Searching Inward

In this episode of the Searching Inward Podcast, Scott Reall, Seth Abram and Anna Bryant talk about the concept of radical hospitality and how this idea of creating a safe and non-judgemental space plays out in Restore Small Groups.

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Instagram: @restoresmallgroups

YouTube: Searching Inward Podcast

Website: restoresmallgroups.org

In this episode of the Searching Inward Podcast, Seth Abram and Anna Bryant speak with Dori Gorman, a chaplain for the YMCA in Nashville, about mental health and spirituality. Dori discusses her proactive approach to educate and destigmatize mental health through her role. She also shares her path towards becoming a chaplain and the people who influenced her along the way. Content warnings: Mentions of death and suicide

“As the chaplain ministry has grown, it has been what if we really that clean the inside of the cup first and we provide really intentional, thoughtful care for the 2,000 staff. And if they’re healthy and growing in spirit, mind and body, then they’re going to be better equip to care for that 180,000 members.” -Dori [13:24]

“I love just listening to you talk about how proactive the Y is being in really serving their people… but recognizing that people coming through your doors are complex humans with needs that are not just physical, but they are spiritual and emotional as well.” -Anna [20:50]

“I’m also really grateful that a lot of the work you’re doing is educating and destigmatizing, it sounds, which is so, so needed, especially as mental health became–I would say, not that it maybe even rose–we became more aware of it coming out of the pandemic.” -Seth [21:42]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:06] Intro

[01:22] About this week’s guest

[05:13] Being a chaplain for the YMCA

[11:03] Spiritual and mental health

[14:53] A typical day of a YMCA chaplain

[22:15] Dori’s influences

[31:49] Challenges in her role as chaplain

[37:10] The role of inclusivity

[41:34] The role of spirituality and mental health

[45:01] A takeaway from Dori

[47:31] Outro

Follow and Contact

Facebook: Restore Small Groups

Instagram: @restoresmallgroups

YouTube: Searching Inward Podcast

Website: restoresmallgroups.org

In this episode of the Searching Inward Podcast, Seth Abram and Anna Bryant speak with Jeremy Jennings about his experience with Restore Small Groups. Jeremy shares how the communal experience helped him during his mental health journey and how training vs trying helped him shift his perspective from trying something out to training to be better every day.

“And that is what we strive for is to create that environment, that space, where people feel safe to share their story and to be heard and to connect with others.”-Anna [07:46]

“Built in that idea too is like mistakes are allowed then. It’s part of the process.” -Seth [09:37]

“I think people need a place where they can just truly be their authentic self, to truly be them and not be judged, and I think people will be surprised about what they’ll find or what they will discover about themselves.” -Jeremy [14:08]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:06] Intro

[01:24] Discovering Restore Small Groups

[05:05] Jeremy’s experience

[12:52] It feels good to be seen and heard

[14:42] Rapid fire questions

[19:08] Outro

Follow and Contact

Facebook: Restore Small Groups

Instagram: @restoresmallgroups

YouTube: Searching Inward Podcast

Website: restoresmallgroups.org

In this episode of the Searching Inward Podcast, Scott Reall, Seth Abram and Anna Bryant continue their discussions on Scott’s book, “Journey to a New Beginning after Loss: Freedom from the Pain of Grief and Disappointment.” They talk about Chapter 6 which is on the grief stage of acceptance, when a person comes to terms with the reality of their loss.

“It’s not that the issue gets resolved as much as it gets dissolved.” -Seth [06:10]

“Grief helps us grow.”-Anna [14:52]

“Recognizing that we are powerless over these areas of our lives and naming them, I believe, is the beginning of comfort and healing.” -Scott [25:07]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:05] Intro

[01:35] Defining acceptance

[06:41] Examples of reaching acceptance

[15:24] Lack of acceptance keeps us from growing

[22:35] The concept of powerlessness

[27:52] The next steps towards acceptance

[33:20] Acceptance is not a linear process

[36:19] Outro

Follow and Contact

Facebook: Restore Small Groups

Instagram: @restoresmallgroups

YouTube: Searching Inward Podcast

Website: restoresmallgroups.org

Scott Reall’s Books:

Journey to Freedom: Your Start to a Lifetime of Hope, Health, and Healing

Journey to a New Beginning after Loss: Freedom from the Pain of Grief and Disappointment

Journey to Living with Courage: Freedom from Fear

Journey to Healthy Living: Freedom from Body Image and Food Issues

Journey to a Life of Significance: Freedom from Low Self-Esteem

In this episode of the Searching Inward Podcast, Scott Reall, Seth Abram and Anna Bryant speak with Adam Buzard, Director of United4Pastors, which brings pastors together in the Greater Nashville community. Adam talks about his listening tour where he sat down with over 200 pastors in Nashville to discuss how they’re doing and the two major themes that emerged from those discussions. He also shares what he learned through The State of Nashville study and its impact in helping the organization's understanding of the world.

“I think one of the challenges and opportunities we have is–again–listen. Listen first.” -Adam [14:51]

“I really believe that a part of being a healthy, well-rounded leader is to provide safe spaces for vulnerability and healing.” -Seth [29:01]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:05] Intro

[01:13] About this week’s guest

[03:21] His work with United4Pastors

[08:11] The State of Nashville

[14:11] Addressing the challenges

[18:24] Strategies to build trust

[28:59] The impact in Nashville

[34:16] Advice for Pastors

[36:54] How to contact Andrew

[38:26] Outro

Follow and Contact

Facebook: Restore Small Groups

Instagram: @restoresmallgroups

YouTube: Searching Inward Podcast

Website: restoresmallgroups.org

Operation Andrew Group: operationandrew.org

The State of Nashville: stateofnashville.com

In this episode of the Searching Inward Podcast, Scott Reall, Seth Abram and Anna Bryant speak with Marcel Patillo about his experience with Restore Small Group. Initially joining to strengthen himself on an emotional level, Marcel shares how the eight-week program with an initial group of strangers helped him gain a new perspective and a new clarity of who he is and why he is the way he is.

“One of our primary things for going through our groups is you cultivate self-awareness. You can’t really travel a map without locating where you are on the map.” -Seth [06:52]

“I love the articulation of like eight weeks is not going to change your life. You’re not going to walk out completely different in circumstantially your life looks brand new, but it’s like the start.”-Anna [07:25]

“By identifying where you’ve been and why you might have the feelings that you have, it can unlock new paths to process in your life that you may have never imagined really.” -Marcel [19:00]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:05] Intro

[00:47] This week’s guest, Marcel

[01:38] What drew Marcel to Restore Small Groups

[02:47] Marcel’s experience with Restore Small Groups

[07:25] Putting tools in your tool chest

[10:28] Identifying who he is

[12:35] The collaborative effort

[18:33] Why recommend Restore Small Groups

[21:07] Rapid fire questions

[24:30] Outro

Follow and Contact

Facebook: Restore Small Groups

Instagram: @restoresmallgroups

YouTube: Searching Inward Podcast

Website: restoresmallgroups.org

In this episode of the Searching Inward Podcast, Scott Reall, Seth Abram and Anna Bryant talk about cultivating life-giving practices, which are healthy habits that nurtures your mental, emotional or spiritual well being. They share examples of practices to integrate into your daily life as well as what practices have shaped them personally to stir some ideas to cultivate well being.

“We need life-giving practices because we need to attend to our well-being, and that doesn’t just happen naturally, right? It requires intentionality.” -Seth [05:18]

“Cultivating relationships with people that are also emotionally available in your life, so whether that’s friendships or family or whatever kind of relationships that you find yourself in. They’re not all going to be your best friends, but finding safe places where you can really be your real self and connect deeply and authenticity with others is crucial in maintaining emotional well-being.” -Anna [16:16]

“I believe that God—is my understanding–is my friend, and so I look at spending time with my friend, and building my friendship with God is a very spiritual process for me.” -Scott [17:49]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:04] Intro

[02:02] What is a life-giving practice & why we need them

[05:49] Defining well being

[08:43] What life-giving practices are not

[09:51] Mental practices

[13:30] Cultivating for emotional well being

[16:41] Spiritual well being practices

[19:50] What practices shape the hosts personally

[25:43] How to integrate these practices into daily life

[27:45] Helpful tips to manage obstacle and setbacks

Follow and Contact

Facebook: Restore Small Groups

Instagram: @restoresmallgroups

YouTube: Searching Inward Podcast

Website: restoresmallgroups.org

In this episode of the Searching Inward Podcast, Scott Reall, Seth Abram and Anna Bryant discuss Chapter Six in Scott’s book, Journey to a New Beginning after Loss, which is about forgiveness. They draw from personal experiences to discuss three stages around forgiveness–the forgiveness of others, the forgiveness of God and the forgiveness of ourselves–as well as debunk the misconceptions around this process.

“You can forgive someone without reestablishing a relationship. Forgiveness does not mean that you are obliterating your boundaries.” -Anna [07:43]

“I think forgiveness is just so, so powerful in that it’s for me. It’s for me. It has nothing to do with the other person. It doesn’t have anything to do with the events. It’s for me.” -Scott [10:52]

“What moves us to acceptance and peace ultimately is forgiveness, because it is feeling the emotion so that we can move through it and process it and metabolize it so that it can stop being stuck and we can keep moving as the process that we are.” -Seth [29:08]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:27] Intro

[01:56] Definition of forgiveness

[05:20] Misconceptions around forgiveness

[19:50] Hard to forgive

[25:31] The value of forgiveness

[29:29] The practice of forgiveness

[37:35] Forgiving God

[46:26] Forgiving yourself

Follow and Contact

Facebook: Restore Small Groups

Instagram: @restoresmallgroups

YouTube: Searching Inward Podcast

Website: restoresmallgroups.org

Scott Reall’s Books:

Journey to Freedom: Your Start to a Lifetime of Hope, Health, and Healing

Journey to a New Beginning after Loss: Freedom from the Pain of Grief and Disappointment

Journey to Living with Courage: Freedom from Fear

Journey to Healthy Living: Freedom from Body Image and Food Issues

Journey to a Life of Significance: Freedom from Low Self-Esteem

In this episode of the Searching Inward Podcast, Scott Reall, Seth Abram and Anna Bryant speak with Sarah Ruccio Huffman, the Healing Arts Coordinator at Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center. Sarah has worked as a clinical chaplain and an expressive therapist in a variety of environments, and she discusses the value of therapy. She shares the pivotal moment that inspired her to help other people learn how to live fully in an ordinary life. She also talks about her experience with Restore Small Groups and the direct correlation between her expressive therapy groups and Restore Small Groups.

“It’s so impressive that you are able to get to that point to realize like I do need help. I do need to talk about these things. And then when you do normalize helping yourself, how that in turn helps others that are watching your story unfold.” -Anna [10:04]

“The underlying message there is that asking for help is a sign of weakness, and so I have learned along the way that asking for help is a sign of strength.” -Sarah [10:42]

“Spirituality assists and supports an expansion of our identity.” -Seth [20:59]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:05] Intro

[00:50] This week’s guest, Sarah

[01:52] Becoming an expressive therapist

[06:16] A pivotal moment

[11:06] The value of art therapy

[13:51] Current therapy trends

[21:33] Helping military veterans

[27:30] Her experience with Restore Small Groups

[32:12] Primary issues in therapy community

[35:45] The Journey to Freedom process

[41:24] Listen to yourself and respond

Follow and Contact

Facebook: Restore Small Groups

Instagram: @restoresmallgroups

YouTube: Searching Inward Podcast

Website: restoresmallgroups.org

In this episode of the Searching Inward Podcast, Seth Abram and Anna Bryant speak with Tamara Lankford about her experience with Restore Small Groups. Tamara shares what inspired her to sign up, how she overcame her shyness that led her to open up and be vulnerable and why she would recommend others to join a small group.

“Being in a group, it’s like working out with friends instead of trying to convince yourself to work out on your own everyday. It’s something that pushed me. It committed me to being there once a week. But the people, the environment, everything definitely allowed me to relax and open up.” -Tamara [05:32]

“We need more people that are growing and healthy and willing to be made uncomfortable so that they can become the fullest versions of themselves.” -Anna [07:58]

“Man, I love that analogy of helping you move on down the river, because I do think, continually that, like we tend to get stuck on either side of the river, and we’re not flowing in our life.” -Seth [09:59]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:05] Intro

[00:42] This week’s guest, Tamara

[02:13] How she came to Restore Small Groups

[04:10] Week 1 vs Week 8

[08:09] Moving though the river

[10:15] The communal experience

[13:03] Rapid fire questions

Follow and Contact

Facebook: Restore Small Groups

Instagram: @restoresmallgroups

YouTube: Searching Inward Podcast

Website: restoresmallgroups.org