Neurodiversity & Mental Health Interview with Dr. Alison Walling, Teachers College, Columbia University

Dr. Alison (Walling) Chaney thrives when working with organizations, leaders, and teams who are ready to roll up their sleeves and drive results. The most successful clients are the ones who have a learner mindset and are ready to dive into the hard work of transformation and change, both personally and interpersonally. Alison and her team seek first to understand your culture, strategy, market, and developmental gaps. They draw from a deep well of research-based practices in organizational development, adult learning and leadership, neuroscience, and emotional/social intelligence.

· Can you share about your personal journey with mental health?

I was introduced to the concept of mental health from an early age with family members who sought mental health resources and support for addiction and mental illness. Family members sought help from therapists and twelve-step support groups, which made the idea of mental health much less of a stigma. I was even invited to attend anniversary AA meetings as an adolescent. This opened up the idea that we all have varying degrees of mental health and wellness and it is okay to seek help and support. While in high school and college, I sought support for my own struggles with anxiety. Having a therapist, coach, and support group at different points in my life helped me grow and help others.

· Thanks for the courage in sharing your story. Why are you open about sharing this story?

I found that hearing stories from my own family members and peers gave me a profound sense of awareness, humility, and evoked a passion for mental health. Because of the powerful education in hearing others’ stories, I seek to give back as best as I can by sharing my own experience. In the twelve-step support group Alanon, it is a common practice to invite speakers who share their experience, strength, and hope. Storytelling and discussion are vital learning mechanisms for adults.

· What drew you into working at the Autism Center with children?

While at NYU for my undergrad, I was studying psychology. I would often pause at the bulletin board and look at the research and internship opportunities, longing for my first and next exciting opportunity to begin practicing what I was learning. I was also in the pre-med program and the department suggested holding off on any internships the first year because of the stress level and need to focus on studies. While looking at the bulletin board, I saw an opportunity to volunteer and be trained to work with an adorable 8-year-old boy with Autism. Since it was a 4 hour/week commitment and it would give me a chance to learn and apply what I was studying in my psychology classes, I couldn’t help but volunteer. It was a life-changing experience and inspired me to continue training and practicing in that area. I ended up seeking professional training through the Son-Rise Options institute in Massachusetts to help families start the volunteer training programs in their homes. It was so rewarding to help families set-up their own home-based therapy programs and train volunteers who were eager to help. I also joined the Mount Sinai Seaver Center for Autism where I had a chance to facilitate social skills groups for children with Autism.

· What is your experience working with neurodiverse professionals? Any friends with autism? What has their journey been like?

Many of my clients have disclosed or included me in their journey of exploring their mental health challenges and abilities. It is not uncommon in executive coaching that my clients will identify professional relationship challenges that point to underlying conditions such as anxiety or a social-emotional development delay or challenge. Anxiety, for instance, can result in sleeping disturbances and relying on maladaptive coping mechanisms such as social withdrawal or addiction. All of these challenges impact professional performance and working relationships. Additionally, some professionals are extremely intelligent and successful in their technical areas of expertise yet lack the emotional and social competence to manage and lead others. In these instances, it is possible that they need additional training and coaching in the area of emotional and social intelligence. It is also possible that the professional is undiagnosed or diagnosed as someone with Autism.

· How does your degree in psychology influence your work today?
My degree in psychology has provided me with a foundational understanding of how the human mind operates, both in normally functioning individuals and then in abnormally functioning individuals. Given this foundational knowledge, I have a better understanding of where my clients may be strong or weak in their mindset, beliefs, and behaviors. I can help my clients leverage their strengths and then seek additional resources, support, or training to grow in the weak areas. For instance, a client may have a delimiting belief that they need approval from others in order to be secure and perform well in their role. In the absence of having a coach who can help them see this, they may continue to get in their own way and be stunted in their professional development. As their coach, I can help them see this belief exists and we can think through options for how to shift their perspective and adopt a healthier belief instead.

· What role do emotions and psychology play in organizations, systems, and executive coaching?

Emotions and psychology are similar to the operating system of a computer. Both are running in the background and drive the tasks and execution of the individual, organization, and system. If we don’t know the mechanics of our emotions and psychology, we don’t always have the awareness and options for improving our performance.

As an executive coach and management consultant, I seek to help individuals and their organizations recognize the power of psychology and emotions to support the most effective operation. For example, if we don’t know that emotions motivate our decisions, we may not use emotions effectively to help us make the best decision at hand.

Humans typically avoid what they fear and move toward what they desire. Organizations and leaders that attempt to motivate people through fear will end up with compliance rather than commitment and people will most likely leave the organization. Organizations and leaders that strategically use the full range of emotions to help their people seek what is positively reinforced and rewarded, will gain commitment and sustain results. The same goes for executive coaching. Rather than try to get a client to change because I share with them all of the negative consequences of their poor habits, we can work together to see the desired future state and identify productive options with rewards for getting there.

· Why is a change in mindset and behaviors so hard?

It is extremely difficult to change our mindset and behaviors because our brains hardwire repeat patterns. For instance, if I wake up every morning and the first thing, I do is look at my phone, my brain has hard-wired that habit in both my motor neural network and working memory. My hand and eyes will instinctively reach for the phone. If we repeat that pattern every day for even just a week, our brains begin to automatically prompt us to carry out that newly formed habit. Change is also difficult because we are typically reinforcing what our brain finds pleasing and protective. Why would we stop doing something that brings us pleasure? Why would we change a habit if it has protected us from threats? To change and shift a pattern in the way we think and behave requires intentionality and effort. Our brains function in a way that conserves energy, so it actually requires additional energy to change what our brain is already expecting. A simple analogy is exercise. Our bodies have to expend greater energy to push a muscle beyond its regular movement. We also know that muscles have to tear, thus causing pain, in order to build up greater tissue and get stronger. The brain is similar in that it has to exert energy to function outside of its regular pattern. It also can feel uncomfortable and even painful to undo a habitual pattern of thinking of behaving because the neural network needs to be redirected and rerouted, which requires energy and intentionality.

How can organizations, systems, and individuals adapt and evolve?

Organizations, systems, and individuals can adapt and evolve by establishing a habitual mindset and culture of learning and change. If we expect to change and learn new things regularly, it becomes a habit in itself. One term for this phenomenon is called learning agility. Being learning agile includes embodying and living out a life of flexibility, feedback-seeking, learning from experimentation, and others. There are assessments such as the Burke Learning Agility Inventory that can help us gain awareness around how learning agile, we are and thus identify strengths we can leverage and areas we can grow to maximize our abilities to adapt and evolve. It is also important to consistently note and reward the progress and results for having made the adaptations. When we have metrics and incentive systems in place to reward the effort and adaptation, it is more likely we will adopt this as a part of the organizational culture.

· How does change relate to mental health?

Since all humans could pause and take an inventory of our mental health, it means we can all benefit from recognizing what is working for us and what is not. For instance, later in life, some adults recognize that the increased pressure and stress of work and family responsibilities result in symptoms of anxiety. Symptoms of anxiety such as automatic negative thinking, disturbed sleep, physical manifestations such as chest tightness and sweating can all prompt a person to seek relief. It is easy for professionals, for instance, to rely on having a glass of wine after work to ‘take the edge off.’ This repeat pattern becomes a negative coping mechanism and would require a change in thinking and behavior to improve mental health. If we want to be healthy individuals, we must pause and take inventory of what is healthy thinking and behaving and what is not. A regular inventory and habit of changing our thoughts and behaviors become a lifestyle of ongoing change and development.

· What are your thoughts on cognitive diversity within organizations and do enterprises have the right mix of cognitive diversity at different levels?

If organizations hire and staff with a homogeneous population, it can expect to have a more limited set of results in performance. I believe that organizations seeking to grow and change constantly would benefit from having a diverse range of individuals, including a diverse mix of cognitive abilities. I am inspired by organizations such as EY and Google that have intentionally sought out and created intentional hiring and staffing programs that leverage the strengths of cognitively diverse employees and candidates. As a society and marketplace, we are only at the beginning phase of embracing, adapting, and learning from becoming more inclusive.

· How can those with neurodiverse backgrounds and/or limitations adapt to the workplace with emotional, social, and cultural intelligence?

I would start by embracing and seeing the strengths in our diversity and limitations. Just because we are different does not mean it would be better to conform to what is normal. For instance, if we have a special ability and preference for math and science, we may help organizations and others more by using those talents and skills to serve rather than spending our time trying to conform to what society tells us is normal. That being said, if we are missing out on opportunities and relationships because we are weaker in the areas of emotional, social, and cultural intelligence, there are many options for learning and growing. For instance, there are books, articles, and classes that teach these concepts. This is a great place to start to begin developing a familiarity and awareness of what it all means. The next step is practicing new habits, ways of thinking, and behaving with others. For instance, if I am lower in emotional intelligence, I can start by practicing labeling my feelings each day using the feelings wheel. This new habit will help boost my emotional self-awareness. There are also support groups, social skills groups, coaches, therapists, occupational therapists, and other professionals who can help individuals develop emotional, social, and cultural intelligence.

· Anything else you want to share that you wish I would have asked?

I would like to caution those of us seeking to help others with mental health diagnoses. It is important that we do not place ourselves and others on a ladder, thus comparing and assuming we are better than or less than others because of our cognitive abilities or mental health. We can all learn so much from one another and our motivation for helping others should be balanced with a humble desire to also learn from those we help. If we think we are somehow better than others for help, we are at great risk of doing more harm than good.