Please note that this episode does discuss suicide. With no end in sight, this pandemic has the ability to exaggerate daily stressors. Everyone is experiencing more frequent difficult days and while some people reach out for help, others are losing their lives. We've talked about reaching out for support but who is helping the helpers? In this episode, Alicia and I explore our experience with being therapists in a pandemic and how it impacts us personally as our caseloads increase and our opportunities to recharge feel further away.

Tune in and let us know your thoughts!

Which is better, the "Golden Rule": treat people how you want to be treated, or the "Platinum Rule": treat people how they want to be treated? In this episode of 2 Elephants In The Room, we talk about how we give support to people and how we ask for support. In our society, it's common that people just try to do things on their own, it's almost expected. But the reality is that we're living in an uncertain time and as we figure out what life is in a pandemic, we may find that we need a little more support from one another. How do you show up for others? How do you show up for yourself? Listen in and let us know what you think!

Happy New Year and Happy Friday! We're so excited to be back recording for you guys. In this episode we talk about the break that we took last year and the value of taking time for rest and to re-energize. Thank you guys for hanging with us for the past 5 seasons! Season 6 is underway and we're excited about what's to come!

Have you heard about Dr. Carl Hart? He's the tenured professor of psychology and psychiatry at Columbia University who is claiming that using heroin in specific doses for limited amounts of time is not harmful. It's quite controversial and scientifically, I understand what he's saying but socially he's missing the mark. In this episode of 2 Elephants In The Room, we talk about Dr. Hart's claims and the implications his ideas around hard drugs has on a society that is constantly trying to feel good. What do you think? Can a person safely and regularly use heroin? Listen in and let's discuss.

By now we've all probably figured some small ways to create normalcy in this pandemic. We schedule weekly videochats with family or we made designated work from home space in our homes. As much as we are grateful to still have a home or a job, we can feel like something is still off. We feel sad or anxious and there seems to be no real reason why. So we start comparing our experience to the stories we've heard from friends and the news about the significant increase in unemployment, tent cities and homelessness. All of a sudden we feel guilt for even thinking of complaining. In this week's episode of 2 Elephants In The Room, we talk about crisis comparison and how we invalidate our own experience because we see that someone else has it harder. Every experience is valid and your feelings around not being able to live your norm are legitimate. It does not mean that we don't acknowledge the differences, we just don't assign a value that downplays what we're going through because we see the difference. Have you been comparing your experience to that of others? Do you invalidate your grief because it's "not as bad as" someone else's? Share your thoughts!

Grief comes to us in so many ways, through loss and transition or unmet expectations. There is also space where we know that loss or transition is coming and it causes us to begin to grieve in advance. This week's episode of 2 Elephants In The Room, Alicia and Erin explore impending grief, how it's different from immediate grief and ways to manage all the feelings. Have you ever experienced impending grief? What did you do to deal with the feelings? Did it make the loss or transition easier or hard to accept?

Doing things for the first time can be nerve-wracking. Personally, it has lead to a lot of "productivity paralysis". In this episode, I'm coming to you solo dolo to talk about ways to get over the things that stop you from working out your great ideas and get you closer to exhibiting your full potential. Often we look at the new year as an opportunity to do new things, but fear can stop us. Learning to trust your intuition and be adventurous can remedy that. Listen in and share how you deal with doing new things for the first time.

As we're approaching an entire year of being in a pandemic and quarantine, new buzzwords are floating around. This week we discuss C*VID Fatigue and the general sensation of just being "over it". How are we creating new normals so that we feel less restricted in our day to day activities. Listen in and let us know what you're thinking!

It's a new year and an even newer world. We are still in a pandemic and it has caused major shifts in how we socialize and interact with one another. In this episode of 2 Elephants In the Room, we talk about the fear of coughing in public and the underlying issues of assuming others may not care about the safety and wellness of others, the necessity of having to work when you may not feel your best, and the fact that it's cold season and sometimes people just cough. Have you been holding in your coughs when in public? How are you still adjusting to this new experience?

The holidays will look different this year. What are traditions you will miss? What traditions will you create? Listen in as Alicia and I discuss self care and ways to celebrate the holidays safely, in a pandemic.