"The Wire" - Systems & the Struggle to Change

Erinn was burning today to talk about systems in society and
dealing with the bizarre times we are living in.  So that's
what we did.  We discuss how we're reacting to the pandemic
and wonder if as a culture we've taken enough time to just stop
and truly acknowledge the times we're living through instead of
rushing to get back to business as usual.  We discuss the
power of acknowledgment and normalizing, and how this can make
people feel less alone or guilt ridden in their experiences.
 Also, now that many of us are working from home, the usual
boundaries that separated work or school from our personal home
lives don't exist.  This can lead to more stress and finding
it hard to unplug.  It takes more intentional effort and
thought to draw those boundaries for ourselves, and the cost of
not doing this can be dire.  Plus, Anthony talks about his
love for "The Wire," the greatest television show ever made, and
Erinn almost starts a fight trying to argue against this fact.
 A show from the early 2000's, "The Wire" was an in depth
study of the characters and systems that made up the city of
Baltimore.  The show ties perfectly into a discussion of
systems, and how systems fail, struggle to change, and can
devastate the hopes of individual people.  But there are
also moments of triumph and evolution.  As President Obama
recently implored, we have to fight against the tide toward
hopelessness, powerlessness and despair.  That change is
possible, and we can be part of it.  We discuss a small
example of how this process played out at CAPS.  This
message leads directly into our end segment "Just Stop It!,"
where we implore listeners to resist the urge to give up on
change.  Change is often slow and gradual, but as therapists
we've seen it happen in individual lives and we know it is
possible at the system level.  But like with individuals, it
takes a desire to change and a willingness to put in the hard
work required.