This week is a big one as Maryellen celebrates her birthday! Be sure to send your best wishes over on Instagram! In the spirit of celebration, your host takes a moment to sincerely thank everyone who listens to and supports the show. We couldn’t do this without you!!  

The episode today is all about communication, something most of us do all day, every day, in a bunch of different ways! Maryellen explores: 

Why do we communicate?  

Is making your point productive? 

How often are we communicating without listening? 

How often are we communicating the same thing in different ways? 

How often are we actually communicating about different things? 

How much of our communication is about the other person? 

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.

The commercials are rolling, the panic is setting in, it’s that time of year again — back to school! If you’re like us and have no idea where the summer went, worry not, because registered social worker, Brianna Urquhart, is here to talk about how to keep ourselves okay-ish when the seasons are changing. The two chat: 

Common things people do in this change of season that don’t work 

How to get prepared and start off strong without setting yourself up for failure 

Realistic “self-care” strategies 

Debunking common fears about back to school 

The pressure of doing everything perfectly 

Anti-therapy therapy advice 

How rigidity is never going to benefit you  

Okay-ish moments in their lives 

You can follow Brianna on social media @simply_socialwork and check out simplysocialwork.ca for links to her blog, YouTube, and how to work with her virtually across Ontario, Canada. 

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.

If you find yourself so focused on other people’s needs that yours aren’t a priority, this episode is for you! This week is a big one as we’re celebrating 2 years of OKAY-ISH! We are so excited for what’s in store, including some really awesome guests. Maryellen has been seeing ads all over social media lately to “learn how to stop being a people pleaser” which serves as the episode inspiration for the week! Maryellen chats:  

What is a people pleaser? 

At what point is it a bad thing?  

We are in charge of our own happiness

Signs of being a people pleaser 

Boundaries — they’re meant to keep people in, not push them away 

No is not a dirty word & uncomfortable is not bad  

Loved ones don’t want us to be people pleasers 

Keeping our own needs a priority helps our relationships with others 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow us on Instagram @okayishpodcast. To submit questions or stories, send us a DM!

We’re going back to the basics again this week and chatting about self-regulation! Unfortunately, we can’t throw tantrums in the grocery store (I mean, you can, but...), so most of us have learned to self-regulate, or simply push things down — which is NOT what we want to do. So today, Maryellen gives everyone a refresher course on how to get up close and personal with our feelings and tried and true techniques to start exercising self-regulation. She dives into: 

What is self-regulation?  

Talked a lot about with little kids, not enough with adults 

Are we actually learning techniques or just learning to hide our true feelings?  

How do we actually self-regulate?  

How do we know when to do these self-regulating techniques? 

How do we know we are self-regulating in a way that’s productive? 

The first step to regulating ourselves is recognizing what's going on  

Start to learn how you respond to your feelings 

HALT: hungry, angry, lonely, tired; if you are too much of any of these, it’s going to be more of a trigger  

We have become so used to functioning when we haven’t had our basic needs met, but that is not a badge of honor  

When we have to bite our tongue in a moment, it’s important to remember to come back and address the feeling 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow us on Instagram @okayishpodcast. To submit questions or stories, send us a DM!

This week Maryellen is super excited to do an episode full of listener questions! Doing episodes like these helps her to discover what type of content you want to hear! Enjoy this rapid-fire episode covering topics like: 

How do you know if something is a chemical imbalance or something you can work through?  

What is the difference between being really sad and being depressed?  

How to encourage a friend to see a therapist  

When to stop overthinking and trust your gut

How to know if I should see a counselor, therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist 

I think I’m in love with my best friend, what do I do?  

My best friend is marrying someone I can’t stand and I don’t know how to act  

Advice for parents/friends/partners of someone dealing with severe anxiety/depression  

I’m in love with my best friend’s fiancé, and I don’t know what to do 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow us on Instagram @okayishpodcast. To submit questions or stories (anonymously if you’d like) visit okayishpodcast.com or send us a DM on Instagram!

This week Maryellen opens up about a topic close to home, burnout as a therapist. While you may not be a therapist, you may be able to relate in your own way, as burnout has become all too common in this always-on culture. She also introduces a new segment, Therapissed, all about things that rub her the wrong way as a therapist, especially when she’s burnt out! Maryellen discusses:  

“Leaving work at work” isn’t as easy as it sounds  

Burnout won’t go away if you ignore it  

Try to anticipate when you’ll need a mental health day; look out for yourself  

Vicarious trauma that comes with engaging empathetically with survivors of trauma  

We need to normalize and own our burnout 

Substituting yoga/gym for therapy? No! 

Frustration of being caught off guard and asked to provide advice  

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow us on Instagram @okayishpodcast. To submit questions or stories (anonymously if you’d like) visit okayishpodcast.com!

This week Maryellen goes back to the basics, with therapy 101! There is so much misinformation out there that getting started can be overwhelming. We hope this episode is a useful resource that can give you some confidence in reaching out for help.   

Having a mental health diagnosis doesn’t mean there is something wrong with you   

There doesn’t have to be something “wrong with you” to go to therapy   

We can't diagnose ourselves   

Online therapy resources & platforms: proceed with caution  

Life coaches, empowerment coaches, and mental health coaches aren’t therapists 

What to talk about at your first session 

Therapists are not mind readers   

It's okay if you're not a match with your first therapist, don’t let that deter you   

Starting therapy or medication is not a life sentence  

Going to a therapist is not the best thing for emergencies 

Psychiatric emergency line: 988  

Lifeline if you’re feeling suicidal: 211  

For help finding a therapist, visit psychologytoday.com, your primary care doctor, and contact your insurance company.  

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow us on Instagram @okayishpodcast. To submit questions or stories (anonymously if you’d like) visit okayishpodcast.com!

We're begging you, please don’t self-diagnose from memes on the internet... Especially not codependency, because, heads up, codependency isn’t even a diagnosis!! This week Maryellen talks all about codependency and rewrites some “inspirational” quotes to reflect the truth: 

What do people mean when they say "codependent"?

Codependency originated from alcoholics anonymous 

Popularized with romantic relationships, but can be in all types of relationships 

Unhealthy relationship dynamics don’t automatically make the relationship codependent 

Ask yourself: does the power dynamic in this relationship feel equal?   

The good news? We can change unhealthy relationship dynamics! 

If you're suffering from abuse in your life, please call for support 

 

National Domestic Violence Hotline (open 24/7): 800-799-SAFE. Text START to 88788 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow us on Instagram @okayishpodcast. To submit questions or stories (anonymously if you’d like) visit okayishpodcast.com!

TW: Domestic violence  

This week Maryellen is joined by her sister-in-law to analyze the domestic violence portrayed in Colleen Hoover’s popular novel, It Ends with Us: 

Why they thought it was a good depiction of a violent relationship 

Trauma is not an excuse for abuse  

There should be more therapy talk in this book   

Correlation/schemas – the cycle of abuse 

Romanticizing abuse and toxic sex 

Red flags and green flags from the characters 

Manipulation vs. trying to do something nice 

Victim blaming 

 

National Domestic Violence Hotline (open 24/7): 800-799-SAFE. Text START to 88788 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow us on Instagram @okayishpodcast. To submit questions or stories (anonymously if you’d like) visit okayishpodcast.com!

This week Maryellen talks all about the federal government’s ruling that abortion will now be decided by the states, and offers tips on keeping ourselves okay-ish throughout this scary time. This episode is all about:

Validating your feelings 

The importance of not catastrophizing

Trauma Triggers

How to keep yourself “okay”

Living in a gray world  

Being careful about how we talk about this 

If you haven’t already, please follow, rate, and review the podcast, and follow us on Instagram @okayishpodcast. To submit questions or stories (anonymously if you’d like) visit okayishpodcast.com!