Greg Kovacs

In this episode I meet with divorce mediator, Max Markin, who helps me talk about the ins and outs of divorce mediation.

Max is a professional family mediator and founder of Markin Mediation. He works with the Center for Mediation & Training in New York and the Aurit Center for Divorce Mediation in Scottsdale, AZ. Max offers sliding scale services, because he believes professional family mediation should be accessible to people of all incomes. Before earning his Master’s degree from Brooklyn College, Max received a BA from the University of Minnesota and later studied dispute resolution at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is a member of the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation, the Family & Divorce Mediation Council of Greater New York, and is co-chair on the Academy of Professional Family Mediators conference committee.

Dylan Emmons was diagnosed with Aspergers Syndrome at the age of 6 and is now a college professor, author, and public speaker

Heather Beebe is a Life Coach in Upstate New York. She spoke with me about her business, her mission to help her clients overcome life’s challenges, and how she has become successful in doing so. Her website can be found at https://www.unstoppableyoucoach.com.

When we are going through some difficult times in our lives, what does it take to learn new ways of thinking; to arrive at a behavior or way of being that is so different from past behaviors that it leads to needed changes in our lives. One of the hot words in psychotherapy is insight. Insight has been studied for decades and they find that when someone arrives at an insightful solution to a problem they experience significant change in their perspective of the problem. But what does it take to arrive at insight? Is it something that we arrive at independently? Does someone need to instill in us the knowledge that leads to insight?

Research Supports Life Coaching

I read an article recently titled, From AHA to Ta-Dah: Insights during Life Coaching and the Link to Behavior Change. The article reviewed studies that find that Life Coaching can help us overcome difficult life challenges through changes in our behavior. It revealed that coaching can lead to positive changes in our sense of well-being and ability to cope. The article also suggests that life coaching can help us maintain better attitudes and a better ability to regulate our emotions.

But there remains some uncertainty about HOW coaching can lead to behavior change. One idea is coaching can help us become more mindful of our behaviors by becoming less robotic and more aware of how we are acting. Another idea is that coaching leads to behavior change through the development of insight. These are loaded ideas because even in the psychotherapy world there is debate about whether insight is necessary to create positive change. No less, there is a quite a bit of evidence that Life Coaching can help create meaningful change in our lives. Heather is a dynamic, well-spoken, and powerful presence and I could have spoken with her for hours. Here is my interview with Heather Beebe.

An unusual and powerful not-for-profit, BACA empowers children who have been, or are at risk of, being abused. This conversation was full of color, candor, and passion for the cause. Check out the local BACA chapter at http://newyork.bacaworld.org/syracuse-ny-chapter/.

I speak with Dr. Merryl Hammond, who is a health professional diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2008 at the age of 51. Almost overnight, she flipped from being a public health consultant to a locked ward patient. In Mad Like Me: Travels in Bipolar Country she shares the vivid details of her struggles with bipolar. By being fearlessly honest, she hopes to demystify this greatly misunderstood mental illness, and to humanize the people it affects.

Sherry Amatenstein joins me to discuss those individuals whose depression, anxiety, and difficulties with mood regulation sort of flies under the radar; whose outward appearance doesn’t match their inner turmoil. High functioning mental illness affects tens of thousands of people in the United States each year--and it needs to be talked about!

A conversation with Howard Potter, Owner and CEO of A & P Master Images in Utica, New York. Howard's story of resilience, opportunity, and strength offers inspiration to those who forget that they can take control of their thoughts, emotions, and their lives.

Ever feel like a fraud despite great success in your career?

In this episode I speak with Dr. Valerie Young, who is an internationally

recognized expert on impostor syndrome. She has spoken to hundreds of thousands

people at such diverse organizations as Apple, Boeing, Merck, IBM, Intel,

Facebook, Microsoft, Chrysler, BP, Blizzard Entertainment, NASA, Society of

Women Engineers, and Women in Trucking. She’s also been a guest speaker for

students, faculty, and administrators at over 85 colleges and universities

including Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Cal Tech, Carnegie Mellon, and Oxford.

Valerie is also the author of an award-winning book, The Secret Thoughts of Successful

Women: Why Capable People Suffer from Impostor Syndrome and How to Thrive in

Spite of It (Random House) now available in five languages and her advice has

appeared in dozens of major media outlets around the world including BBC radio,

CNN Money, Time, Newsweek, Science, O magazine, and the Sydney Morning Herald.

Our emotions often drive the way we are perceived by others and the way we perceive ourselves. Our emotions often determine our success in our careers and our relationships. So, it is essential that we develop the ability to control our emotions when they get out of hand--and certainly before they do! In Episode 1 of True You! I'll talk about how you can control your emotions using a bit of "emotional intelligence."

From the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in Upstate New York this is True You! at gregkovacs.com, the podcast that’s erasing the stigma of mental illness through unashamed, honest, and informative conversation!