In My Head

This episode is also available for watching on our YouTube channel!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0kBr3rSNPI

Katt Reavis works in law enforcement and is currently stationed in the jail system in Arizona. She started a program called Protected which is in the process of becoming a Non-Profit. Protected is designed to help Public Safety professionals struggling with depression, anxiety, PTSD and suicidal ideation. It provides courses and confidential therapy for these people working everyday to serve the public.

Mental illness is a common problem in careers like law enforcement officers, fire fighters, emergency responders, nursing and many more and Katt is doing a great job shedding light on this and making much more space for these professionals to find the help and resources they need.

I had a great time chatting with Katt and you can follow the great things they're doing on Instagram at @Protected_Project.

Email: [email protected]

IG & Twitter: @InMyHeadPodcast

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I had a great conversation with Dani Bates. Her husband Denny died by suicide in March of this year and Dani opens up about the heartbreak that followed living life as a single mother now to two daughters.

I heard about Dani when my wife saw a video on Instagram that Dani had shared which showed her 3yr old crying in bed grieving over the loss of her dad. People who slip into suicidal ideation often think that their loved ones will be better off if they're gone and this video should make it clear that that's a total lie your brain is telling you. People won't be better off with you gone.

People have reached out to Dani saying the video of Dani's daughter has saved their life, that they were hours or days away from ending their life and seeing the video made them realize what they'd be doing to their family or friends by taking their life.

There are too many resources out there for you to be going at this alone! Don't do it, reach out to me if you have no one else, call a suicide hotline, look up the free NAMI classes, don't go it alone!

You can find Dani on Instagram at @Dani.Bates, on YouTube, her website danibates.com and her new podcast called "Make it Awkward".

Thanks for listening as always and please share with others.

Reach out to us:

Email: [email protected]

IG & Twitter: @InMyHeadPodcast

Facebook: @TheInMyHeadPodcast

We filmed this episode! Check it out at our new YouTube: https://youtu.be/bq1seFQOqZI

In this episode, TJ discusses his experience with Bipolar Disorder, drug and alcohol addiction then food addiction. He talks about having an addictive personality and how you can overcome one addiction and you often just trade it for another but that you can choose healthier options.

He talks about the fear and stigma of opening up about his mental illness, the fear of people shutting him out, not having friends and how he came to embrace opening up about it in hopes people wouldn't feel alone.

I had a great time chatting with TJ and hope you enjoy listening to an authentic person talk about his experiences here.

You can find TJ on Instagram at @Fuckin_Bipolar and he has a YouTube channel coming out soon!

Thank you for listening and as always, never hesitate to reach out to us if you have questions or experiences you'd like to share that we could discuss on future episodes.

Email: [email protected]

IG & Twitter: @InMyHeadPodcast

Facebook: @TheInMyHeadPodcast

This episode features Leah Jaramillo, LMFT. She has a Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, a Bachelor's in Psychology and an Associate's in Criminal Justice. She works at The OCD and Anxiety Treatment Center in Bountiful, UT. You can find her and the clinic at: www.theocdandanxietytreatmentcenter.com

In this episode Leah brings so much clarity to what is OCD and Anxiety. We talk about how to properly diagnose someone and that it's much more involved than a 10min visit and a survey. We also talk youth suicide, why it's on the rise and how to help. The OCD and Anxiety clinic specializes in exposure therapy and they've seen great results through their methods.

I learned so much from chatting with Leah and I'm excited for her and this clinic to get more exposure for the great work they're doing.

If you're needing help in anyway with mental illness or for a loved one, they are a great resource, so check out their website or give them a call.

Their Instagram is @TOATC

Thanks for listening to the podcast, if you're enjoying it please give us a rating and review on whatever platform you're using.

Contact us:

Email: [email protected]

IG & Twitter: @InMyHeadPodcast

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Trigger Warning: This episode discusses in detail topics of suicide.

I sat down with Laura Warburton as she shared about her daughter Hannah who died by suicide in 2014 at the tender age of 16 after a series of concussions which led to a fierce battle with depression and anxiety. She discusses the impact on her family and everyone who cares about Hannah.

Laura discusses her own battle with mental health and how she's recently discovered and become an advocate for Ketamine treatments as long as they are done by IV infusion, one on one by a medical professional and partnered with ongoing therapy.

I'm incredibly inspired by people that have been completely knocked down and not only find a way to get up, but create meaning out of the suffering and do something good with it, and that's exactly what Laura and her family have done. Laura is not only creating a space for open discussions on suicide and mental health in general but is also an advocate for people realizing the seriousness of concussions. She's doing a lot of this through a foundation she created called Live Hannah's Hope (www.LiveHannahsHope.org). There are so many incredible resources at this website. Please visit it, let's get educated on suicide prevention.

You can follow along with Laura at:

www.LiveHannahsHope.org

IG: @LauraWarburton

Common Social Media hashtags that Laura uses: #LiveHannahsHope #LetsTalkAboutIt #suicideprevention #BecauseOf #BeTheVoice

Had a great time sitting down with Leigh Cox to hear a little bit about her experiences and it was really fun cause we covered a lot of topics. She received her Master's in Psychology from Pepperdine University, then became a certified pilates instructor and became more experienced in mind/body work.

I really enjoyed this episode because it's unique to any other one we've done so far. We did more of a free form conversation and whatever topics came up we entertained them and there's definitely something for everyone here so I recommend hearing it out because we moved through many topics like: The relationship between physical and mental health, postpartum depression, medication, the different manifestations of mental illness, opening up about mental health and suicide, growing up in a religious culture that holds certain expectations for women and mothers, and being open minded to different world views.

I commend Leigh for being so open and honest about her story because I think it will help a lot of people. Her honesty about the messiness of parenting and especially parenting with mental illness for me is very honorable and i commend her for that cause it's scary enough to feel that in your own head and a whole other level to open up about it.

Great things coming up for the month of July! This week we're recording 4 different episodes with a couple professionals and two personal stories so we'll be releasing an episode every Sunday evening for the month of July and I'm really excited to learn from these great people.

As always thanks for listening! Please subscribe, give us a rating and review and please share this if you think it will be helpful for someone.

We'd love to hear from you! Contact us at:

[email protected]

IG/Twitter: @InMyHeadPodcast

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I sat down with Kris Barber and I learned so much from her. She was and is an awesome reminder that we can't assume anything about someone without really getting to know them. At various times through my mental illness experience I've sunken into the thought processes of looking at everyone else that they're not suffering, that they don't know what I'm going through and that's a very destructive path to go down. While not everyone has a diagnosed mental illness, no one is immune to adversity in their life. Kris is such a sweet person and it's incredible that she's that way considering the twists and turns that have come into her life, and that each time she's come out with heightened acceptance, awareness, love and strength. I'm excited for you to hear her story!

Please subscribe, leave a rating and most importantly share this if you think if could help someone.

Peace, Love and Gratitude my peeps!

We'd love to hear from you! Contact us at: [email protected] IG/Twitter: @InMyHeadPodcast Facebook: @TheInMyHeadPodcast

Solo episode exploring the act of finding meaning in suffering. Kavin highlights a few stories of inspirational people using their struggle as raw material to build something powerful and influences people for good.

He talks about Mother Theresa and the discovery of her journals post mortem that revealed a dark shadow that loomed over her throughout her life, which just adds power and credibility to the great work she did during her life despite the deep pain and loneliness she often felt.

Immaculée Ilibagiza, a Rwandan genocide survivor, Victor Frankl, a holocaust survivor and author of Man's Search for Meaning, Gandhi, and MMA fighter Israel Adesanya are more of the examples discussed in the episode of inspiring people that understood that while they can't always control their situation, they can always control their attitude and reaction towards any circumstances.

Kavin finishes by discussing a common Stoic Philosophy principle that all things and misfortunes happen to us for a reason and can be used as the materials that shape our character, how we view the world and how we treat other people.

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to this podcast! If you're enjoying it, please give us a good rating and review if you have time on whatever platform you're listening to this on. And feel free to reach out with ideas, questions or just to say hi! Hope you enjoy this episode!

We'd love to hear from you! Contact us at: [email protected] IG/Twitter: @InMyHeadPodcast Facebook: @TheInMyHeadPodcast

I sat down with Ryan Renteria who's a resident of Carlsbad, CA with his wife and three boys. Him and I lived by each other and one of the first times we chatted we made this connection of having very similar symptoms of anxiety. We each had our own vocabulary for the things we were going through like brain fog but instantly were friends in this struggle. While you never want another to suffer with mental illness, it's definitely comforting when you meet someone going through it as well and you realize you're not alone.

Ryan has a very kind and calming presence. He talks about how anxiety has in a weird way made him want to be more social. It's made him appreciate all the little things we tend to take for granted. He's made big lifestyle changes in diet, spirituality, meditation and exercise. He talks of the power of having positive and supportive people in your life and credits a lot of his well being to having a supportive wife.

Not sure if this is backed up anywhere but it seems as a whole that men are less likely to speak up about their struggles with mental illness so I'm glad to see a shift in that trend and more men are beginning to speak up. I think people are more hesitant to speak up because first, they aren't even sure what's going on with them and next they aren't sure how people will react when they say they're struggling with mental illness. I'm learning time and time again, that most people are more than willing to help, we first just need to speak up.

Thanks for listening and share this if you think it will be helpful for someone. If you're enjoying the podcast please leave us a good rating and if you have time a review which will help this podcast become more searchable and available to those that need it.

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This is Part 2 of my interview with Christine Erickson, LCMHC. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing and a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology. She uses an individual approach combining principles of neuroscience, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and mindfulness. She has done additional extensive training, receiving a Certificate in Mindfulness in Psychotherapy in 2014. Christine's practice is in St. George, UT. She helps patients with a variety of mental health related issues as well as dealing with bullying and past trauma.

Christine specializes in doing mindfulness mediation which she incorporates into her practice. In this episode we discuss more fully what is Mindfulness and how to implement it into your mental health lifestyle. We end part 2 with Christine doing a guided mindfulness session. Here's the video link to that. https://vimeo.com/334089250

Christine has a 5wk mindfulness program being released on May 14th that will give everyone access to this helpful practice that has been beneficial to so many. You'll be able to find that at EmotionalHealingToday.com/growth-mindset. You can already access three free meditation videos for free at that site.

I feel like these two episodes have something for everyone. Whether you're wanting to implement Mindfulness Meditation into your life or not, the principles Christine discusses in this episode could be helpful to anyone. Christine is such a kind person and I had a great time talking with her. Please welcome Christine Erickson

Christine's Website: https://emotionalhealingtoday.com

Christine's FB: https://www.facebook.com/ChristineEricksonEmotionalHealing/

We'd love to hear from you! Contact us at: [email protected]

IG/Twitter: @InMyHeadPodcast

Facebook: @TheInMyHeadPodcast