Behavioral Health Today

This episode resumes our conversation with Dr. Graham Taylor and his guests Todd Steinberg, Vanessa Steinberg, and Daniel Epstein from Komuso Design. In our last episode, we discussed the inspiration behind and design goals of The Shift breathing device, the history behind the name Komuso Design, the science and benefit of proper breathing, and the agency of control we gain from a device like The Shift. We’ll resume our talk today by discussing self-awareness and a foundation of wellbeing.

For more information about Komuso Design, please visit: https://www.komusodesign.com

“Our message is simply breathe better more often.” In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Todd Steinberg, Vanessa Steinberg, and Daniel Epstein from Komuso Design and their necklace device The Shift. Komuso Design was created in 2017 with the simple intention of providing people with a new tool to access peace of mind. Their mission is to become the architect of fashion wellness and transform lives in the process. Todd is the president of Komuso Design. Having previous experience in the chaotic student travel industry helped him develop a unique skill set of mindful meditation, which then led to a collaboration to create Komuso Design. Vanessa is an award-winning bilingual fashion designer and Komuso cofounder. Vanessa has over a decade of experience in both fashion and entrepreneurial industries. Daniel is a licensed Psychotherapist and Komuso co-founder. Daniel has over a decade of experience in crisis intervention, young-adult mental health, and addiction treatment. Together Todd, Vanessa, and Daniel discuss the design, benefits, and success they’ve had with their breathing device, The Shift.

For more information about Komuso Design, please visit: https://www.komusodesign.com

There are powerful, invisible, and unconscious energy forces that are constantly at work in our lives and involved in shaping who we are. Included in these forces that shape us are our emotions. They impact our lives. They organize our sense of self, and they structure our intentions with one another, but for one reason or another, these emotions with their specific vibrational energies can often get trapped or stuck. And when lodged in the body, these little balls of energy can interfere with our body's ability to function. What if we could tap into our body's inherently designed capacity and desire to heal by unlocking the restorative power of our conscious minds and releasing our emotional baggage, this trapped emotional energy, that causes dysfunctions within our body? In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Dr. Bradley Nelson. Bradley is one of the world’s foremost experts in the emerging fields of Bioenergetic Medicine and Energy Psychology. He has trained thousands of certified practitioners worldwide to help people overcome physical and emotional discomfort by releasing their emotional baggage. His best-selling book “The Emotional Code” provides step-by-step instructions for working with the body’s energy healing power.

For more information about Discover Healing, please visit: https://discoverhealing.com

This may be difficult to hear, but one in every five college freshmen must take a remedial reading class. Two thirds of fourth graders last year failed to read at the proficient reading level. And 42 million American adults are functionally illiterate. In this episode, Dr. Erin Elmore speaks with Claire Rubman. Claire is a cognitive developmental psychologist. She earned her PhD from Stony Brook University and has taught in classrooms for over 30 years. She has personally seen the success and failure of reading comprehension and in November 2022 Claire published the book This May Be Difficult to Read, But You Really Should (For Your Child’s Sake) which addresses the underlying problem of poorly acquired reading comprehension skills in children of all ages. When we learn to think as a child thinks and read as a child reads, we can have a better understanding of what's going on. What we can do better and how we can fix this reading failure chain that seems to have evolved over time.

For more information about This May Be Difficult to Read, But You Really Should for Your Child's Sake by Claire Rubman, PhD, please visit: https://difficulttoread.com

You are a masterpiece and a work in progress at the same time. In this episode, Dr. Erin Elmore speaks with Jon Steele, LMFT. Jon is a licensed marriage and family therapist who has focused his private practice on treating high performance clients including athletes and professionals. With personal experience as a former collegiate athlete, Jon combines the complexities of the athlete experience with the performance of professional life. His specialties include treating anxiety, trauma, grief, addiction, and building mental fitness. Whether working with athletes or high-achieving professionals, he helps his clients combat shame, build healthy coping strategies, and increase self-compassion amidst high pressure environments. Together Erin and Jon discuss the characteristics and challenges of high performance clients, the importance of achieving balance, identifying your inner critic, the importance of mindful self-compassion, and the impact of grief and finding a way to move through it.

For more information about Jon Steele and his private practice, please visit: https://www.jonsteeletherapy.com

In celebration of our third anniversary, we’re re-releasing one of our favorite episodes from the past year. We typically take about 23,000 breaths per day. Most of the time we do so unconsciously, and for the most part we get by. But what if there is a way to breathe better, more consciously, such that we can increase the control we actually have over our bodies, like being able to calm our nervous system, reduce our stress hormones, lower our heart rates, decrease our blood pressure, lower our anxiety, and reduce our stress levels, improve our sleep and our focus, increase our peace of mind, and extend our lifespan. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Todd Steinberg. Todd is the president of Komuso Design, a wellness company and maker of The Shift, a necklace device that slows your exhale to calm your nervous system. Komuso Design was created in 2017 with the simple intention of providing people with a new tool to access peace of mind. Their mission is to become the architect of fashion wellness and transform lives in the process. Together Graham and Todd discuss the creation of Komuso Design and the thinking behind their breathing device The Shift, the research behind the benefits of breathing, and the techniques to breathing better.

For more information about Komuso Design, please visit: https://www.komusodesign.com

In celebration of our third anniversary, we’re releasing the second of two new episodes this week. With the right approach, with caring, empathy, and genuineness, that anyone can rise above the circumstances that they're in and that they too can be a success in their lives. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor is joined by Ron Anderson. Ron is the Executive Director of Project Reclaim, which operates a prevention-based afterschool program for teens, Life Skills workshops for elementary and middle school youth, and parent training and parental involvement activities for parents and guardians. Project Reclaim is a leadership academy that targets middle, junior, and high school youth in the Minden, Louisiana area. Together Graham and Ron discuss the inspiration of Project Reclaim, the core concepts that have led to the success of their program, the importance of reclaiming virtues, and the timeliness for youth leadership right now. We've got to reclaim some virtues that made us great, like hard work, discipline, respect, respect of others and having a strong and powerful household.

For more information about Project Reclaim, please visit: https://prstars.org

In celebration of our third anniversary, we’re re-releasing one of our favorite episodes from the past year.  There is a huge jump from grad school to private practice life and from being a student to being a clinician full time. Unfortunately, there are challenges stacked up against beginning therapists that make it difficult to feel like they're doing enough whether it's professionally, developmentally, or even one-on-one with their clients. In this episode, Dr. Erin Elmore speaks with Ben Behnen. Ben has a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from St. Mary’s University. He is currently accruing his hours to become licensed. Ben has taken his experience of becoming a MFT and turned it into a blog aptly named, “Becoming a Therapist”, where he writes a bi-weekly newsletter, hosts a podcast, and is building a community to help beginning therapists grow. Together Erin and Ben discuss the current state pre-licensure therapists are coming into, some of the challenges around the transition from student to clinician, the common struggles around imposter syndrome and frequent questions asked by pre-licensed therapists. There is a huge jump from grad school to private practice life, but resources like Ben’s website Becoming a Therapist can help guide that growth process.

For more information about Becoming a Therapist, please visit: https://becomingatherapist.me

In celebration of our third anniversary, we’re releasing the first of two new episodes this week. The ability to build trust is a skill that can be developed. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor is joined by Darryl Stickel. Darryl is one of the world’s leading experts on trust. Darryl is an executive coach with over 20 years of experience focused on trust. As the founder of Trust Unlimited, Darryl teaches Trust through masterclasses, small group learning, and one-on-one coaching. In June of 2022 Darryl published his book Building Trust: Exceptional Leadership in an Uncertain World. Together Graham and Darryl discuss the formula to building trust, the importance of trust in today’s societal landscape, the challenges of uncertainty, the significance of context, and the levers we can pull to help build trust and create stronger relationships in our lives.

For more information about Darryl Stickel and his company Trust Unlimited, please visit: https://www.trustunlimited.com

In celebration of our third anniversary, we’re re-releasing one of our favorite episodes from the past year. Nobody has a reference for parenting teens. For many, this is the first time doing this, so what are the right answers? Let alone what are the right answers for what you’re comfortable with. If you as a parent are doing the best you can, with the best intentions then you’re parenting fine. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Michael Klinkner. Michael is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 22 years of experience helping children, adolescents, and adults in therapy. Michael has specialty training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Neurolinguistic Programming. Currently, Michael is working with Evolve Counseling in Arizona where he treats a variety of issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and ADHD, focusing primarily on children, teen and adolescent populations. Together Graham and Michael discuss the challenges around teen mental health, the changes in positive socialization, as well as the dangers of social media and how to guide your child’s relationship with technology as they mature, and finally encouraging parents to be proactive and have the difficult conversations to establish trust with your teen and ensure they’re getting the right information. Most parents are doing the best they can, given their resources. If they had better resources they’d do better. We’re not perfect parents. What are the small, but important things you can do today?

For more information about Michael Klinkner and Evolve Counseling, please visit: https://www.evolvecounselingaz.com

Connect with Michael on Instagram at michael_klinknercouseling, or visit: https://www.instagram.com/evolvecounseling_AZ/

Finally, connect with Michael on Facebook at michaelklinknercounseling, or visit: https://www.facebook.com/michaelklinknercounseling