On this episode of the Mind Reboot Program we have an enlightened conversation with Josh Waters, a licensed marriage and family therapist as well as the Clinical Director of Envision U and an adjunct professor at Adler University.
Josh admits early in the conversation that “therapist” was not a job title he ever thought would apply to him. He takes us all on his journey from growing up in a small town in Iowa to how his desire to be at least 1,000 miles away from home took him to a grad program in Georgia.
He explains how he was able to leverage his own white privilege in Georgia post grad school helping bring down recidivism rates in the Georgia juvenile justice system. Understanding the true underlying reasons of why these kids were acting out was a key component in helping them heal and stay out of the justice system.
“That's why marriage and family therapy is about whatever that family system is. It's really about systems. I really wish we were called licensed systems therapists because that's what we're working with; systems of communities. Of governments, of families, of couples, of people's relationships with themselves.”
Bringing the conversation to how Josh found himself in Chicago, Josh talks about his therapy origin story. It all started, he tells us, when his childhood best friend committed suicide their Senior year of high school. Seeing how that affected his friend’s family and their community triggered a spark in Josh to invest in helping families.
He goes on to talk about the tangential trauma in his life that became integral parts of his journey and dive deep into what exactly therapy is, what it means to people, and how it can truly help transform people's lives.
Join us on this beautiful and powerful journey as we hear Josh Waters touch on difficult topics and how there is always light at the end of the tunnel.