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Taking a unique approach to personal development, making it your own based on the circumstances you had to overcome and what message resonates with you, is exactly what my guest on this episode of the podcast, Devina Kaur, has done. After all, when you are dealing a history of mental health challenges, the cookie cutter approach isn't always going to resonate, much less be an effective tool for you to utilize.
Thinking outside the box is what Devina has done and it's allowed her to become a speaker, published author, and start a movement that encourages you to embrace who you truly are on the inside.
Devina Kaur is a fun-loving, flamboyant, straight-talking author, entrepreneur, filmmaker and inspirational speaker. Born and raised in rural India, she fought to reconcile her traditional upbringing with her ambitions. After a lifetime of being told she was too fat, too loud and too ambitious, her world fell apart in her 30s when her arranged marriage ended. Thirty years of desperately trying to be the person everyone else wanted had resulted in loneliness, depression and confusion.During my chat with Devina, we discuss: (chapter time stamps included)
Sexy Brilliant - Empowerment from the inside out.
Be sure and check out SexyBrilliant.com for more information on Devina Kaur, including upcoming events, her book series, and appearances. Be sure to follow her on Twitter Facebook, and Instagram, all at TheDevinaKaur.
All conversation and information exchanged during participation on the Beyond Your Past Podcast, on BeyondYourPast.com, and BeyondYourPastRadio.com is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Not
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My guest on this episode of the podcast, the incredible Michele Rosenthal is here to share some of her expertise in the area of PTSD and trauma recovery, including how her journey started and some of the experiences she's had a long the way that have helped to come to a point of being able to not only share her story but work with others to help them facilitate what their healing experience will be.
Michele Rosenthal's story, and her work, has been featured on NBC, CBS, The Washington Post, Women's World, Psychology Today, and many other outlets. She is a Trauma Recovery Strategist who began her healing journey in 1998 and has taken her recovery and made it her own by creating a healing intention and taking control of her life so that she could experience complete freedom.
As she outlines on her website: I learned about the importance of hope and belief – from inside myself and from those working with me. I also learned about the critical elements of self-empowerment, vision, meaning and identity. Plus, how we can harness those core strengths and apply them to healing trauma.
By the time I completed my trauma recovery transformation I’d learned a lot about what it takes to release the past, connect to the present, and build a new future. I’d also developed a really deep desire to do something with all that knowledge. Since then I have made it my focus to inspire, guide and assist survivors to overcome depression, worry, and fear as they rebuild their lives after trauma and adversity.
During my chat with Michele we cover:
Don't just take my word for it though by reading the highlights.... Go ahead click play right here in this post or find us on you
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So...New Years Resolutions. The very thought often brings about an eye roll, anxious feelings, perhaps apathy, just to name a few. If you're like many, you don't even bother with them because you feel like the don't work anyway so what's the point. For others, the start of each new year is an opportunity to try again with a renewed sense of confidence. Either way, you're not alone.
On this second podcast episode of 2019 (as you'll hear in the podcast I actually call it the 1st episode), I thought I'd take a few minutes and catch you all up on what's been happening with the show, the direction it's headed, and some other projects I'm working on...just in case you're interested in hearing some updates.
If you are..Great, then listen right from the beginning and you'll be all set.
However, if getting those news and notes isn't really your thing, that's cool too...just forward to the 6:50 mark of the podcast where I dive in to the New Years' Resolutions, Anxiety, and setting yourself up for success as much as possible with the goals you make for yourself.
We'll dive into things like:
Remember, whether you decide to set some resolutions or goals, or not...you deserve to put your healing first in 2019. Anxiety has no place in your life, so make this the year that you take your power back from Anxiety...and empower yourself for a change.
-Matthew Pappas, CLC, MPNLP
All conversation and information exchanged during participation on the Beyond Your Past Podcast, on BeyondYourPast.com, and BeyondYourPastRadio.com is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing on these podcasts or posted on the above mentioned websites are supplements for or supersedes the relationship and direction of your medical or mental health providers.
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My guest on this episode of the podcast, Jeremy Schneider, MFT shares his experience as a survivor of trauma, and his work with individuals and families helped inspire him to write "Fatherhood in 40-minute Snapshots".
Jeremy G. Schneider is a marriage and family therapist whose career spans more than 15 years of working with individuals and families, focusing on parenting, relationships and mental health. For his work, he has been a featured in The New York Times, TODAY, and CNN and has been a speaker on panels in New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, and Liverpool, England. Jeremy lives and works in New York City with his wife, Gem, and his son and daughter, Lucas and Dorit.
During our chat on the podcast, Jeremy and I dive into some aspects of parenting as a survivor of childhood trauma:
My chat with Jeremy Schneider was such a great experience and I'm honored to have the opportunity to share some of his story with you here on the podcast. I hope you'll consider checking out his current book, as well as his memoir due out in mid 2019.
Be sure and follow Jeremy on Twitter and Facebook, and on his website, JGS.net. You can pick up your copy of Fatherhood in 40-minute Snapshots, on Amazon.
-Matthew Pappas, CLC, MPNLP
All conversation and information exchanged during participation on the Beyond Your Past Podcast, on BeyondYourPast.com, and BeyondYourPastRadio.com is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing on these podcasts or posted on the above mentioned websites are supplements for or supersedes the relationship and direction of your medical or mental health providers.
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Welcome back to the Mental Health Megacast, a semi-regular round table discussion with 3 mental health advocates, podcasters, and survivors of circumstances we'd rather forget, who are trying to find our way through life and make a difference.
Officially, this is Season 2, Ep. 4 - but our numbering system isn't an exact science since this is actually episode 110 of my podcast, while it's also something different for Wes and Mike's shows. Anyways...we're just stoked for each opportunity to come together for an hour and chat about what's been going on in our lives; the struggles, the challenges, the wins and progress, and everything in between.
Anyways, just in case you aren’t familiar with the Megacasts, you can check out past episodes here, and also my cohorts platforms as well….
To that end, the Megacast is creation of the collaborative brain powers (more or less) of Wes from AudioRising.com and Mike from MikesOpenJournal.com, and myself. I encourage you to check out and follow them online and through your favorite podcasting platform. Each of these has a tremendous message to share and an inspiring and unique way in how they go about it.
In this episode,
after the usual cheers because we all got signed on at the same time (yes that's a thing we do and celebrate it because the struggle is real with us 3 and time) we begin the focus of this Megacast episode:
How things have changed for each of us over the last year, and how our lives have changed in terms of sharing our story and our advocacy work from the time we started, till now.
We hope you enjoy this latest episode, and yes if you do have suggestions for future shows, we are still taking them. ;) One of the best things about these episodes is that that they are completely unedited, unscripted, just us hanging out and having a chat, and you are invited.
Be sure and follow Wes on Twitter @WesA1966 and Mike @Mike_Douglas_ & Open_Journal_ …oh and don’t forget to follow and subscribe to all of our shows on your favorite podcasting app!
-Matt Pappas, CLC, MPNLP
All conversation and information exchanged during participation the Beyond Your Past Podcast, on BeyondYourPast.com, and BeyondYourPastRadio.com is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing on these podcasts or posted on the above mentioned websites are supplements for or supersedes the relationship and direction of your medical or mental health providers.
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Throughout this survivor of journey which has been such a huge part of my life in recent years especially, I have come across countless incredible people from all walks of life, from all around the world. I can still remember the first time I hopped online and searched for "survivor chats" on Google. That was a moment that forever changed my view of what being a survivor was, and it gave me a sense of the support available from people just like me who were struggling to work through a past filled with invalidation, abuse, and constant struggle.
One of the people that I connected with early on in my journey, was an incredible woman named Jody Betty. We met on Twitter and over the years have continued to follow each other, support our respective blogs, and collaborate. Jody wrote a post on Surviving My Past, entitled "The Safe Place that Saved My Life". Where she talks about how her mind takes her to a safe place, a safe memory, to escape the pain of an abusive past.
Jody is an active writer for her own blog, JodyB2016.wordpress.com, as well as being a regular contributor on Sick Not Weak, with her column, Raw and Open, and on The Mighty .
Her stories center around Mental Health Advocacy and writing about her own struggles as a 3 time suicide attempt survivor, and being diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Major Depression, and ongoing struggles with passive suicidal ideations. Her traumatic past includes being sexually abuse as a child, sexually assaulted as a teenager, as well as experiencing domestic violence at home.
Jody bravely shares her journey to help others realize they are not alone, and that here is hope even when that means you somehow just survive the day, hour by hour. Throughout the years of her writing, and in the time that I've known her, countless people across the globe are encouraged and validated by the vulnerable way that Jody writes. She is as authentic as she is raw and open about her life; and through that vulnerability she is able to continue her own healing and help others along the way.
A few months ago, Jody reached out to me about coming on the podcast to share some of her story in a new way, by using her voice, literally. Of course, I welcomed the opportunity to chat with my friend and amazing survivor, because her story is one that cannot be told enough. Like all survivors who choose too, and are able to, "get this stuff out of our heads", there is comfort and healing by opening up and telling others about our struggles and triumphs.
During my chat with Jody on this episode of the podcast, she opens up about the abuse she suffered starting at birth and continuing into adulthood, and some of her ongoing story:
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Searching for our life's purpose, it's something that we can all strive for; merely not existing in this world and "going through the motions" but finding the true desire of our heart and where our passion is, and using it to help others. To not just wake up each day feeling like we are stuck with no hope of having a truly fulfilling and enriching life, but rather to live each day doing what we love and understanding that our purpose is unique to us.
Life purpose and helping others do not necessarily go hand in hand in everyone's view, but as we'll explore in this episode of the podcast, using your life's purpose to help others can make each experience so much more meaningful and fulfilling.
Business, archetype and releasing coach for ‘Mermaids,' singer with four recordings and mom to a bohemian son on the Canadian prairies, Beth Martens helps women ‘MerPreneurs’ be valued for their authentic life’s work. A ‘corporate cancer’ survivor, she now teaches women how to create and up level a divinely aligned business - so they can serve with the whole of themselves without spreading themselves too thin or burning out from over-giving. In addition to teaching the tools of high end business, she specializes in working with archetype and releasing coaching to help her clients navigate the emotional underworld, reclaim their lost energy and create abundance from love instead of fear.
Beth Martens is a 2 time cancer survivor, and has beaten the odds repeatedly throughout her life. Even when told she would not likely survive, she refused to give up on herself and her dreams of finding and embracing her life's purpose. "Over the 3 years of fighting for my life I lost everything – my house, my car, my ability to work, and several friends who couldn’t journey with me. I gave away my cats and all of the stuff I could no longer look after. I lost my hair, I looked like death itself and finally lost my hope to live.
That day I fell into the pit of despair. Dusk was falling, the room blackening and I laid there for hours on end in my parents’ book room, feeling my life had come to the end. When I finally caved and surrendered to all of the loss, and to death itself, instead of dying I had the most surprising breakthrough.
I saw who I really am. I saw that with nothing, I was intimately connected with humanity through what I’m here to be and do. And I saw how utterly fulfilled I was in that, despite having lost everything. What finally turned the key for me was working with archetypes. In discovering the ‘Mer’ archetype that was out of alignment for me I recovered enough energy that I completely healed, and never had to look back.
After recovering from cancer and the treatments, it took me more than a decade to build my calling into a business that served me and the people I work for equally. Now I teach women to do that in six months."
You are guided by your instincts about what is possible.But when you look out in the world it doesn’t reflect the vision you see. You are wired to serve others in the ways you are naturally gifted, emotionally inclined and expertly trained, and your soul won’t let you rest until you do it.During our chat on the podcast, we cover more about power of working with archetypes and your life's purpose:
T
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Rebuilding trust; once it's broken it's one of the most difficult things to heal. Trust is one of those things that can take quite a bit of bending before it actually breaks. We give others opportunity after opportunity to save it. We can endlessly justify what someone in our life did to us, and how they didn't mean it, and how we shouldn't be so selfish and quick to judge for any number of reasons. We even blame ourselves for all the seemingly bad things we've done, and figure "who are we cut someone off just because...".
Yes, rebuilding trust in others is very difficult, but healing the trust in ourselves can prove to be more problematic. We are our own worse critic, right?
How could we let this happen, what were we thinking, we should have seen this coming...the list goes on and on of the words we tell ourselves to justify the emotional beating we feel is necessary. Blaming ourselves is always easier than blaming someone else, because we can control us...we can't control others.
When your trust in a parent, sibling, or authority figure is broken when you're a child, the road to healing is indeed rough but certainly not impossible. When that trust is broken again, as an adult survivor who is traumatized, everything comes rushing back to take it's seemingly rightful place at the forefront of your very being. All that hard work you did to heal and work through these emotions, all the progress you made, can seem like a distant memory. You may very well be knocked down temporarily, knocked sideways, and stumble a bit but all that you've done is not undone...you have get back up, dust yourself off, and keep going.
My guest on this episode of the podcast, Joanne Cipressi, has done just that many times in her life and now works with survivors to help them heal and rebuild that trust.
As she outlines on her website: I have been a life coach for about 20 years. Between my upbringing, personal experiences, and my educational training, I have put together formulas for helping people retrain the way they think, feel and act so that they can achieve their goals. I have worked with people on so many different issues, problems and concerns over the past 20 years, that she truly understands what people need in so many areas of their life.
I have seen the transformation power that retraining the way you think and feel has. When you learn to make your mind and emotions work for you instead of against you, your life truly does transform. With deep care and love for people, I work from a place or understanding, compassion and intuitive guidance to move people to change.
Joanne is trained in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Advanced Hypnosis, Age Regression Therapy, Timeline Therapy, Humanistic Neuro-Linguistic Psychology, Reiki-Master, and more. Using her skills and training, along with her personal experience as a survivor of both childhood and adult sexual abuse, she is able to help her clients through some of their most difficult circumstances a, transforming the way they think and feel about themselves, and embrace the progress of achieving their goals.
During our chat, Joanne and I discuss:
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Many guests who have joined me on the podcast come from a background of writing about their experiences. This method of coping paved the way, in many cases, to their to where they are today, and continue to aid in their ongoing journey of healing. For some, writing is an exercise in anxiety and simply too difficult an experience to endure because of the painful memories the come rushing back while exploring their feelings in this manner.
Writing is usually a solo activity, which in itself can raise the anxiety level to exponential heights; something of course we'd rather not experience any longer. For many however, myself included, blogging offers a way to get those deep-rooted feelings and memories out of our heads and in some ways, make sense of them. At the very least, getting these such thoughts out of heads, can help them seem not so intimidating.
My guest on this episode of the podcast, Shirley J. Davis, has spent a large part of her life writing, which has allowed her to exponentially aid her own healing journey from abuse which started at a very young age, and leading to Dissociative Identity Disorder.
Shirley Davis shares is a freelance writer, public speaker and grant writer who loves life, and hopes to help others to do so as well. Shirley lives with a severe mental health condition known as dissociative identity disorder but has made huge strides forward through many years of hard work and the help of a wonderful therapist. Her philosophy has become that life is not just an empty journey to simply survive and then die, rather it is a wonderful adventure to savor and enjoy.
She writes about healing from complex trauma and DID on her blog, Morgan6062.blog , CPTSDfoundationg.org , and many other outlets including NAMI of Illinois, and the American Psychological Association.
During our chat on the podcast, Shirley shares some of her survivor story, which includes abuse that started from birth, and continuing through age 15.
Be sure and follow Shirley J. Davis' work on Morgan6062.blog or simply google her name for the many outlets that share her work. You can also follow her on Twitter @ShirleyDavis18.
Please consider sharing this podcast with someone who might benefit from hearing Shirley's story and encouragement for trauma survivors and those with living with D.I.D., you never know the difference it could make. Don't forget to subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcasting app.
-Matthew Pappas, CLC, MPNLP
All conversation and information exchanged during participation on the Beyond Your Past Podcast, on BeyondYourPast.com, and BeyondYourPastRadio.com is intended for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing on
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Learning to break the cycle of abuse and heal past trauma can be a very spiritual experience for some survivors, and for those who have a desire to in touch with their spiritual side and using the energy of the universe to help in healing, working with a professional who specializes in Soul Transformation Therapy and Reiki can be an incredibly rewarding experience.
My guest on the podcast today is Liz Goddard. Liz reached out to me with an interest in coming on the podcast to talk more about her work in these areas and the benefits that working with a coach can have when a client is trying to heal deep wounds of the past by connecting with the energy around them.
Elizabeth is an Author, Spiritual Life Coach, Soul Transformation Therapist, Soul Plan Reader and Reiki Master Teacher; training with the Holistic Healing College in London. She work with women to help them understand why they attract abusive relationships and helps them heal the ORIGINAL wound. She believes that by healing the original wound you can feel whole, something you may never has experienced and allow you to take charge of your life.
Elizabeth has supported women who hadn’t realized they have been Emotionally Abused, but had been stuck in their lives not able to move forward and believing everything was their fault. She believes we take on our behaviours and beliefs growing up, and that some of these aren’t actually our own they have been handed down with each generation.
She herself has experienced both physical and emotional abuse in her life, but it was only when she was healing from a break-up that she discovered the cycle of abuse and although she had seen glimpses of similarities during the relationship, she was finally able to see the patterns in her life. During her healing journey, where she needed
closure, and to understand what had happened, she discovered the answers. She had taken all the blame for the breakdown and was left confused and drained both physically and mentally; a shell of her former self.
Elizabeth gives her clients the information and understanding they need, helping them see their own patterns and profoundly heal from the experience.
During our chat on this episode of the podcast, Liz and I discuss:
Liz will be joining me again on the podcast in 2019 so we can dive deeper into her work in helping clients stop the cycle of abuse, recognize red flags in relationships, and learning from our past. In the mean time, I truly hope that you enjoy my chat with Liz Goddard on the podcast, and please consider sharing it with someone who might benefit from our chat...and don't forget to subscribe! :)
Learn more about Elizabeth Goddard, her ROAR program in Helping to Heal from Emotional Abuse, her Free Meditations available, her Book "Finding Lily", and more over on her website ReviveYourSoul.co.uk
Be sure and also follow her on Twitter , Facebook and Instagram
Matthew Pappas, CLC, MPNLP
All conversation and information exchanged dur
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From the publisher's feed
**While this podcast is no longer actively recording new episodes or taking feedback requests, we hope the library of content over the years continues to help encourage and inspire you on your…
Never disregard professional advice or delay in seeking it because of something you heard on this podcast. The views expressed by guests and hosts are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of any affiliated organizations or sponsors.
If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please contact emergency services or a crisis line in your area immediately.