
You know, so this is the key. When emotional security is present, that trust within that relationship, that trust within yourself, it blossoms and it blossoms into a beautiful thing. Just as our caterpillars, they blossom into those beautiful butterflies. That's what we want for us when we talk about our mental wellness and we talk about our personal growth. So in our closest connections, Trust doesn't come from endless giving. It comes from balance, it comes from respect, and it also comes from the safety of knowing that both individuals, their needs matter.
So that safety is what allows us to grow personally in those relationships and then internally with our emotions. So I want you to write these down. All right, if you're in the car, That's fine because this content will be on the Kadra app so you can watch it as many times as you need to. So here are three ways that you can start setting those healthy boundaries that not only support your mental health, but it also supports that personal growth. So the first is reframe the guilt. All right. So instead of thinking, Oh my gosh, I am letting them down.
I want you to remind yourself and tell yourself I am teaching them how to respect me and care for me in a better way. All right. So you're teaching them how to respect you and to care for you better. All right. So number two. I want you to start small. Remember, we cannot eat an elephant with one bite, all right? So I want you to start small. So I want you to practice by saying no to things that do not align with your energy, all right? So it could be skipping a TV show you don't wanna watch, or it could be declining a favor when your plate is already full, all right?
And number three, I want you to anchor and grow. Okay? So boundaries aren't just about protection. They're about expansion. All right? So every time you set a boundary, you are creating space for your well-being, setting space for, again, your peace, and then also your personal growth. So when we talk about trusting that ability to blossom, whenever you create those spaces of emotional security for yourself and for others, those boundaries, they are acts of love and not that rejection. Because if individuals know that your plate is full, if individuals know you are wearing that Superwoman cape and you set that boundary with them, It's going to be an act of love, not rejection.
And they are going to know that. So if it's that individual and you say, hey, I can't do that. Oh my gosh, I can't believe you can't do that. They're not acting in that sense of love because they feel that sense of rejection. And if they know your plate is full, they will understand. So this week, I want you to give yourself permission to protect your peace and notice how it supports your mental health and your personal growth. All right, so lastly, again, I want you to write this down. So this is a journal prompt that I want you to reflect on, and I want you to think about this.
Where in my life do I feel emotionally unsafe? And then what boundary could I set to create security and space for my own growth. And I'm gonna read that one more time. Where in my life do I feel emotionally unsafe? And what boundary could I set to create security and space for my growth? So Cadre World, I thank you for listening and a reminder, this content can be found on the Cadre app. So until next time, stay safe, stay connected, and keep growing.
