Women In Wellness: Amy Green of Hopelab On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing

An Interview With Candice Georgiadis

Try multiple approaches to wellness. Not everyone likes the same things, and just because you don’t like one approach, doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of other approaches for you. You should be the one to define what works best for you.

As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amy Green of Hopelab.

Dr. Green is a clinical psychologist and expert on research related to youth mental health and suicidology with a focus on LGBTQ+ youth. She recently joined Hopelab as the social innovation lab’s Head of Research where she leads a team focused on advancing measurement, widening impact, and conducting research to promote thriving and health equity for young people. Previously, as Vice President of Research for the Trevor Project she supported the organization’s life-saving work to advance crisis services, peer support programs, advocacy and education initiatives to advance LGBTQ+ well-being.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?

Mid-way through high school I knew that I wanted my career to be focused on adolescent psychology and mental health. I was raised in a rural area of the country and saw how frequently mental health challenges occurred among young people and how incredibly uncommon it was for them to be able to access appropriate care. It was during my undergraduate education that I gained an appreciation for not just the power of individual therapy for mental health but also of research to support broader changes beyond just the individual. I’ve been involved in research on youth mental health and well-being for over 20 years, with a goal of finding ways research can impact positive change. Initially, it was more broadly focused, but as my LGBTQ identity became more central to my life, it also become more central to my research.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?

Across my career some of the most interesting stories and lessons came from a willingness to listen and to change. One that stands out when I was teaching a college course focused on mental illness. I had taught it in a fairly similar way for years, but this particular year I noticed that students kept having questions related to how they could actually get help to manage their stress, anxiety, and mood. As I talked to them more, I learned that the University Counseling Center had a massive waitlist and that they weren’t having luck trying other options. Here I was teaching them all about the causes, symptoms, and treatments of various mental health conditions while many of them were struggling with these very issues without any help. I decided to change the course syllabus and add an “optional” 8-week stress management module that taught them skills like progressive muscle relaxation, using cognitive behavioral therapy thought records, mindfulness, and deep breathing exercises. For each week they learned a new skill and how it worked in the last 15-minutes of class, and they were then given resources, asked to practice the skill a set number of times, and write a reflection piece about their experience. They were also able to write a reflection that simply said, “I was too overwhelmed this week and didn’t have time.” Every single student in the class opted into the module, and every single student turned in a reflection for all weeks. I continued this course addition for all classes going forward with similar success. For years after I received emails from students talking about how it had changed their life and how they had been able to go back to those skills at times when they were struggling. The main lesson for me was to truly listen to those you are trying to help and to be willing to change your entire approach to better meet their needs, even if it might stretch the limits of convention.

Can you share a story about the biggest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started my career, I was living under a scarcity assumption that I had to say “yes” to every opportunity that came my way or I would miss out and forever regret it. While being a “yes” person might work well for some people, it didn’t for me. I ended up becoming spread way too thin and couldn’t figure out how to stop saying “yes” and then feeling overwhelmed by the amount I had taken on. It also set a pattern that I was a “yes” person which meant more asks of me. It took a few years, but I ended up taking part in a training about learning to say “no.” Practicing after that course was great exposure therapy for me because I learned that by saying, “This is such a great opportunity, but unfortunately, I don’t have the capacity to take it on right now. Please reach out in the future as other opportunities arise for collaboration,” I was able to maintain healthy working relationships and healthier work-life balance.

Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?

Hopelab is a social innovation lab and impact investor supporting the well-being of young people at the intersection of tech and mental health. We focus on ways to support, affirm, and empower young people, especially those from historically underserved communities, such as BIPOC and LGBTQ youth. At the center of Hopelab’s work is a commitment to co-creating with young people to remove barriers to their mental health and emotional well-being — and have the research to back it up. For example, we worked with LGBTQ+ teens to create a free, digital safe space for identity exploration and mental health support. We launched imi during Pride Month 2022, but only after we conducted a randomized control trial to validate that it significantly improves coping skills among LGBTQ+ youth. Thrillingly, Healthy Teen Network recently named imi the winner of its 2022 Innovation Award.

Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better wellbeing? Please give an example or story for each.

Since my work at Hopelab focuses on the mental health and well-being of teens and young adults, I offer these 5 tips — specific to Gen Z:

Develop a healthy sleep routine. Being well-rested is key for so much of our life, especially mental well-being. Take some time to figure out what works for you and start doing it regularly.

Learn to accept and lean into your emotions rather than fight them or run away from them. By simply noticing rather than judging our emotions we can actually alleviate a lot of our struggles with them.

Let people know when you start to feel you’re struggling and ask for support to help you move through the more challenging times. Asking for help can be overwhelming, so it can be helpful to have a discussion with those close to you to let them know some key signs you might need help.

Create a personalized list of “things that help me feel good” when you are feeling good so that you can go to it to help yourself when you can’t think of anything that makes you feel good. Sometimes it’s too hard to figure it out when you’re feeling down, so having a list already made can really help.

Try multiple approaches to wellness. Not everyone likes the same things, and just because you don’t like one approach, doesn’t mean there aren’t lots of other approaches for you. You should be the one to define what works best for you.

If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?

Ten years ago, I would have said we need a massive movement to destigmatize mental health. The good news is that while we still have a lot of room to grow, there has been a great deal of success, particularly among Millennials and Gen Z, in destigmatizing mental health. The next “movement” is finding ways to increase access to mental health care for all. I’d love to see free public access to a wide variety of mental wellness options. Like physical health, there are lots of ways we can work on our mental health outside of “sick visits.” I’d love to see mental health treated in the same way where folks openly know their options, get to try out ones that work for them, get support in learning and doing those options, and then are able to integrate them into their daily lives in times of wellness and in times when mental health challenges arise. That’s why we are focusing our Hopelab Ventures work on startups that increase access and diversity of mental health and well-being solutions.

What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?

Be open: It’s fine to have a vision and a goal in mind for your career, but also work on being open to life outside of that vision and goal. Some of the most rewarding experiences in my career came from unexpected places. Being open to new paths and experiences provides a great deal of career flexibility and fun!

Seek mentors: If you see someone who is doing what you hope to do in your career, don’t be afraid to reach out to them for advice. Early in my career I thought doing this might be asking too much of someone. In reality, many people actually find mentoring others very rewarding and are happy to do so. Some may say “no” for a variety of reasons, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty who would say “yes” and the outcomes of those interactions can be super valuable.

Brainstorm with others: You don’t need to have a fully flushed-out idea and a completely logical execution plan before you run it by others. Getting input from different perspectives before you fully flush out your idea is super helpful and actually provides more flexibility for those giving input. It’s harder for people to give authentic feedback on something they can tell you have already put a ton of work into. And that authentic feedback is oftentimes essential for success.

Expand your skillset: Take advantage of professional development opportunities outside of your area of expertise. For years I focused almost exclusively on continuing education and professional development that was super related to research methods, psychology, and mental health. Focusing on more broad content areas such as communication, leadership, project management, and feedback provided so much more depth to my skills and abilities.

Take care: It’s important to check in on your own mental well-being, especially when you work in the mental health field. Just because you have typically felt strong and resilient, doesn’t mean that it will always stay that way. It’s not only in your best interest to do so, but also those you’re trying to help. It’s like in an airplane where you are instructed to put your own oxygen mask on before you try and help others to do the same.

Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?

While all of these topics are dear to me, mental health is always at the top because it’s so central to everything I do personally and professionally. Since the beginning of my career, my focus has always been on young people because I believe proactively addressing mental well-being when folks are young is the best approach to helping them develop a more enjoyable future. Right now, our nation’s young people are grappling with a large number of challenges including those related to environmental changes. By boosting mental health and wellness we can also boost the ability of these young people to participate in their communities and work to produce the change they want to see in the world.

What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?

Check out the Hopelab website and engage with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.

Thank you!