In this conversation, Alix is joined by Emily Sioma (she/her/hers), an activist for mental health and sexual assault survivor advocacy in the pageant world and beyond. In this episode Emily talks candidly about her recognition that she dealt with undiagnosed OCD as an adolescent, how we define anxiety and depression, and how she’s turned her own challenges into successes in her life today. NOTE: this episode was recorded prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.

In episode 3, Alix interviews Jacob Reid (he/him/his), who was once diagnosed with the disorder known as paranoid schizophrenia. Jacob redefines and reframes what he calls “Sacredphrenia” as a psycho-spiritual disorder rather than an illness, and talks about the fear encountered during a “sacredphrenic” episode as being on the consciousness spectrum. He believes a breakdown of the status quo might happen if we reject typical diagnoses and recreate what mental health really means. NOTE: this episode was recorded prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.

In Episode 2, we introduce Ariel (or Leira, she/her/hers) as the future co-host of the podcast; she speaks with Alix about her journey through her own mental health experience and her mile-marker psychedelic trip that took her into and then out of the depths and into the place where she is today, writing her dissertation on trauma and healing because of the influence of interconnection.

In the first episode, Ariel interviews Alix (she/her/hers) as she introduces herself, talks about the pod concept + the idea of “The Love Revolution”, and speaks candidly about her mental health journey and how it’s taken her to where she is on her path today.

In this intro episode, we discuss the concept for the Bridge to Branches podcast and welcome you along with us.