Speaker 1: 0:30

So I am Dr Louis Ecke. I hold a PhD in research and clinical psychology and I also have a doctorate in health science. The name of our company is Cornerstone Health Solutions. We're located in Sterling, virginia. We've been open now for two years and we primarily focus on taking care of our clients that present with a variety of mental health issues.

Speaker 1: 1:02

Our services are rather unique because we combine clinical assessment for evaluating the degree to which someone is suffering from any number of brain dysregulation. It could be major depressive disorder, it could be obsessive compulsive disorder, and you name it. It runs the gamut, and we use clear assessment to determine what is really going on. And once that determination is done, of course more often than not in concert with our consultative psychiatrists and in some instances, the neurologists, we conduct further examination, like an MRI, using a unique MRI system that gives the neurologist further insight as to what is going on.

Speaker 1: 1:58

And if it is recommended that we use what we call brainwave stimulation to try to help re-regulate the part of the brain that is decreased due to the problem the person is having, we will do that. Decreased due to the problem the person is having, we will do that. Or, and mainly, what we do is if we find this person has a major depressive disorder, we use a machine called transcranial magnetic stimulation TMS for short. And TMS simply is an FDA-approved non-invasive therapy system that is really focused on people who have resistance to antidepressants in treating major depressive disorder, and it has a coil. Once it is set up and mapped to the part of the brain often to the left hemisphere and what we call the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the brain and we're able to apply this coil that releases about 10 hertz of magnetic stimulation to the brain, and what it does is it helps reactivate the part of the brain cells that has decreased its functionality because of the depression, and the evidence has shown that it works. So this is what we do on a regular basis.

Speaker 2: 3:28

Wow, that is incredible work you've got going on here, and now tell me about the other side of the research side for our listeners who are interested and want to know more about that.

Speaker 1: 3:37

So that's really exciting and that's what I find to be fascinating.

Speaker 1: 3:42

In the work that we do, we have recognized that it is wholly insufficient to just address issues of mental health, but we want to focus on specific areas and how those challenges can be prevented or mitigated.

Speaker 1: 4:00

So I'm sort of highly interested in finding solutions, and currently we've been working on what we call sensor mouth guard. Well, there are some of those in the market. There are some of those in the market, but we think, using the advantages of AI, predictive analytics and measured language modeling, we've been able to create this mouth guard that actually helps track the movement of the synapse in the brain. And when someone like football players and contact sports athletes, for that matter encounter head-on collusion and there is repeated head-on collusion, we know that it causes traumatic brain injury, and this traumatic brain injury over time cumulatively can cause chronic traumatic encephalopathy, and once it gets to that point, there is no known cure, and so we think it is important to have this technology that helps track the movement of these brain cells and eventually allow neurologists to better intervene before it gets worse. So that's part of what we do in our lab, also in our office.

Speaker 2: 5:20

That is some incredible stuff. I was not even aware of some of these things that you just mentioned right now. So it's kind of like eye-opening to me and I'm so glad to have you here on the podcast today, for maybe people who have kids in sports something to think about in the future, Maybe they play sports themselves or just anybody who's had any traumatic concussions to the brain, to the head. I'd like to know your background, Like how did you get started into this work? Like what made you choose mental health services and all of this?

Speaker 1: 5:51

I sort of call myself second or even third generation professional.

Speaker 1: 5:59

I started my life a long time ago in business and in finance, but over the years it became very clear to me that even what I find to be just interacting with people, it became acutely clear to me that mental health is one of the debilitating issues that our society deals with, and it runs the whole gamut for children, for professionals, young adults.

Speaker 1: 6:29

We have so many people who are functionally depressed, filled with anxiety, all of the trepidations that life provides, and mental health becomes a significant way of really identifying what these issues are, and so I made the conscious decision to retrain myself. I abandoned all of the work I used to do, doing all kinds of small business activities, to retrain, and I went to school and got my PhD in research psychology and clinical research and in fact it was very clear to me that I needed further training, further training, and so I embarked on a second doctorate program just to ensure that I had sufficient grasp of the subject matter, because it is deep and complex. But it's also my passion, and so, simply, the reason why I shifted from what I used to do to what I'm doing now is because of the passion that I bring to it, and I needed to couple that passion with knowledge and skill necessary to really benefit my clients.

Speaker 2: 7:45

No, absolutely, and I can definitely see the passion in the way you talk and the way you know your stuff and are just educating me right now and our listeners I love it your stuff and are just educating me right now and our listeners I love it. Talk to me about mental health so far in the industry for you how you've noticed the conversation change about it, because I feel like mental health maybe was not taken so seriously back then and now we're kind of changing that as we go and we're finding out medically a lot of things that are going on and actually have some like truth behind that, whereas back then people would say something like, oh, get over it, it's okay, you're just sad, you need to stop. But people are like, no, there's really something wrong in my brain, I don't know why I can't stop. Talk to me how that conversation has shifted and things that you've noticed yourself of people just being more aware of this.

Speaker 1: 8:33

So over the years, you can look back 20 years ago and beyond, when mental health issues were not discussed, they were taboos. They brought the idea that your brain is not working meant that you're condemned, you are less than and you are not capable of doing things. So it was a big taboo and in some parts of our country and in some religions the discussion of mental health has been a taboo. However, I think with the advent of technology, with the vociferous work that psychiatrists and psychologists are doing and I would dare say clergy in the community, the whole shame surrounding mental health is dissipating, and that's a wonderful thing for our industry.

Speaker 1: 9:30

It's so wonderful, yes, so for example, a woman who had been abused physically abused, in a marriage would not understand why she is deeply depressed. Now she can go to a doctor and the doctor would say, look, you need a psychiatrist or a psychologist, or you are a professional working as a police officer or emergency services, environment or what have you, and the job is extremely stressful and those stressors translate into chronic anxieties and chronic anxieties often create this negative inward reflection that eventually becomes a major depressive disorder. And we think that this yes openly, because it is not something they put on themselves necessarily. It is because of the external pressures that they feel in trying to provide for their families and trying to make it in America. And we in our environment believe that everyone should check in periodically with their psychologist and be able to intervene sooner rather than later.

Speaker 2: 10:57

Yes, absolutely. Very well said. I love that answer. Have you noticed a particular trend or maybe something going on where more people are coming to you guys for help, more people are reaching out to you guys that maybe before you guys have not noticed?

Speaker 1: 11:16

Yes, yes, this is really encouraging. We thought the trend will continue to move upward, as YouTube videos and Instagram and social media brings the awareness of mental health to the public, and people are taking advantage of it, recognizing that you can only get better when you seek professional help and you get worse if you internalize and keep it to yourself. And there is no shame in a physician or in a pilot being able to recognize that the pressure of their work is really immense and they need balance in their lives. So the trend is moving upward, not just for people who are burnt out or people who are considered weak. It is really something that happens across the board and people are taking advantage of it.

Speaker 1: 12:17

It is impressive to see professional athletes taking the time to step away and to say look, I need an assessment, I need a diagnostic evaluation of what is going on with me, because this is not me and I need someone to tell me how I can mitigate these problems and be able to do the best that I love to do.

Speaker 1: 12:45

And you can see that in the caliber of people who come to us.

Speaker 1: 12:50

We are very discreet, we protect customer confidentiality, we schedule meetings. It is all done to cater to the absolute, optimal standard of private practice, giving the customers the confidence and comfort they need when they walk into our environment. So we are finding that trend to be very powerful and I cannot overemphasize the need for professionals to regularly contact their psychiatrist, just like you go to a dentist, just like you go to your optometrist. It is absolutely crucial For the brain, for the brain, and you know, someone once asked a question how is it that we can go to the doctor and get all these exams done, but we seldom go to the psychiatrist or the psychologist to be able to say check me out, something is happening. So when your central nervous system is signaling that something is wrong and that's transmitted to your peripheral nervous system and your system is out of balance, yes, you begin to panic and allow fear to consume you. Something is wrong and a simple psychological assessment can help determine where the problems are coming from.

Speaker 2: 14:20

Yes, no, absolutely, and I can't tell you how much it means to have you here, somebody who has studied this, who has their PhD doctorate, somebody who has research behind it. Come here and say that to me and to the listeners, because it is so important to hear that and to not neglect yourself and your health. It is so important to hear that and to not neglect yourself and your health. It's the main important thing for us in order to function in our everyday lives with others, society, our job. It's the key point. If you go and check your teeth, if you go and get your eyes examined, you still will not be right in your mind, so don't neglect that. So I am so grateful that you're here, thank you, and just telling me all this information. It's so valuable. What are some things that maybe professionals or just students or everyday people can do that? Maybe some piece of advice that you can give to us that can help alleviate some of those stresses? Maybe like breathing, or something that maybe we aren't aware of, that we could be doing better.

Speaker 1: 15:21

I think our society places an enormous demand on all of us. No matter what you do in your work of life, you find that you are required to perform at your optimal level. And I liken it to a vehicle. You buy a vehicle, you know that it is wholly insufficient to just put gasoline in the car and drive, and so you have to maintain that car. You have to make sure, from the outside to the inside. But it's also important to recognize that the car sits overnight and that's when the car cools off and to be used again the next day.

Speaker 1: 16:07

And I say to people, the internal dynamics of our system does not preclude the head, and so there does need to be a balance, does need to be a balance, and our body, particularly our brain, is extremely, extremely complex and extremely informative. By that I mean your body will tell you, your brain will tell you that there is something wrong. When you begin to experience unusual headaches, when you begin to be paranoid about things, when your anxiety level causes you to retreat inward or to have outbursts, to begin to act discordant to who you really are, that's your body telling you that something is wrong. So, no matter who you are, you have to maintain the balance in your life, and consulting and doing testing is, in fact, the first line of defense to create balance in your life. And being able to go and see a psychologist, a counselor, address those issues will allow you to head off the problem before it compounds and becomes onerous to solve or unwieldy to solve.

Speaker 1: 17:41

Passionate about what you do and you are deeply immersed in what you do, recognize that you will not be able to sustain that passion and that drive unless you also step back and reevaluate. Am I getting enough sleep, for example? How is my diet? How am I balancing my consumption of the news out there? Am I able to retreat from the demands of everyday work and look inward and find things that are helpful? Helpful, so, meditation, mindfulness, having to go to bed the right time, having to have balanced meal, being able to consciously say no to yourself.

Speaker 1: 18:29

So if you indulge in things that you know are not good for you, recognize that those indulgences have consequences. When you are taking on so much work over time, it takes a toll on your body. If you really want to have an optimal life, you have got to find the equilibrium I call it lifestyle equilibrium. You check in with yourself every single day and be able to find where your limits are. That's what we tell our customers, that's what we tell our clientele and it's the message that I give to small business owners, who are the driving engine of the American economy. Yeah, but it would be unsustainable if these people would not take the time to also rejuvenate themselves. Yes, Amen.

Speaker 2: 19:32

I would like to ask you about marketing, because all of this knowledge that you're giving to me, maybe some people need to hear this and they aren't aware. Because all of this knowledge that you're giving to me, maybe some people need to hear this and they aren't aware. And I'm sure online there's many people who can say maybe some misinformation or give this. I feel like somebody like you would be such a great benefit to have online and share some of these tips and like maybe video content or posts something. Are you doing anything online? How are you getting the word out there about your business and what you do and what you're able to achieve with your team?

Speaker 1: 20:02

So I believe in network and, for example, our organization is a member of the American Psychological Association Association. I'm a member of the Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce, I sign on with LinkedIn, I am on Alignable. I am very careful in the network environment that I associate with. Yes, because my purpose is not to be popular. My purpose is to have a platform that actually promotes professionalism, that actually carries the message for serious people who are looking for serious solutions. So these organizations I have named are beneficial to us and we promote our business through these channels.

Speaker 1: 21:06

But marketing is more than just using the social media platform. That is, in my view, the end portion of growing your business, portion of growing your business. Fundamentally, however, I think that when you have a passion, therefore, you begin to develop your business. You have to couple that passion with applicable skills, but you must marry both with a deep understanding of what your customers are looking for, understand the needs of your patients, and couple that with a sense of empathy, a sense of understanding of what your people are going through, and there is nothing greater in small business development than being able to grow this great relationship with your customers and they will, in turn, help grow your business because they will recommend you. So word of mouth.

Speaker 1: 22:13

While it is an old way of growing business, it remains an extremely powerful way of growing business.

Speaker 1: 22:17

It's very powerful, remains an extremely powerful way of growing business, and a lot of small business owners will spend a great deal of time printing and marketing. But if you have the training, learning how to listen to your customers and incorporate what they are telling you in the way that you deliver service, you find it is important. Also, I think that small businesses miss out when they do not develop effective collaborative relationships. So it's one thing to network and get yourself out there, but when you are in the business of listening and relating work to people in your field so, for instance, in my field we work with a number of psychiatrists and a number of neurologists, business relational communication they will refer their customers to you and you will do the same to them. And working together you learn and you grow. You learn what not to do and you learn what to do, and I think combining network within your sphere of professional influence and working with organizations that focus on business development will be the best way to grow one's market.

Speaker 2: 23:49

I agree. I have to agree with that. I always love asking different entrepreneurs that question, because they all have different things and I like to see what methods they're using, what's working for them, what isn't. It's always good to have different perspectives. So thank you, thank you so much for sharing that. Where do you see yourself and your business in the next five years?

Speaker 1: 24:07

Interesting. I get that question a lot. I think we we begin with the end in mind, and so five years to us is a number. What is more important is what are we doing today that will drive our business growth such that five years from now we are reaching a larger group of customers? I measure five-year growth not so much in the number of clients that we get while that is important but in fact in the impact we're making in the environment that we occupy. So we hope to expand our business to a number of other territories, the District of Columbia, for example, probably in Atlanta, and let me be a little bit biased here.

Speaker 1: 25:16

Okay, one of my important goals is to help African-American professionals recognize that it is okay, it is okay to fail, but it is not okay to stay. When you have fallen, you learn, pick yourself up and begin the journey again and again and again. With respect to what I do, a lot of African-Americans are reluctant to talk about mental health issues. A lot of people who are trying to start businesses are often concerned that they're not going to get the financing that they need or they're not going to have the support or collaboration of the community. I say no. Join the organizations that will help you grow, but ultimately, I think we grow by supporting each other. I agree, and that is the best way for small business to exceed their own expectations.

Speaker 2: 26:18

Yes, no, I love your mission and I love what you're doing. I hope you guys can expand so that way your reach to help other people can grow, because that's so important for our society today, because it's a little bit heavy out there with all the news and the events and political things going on. So I think right now, in this time, mental health has never been more important.

Speaker 1: 26:40

It has never been more important and I think the trend is continuing to go upward. It is important for people to recognize. It is just as simple as recognizing that you need to tune up your brain. Yeah, even if you think you're doing well, optimize your brain. Yes. If you think that there are things you're beginning to notice, even in your life cycle, changes, go and check yourself out, come to us, come to our network, and you would find that growth is helpful.

Speaker 2: 27:19

Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. Is there anything that I have not touched on while I have you here that you would maybe like to share, about yourself or your business.

Speaker 1: 27:41

I want to make sure that you are not driven necessarily by the balance sheet, while, again, that is important. Yes, if you focus on the welfare and the well-being of your clients, you will grow. I also say to people recognize that resilience demands time. Resilience demands failure and correction and improvement. So it is important to just recognize that you are existing for a purpose and ensure that that purpose is not a selfish purpose. It is not the money bottom line, and when we do that, our customers benefit. And when our customers benefit, our businesses grow.

Speaker 2: 28:43

Yes, absolutely Well said. Do you have any plans on writing a book or anything? Because I feel like you are just right up that alley with so much knowledge and insight and perspective. I think that that would just be a great idea for you.

Speaker 1: 28:57

Insight and perspective. I think that that would just be a great idea for you Interesting. You asked the question. I wrote a book on a different part of my life. As I mentioned, I'm also a clergy, and so I wrote a book called Yeshua is His Name in 2021. So this is for Christians out there, and I make simply the argument that it is important to hold onto originality and that book is highly informative, just beyond the concepts of religion, but it actually helps empower people to take hold of who they are and to be proud in who they are. But with respect to what we do, yes, I do have a manuscript that we hope to publish, probably next year, on concussion, on traumatic brain injury and just things people ought to know and should know, and it covers a variety of these mental health issues that we talked about today.

Speaker 1: 30:10

And I hope you'll be very helpful for people once it's published.

Speaker 2: 30:14

Absolutely, and for your first book. Where can people find that?

Speaker 1: 30:18

In fact, the book is on Amazon, perfect Easy. The existing book is called Yeshua is His Name. Yeshua is His Name and the new book that will be coming out I'll leave the title to be a little bit of a mystery. Okay, but it covers all of the research work we have done regarding mental health and the age gaps and what you need to do to listen to your body and be able to respond to the stimuli in your brain, because when you do that, you head off trouble before it can get worse.

Speaker 2: 30:55

It can get worse. It can take your life. That's right. Well, my goodness, thank you so much. I could literally talk to you all day, because this is just right up my alley. I love learning about this stuff and hearing new perspectives and new research that's happening for things going on in the brain and your neurons and everything. So, yeah, my last question for you is going to be if you could leave our listeners with a saying, a quote or a mantra that maybe you like to live your life by or maybe has inspired you in any way, and leave that as inspiration for the listeners. Right on the spot I'm putting you oh, my goodness.

Speaker 1: 31:32

Well, I hold on to this philosophy that I learned from St Augustine. Simply paraphrasing it in my own way, he says I do not have wings, so I cannot fly, but I have legs, and with strident steps I climb the mountains of life to ascend to the apex upon which I have set my purpose and my destiny Wow. So, whatever you're doing, give it your best. You may not have all the requisite materials to get there. Your best you may not have all the requisite materials to get there, but with conviction and striding steps, with conviction in yourself, you will absolutely attain that height for which you have been designated to exist.

Speaker 2: 32:30

Wow, that was so good. Oh, my goodness, thank you so much for being here. That was very inspirational, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much for being here and sharing all of your insight, research and knowledge. We're so grateful.

Speaker 1: 32:43

All right. Thank you for having me.