PTSD and Beyond

"Grief and grieving is the way; the way to closure and peace," ~ Dr. Deb Lindh

Grief. What is grief? Grieving. What is grieving? How are grief and grieving a part of trauma recovery and healing?

Often when thinking about grief and grieving, what comes to mind is death...the loss of a loved one. But we grieve many kinds of losses; the loss of a job, the loss of a relationship such as a friend or spouse in divorce, the loss of family like when going no-contact, and even the loss of heirlooms.

Grief and grieving in trauma recovery and healing is a much needed ingredient for growth, closure, and peace; it's rare to address and find it being addressed, discussed, and worked through.

This week's PTSD and Beyond Podcast, Mark Gruesbeck, M.A. and I talk about grief, grieving, trauma recovery , and healing from lived experiences. We openly share about this life experience from an open space that is safe, vulnerable, and authentic.

The PTSDandBeyond Podcast is listened to in over 50 countries and available on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, and other favorite podcast apps!

Thank YOU for your continued support of PTSD and Beyond; with every Ko-Fi and swag purchase, and Patreon support we can continue to bring this valuable resource and for the humbled honor to continue building our communities!

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"Stories bring people together," ~ Adam Hill, M.D.

This week's PTSD and Beyond Podcast guest, is father, husband, pediatric palliative physician, and recovering alcoholic and survivor of depression/suicide idealization, Dr. Adam Hill. We all have our own stories, and each story deserves an empathetic ear. Sharing the truth of his experiences, Dr. Hill hopes his story will help someone who is listening. 

"There is hope for recovery, one step and one day at at time." ~ Adam Hill, M.D.

We all have a role to play in decreasing mental health and addiction stigma. The power of vulnerability in sharing our stories and struggles leads to realizing there's strength in vulnerability. It's that strength that is a preventative to relapse and gets people what they need to survive, empowers, and fosters safety and security.

"Finding peace and grace...it's being okay with what you've done."

~ Adam Hill, M.D.

Dr. Hill shares that writing his memoir, Long Walk Out of the Woods: A Physician's Story of Addiction, Depression, Hope & Recovery, he found peace, grace, recovery, and healing while working in the field of medicine. 

Dr. Adam Hill's work has been featured in the New England Journal of Medicine, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, and Modern Healthcare and has received recognition for his work as the pediatric faculty of the year award at Indiana University, 2019 National Mental Health Champion by Medium/Thrive Global, and distinguished alumni award from Butler University. To learn more about Dr. Adam Hill including speaking engagements, connect with him at:

Twitter ~ @Adamhill1212

Web ~ www.AdamBHillMD.com

Book ~ A Long Walk Out of the Woods: A Physician's Story of Depression, Addiction, Hope, and Recovery

"Good psychology should include all the methodological techniques, without having loyalty to one method, one idea, or one person," ~ Abraham Maslow

In honor of International Stress Awareness, this week's PTSD and Beyond Podcast Episode, Mark Gruesbeck, MA and I cover 6 "Greats," Abraham Maslow, Hans Selye, Carl Jung, Bessel Van Der Kolk, Alan Watts, and Louise Hay.  Each of these folks bring a unique perspective on the affects of stress. We've chosen them as collectively they bring a holistic view covering affects of stress on the body, the mind, the emotions, and energy.

"It's not the stress that kills us, it's our reaction to it." ~ Hans Selye

What are some affects of stress? What can we learn from Selye's research and works? We cover nuggets of Selye's work and how Van Der Kolk continued that work and further showed how the body keeps the score.

"What you resists, persists," ~ Carl Jung

Jung further teaches us that stress is like a boomerang when we resist it persists. How do we then "let go" of stress? What can we do to resist stress?

"To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don't grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead you relax, and float,” – Alan Watts.

According to Watts, there's a beauty of not grabbing on and holding on to stress and including anxiety. His point is illustrated with the above quote. Just as much as we cannot grab the water, we cannot grab stress. Instead we relax and float through.

"Stress is a fear reaction to life and to life's constant changes," Louise Hay

Hay brings another value of her applied work in her book, You Can Heal Your Life, identifying affirmations linked to dis-ease and emotional distress. We provide Hays 10 affirmations bringing an additional lens into stress relief and Be-ing.

The PTSDandBeyond Podcast is listened to in over 50 countries and available on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Podbean, and other favorite podcast apps!

Thank YOU for your continued support of PTSD and Beyond; with every Ko-Fi and swag purchase we can continue to bring  this valuable resource and for the humbled honor to continue building our communities!

Subscribe, Download, Listen, Share, and Comment!

"We remember it because we feel it." - Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward

The body is the foundation of mindfulness and the body knows. There are simple tools that can help people to quickly and easily stabilize the nervous system. For folks affected by and with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges...the nervous system is what we seek to move from being "stuck" to flow and sometimes we recognize to get unstuck whereas other times we don't recognize and know that we are stuck.

In this week's PTSDandBeyond Podcast Episode, Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward shares with us a tool, Resourcing, for creating positive memory capsules. She shares that our breath is a tool that we always have available and the key to this tool of Resourcing is to practice. We have to practice using this tool. In the PTSDandBeyond Podcast episode, Dr. Rowe Ward guides our own Mark Gruesbeck through this exercise!

Dr. Rowe Ward further shares that trauma energy gets stuck in us and has an impact on the nervous system. We can learn how to be in the "Zone of Well-Being" and how to learn to self-regulate where we help ourselves release this stuck energy and can help others. We learn to be okay with how and where we are and we can share this with others.

"I need inspiration to live." - Dr. Peggy Rowe Ward

While we are hardwired for threats, which links to negative information, through daily practice we can feel happy, be happy, and learn how to Resource ourselves and save it to our "hard drive." Inspiration is always there and touches the soul.

To learn more about Dr. Rowe Ward, the Lotus Institute, and Dr. Larry Ward's newly released book, America's Racial Karma: An Invitation to Heal, connect at:

Web: TheLotusInstitute.org

Email: [email protected]

The PTSDandBeyond Podcast is listened to in over 50 countries! Subscribe, Download, Listen, Share, and Comment! Thank YOU for your continued support of this valuable resource and for the humbled honor to continue building our communities!

I am angry vs. I feel angry are two totally different things. The first, I AM, is self-defining. The second, I FEEL, is the ability to recognize, acknowledge, and name a feeling without being consumed by it.

How often do we say, "I am sad?" This statement when said over and over becomes identifying of the SELF rather than the state of feeling.

How can we change this thinking? What can we do?

This week's episode of PTSD and Beyond, I share with listeners a personal struggle with anger...and how I'm beginning a new form of healing starting with Dan Siegel's Name It to Tame It. 

The next weeks (or whatever time it takes to work though anger), I openly share this journey because I know there's others who struggle with anger too. I made a promise to myself as well as to you...my kids...friends and loved ones...it's gonna be hard but I know I'm not alone and neither are you.

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“The journey forward was really inward ” – Michael Nulty

Who do I want to be? What is my life now? What is at the core and important to me? This week’s PTSD and Beyond Podcast guest is Michael Nulty; a a successful business leader and entrepreneur, top selling author, and cognitive life coach. Michael shares with us insights such as “lots can be done when you decide” and reflections to these questions and more. By recognizing the power of focusing on what we have rather that we don’t, we can develop a success mindset by setting ourselves up for success every day.

“We have to find the good in today” – Michael Nulty

Michael brings his lived-experiences and shares his story of twenty-seven years after he attempted suicide for the first time, he found himself back in a dark place. As life unraveled around him, Michael fell into a state of deep depression. His story is truly remarkable; in the midst of despair he found hope and a connection that changed his entire perspective and relationship with life. He describes this time as awakening. While everyone's path is different, Michael helps people to stop overlooking what can seem like inconsequential victories, find joy in the journey, and to recognize and appreciate what they've accomplished even when it's far less than hoped.

"Joy comes from you and out to the world!" - Michael Nulty

 Michael says, “To understand that to find something better in the future, we must first find it in this moment.” We are all a work in progress and not a failure for not being able to do something today. The work in progress means we get there a little at a time; not all at once.

The author of Ease Your Mind, Lift Your Spirit and Getting Beyond What Is: Taking Your Life Back, Michael is passionate about helping people re-imagine and re-build their lives so that they too can know what it's like to laugh again, feel hopeful, and live the life they previously thought was impossible turned into a manifestation into the life they live.

For more information about Michael Nulty, his work and books, you can find him at:

Website: michaelnultyauthor.com

Twitter: @MichaelNultyAut

Instagram: @MichaelNultyAuthor

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelNultyAuthor/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-nulty-6b75137/

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Is this what healing looks like?

How often do we need to do some "adulting" task and our immediate reaction is fight-flight- or even freeze? How can we move from a mindset of procrastination, fear, scared, reluctance, or avoidance based out of to protect AND move to a mindset of "maybe this can be healing?"

Today's PTSD and Beyond episode, I share a lived-experience of moving from reluctance to scared to awareness of healing to awareness and growth of being proud of myself to healing. Yes, ALL of that in this one episode! I also share what I did, how I did it, and give tips on how you can too.

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"Our attachment is disease in the present moment" - Dr. Mike Watson

When we think of attachment, often what comes to mind are personal possessions that we hold dear. A family heirloom, a gift, or something that we value. We can also be attached to people. Unhealthy attachment or not experiencing attachment as a child, can lead to life-long challenges.

The concept of attachment has been long researched and studied. With so much data, then why are people struggling with pain, suffering, and the phrase, "let it go?"

"Pain is always present. Suffering is captures us and is attachment to pain"

- Dr. Mike Watson

In this week's PTSD and Beyond Podcast Episode, Dr. Mike Watson shares his passion and purpose of empowering others to travel their personal journey and discovering attachment/nonattachment as it relates to personal growth, finding purpose, recognizing pain vs. suffering, and reframing the phrase "let it go" to "let it be."

To find out more about Dr. Mike Watson connect here:

Twitter: @MikeWatsonToday

Web: mikewatson.today

YouTube: MikeWatsonToday

Instagram: MikeWatsonToday

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"No one can help you better than you can help yourself"

Chris Divver, Battalion Chief

Chris Divver is a Battalion Chief with over 20 years within fire service. A author and peer advocate, Chris shares his story of surviving suicide and PTSD recovery. He inspires others with his direct compassion and connection to other first responders and suicide survivors.

"Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it's a sign of leadership," says Chris. In this week's PTSD and Beyond Podcast Episode, Chris walks us through his tipping point moment that lead to recovery. He shares his many "ah-ha" awareness moments, the value of EMDR, as well as the importance of self-advocacy, a recovery team, and much more!