Leaving Christian Science

appendicitis while on a cruise far from home, apocryphal family healing stories (or were they?), and dealing with PTSD

for part two of The Mental Health episode. In this episode, Cara does a

live grounding demonstration you can do at home, and answers more of

your mental health questions. See below for resources.

Here are some topics covered:

2:00 - what is the anxiety/CS connection?

6:00 - a 20 minute-ish grounding demonstration (feel free to join in)

31:00 - how is distracting yourself from negative thoughts or feelings

different from suppressing them in CS?

42:00 - what is the difference between toxic positivity and good

positivity?

52:00 - forgiveness - is it necessary? And how to just let things go

1:02:00 - what is narcissism? Can CS make you a narcissist?

1:13:00 - what is the connection between anhedonia (inability to

experience joy) and CS, and how can you get back your "lust for life"?

1:21:00 - if you were raised by people with mental health issues, how do

you know that what you're experiencing is your mental health issues or

theirs?

1:34:00 - trigger words from CS, and how to take away their power

1:38:00 - how do you process the sickness and/or deaths of loved ones

who might have been helped had they not been CS?

1:49:00 - how to explain CS to your therapist

1:58:00 - what is it about CS that makes it difficult or impossible to

process something that's wrong?

2:01:00 - 12 Step programs, can they help?

2:08:00 - having you own back - a final self soothing tool

Here is Cara's list of resources:

An article on the genetic vs. environmental effects on mental health:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wps.21034

Here's a link to a "feelings wheel" to help you identify those pesky

emotions: https://feelingswheel.com/
Mental health book list for ex CS by topic:

Pete Walker The Tao Of Fully Feeling: Harvesting Forgiveness Out of Blame
Understanding shame and moving toward self-compassion
Brené Brown, PhD, MSW I Thought it Was Just Me (But it Isn’t): Making the Journey from
“What Will People Think?” to “I Am Enough”
Brené Brown PhD, MSW The Gifts of Imperfection: Your Guide to a Wholehearted Life
Kristin Neff, PhD Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself
Kristin Neff, PhD & Christopher Germer, PhD The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook: A
Proven Way to Accept Yourself, Build Inner Strength, and Thrive
Addressing CPTSD
Arielle Schwartz, PhD The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining
Emotional Control & Becoming Whole
Pete Walker, MA, LMFT Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving
Emotional Intelligence/Maturity
Brené Brown, PhD, MSW Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the
Language of Human Experience
Lindsay Gibson, PsyD Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from
Distant, Rejecting, or Self-involved Parents
Workbooks/Self-Help
Arielle Schwartz (see above)
Patricia Resick, PhD et al Getting Unstuck from PTSD: Using Cognitive Processing Therapy to
Guide Your Recovery
Nedra Tawwab Set Boundaries, Find Peace and The Set Boundaries Workbook
Sonya Renée Taylor The Body is Not an Apology and Your Body is Not an Apology Workbook
Francine Shapiro, PhD Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help
Techniques from EMDR Therapy
Karyl McBride, PhD Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic
Mothers
KC Davis, LPC How to Keep House While Drowning
Amir Levine, MD and Rachel Heller, MA Attached. The New Science of Adult Attachment and
How it Can Help You Find—And Keep—Love
Gary Bishop Unf*ck Yourself
Megan Boardman, LCSW The EMDR Workbook for Trauma and PTSD
Matthew McKay, PhD et al The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook
Leaving Religion
Marlene Winnell, PhD Leaving the Fold
Daniel Dennett, PhD Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon
Memoirs
Stephanie Foo What my Bones Know
Jennette McCurdy I’m Glad my Mom Died
About Therapy and Therapists
Jeffrey Kottler, PhD On Being a Therapist
Lori Gottlieb, LMFT Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
Communication Skills
Marshall Rosenberg Nonviolent Communication
Sharon and Gordon Bower Asserting Yourself: A Practical Guide for Positive Change

questions about mental health posted in our ex-CS Facebook group.

Here are some topics covered in this part 1:

2:00 - different types of therapists

23:00 - therapists vs coaches

29:00 - the code of ethics that therapists maintain

39:00 - different types of therapy

44:00 - an explanation of EMDR

59:00 - PTSD and CPTSD

1:23:00 - help for attachment issues - internal family systems, somatic therapy, DBT, CBT, CPT and mindfulness

1:41:00 - where to start

Here is Cara's list of resources:

Mental health book list for ex CS by topic

Understanding shame and moving toward self-compassion

Brené Brown, PhD, MSW I Thought it Was Just Me (But it Isn’t): Making the Journey from

“What Will People Think?” to “I Am Enough”

Brené Brown PhD, MSW The Gifts of Imperfection: Your Guide to a Wholehearted Life

Kristin Neff, PhD Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself

Kristin Neff, PhD & Christopher Germer, PhD The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook: A

Proven Way to Accept Yourself, Build Inner Strength, and Thrive

Addressing CPTSD

Arielle Schwartz, PhD The Complex PTSD Workbook: A Mind-Body Approach to Regaining

Emotional Control & Becoming Whole

Pete Walker, MA, LMFT Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving

Emotional Intelligence/Maturity

Brené Brown, PhD, MSW Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the

Language of Human Experience

Lindsay Gibson, PsyD Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from

Distant, Rejecting, or Self-involved Parents

Workbooks/Self-Help

Arielle Schwartz (see above)

Patricia Resick, PhD et al Getting Unstuck from PTSD: Using Cognitive Processing Therapy to

Guide Your Recovery

Nedra Tawwab Set Boundaries, Find Peace and The Set Boundaries Workbook

Sonya Renée Taylor The Body is Not an Apology and Your Body is Not an Apology Workbook

Francine Shapiro, PhD Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help

Techniques from EMDR Therapy

Karyl McBride, PhD Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic

Mothers

KC Davis, LPC How to Keep House While Drowning

Amir Levine, MD and Rachel Heller, MA Attached. The New Science of Adult Attachment and

How it Can Help You Find—And Keep—Love

Gary Bishop Unf*ck Yourself

Megan Boardman, LCSW The EMDR Workbook for Trauma and PTSD

Matthew McKay, PhD et al The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook

Leaving Religion

Marlene Winnell, PhD Leaving the Fold

Daniel Dennett, PhD Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

Memoirs

Stephanie Foo What my Bones Know

Jennette McCurdy I’m Glad my Mom Died

About Therapy and Therapists

Jeffrey Kottler, PhD On Being a Therapist

Lori Gottlieb, LMFT Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Communication Skills

Marshall Rosenberg Nonviolent Communication

Sharon and Gordon Bower Asserting Yourself: A Practical Guide for Positive Change

The book Sheri references is The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the

History of Christian Science by Georgia Milmine