In this episode of Headroom, I sit down with my friend and colleague, Professor Mark Vroman, to explore the profound impact of a career in emergency response and education. Mark, a graduate of Lansing Community College’s Fire Science and Emergency Medicine programs, served as a Battalion Chief in the greater Lansing area before pursuing an MBA and PhD. Now a professor of online learning, he plays a vital role in Siena Heights University’s prison education program.

Together, we discuss the rewards and challenges of working in the helping professions, particularly in high-stakes environments where people face life-altering circumstances. Mark shares insights from his 30-year career in emergency medicine and community emergency preparedness, reflecting on the personal sacrifices, lessons learned, and the enduring value of service.

In this episode of Headroom, we continue our conversation with Jason Riley, LPC, CAADC, exploring how recovery and personal growth are deeply influenced by community and relationships. While therapy often takes place in a one-on-one setting, true transformation is accelerated and sustained through meaningful connections. We discuss the importance of group therapy, the role of relationships in healing, and how systemic approaches in counseling emphasize the power of belonging. Addiction recovery isn’t just about individual change - it’s about rediscovering purpose within a supportive community.

In this episode of Headroom, I sit down with Jason Riley, LPC, CAADC - once my student, now my colleague in mental health - to discuss addiction, co-occurring disorders, and the role of meaning in the recovery process. Drawing inspiration from Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, we explore how addiction counseling isn’t just about helping people stop destructive behaviors but about collaboratively guiding them toward what is truly life-affirming. We discuss the importance of connection, purpose, and the shift from traditional directive approaches in addiction counseling to a more person-centered, collaborative model. People don’t change simply because they’re told to; they need a reason to pursue something better. This is part one of a two-part conversation; in the next episode, we continue our discussion on meaning, addiction, and effective therapy.

In this episode, Dr. Michael Giles, a political science professor at LCC, delves into the intersection of philosophy and political science, with a focus on political theory, which he studied extensively in graduate school. His passion for the humanities stems from a deep interest in what it means to live as a good human being.

In part two of this episode, Jim and Michael move from talking about the need to pursue a virtuous life, to talking about specific virtues philosophers and psychologists have proposed as necessary for the good life. Aristotle would submit that while living a virtuous life does not necessarily promise a happy life, but living without virtue does promise living an unhappy one., They explore some of the neuroscience of developing the ability to make healthy behaviors a positive and enduring habit, and conclude by discussing what Aristotle mean when he wrote about defining the great-souled person as one who neither overestimates or underestimates one’s potential to do, be and receive greatness.

• PDF: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

In this episode, Dr. Michael Giles, a political science professor at LCC, delves into the intersection of philosophy and political science, with a focus on political theory, which he studied extensively in graduate school. His passion for the humanities stems from a deep interest in what it means to live as a good human being.

This thought-provoking conversation explores Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, a foundational work that examines what it takes to live a happy, virtuous, and flourishing life. They also touch on Positive Psychology, a contemporary movement in counseling and psychology that draws inspiration from ancient Greek philosophy. In this first installment, they lay the groundwork by discussing how philosophers throughout history have guided people toward lasting happiness and personal development.

• Referenced PDF: Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics

LCC Center for Student Access Consultant Andy George works with students with disabilities needing academic support and classroom accommodations. He grew up in the Lansing area and regrets having not gone to LCC prior to MSU, where he graduated with a degree in psychology in preparation to be a marriage counselor. He pivoted to education, mentoring, and coaching students and has found a way to live-out his passion to help others grow and succeed.

Andy shares that he felt pressured in college to hurry up and make a decision about a lifelong career, since college is expensive. He now encourages students to take the time they need to make a good decision about their futures. And he discourages them from making unhealthy comparisons to others they see in college. Both he and Jim talk about how it’s impossible to know all the advantages and disadvantages that a person is carrying around, based on their life experiences and resources.

Success in life includes gaining new skills to meet novel challenges, and even to deal with familiar challenges that come to us in a new way. Jim and Andy encourage people to view challenges from a Growth Mindset, understanding that even when life may not get easier, we can become stronger.

• LCC’s Center for Student Access (​​https://www.lcc.edu/services/access/contact.html)
• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans_with_Disabilities_Act_of_1990)

LCC Librarian and Professional Concert Bassist Chuck Page sits down with Jim Owens to discuss the connections between Music and Mental Health.

Chuck grew up in North Carolina and went to college to study music and music education at Michigan State University. He and Jim discuss the process of Chuck finding a way to live parallel lives, so to speak, as an Academic Librarian and Professional Musician. They both discuss the process of finding their identity as musicians and discovering what role that passion would play in their lives.

Finally, they discuss the therapeutic benefit of listening to music as opposed to playing music. There is a raft of research on the benefits of listening to music as a therapy, and research showing that healing is often accelerated when music therapy is added as an adjunct to recovery. They also discuss the benefits of playing music and how therapeutic it can be to express oneself through an instrument and how living an artistic life can be very satisfying.

• The effectiveness of music therapy, National Institute of Health

LCC Advisor Island Ewart is currently completing a graduate degree in clinical social work in preparation to provide clinical mental health counseling. She completed an undergraduate degree in psychology at Michigan State University, and will graduate with a Master of Clinical Social Work from MSU’s college of Social Work.

Island talks about the challenges of attending a large university, and how important it is to create social connections by joining clubs and organizations. She decided on a major that connected her two passions: understanding how people work, and helping people work better.

They clarify the different types of mental health providers and licenses, understanding that consumers may not understand the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist, for example. They discuss the necessity of seeing people not exclusively as individuals but as part of influential systems such as family and friends, and the importance of connecting with others in working through the challenges in life.