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WoodyBerk
3,641
L Helper
5 star rating
Rating
Number of ratings23 Number of reviews6 Listens toOver 18 LanguagesEnglish Listener sinceMay 23, 2015 Last activeover 6 months ago GenderMale PathStep 36 People helped19 Chats38 Listener group chats1 Forum posts54 Forum upvotes80
Bio
I'm Woody Berk. I want to spend the rest of my life helping people as best I can. I believe I have a lot of life experiences, career advice, and perspectives to offer. I've had 3 careers, 13+ years each.

1) The restaurant/bar biz, starting as cooking, ending it running 375 seat, 24/7 Unit in Portland, Or. The first manager to make a profit at that site.
2) Chasing my life dream to be a Physicist. I went back to college at age 29, received my Physics Major/Math Minor BS degree with GPA 3.4
3) Designed, modeled, and developed Neutron/Photon porosity tools for Mobil Oil, Westinghouse, Hughes tools, and Exlog. I did ALL computer work, modeling, data analysis, etc. We were published in "Nuclear Geophysics Journal".
4) When the oil prices imploded the first thing dumped by the oil companies was research... us. So we were out of work.
5) So my 3rd career began. I absolutely loved programming and was good at it. I spent the next 25 years doing nothing but that at the highest levels, architecting/designing/ and lead programmer for a new order entry system at the U.S.'s largest food catalog company "Harry and David" My and my teams system is still in use today.

If I had to say the most important assets I have, they would be the ability to quickly home in on the root of a problem due to my physics background, also a real empathy for people suffering and in need. I don't judge people in any way, I'm told I'm a very kind hearted, optimistic person, with a lot of knowledge and very good sense of people and how to help. I simply listen, express what I see and hear and go from there.... whatever works best for the person I'm talking to.
Recent forum posts
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Causes and Options to Deal with Depression
Depression Support / by WoodyBerk
Last post
 June 23rd, 2015
...See more To be clear, I do believe that seeing licensed councilors can be of great benefit in all cases below.  However, I don't believe there's any substitute for looking deeply and honestly inside yourself and find the real root cause of the problem.  This guide is to help you sort out what's really going on inside your mind. After listening in the Depression Support Member chat room for over 30 minutes, it was crystal clear that most were in pain, suffering terrible, and with no clue how solve their problems.   None of what follows is "advice" it's simply a recount of my personal experiences, my analysis of them looking back, and what I believe to be true.  So my thinking is to give the people that are suffering from the same things I've suffered with and overcome, some concrete information to go on... NOT ADVICE, information and options that will lead them to HOPE and at least improvement, and things to focus on to improve their quality of life.   I will start with the 3 causes of depression as I believe them to be.  Then for each, the options, things to avoid, etc. for each.   This will give you at least a guide that hopefully will help Causes of Depression: 1) Alcohol/Substance Abuse  2) Relationship/work/money/family/legal issues as well as trauma, PTSD, etc.... anything real that happened in your life that you are having difficulty getting past, or getting out of your mind so you can regain your life and live happily. 3) Depression medications themselves. Options for addressing each cause: 1) Alcohol/Substance Abuse  This may be the toughest one to deal with because physical/mental addiction is essentially and illness that's soooo hard to overcome.   There are basically 3 options: a)  Reach bottom, those of you with this cause know what I mean, and in a sort of "come to Jesus" moment (not meaning religion is or isn't involved) a switch in your mind says "ok, you can go on and die, or you can quit and live".... I choose the later .... had to really gut it out, but made it and my life has been a 1000 times better ever since. b) Go to AA, see councilors, check into rehab centers.... or if you're a loner like I was, just have your doc give you antibuse... you can't drink when you take it, you get so sick it's terrible... but that will only work if you have to will to quit and to actually take them every day. c)  Go on the way you're going and keep in mind your life will be miserable, your life expectancy a few years, and that's the terrible truth that you really have to face... and just honestly facing may save your life... it sure did mine!!!!! 2) Relationship/work/money/family/legal issues as well as trauma, PTSD, etc.... If you're taking depression medication, read #3 below first, it may explain the REAL problem. a)  The real answer to all of these is communication and talking.  The only way to finally come to grips with these kinds of situation is to talk it out, pour it out, cry your brains out, and basically get all of it totally off your chest with someone you love, trust, or respect.   The simple act of dumping all your feelings will lead you to recognize the feelings you had, where they were coming from, why they were there..... that's everything... that's the ballgame.   Once you know and see what was really going on, really the problem, etc.  ... your brain changes.  Now you're not dealing with some unknown... and your brain will largely fix it without you having to anything else.  You may have to run the conversation and thoughts through your mind a few times over the next few weeks.... but you WILL be fixed and ready to move on with a GREAT happy life!!! 3) Depression medications themselves. This one is simple.  There is a pretty new DNA test available (see genesight.com) that will tell you flat out what medication will work for you, partially work for you, or be dangerous to you. I was given the anti-depressant 'Cymbalta'... took it for 5 years (actually not for depression in my case but for other reasons).    About a year ago I started having suicidal thoughts, and other bad side effects.  I did not suspect cymbalta because I'd taken it for so long.  To make a long story short, I had the DNA test taken and cymbalta was in the list of drugs I should never take.  I quit it several months ago, still have some minor side effects which can last for months...  but feel so much better it's unreal. So, the bottom line here is, if you're taking anti-depression meds in the past docs just had to make their best guess.  Now, simply take the DNA test and it will tell you EXACTLY what will work for YOU and what won't. Take care guys, hope this helps!!!!
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Feedback & Reviews
Woody stayed up with me while I walked him through my personal Hell. If you need to speak to a realist with great patience and compassion, he is your man.
Very helpful. Made good suggestions and listened to my feedback. Thanks!
Thanx Woody for sharing your experience and wisdom.
An older gentleman who is willing to listen and help. The sort of person who has been through the tangles of life and can help you untangle yours. Had close to a 2.5 hour chant that ended in a place I didn’t really expect it to, though his insight and recommendation illuminated more than expected. Haven’t yet seen if his recommendation will work but I intend to.
I loved WoodyBerk's solution oriented approach, he is a scientific thinker and it transpires in the way he tackles problems. I was feeling overwhelmed, disoriented and very depressed and conversing with him helped me clear up my vision. He's been very generous with his time and made me feel welcome. Truly recommended.
Wonderful listener! Engaged, helpful and knowledgeable.
Categories
Depression
Work Stress
Anxiety
Parenting
Breakups
Alcohol/Drug Abuse
Family Stress
Chronic Pain
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