Breaking Stigmas and Rebuilding Empathy Surrounding Homelessness

As a culture, we've grown into a mindset of every person for themselves.  And while we've been busy focusing on ourselves, there are millions of people every day suffering right in front of us, yet we largely choose to ignore them. In this episode, clinical psychologist, writer, and producer Dr. Leslie Silver shares about her documentary film, No Home Here, which focuses on the growing homeless crisis in California and the myths surrounding it. As a culture we've been conditioned to ignore homelessness, so how do we start breaking down the myths surrounding it and start rebuilding empathy? 

"...we need to start by listening to the people that are actually homeless...And I think when we can listen to them, we are going to find out that they're more relatable to us than you might imagine. Can we make a psychological shift as a society to just stop turning away from these people that are struggling? That are desperate for food, for housing, right in front of us in this rich state that we lived in. Can we stop turning away from them? And can we simply just start looking at them?" --Dr. Leslie Silver 

Audio Engineered by: Blaise Douros