How Volunteering Changes the Way Our Brains Feel About the World

Welcome Besties and thank you for being here. Today we're exploring a simple and powerful question and that is how does volunteering change the way our brains feel about the world? We know that sometimes things feel fast, often overwhelming in this world that we live in. Service can help us reconnect with meaning, reconnect with ourselves and reconnect with others. This conversation is an invitation.
to reflect and unpack the pieces of volunteering.
Thank you for being here,
and we're excited to have this conversation.
Hello, everyone.
I am so honored to be joined by our first ever virtual guest.
Her name is Alyssa Klein-Spencer,
and she is project director and clinical coordinator
here at Centerstone.
So excited to explore this conversation together, where we get to talk about kind of a topic that's, maybe it's a common topic, but it's volunteerism.
Being able to kind of piece that out a little bit, hopefully talking about ways that people kind of normally think of volunteerism,
but also being able to kind of explore all of the different ways that it might even give back to us, both to our hearts and to our brain health.
Welcome, Alyssa. We are so glad you're here.
Hi, thanks. It's so great to be here today.
Well, Alyssa, one of the things we like to do is what we call a self-assessment.
That's something that Be Well always does.
We take it with us even because it's just a time to check in with ourselves
because sometimes things can get a little bit hectic.
But we want to use a scale, and it goes from zero to five.
Zero is all the way what we call calm and cool and maybe even collected,
But all the way up to number five, where sometimes we're feeling like we're needing a little bit of self-care or even that we're really needing more care than that.
So, Alyssa, if you would, what do you think your number is for today?
I think I'm in a good space. I feel like I'm maybe a maybe a two.
Awesome. Thank you. Bailey, what about you?
Yeah, I would say I'm probably in like the around the two-ish. It's not anxiety, but it's that
anticipatory excitement. So a little bit higher, but not like a negative reason, just excited.
Yeah. I think I'm maybe a one and a half, 1.75. I like decimals. I don't like being tied to a hard
number. But some of it is, it's a Friday and it's been a little bit of a week, but also
excited about all the things that we're doing so yeah i would agree um i like the point fives too
we didn't tell you that you can do a point five but i'm gonna go for i'm gonna go for
i'm in between so i'm just gonna go all the way up to a two so today has a lot in it like
like shelby said it's a long week we're doing some new things of course here today too so
i think i'm at a two so alissa our next question is kind of a big one but we kind of did a little
bit of an introduction to you but now we would just love to know who are you you know who are
you as a human yeah thanks so much for asking um i am married i have four dogs in my house right now
which is crazy that my life revolves around all of the animals that are living breathing and barking
at my house um so a lot of my time and energy is is spent in that space um i live in st louis
Missouri. I have a lot of really great friends here. Awesome. Thank you for that introduction.
Well, I know that I am especially interested not only to talk about, of course, the dogs that you
just mentioned, and so is the team, let's be clear. I mean, with animals. But I really wanted to know
a little bit more. Can you introduce us to your position that you currently have? Forensic mental
health treatment. Can you tell us more about that? What does your day-to-day look like when you're at
work? Yeah, so we have a program that we developed about three years ago. We received a grant for a
Madison County Jail in Edwardsville, Illinois, to provide mental health services inside of the jail,
which is kind of a new thing for the jail. It was definitely a learning curve for all of us
to have a mental health therapist there 40 hours a week. And so I supervise and oversee that
therapist and covered a maternity leave. So I was being the therapist for a while. And then we were
able to expand to another jail. We've been able to get into Jackson County Jail out of Carbondale,
and we're looking at expanding to some other county jails. So we've been able to kind of
develop and grow this mental health program in the county jail space, which ultimately is really
different from, you know, there's mental health services in Department of Corrections, but it
looks really different when people are coming into the county spaces and maybe
they're very temporarily maybe not there very often or for very long and so we've
been able to provide some case management some resources and some
therapy in in those spaces and and hopefully preventing people from coming
back hmm yeah well and some would even argue that the work you're doing is
already giving back to to the community and truly is so i'm really curious to see where this
conversation goes and in your mind what the difference is between what you're doing for
your job and career and giving back in that way and what you are doing outside of your work hours
for volunteering and volunteerism and what the differences are i think that's going to be cool to
hear about awesome so i think gosh i think sometimes when we are living like living the
lives we're living there's a lot that is packed into them so that's why this idea of volunteerism
that we get to talk about today i hope it's going to be something that we can unpack kind of take
the pieces to it and define it a little bit more but i think my first question to you is i'm just
really curious about how your volunteerism fits into your life maybe you can tell us kind of what
you're doing but also are there some benefits that you feel like you're getting from your volunteering
yeah so for me personally my favorite place to volunteer is with speak rescue and sanctuary
they're a st louis based dog rescue that's entirely foster based so we have a foster dog at home right
now that's an Australian Shepherd and they specialize in special needs dogs. So primarily
they take in double merls which are dogs that are oftentimes blind or deaf or both. So we have two
deaf Aussies at home that we adopted. We continue to foster more. We have a dog that's not deaf right
now in which we keep forgetting that she's not deaf and forget that we can talk to her. But
that's really my favorite place to volunteer for right now and that we spend most of our time kind
of volunteering and connecting and networking with them i i'm was so excited about this conversation
because um we and our team is probably tired of hearing me talk about it we very recently became
fosters for a cat family so we got a mama and her five kittens back in february um and it has been
such an interesting process you think like we would go and volunteer at any animal shelter
here called care rescue and then had decided to be fosters which to be honest my 11 year old is
the reason we became foster she's a huge advocate for fostering she absolutely loves hannah shaw
and all the fostering work that she does and so this last weekend we had this cool experience
because so far our fostering journey has been very much like the cats are in our house and
we're taking care of them and making sure the babies are growing and we had this moment where
three of the kittens were ready to go and ready to be adopted and so we took them to care to be
adopted last weekend and both of my girls were really nervous about saying goodbye about um you
know they had helped raise these kittens since they were three weeks old about separating and
we were doing all the things you know i'm a therapist i'm talking to them about grief and
separation and trying to help them process all of these things um and honestly the moment that
did it for them was when we walked in apparently there's a wait list for kittens right now so we
had people there waiting ready to adopt our babies and we get in and the girls are pulling them out
of their crates and holding them and handing them over to people who are looking to adopt and um
just having that moment where they got to see their people like who is is taking these babies
home and at the end of that exchange um one family decided to take two of the kittens at the same
time and the mom just came up and gave my littlest a hug and said thank you so much for raising them
and getting them ready to go home with us and it reminded me that we were in this really tough
moment because five kittens and a mama cat is a lot sometimes to take care of and i was you know
on instagram and saw this post from kitten lady hannah shaw that just said you know sometimes it
hits me when i have this itty bitty baby that fits in the palm of my hand that i'm holding somebody's
best friend, that this is going to be the pet that is going to be with them in their moments of grief
and hopefully have two decades of love and share and connection and is really going to be their
safe place in their home. And then for me is that piece of like yes it is the satisfaction, the
reward of caring for these creatures and we love animals in our house, but I guess the part that I
I was not expecting was, and I think you were speaking a little bit to this with like the
community and the connection, was the human element of being able to gift over this precious
creature to somebody knowing that that is going to support them potentially through the next two
decades of their lives, which was something that I was like, oh, I was, it was a pleasant little
glimmer surprise that I was not expecting and was really, really neat. So I was just curious if
you have any like little moments where you were like, oh, I did not expect that piece, but I am
so grateful that happened. Yeah, I, oh, it's such a heartwarming story. And for us, like I, I totally
really, I, I would be lying if I said that I didn't just like sob like a baby when, when the
dogs get adopted. Um, but it's also like, I know that I am providing healing for all of them,
right? I'm giving the dog a safe place to land, oftentimes from very difficult situations when
of our first fosters was a five-year-old deaf Australian Shepherd that had came from a pretty
terrible situation. So she didn't know how to be in a house. She didn't know how to be around people.
We had to teach her the social skills. And when she got adopted, I was so heartbroken, but their
dog had recently passed and they were in a space of like needing that healing. And she was fulfilling
something for them at the same time as they were fulfilling something for her. And we were just
kind of her temporary place to land. And I also have to remind myself that if I adopt all of them,
then I can't keep helping because like, it's never got anywhere. And, um, you know, we've
failed twice. We have two deaf Aussies that we kept. Um, we're not the best at fostering sometimes,
but if I, if I keep adopting them out, I'm helping the dog and helping the people. And also I get to
keep doing it. Yeah. I think that is the cool thing about these acts of compassion or volunteering
that the behavioral science links to in like when we engage in an act of compassion,
whether it's through volunteerism or a small everyday act,
we are getting some neurochemicals like serotonin and oxytocin and dopamine.
And serotonin is that mood regulator,
dopamine being that place that gives us pleasure and motivation,
and oxytocin being that connecting hormone, that bonding hormone,
that we get that. Whomever we are interacting with or doing the kind act for also gets those
neurochemicals. And then the sort of magical, to me, magical trifecta piece is anybody who is
witnessing those interactions and those pieces also get those neurochemicals. And so it is really
a way, like as silly as it sounds, to make big impact with very small pieces. Like how do I take
care of my brain and you're also helping other people care for their brains and then bystanders
are also getting these little little pieces that are there are good for us too and those are often
referred to as like the feel-good hormones right bailey those are the things that we want that
sometimes we seek in not the healthiest ways right so very interested in how volunteerism
and acts of compassion can help us seek that dopamine release that we're often seeking
in such a healthy way. Yeah. Yeah. I, as someone who has worked a lot in the addiction space and
with our, um, substance use treatment, like dopamine is like, it is the number one thing
that we're seeking either in a positive way or in a negative way. And I really appreciate the way
that, um, you kind of get that like helper's high, right? You get this like pleasure center release
that comes from not just the interaction, like you said, of like the volunteering itself, but
also the people that witness it also get that sort of restoring your faith in humanity that like good
things can happen and that we get to witness other people doing good things and that makes me want to
do good things and you know even the simple stuff um all of those things kind of continue to light
up that piece of your brain um and also calming that amygdala and like threat response it also
has that like sense of calm and kind of grounding and self-regulation as well yeah there's some
really cool research um on the neuroscience behind acts of kindness and how it is a um it's actually
like a biological driving force right it is a survival strategy because human beings need
other humans we we talk a lot about we've never been the fastest strongest predator out there like
Like we always, our superpower has always been other people.
And so those pro-social pieces,
those pieces where we are connecting and relating to other humans
has really been essential in human survival
for as long as we've been around.
So there are scientific reasons why that happens.
Why, like when we see a kind act,
we then want to also do a kind act
or we're also benefiting from that
is because we really want those social groups
to stay safe and connected and want to feel safe and connected within those.
And I think that's something we're often missing so much in our society now.
We're arguably more connected than ever with social media and email.
And I can call across the world right now if I wanted to.
But we are also in the midst of this loneliness epidemic.
And it is so easy to see the endless news cycles that are terrible because that's how
they get views.
And that's what they want.
And just feel like, oh my gosh, the world is terrible.
like nothing good is happening. Like I can't, I can't handle this anymore. But then when we're
so intentional with connecting with other humans through acts of compassion or volunteering,
it just gives me goosebumps. I just love it. Yeah. So Alyssa, I think I'm interested in,
we talked about, gosh, I think the idea of you were talking about how you were finding things
that really fit for you. So I'm wondering too, sometimes there's barriers, right? When people
are, Shelby mentioned the loneliness pandemic, that's something that has been around for probably
longer than we've known, but it was recently described in detail in 2023. So I wonder,
volunteering, we talked about the stories that both Bailey and you told, talked about other people
in them as well, right? The fact that one little thing that you're doing with the animals that
you're doing compounds, right? Those animals were given away to other homes that, like you said,
someone had lost a pet, so that would fill the spot. So with volunteering, I wonder, Alyssa,
could you talk to some of the barriers that might be there? And do you have any ideas
about small ways that you might be able to offer for someone to just maybe even get started if they
even ever thought about doing something like in the volunteering field yeah so i i feel like one
of the biggest things is like time constraints right like we feel we already feel burned out
especially if you're in a helping profession like it's so easy to feel like i don't have the time
or the energy to even think about those things and then we miss those small opportunities that
that's also volunteering right that being intentional about things so like if you're
helping someone find their car in a parking lot. Maybe you gave five minutes of your day to that,
or helping someone carry something or holding a door, finding the small ways, but also other ways
of being intentional. So like, you know, it's spring cleaning, we're cleaning out our closets,
we're getting rid of things. And I know for me, every time that I like clean out my closet or
even housewares, like I'm intentional about where I take those things to. For me specifically,
I take them to the St. Patrick's Center downtown St. Louis because they offer kind of a free store
to those that are unhoused to go through and get housing things when they're getting into a new
home or to go and pick out clothing. And that's me. Like, is it the most inconvenient place to
drop off? No. It would be easier to throw it in a dumpster, but I'm being intentional and being
organized about like where this is going. And that's also volunteering, right? Like that's,
okay, I'm like, I'm going to make the trip and drop this stuff off. So sometimes it's not about
the big time commitment thing, the thing that takes up so much energy. There's also volunteering
that's like a one-off, right? But there's like one Saturday afternoon you do something and maybe you
don't do it all the time, but every once in a while. And those are important things too. And
I think sometimes we think about volunteering, we think about, oh, I have to commit to this
bigger, greater thing, or it's not going to be meaningful, but the things that are meaningful
are all of the small pieces too. I love that. I think that's where like the magic lies is in
those small everyday moments, right? I think oftentimes in so many ways, we think that
I have to do, I have to commit 15 hours a week for it to make a difference, but it really does
lie in those everyday connections, those small, tiny little glimmer moments. Paying attention,
Right? Like noticing the person who is struggling to find their car. And to be honest, in our day
and world right now, we're not really great about paying attention already. But if we can
pour some intentionality and pay attention and notice those things around us, is there a colleague
who is struggling with a skill or something that I'm really good at and that I could do a quick
walkthrough with them or help that person find their car or be more intentional about where I'm
donating my clothes. And I think it's just the paying attention and then putting some
intentionality around like how you feel after that. What does it feel like to know it's like,
well, I'm going to drive the extra five minutes down to the St. Patrick's Center
so I can donate this to a place where that feels really true to who I am and what my values are.
I love that. Well, as we come to a close today, I've loved this conversation. We didn't talk
about just the, I guess, the big things.
Alyssa was great to just show us those things
that are all around us already.
Sometimes it's not the best idea to just jump in
with something very brand new,
but instead take the things that are already surrounding us.
So I wonder, Alyssa, do you have anything else
that's on your mind that you'd like to share with us today
before we close out?
I'm just so grateful
to get to have this conversation,
share some of the things that I'm passionate about,
and just encourage people to find the things that they find value in, to find the things that,
you know, that make them feel good because those are the things that make other people feel good.
And, you know, I think we're desperately looking for goodness right now and being able to see and
hear that from other people is like, I think what restores kind of our sense of purpose
and sense of belonging and sense of community in all of the small ways that we can show up.
I love that. Find the good, be the good.
I love that. Thank you so much, Alyssa, for your time and for your heart and for your expertise.
We just wish you to be well. Thanks again, Alyssa.
Thank you.
As we wrap up our time today, remember this. Volunteering isn't just about giving your time.
It's about gaining connection and purpose and moments that truly support your mental health.
When we show up for others, we often end up showing up for ourselves in meaningful ways.
If today's conversation inspired you, take that first small step because your well-being
is worth it.
I would like to thank you for our time together and for Alyssa and her valuable insight.
And stay connected with us by finding Be Well Besties on all platforms where community,
care, and real conversations continue.
Until next time, take care of yourself, take care of each other, and be well, besties.