About Face

I hated the thought of being an addict or an alcoholic. I would often point to my external successes as a straight A student, a lawyer, having a good job and other markers of "well-being" to distract from my problem with alcohol, my depression, anxiety, and my pain. After going through recovery I've noticed that so many addicts are actually "successful" in many other areas of their lives. But, how is this narrative of success preventing them from getting help?

Today I am bringing you an interview that I did over the summer with Eilene Zimmerman who I first discovered after reading her viral article in the New York Times called, “The Lawyer, The Addict.”

I actually was doing my own research on this intersection between lawyers and addiction and this was a fascinating story about Eilene and her husband Peter, a high-powered attorney who died of a drug overdose, without her even knowing he had an addiction.

What is interesting to me about this story is the many ways that our cultural representations of addiction and drug and alcohol use mask the reality that these problems happen at every level of society and this rise of white collar addiction is actually a testament to some of the systemic issues arising from materialism, wealth, spiritual or emotional detachment and the pressure of career or financial success.

This interview is actually a conversation about her story and her book Smacked, which is currently being optioned for film by Elizabeth Moss and her film company Love & Squalor, who you might know from Madmen and The Handmaid’s Tale.

We talk about why attorneys have a propensity for addiction, co-dependency and marriage to an addict, and why the competition and conditioning of the legal profession is killing lawyers. Eilene also shares about her own trauma recovery, and how writing a memoir and her story helped her overcome grief, loss, and reclaim her sense of self.

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Restorya is a member of Bear Radio, the premier English speaking podcast network of Berlin

Our theme music is the song JEANNE by KENICHI & THE SUN from album White Fire which you can find here.

I love gratitude lists, but I think sometimes the pressure to focus on the positive (and shaming for negative thinking) can be destructive. In this episode I want to share my experience with learning to acknowledge some of the challenges in my life, taking an honest approach to hardship. This is about self compassion and learning to get real when things kind of suck. 

Break-ups are HARD and the heartache can last years. This episode explores the relationship between self-identity and break-ups and why the pain is often because of the stories we tell ourselves about why things ended. Whether you left a 20 year marriage or you got ghosted after a few Tinder dates, this episode is for you. Kate explores four steps to narrative healing:

1- What stories are you telling yourself about the relationship or the break-up?

2- What stories are you telling yourself about YOURSELF? What power does this story have over you?

3- Challenge negative biases and beliefs around these stories.

4- Recall and remember the positive things you have learned, what you might take forward, and the strengths you showed during and after the end of a relationship.

This is one example of how narrative work can help in empowerment, self discovery, and personal transformation.

www.restoryatherapy.com

Insta: @restorya

Facebook: Kate Marlena- Restorya

Restorya is a member of Bear Radio, the premier English-speaking podcast network of Berlin. 

Theme Music: Jeanne by Kenichi and the Sun from the album White Fire

Food is so basic and primal and yet so many of us suffer from disordered eating--why? This isn't about extreme cases of anorexia, bulimia, or overeating (though it could be), but the many little ways that we are tortured by food management, food restriction, and the disordered relationships we have with food because of personal, family, cultural and systemic narratives.

In this episode Kate talks with food psychology coach Laura Lloyd about the narratives we have about food, our bodies, and exercise. Do you suffer from disordered eating? Have a subconscious aversion to exercise? Do you hate team sports or think maybe you just "aren't that kind of person" to work out?

What conclusions have we drawn about food, our bodies, and exercise because of early childhood experiences? What narratives and messages have we inherited from our families of origin and culture? Do you have narratives about managing our food and weight? 

This episode also delves into larger narratives of food and our bodies and the role of capitalism, as a focus on production keeps us from having a sacred relationship with the food we eat. 

Laura Lloyd Coaching
www.lauralloyd.co/gift

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauralloydfoodpsychologysavvy

Kate Leone
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/restoryatherapy
Instagram: @restorya
To book a session contact me at restoryatherapy.com

When you think of the most important stories of your life, they are often about relationships. What stories you tell about yourself and your life often begin with family, parental bonds, siblings, and events that involved these important relationships. Whether you have strong bonds with your family or you have severed ties, you likely continue to have stories and narratives around your early life and how these relationships shaped who you are.

I met Aidan “Taco” Jones when he did a stand-up show in Berlin. Most of his bit was about how his Australian mother got pregnant while traveling in Columbia and how he never met his father until this past year. It was as hilarious as it was also heartbreaking and such an insight into his life and the role of humor in his personal growth and healing. 

This episode is about the stories of our childhood, how they shape our identity and sense of self, and how returning and uncovering some of these unattended stories can help us towards healing and understanding. We also talk about mixed race identity, cultural identity, being raised by a non-biological parent, and the importance of self-acceptance. 

Find Aiden here:

Podcast: Sitting Under a Tree

www.aidantacojonnes.com

Instagram: @aidanjonescomedy

If you’ve been a subscriber to the show, thanks for listening to About Face or Restorya and if you’re new, welcome. If you didn’t already know this, I am also practicing as a narrative therapist here in Berlin and clients abroad who want to reach me by Skype. Those sessions can be booked through my website at 

www.restoryatherapy.com

Find me on Facebook: Kate Marlena-Restorya

Insta: @Restorya

Please consider leaving me a review on iTunes. You’ve probably heard this a 100 x by every podcaster, but it truly helps! I really like to provide this content and will continue to do so but as a creator it would really help me out to continue to grow my audience.

Restorya is a member of Bear Radio, the premier English speaking podcast network of Berlin

Our Theme music is the song Jeanne

JEANNE by KENICHI & THE SUN from the upcoming Album "White Fire" to be released in September 2020

Facebook: Restorya Therapy

Instagram: @restorya

Our theme music is the song Jeanne by Kenichi and the Sun from the upcoming album White Fire to be released in September 2020. 

This podcast is broadly looking at the way that stories and reimagined narratives can help us shut down negative thinking patterns, deconstruct damaging systemic narratives, and take the power back in reimagining our own lives. My guest today is Hannah Joy Graves a.k.a. Cult Mother a tarot card reader in Berlin who you also heard on an earlier episode of About Face. While the reading of tarot is by no means scientific or having proven healing powers in a medical way, I do think that it has the power to do what narrative therapy also does, which is look for the answers that lie within us. Like narrative therapy, tarot opens up new possibilities for understanding and gives the individual the power to look at themselves and their lives in a new way.

This was something I realized after my own readings with Hannah. It wasn’t about fortune telling, it was about seeing the way that my life circumstances could be approached differently. I love seeing the way life stories drive individual empowerment and the narrative healing happening in so many different practices.

Hannah Joy Graves- Cult Mother Tarot
Insta: @CultMotherTarot

Mental Health Benefits of Reading Tarot by Elly Belle

Music by Kenichi and the Sun

This episode was originally produced for the Pretty Deadly Self-Defense podcast. It is about family trauma, secrets, and the narratives that work to protect abusers and can leave victims bearing the burden of keeping a family intact. It is about family sexual violence, but also how to live truthfully and authentically as a victim to restore a sense of power and take initiatives in healing. 

Kate shares a personal experience with family sexual violence and asks Susie about the reality that there is no recourse or forum to challenge an abuser, especially if the offense doesn’t rise to the level of criminal violation, for example child sexual abuse.  Kate and Susie talk about the difference between sexual harassment in the workplace where there are HR policies and other forums to call attention to abusers and to file complaints where family assaults and harassment leave victims to fend for themselves.

Susie and Kate talk about possible solutions including severing ourselves from family members.  How do we handle families that are abusive? What does it mean to carry the burden of a family secret and how do we stay true to ourselves?“