Precarious

In this episode, my guest wishes to remain anonymous. She shares her story of how breast cancer ignited her childhood trauma which took her to her knees. This is a story of a woman who found her way back through facing her fears with the help of psychedelics.

We love our Heroes and Heroines. We look to them for inspiration. We aspire to be more like them. In this episode, Leah shares stories of heroes from her counseling practice as a reminder that we are all Heroes.

In this episode, Leah sits down with her Mom. Listen to their intimate and revealing conversation about how Leah's illness has affected their relationship - the good, the bad and the ugly (but mostly good). Shared tragedy will reveal the cracks in a relationship and isn't that a good thing? If you don't see the cracks in the relationship then there is very little hope in repairing it.

Living with uncertainty takes courage. In this episode, Leah talks about how she struggles to find courage in the face of cancer. She encourages us to accept fear as a normal part of being human. She shares ideas about how to live fully in this present moment. WE can all Find Our Brave.

This episode is a conversation between Leah and Joe: two very different people connected through their struggles and wisdom gained. This is a conversation about being human and learning to live with the messiness of life.

At the age of 27, and in the midst of losing everything, an exhausted and distraught Joseph S. Fusaro decided to see if he could write his way out of a deep clinical depression that came after years of trial and error with medications, misdiagnoses, and a longtime battle with insomnia. He concluded that it took a lifetime of the wrong use of language and learned helplessness to get him in that place, and maybe the only way to create some peace and lightness of mind was to take the reigns and write out a new story; one of acceptance, perseverance, strength, and a little bit of compassion for himself and others.
After spending most of his 20’s in and out of hospitals he turned to his journal and mindfulness in a final attempt to get his life back on track. For a few years he gave up nights and weekends to work on himself every waking hour. In time he would begin to write and speak professionally with several mental health advocacy organizations. He published 8 poetry books that follow his journey from absolute rock bottom to reclaiming his health, finding peace, creating a successful audio production company, and most importantly feeling alive again.

You can find out more about Joseph on his podcast Hysteria Radio, which is a part of the Mental Health News Radio Network. You can also find his poetry books on Amazon.

Leah sits down with one of her high school classmates, Karla Zahn. As they reminisce about life in small town Wisconsin, Karla reflects on how her "candy coated" life suddenly took a different course the day her 19 year old daughter, Elli, died of depression. Listen to this powerful, raw and beautiful conversation about depression, mental illness and suicide. It's important.

Wouldn't it be great if there were a sure fire way we could experience personal growth without all of that hard work? Well, the self-help industry (and it is a billion dollar business) says "Yes, we can help with that very thing!". It's human nature to find ways to decrease our pain and suffering when we are struggling. Yet, it's that very process of learning to sit with and self-examine that is the gateway to true growth. In this episode, Leah talks about the concept of Spiritual Bypassing and the risks it poses to the changes we are hoping to achieve.

Leah sits down with Lori Gottlieb, a psychotherapist and author of the New York Times bestseller "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone". Going to therapy is an invitation to look inward, take risks, and be vulnerable with the hope of seeing ourselves more clearly, removing our blind spots and revealing our lives.

This is a love story: the story of Leah and Ginger, her 12 year old Golden Retriever who died unexpectedly. In this heart-felt episode, Leah shares her grief in the most vulnerable way with the hope of normalizing this experience. To love is to grieve.

BJ Miller, MD knows something about suffering. When he was a sophomore in college, he experienced a tragic accident that shaped the course of his life. From months spent as a patient in a burn unit, he learned that the simplest acts of care of the most healing. With this wisdom, he pursued a career in medicine specializing in Palliative Care. He is an advocate for shifting the paradigm around how we think about what's most important at the end of life.

He newest endeavor is Mettle Health. Mettle Health provides personalized, holistic consultations for any patient or caregiver who needs help navigating the practical, emotional and existential issues that come with serious illness and disability. It is the first patient- and caregiver-centric palliative care delivery system accessible to everyone, irrespective of geography, without a doctor’s referral. Mettle Health is comprised of palliative care clinicians, but operates outside of the traditional medical system; making it a social service staffed by medical professionals.
Patients and caregivers dealing with serious or chronic illness should be able to count on sound
information and enough emotional support to feel confident in the choices they make, whatever
their circumstances; Mettle Health will make that possible.

BJ Miller, MD has given over 100 talks nationally, and internationally, on the topics of death, dying, palliative care and the intersection of healthcare with design. His 2015 TED Talk: “Not Whether But How” (aka “What Matters Most at the End of Life”), has been viewed over 10 million times and his work has also been the subject of multiple interviews and podcasts, including Oprah Winfrey, PBS, The New York Times, The California Sunday Magazine, GOOP, Krista Tippett, Tim Ferriss and the TED Radio Hour. His book, A Beginner’s Guide to the End, was co-authored with Shoshana Berger and published in 2019.