Out of Patients EP439: Mental Health, Wicked Problems and Dodgeball: Rebecca Benghiat, JD

Rebecca Benghiat JD runs impact at Inner Foundation after leading JED and advising across the mental health ecosystem. She sits where money, policy, and care collide. I wanted her on because she understands how decisions get made and still has the nerve to ask if any of it works.

She calls mental health a wicked problem and refuses easy answers. That lands when she talks about desperate families forced to sort through snake oil while in crisis. Then she says the quiet part out loud. Anyone claiming a simple solution is bullshitting you. That line stayed with me. I have watched the same dynamic since brain cancer at 21. Different diagnosis, same vulnerability.

Then we go sideways in the best way. Dodgeball. She defends friction and says things should feel a little hard. I laughed and then I stopped laughing. We keep removing friction and calling it progress while outcomes stay fuzzy.

I walked away sharper. Less tolerant of polished nonsense. More focused on who actually measures what works.

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