COLORADO, USA — As a passionate mental health activist, Jamie Glick has dedicated his life to ‘doing the work’ and setting an example for his daughters and the many lives he is blessed to encounter. His childhood was riddled with poverty and violence, but sports provided him a ticket to an education and a different future.
Now Glick is a leader in the mental health field, entrepreneur, professor, and podcaster set on a mission to normalize talking about it and changing perceptions of how we view ourselves and our exterior environments to create lasting and intentional change. Competition while playing sports as well as his troubled neighborhood led to an unhealthy pursuit of perfection and comparison in his upbringing. Finding psychology and therapy during his years in college provided Glick with the tools to embark on a different path.
Jamie Glick sat down with 9NEWS and Unpacking Perfect to share his story of mental wellness on how he pushed aside the ideals of perfection, gave up the chase and learned a better way of living.
Unpacking Perfect is a sponsored series about the human chase for perfection being produced by 9NEWS in partnership with Aurora Mental Health & Recovery. The series is about self-worth, and both the comforts and perils of comparison. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. This series looks at people coming to terms with the idea of perfection, the realities of imperfection, and learning to find strength from it all.
“I knew very early on that I did not want to stay in that environment, so I started playing sports,” he said. “For me, sports show me that there was something different and I could accomplish things and that there was more out there.”
It was the journey of athletics and his college career that directed Glick to a place of working on himself internally and then ultimately helping others in the same way. Anxiety and depression tendencies will continue to be a reality in his life, but because of his priority of physical activity and a healthy mindset, he feels that he can be an example by experience. “There's a lot of research around the benefits of exercise, around the benefits of having a healthy diet, healthy relationships, and being out in the sun. That's what I learned for myself and that's what I teach all my clients.”
These days in his podcast All in Ya Head, Glick interviews people from all walks of life overcoming their own mental and physical health battles. He also manages programs in Colorado and Wyoming for adolescents struggling with these issues, teaches graduate students on the path to becoming therapists, and is the owner of his own business, InSpire Health and Performance. Most recently he has launched a magazine for dancers and cheerleaders focusing on the mental health side of these competitions. While he is busy staying focused as a cheer/dance dad and mental health advocate, Glick never forgets to prioritize himself too. “The best thing that I can do for my kids is to take care of myself first. And that's why I'm so intentional.”
AURORA MENTAL HEALTH & RECOVERY
Aurora Mental Health & Recovery offers services to address a wide range of mental health conditions. Individuals and families rely on us to help them cope with a variety of challenges. Our staff of physicians, nurses, psychologists, therapists, and peers works with all age groups, from children to seniors.
The staff starts by getting to know you so they can accurately assess your needs. From there they connect you with counseling, classes, and other services that can help you achieve optimal mental health. When you’re looking for assistance in managing a mental illness, reaching out is typically the hardest step.