OKAY-ISH

As 2022 comes to a close, everyone is talking about their goals and resolutions; but we’re not going to talk about that here. Instead, Maryellen wants to talk about how freaking hard change is. She discusses: 

How we avoid change  

How she thinks change is difficult because it’s uncomfortable, and we don’t like feeling uncomfortable  

Some big personal news/personal change: she sold her therapy practice  

Needing time to sit with that change and recover  

How she’s dealing with change, including reminding herself that uncomfortable does not equal bad, and that taking a step back can be a good thing to propel you forward  

Lastly, Maryellen explains that she needs to also take a step back from the podcast in order to properly rest and reconfigure. She truly believes this isn’t goodbye, but see you later. It’s all going to be okay—no ish. 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow your host on Instagram @maryellendance. To submit questions or stories, send her a DM! Plus, be sure to check out maryellendance.com for more resources.

For many of us, the holidays are full of joy and love. However, holidays where grief and sadness dominate are also a reality for many, yet far less discussed. As the holiday season approaches, Maryellen wants to talk about grief. She hopes this episode sheds light on all the different faces of grief, and how, even during the most wonderful time of year, it’s okay not to be okay. This episode highlights:  

Holidays without a loved one 

How people grieve more than death  

Grieving differences in family dynamics, and the reality of our expectations   

How holidays are ripe with traditions and pressure to be in the holiday spirit, which can trigger people  

What to do with our grief  

That grief needs time  

How, if we ignore our feelings, they don’t go away, but instead come out in different ways   

That grief looks different for everyone   

How, often people grieving want to be alone, but the number one thing we need when grieving is other people   

Common symptoms of grief   

That it’s okay to distract yourself from grief, too 

How grief is so much more complicated than just the 5 stages commonly identified 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow your host on Instagram @maryellendance. To submit questions or stories, send her a DM! Plus, be sure to check out maryellendance.com for more resources.

You’ve heard it a million times: your physical health is important for your mental health, and vice versa. But do you know why, or what exactly they do to one another? Today, Maryellen wants to talk about that link, and discuss a few more details that you may not think of, including:  

The importance of sleep 

Eating patterns 

Heightened autonomic nervous system = our brain releasing cortisol into our blood stream 

Parasympathetic nervous system being repressed  

Frustrations with the random gimmicks that promise to “cure all”  

Forgetting when we need to do the simple things for ourselves  

The value of therapy   

Tired as F*ck: Burnout at the Hands of Diet, Self-Help, and Hustle Culture by Caroline Dooner   

Knowing when your body needs rest   

How our bodies communicate to us, but it’s up to us to listen   

Taking the time to check in with yourself   

How, if we can start to be aware, we can take better care of ourselves   

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow your host on Instagram @maryellendance. To submit questions or stories, send her a DM! Plus, be sure to check out maryellendance.com for more resources.

Trauma is serious, scary, and there are not enough services in place to support those suffering. Today, Maryellen wants to normalize it a bit more, show a different perspective, and explain why some people will suffer in situations that maybe you wouldn’t. In discussing trauma Maryellen covers: 

The subjective nature of trauma and how it lacks a clear definition  

DMing an influencer to correct them on a trauma comment  

Big T’s and little T’s  

How, for each person, different things can be traumatic and that’s okay  

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): a trauma therapy based off of Structural Dissociation Theory 

Excerpts from My Dark Vanessa by Elizabeth Russel (TW: sexual assault)  

The importance of recognizing the little T’s 

How little T’s affect us and change our behavior 

If you’re struggling, please reach out to a therapist. Visit psychologytoday.com or therapyden.com for a good place to start. 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow your host on Instagram @maryellendance. To submit questions or stories, send her a DM! Plus, be sure to check out maryellendance.com for more resources.

Maryellen has had to make some big decisions lately, and a friend asked her how she was making them. That made her stop and question just how exactly she was making these decisions, and if she was listening to herself as much as she was to everyone around her. When people suggest you listen to your gut, it can be difficult; especially if you struggle with anxiety. What was helping Maryellen the most was actually journaling, something she’s gotten back in to recently, and speaks about today. She discusses:  

How we make decisions  

The ways we can journal in non-productive ways  

Her history with journaling  

Journaling as a tool to understand yourself and organize your thoughts  

Different types of journals  

Tips to avoid spiraling when journaling  

How we operate on autopilot  

Understanding what is a gut instinct vs. what is anxiety    

Processing events and making decisions 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow your host on Instagram @maryellendance. To submit questions or stories, send her a DM! Plus, be sure to check out maryellendance.com for more resources.

Today the creative mind behind the brand Adulting With ADHD, Sarah Snyder-Castañeda, joins Maryellen to discuss what ADHD really looks like. When you hear ADHD, many people instinctively and stereotypically think of a young child who can’t sit still, but it’s far more nuanced and affects people of all ages. The two discuss:  

How Sarah came up with the brand 

What ADHD truly is  

The lack of diagnoses and treatment with adults  

The difficulty and grief that can come with being diagnosed at an older age  

Medication and the polarizing opinions surrounding it   

The importance of talking about your struggles  

Common ADHD symptoms in adults 

The relationship between ADHD and hormones  

Advice for adults being diagnosed for the first time, or for parents whose child is being diagnosed  

The importance of being careful with the information you consume…TikTok is not a reliable source   

Their Okay-ish moments of the week!  

To learn more visit adultingwithadhd.com and check out The Adulting With ADHD podcast. 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow your host on Instagram @maryellendance. To submit questions or stories, send her a DM! Plus, be sure to check out maryellendance.com for more resources.

Have you noticed a change in your workplace culture or your personal stress levels since the pandemic? Working from home has caused many organizational shifts, in both good ways and bad. Organizational psychologist Dr. Shanna Teel joins Maryellen to discuss leadership coaching, burnout, and more, including: 

What an organizational psychologist does 

If organizations are really willing to bring on an organizational psychologist 

Changes within organizations as a result the pandemic  

How leaders who practiced empathy prior to Covid succeeded at leading during the pandemic 

Dr. Teel’s thoughts on the quiet quitting trend  

The high expectations of the next generation in the workplace  

Misuse of stress vs. burnout  

Signs of burnout  

If burnout has changed with people working from home 

Cognitive fatigue and how it depletes us 

Be sure to follow Dr. Shanna Teel on social media @drshannateel and visit drshanna.com 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow your host on Instagram @maryellendance. To submit questions or stories, send her a DM! Plus, be sure to check out maryellendance.com for more resources.

Licensed marriage and family therapist Kelley Stevens joins Maryellen on the pod this week to discuss being both a private practice therapist, and a consultant for therapists! This episode is as hilarious as it is informative, and we hope it inspires you to “do the thing!”—whatever that may be. Maryellen and Kelley get in to:  

Working remotely 

Opening a private practice   

The difference between private practices and settings such as hospitals or clinics 

Issues with insurance  

Everything that goes in to a therapist’s rate 

Advocating for yourself with your insurance company 

Marketing for therapists  

How the first therapist you meet might not be the best fit, but to not give up   

Advice Kelley offers to therapists the most  

The intimidation of making a business plan   

Okay-ish moments of the week (warning: they both involve poop...) 

If you don’t want to use your insurance but need a lower rate, be sure to check out Open Path Psychotherapy Collective at openpathcollective.org. 

Be sure to follow Kelley on Instagram @theprivatepracticepro and visit theprivatepracticepro.com. 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow your host on Instagram @maryellendance. To submit questions or stories, send her a DM! Plus, be sure to check out maryellendance.com for more resources.

This week is all about mindfulness! And before you roll your eyes and pause the podcast, bear with us. Maryellen used to feel the exact same way! But since she’s come to understand it more, she really appreciates the value it can bring to your life. However, mindfulness is something she’s been letting fall to the wayside lately, so she wanted to make a conscious effort (hey, mindfulness!) to discuss it today. This episode gets into:  

The definition of mindfulness  

How it started in religious beliefs 

Jon Kabat-Zinn bringing it to the western world 

How one of his books helped to change her view on mindfulness  

What mindfulness means to Maryellen   

How our brains filter information in order to keep moving 

How, in order to de-stress, sometimes we actually need to notice everything around us  

How mindfulness helps people with anxiety by bringing them in to the present 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow your host on Instagram @maryellendance. To submit questions or stories, send her a DM! Plus, be sure to check out maryellendance.com for more resources.

TW: self-harm, bipolar disorder, psychosis, suicidal thoughts 

Today Maryellen is joined by a special guest, bipolar advocate Tatyana Frost. Tatyana runs the popular Instagram account, @havingbipolar, and opens up to the OKAY-ISH community about her journey of acceptance and advocacy. The two discuss:  

Tatyana’s first experience talking about her diagnosis 

Starting her Instagram during quarantine 

How she felt when she was first diagnosed 

Her parent’s reaction to the diagnosis and their relationship  

How disorders such as depression, anxiety, and ADHD are widely accepted and discussed, but bipolar didn’t make it on the “acceptance train”  

How, while a lifelong condition, bipolar disorder is still treatable 

The importance of taking your medication when you have bipolar disorder 

How Tatyana keeps herself stable 

How the introduction of lithium changed the game for bipolar disorder  

What psychosis means and how it can manifest 

Advice for someone who was just diagnosed with bipolar disorder 

Advice for family members of someone who was just diagnosed with bipolar disorder 

Be sure to follow Tatyana on Instagram @havingbipolar.  

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow your host on Instagram @maryellendance. To submit questions or stories, send her a DM! Plus, be sure to check out maryellendance.com for more resources.