The Healing Pod: Navigating Anxiety and Mental Health Together

Episode 42

Welcome to the Healing Pod!

Sorry, this one is less organized and more us trying to find our feet again. Also it was recorded right before Christmas. 

But regardless! Have an episode finally! A second more organized re-start one shall be following soon. 

I am very very sorry for the long ass delay in posting. This episode does not have much point other than us reconnecting and talking about the break and what we are trying to do to get on track. We also talk about what we want to do with the podcast going forward.

I did get to meet up with Jess during the unannounced  and unplanned hiatus, and she got to meet my wife! She and I made it through the half marathon with our best times yet and are very proud of ourselves.

Shout out to all the houses that hand out adult goodies like jello shots on halloween. 

I like my curry tea, even if it is not what you should drink when you’re about to have a random coughing fit. 

So plans include finding guests (let us know if you want to chat!). If there are any actual psych topics or interventions you want to learn more about or hear our take on let us know (I have many soap boxes to ramble about). Ending relationships, and relationships in general, always a good topic. If I find any good AITA or if anyone submits any thoughts or moments or anonymous stuff,  I will totally get Jess’ opinions. Or if you have a self help book you love or hate, send it along!

Also debunking the idea that therapists always make bank. We are envious of those few (usually TV or movie based) outliers. The rest of us just actually like our jobs and helping people.

As always, thank you to the wonderful Miki Anderson for our intro and outtro music. She can be found under Pax Minerva on Apple Music and is all around a wonderful human being. 

Come join us and chat, complain, or send in what mental health you would like to hear us ramble about! 

Find us on Facebook, TikTok, and instagram at The Healing Pod 

We are online at https://www.PeasInTheHealingPod.com  

You can email us any questions, suggestions, comments, or memes at [email protected]  

If you want to hunt down the bits and bobbles that have been cut out of our episode, join us for another live recording, or just to buy us a cup of coffee, come join us at https://www.patreon.com/TheHealingPod

Episode 41

Welcome to the Healing Pod! 

Jess is back! And audio…seems to be changing volume in the video and be a bit…odd. Maybe it’s my imagination. Probably not. But…it happens! The more I catch tiny errors in well established podcasts the more I realize it’s ok for our little fun here not to be perfect. 

We are answering a question from Allie about the natural nature of fears, responding to their child’s fears, and balancing the child’s excitement about “spooky” things with the parental knowledge of Supernatural episodes (get the salt!!)

We talk about balancing safety needs with calming for the fears that are not really safety based. Spooky can mean fun investigations, it can mean something unusual and different and potentially surprising, feeling that sense of unknown does not necessarily mean we cannot handle it. 

Fear is meant to keep you safe, not to keep you from living.  And the kids are watching. They want to know how to respond, what is safe, what is allowed., what tools and support do they have to explore and expand into this wonderful world we have.

We also touch on vivid dreaming briefly. Always check the medical reasons first (new meds, illness, discomfort) and the physical (exhaustion, what you’ve eaten/drank/substances) and environment (something waking you up in the night, temperature extremes). Don’t be ignoring your basic sleep hygiene, but also don’t be afraid to search for repeating themes that you are struggling with and help yourself find closure however you need to (dealing with it in reality or using guided imagery to create a new ending that will help settle things). 

Dream EZ is the app you can download for working through repeated dream themes. An anecdotal review from a chronic nightmare haver was “well my dreams aren’t bad, now they’re weird.” It was designed for military combat PTSD so has lots of science and data behind it.

Kids are weird. Let them. And remember to be weird with them.

As always, thank you to the wonderful Miki Anderson for our intro and outtro music. She can be found under Pax Minerva on Apple Music and is all around a wonderful human being. 

Come join us and chat, complain, or send in what mental health you would like to hear us ramble about! 

Find us on Facebook, TikTok, and instagram at The Healing Pod 

We are online at https://www.PeasInTheHealingPod.com  

You can email us any questions, suggestions, comments, or memes at [email protected]  

If you want to hunt down the bits and bobbles that have been cut out of our episode, join us for another live recording, or just to buy us a cup of coffee, come join us at https://www.patreon.com/TheHealingPod 

Episode 40

Welcome to the Healing Pod! 

Jessica is busy fighting with her still leaking roof, so I am joined once again by Kasie!

Today is the end of a long week with a lot of heartache. So we decided to talk about a lighter topic and explore our decision to run a half-marathon! 8 years after the only other one we ran…and then deciding a week ago to run one a month and a half before the planned Disney run!

We talk through our history of running, and the surprises we find of the motivation and the impact on our self-talk and value by achieving these goals. 

Things like setting habits and building our pups’ health into the training, finding reasons to run, places we enjoy going, and support through each other and our friends has helped exponentially. Building a new habit is hard, and it has to fit into your view of yourself and your schedule to have a chance of sticking. 

Facing hard goals means you need a lot of support, internal and external. It is going to be hard. It is going to hurt at times. It is going to be less fun at times. But it’s it’s always hard, always hurting, always less fun, you will not stick with it. You want to be able to move and grow through the discomfort to find a brand new level of discomfort to challenge yourself with.

Who knows, maybe we will do a marathon someday. But not anytime soon. We are going to bask in the enjoyment of succeeding and being amazed at what we’ve been able to do.

Kasie does mention the headspace I go into on race days. It is different. Running has always been the thing that I could actually take a break from all my other stress and do. I could not deal with anything else while running, so I may as well just run. And on practice days I pace with Kasie and if we’re not going hard I chat with her. But when racing, I find a rhythm and I just stick with it and see how far I can go at that pace, because I don’t trust myself to keep moving if I try to poke out of that flow space. 

I am incredible proud of Kasie and everything she has accomplished. I love the adventures we find in our lives and cannot wait until the next one. 

So we would love to hear your goals and progress towards them. We would love to hear whatever ideas you have to keep us motivated and entertained for winter runs. We would love to hear from you!

As always, thank you to the wonderful Miki Anderson for our intro and outtro music. She can be found under Pax Minerva on Apple Music and is all around a wonderful human being. 

Come join us and chat, complain, or send in what mental health you would like to hear us ramble about! 

Find us on Facebook, TikTok, and instagram at The Healing Pod 

We are online at https://www.PeasInTheHealingPod.com  

You can email us any questions, suggestions, comments, or memes at [email protected]  

If you want to hunt down the bits and bobbles that have been cut out of our episode, join us for another live recording, or just to buy us a cup of coffee, come join us at https://www.patreon.com/TheHealingPod 

Episode 39

Welcome to the Healing Pod! 

A few sorries to get out of the way first. This will be a slightly longer episode. 

I didn’t realize how much the cricket noises came through my open window, which I find relaxing but others may be irritated by so sorry guys! Also the video is too long for my sound clean up on video so….until we get monetized you’ll have to deal!

Also the random sheep……she agrees with us. 

Today we are not talking in just reaction to the viral video of the woman who fell in love with her psychiatrist (it’s a thing that’s often enough to be both a cliche and a major teaching point in training, as is the reverse), but rather what it would be like as a professional to be the next person to try and work with her. We figured there’s enough reaction and interpretation videos out there, plenty of good and bad ones to look through if you’re interested. 

So here is a view into some of the processing and understanding that therapists go through when encountering a new and potentially tricky case. 

It is important to know that your clinicians are humans. Sometimes we got this, sometimes we suck. There’s a lot to balance in genuinely caring for our clients and wanting the best for them, while also needing to protect ourselves both liability wise and in terms of maintaining our own life. 

We do not want or need to be on pedestals. Pedestals means it’s about us and not about your work, your effort, your accomplishments, your strength. We have egos. We do not need to feed them to the level where we believe that we need a pedestal. 

AI is an interesting monster. It definitely has uses, especially when you’re looking at supplementing disabilities and areas where we are not strong. When we ask it to think for us instead, that’s when we have problems. I think in this case especially, we have a person who has an assumption, using a predictive text machine that builds off of what you are feeding it to confirm the assumption, and then continue to build off of what it has already stated and what it has already learned.  What was a hypothesis is stated back as a strong possibility and then proven as a definite thing due to being told what we want to hear makes us more likely to keep using the thing that we will pay money to use. 

The Doctor Who episode was Midnight (David Tenant Doctor, nice little bottle episode for that claustrophobia feel as well).

And if you know of the almighty tallest, then do not ignore my veins and appreciate the moment of recognition!

As always, thank you to the wonderful Miki Anderson for our intro and outtro music. She can be found under Pax Minerva on Apple Music and is all around a wonderful human being. 

Come join us and chat, complain, or send in what mental health you would like to hear us ramble about! 

Find us on Facebook, TikTok, and instagram at The Healing Pod 

We are online at https://www.PeasInTheHealingPod.com  

You can email us any questions, suggestions, comments, or memes at [email protected]  

If you want to hunt down the bits and bobbles that have been cut out of our episode, join us for another live recording, or just to buy us a cup of coffee, come join us at https://www.patreon.com/TheHealingPod 

Episode 38

Welcome to the Healing Pod! 

I swore a lot in this episode. It’s been rough. I do apologize, but also…nah. 

We are joined by Keith Christie again this week to explore out emotional baggage and how to maybe lesson it’s impact on us.

Emotional baggage is the stuff that we keep carrying with us, and cover up and lock away to pretend that it does not affect us even though it clearly is leaking out all over the place. Sometimes we’re better at juggling and acknowledging it than others, and sometimes we are able to repack or let some things go. 

In our never ending goal not to be the hypocritical therapists and to actually practice what we preach, we look at some steps we can take to start taking stock of and opening up our baggage.

This can include just looking at our baggage. What is it, where does it come from, how do I notice in it my life. Paying attention to patterns and experiences can open us up to explore things that may not be in our best interests or the actual motivation and concern behind some reactions. 

Changing perspective can help as it is always easier to see outside factors for others and internal factors for ourselves (so we tend to hold onto self blame). That can include that it is someone else who took our role and thinking what advice/forgiveness we would offer them, or imagining the person who helped you pack that baggie in the room with you, either to talk it out or to re-imagine the ending of the scenarios you felt out of control in when you had less agency and skills. 

The vacation I went on with my mom and her friends was to Ridin-Hy Ranch in the Adirondacks, NY, highly recommended to anyone who enjoys horsey things. And I will always happily go traveling with her when I am able because it is fun. And hi aunt Sue!!

Our challenge this week is to reflect on your baggage and practice awareness of what is there, how is it impacting you, and what you may be able to put down. 

You can find Keith Christie at journeytogetherpc.com/ where he works to serve his client sin Michigan. 

As always, thank you to the wonderful Miki Anderson for our intro and outtro music. She can be found under Pax Minerva on Apple Music and is all around a wonderful human being. 

Come join us and chat, complain, or send in what mental health you would like to hear us ramble about! 

Find us on Facebook, TikTok, and instagram at The Healing Pod 

We are online at https://www.PeasInTheHealingPod.com  

You can email us any questions, suggestions, comments, or memes at [email protected]  

If you want to hunt down the bits and bobbles that have been cut out of our episode, join us for another live recording, or just to buy us a cup of coffee, come join us at https://www.patreon.com/TheHealingPod 

Episode 37

Welcome to the Healing Pod! 

This week we have technical issues of Jess’ mic dying in the middle of the episode, but it’s held together with duct tape and super glue so we’re all good! Except for how I realize it cut off the end of her recording so where suddenly what she says may not match what she’s saying in the video…just ignore that. You’re lucky I didn’t try to splice something in with sock puppets. 

We explored the impact of tiny moments in our lives. The ones that ruin our day or the ones that make our day. These tiny things are prime to increase our awareness of and monitor our interpretation of in order to actually support our own mental health rather than letting them derail our whole day. 

Notice when the bad ones are spinning. Take a step back and breathe or calm yourself. Check out the moment and see if it’s fixable, if it’s true, if it matters. Put it in its place and make sure it’s not distorting your view of yourself or your world. And start looking for or creating some good ones to balance it out. This will take practice, starting with just noticing and labeling what is going on, but we can all get there!

Join us online for #MicroMomentMission and share with us your moments that you have intentionally created or tuned into in order to color your day a little more balanced and healthier for you. Practice gratitude, positivity towards others, noticing awe or beauty. 

No saving the world here, just taking a part of it and seeing the positive light that makes it worth continuing to put the effort in. 

As always, thank you to the wonderful Miki Anderson for our intro and outtro music. She can be found under Pax Minerva on Apple Music and is all around a wonderful human being. 

Come join us and chat, complain, or send in what mental health you would like to hear us ramble about! 

Find us on Facebook, TikTok, and instagram at The Healing Pod 

We are online at https://www.PeasInTheHealingPod.com  

You can email us any questions, suggestions, comments, or memes at [email protected]  

If you want to hunt down the bits and bobbles that have been cut out of our episode, join us for another live recording, or just to buy us a cup of coffee, come join us at https://www.patreon.com/TheHealingPod 

Episode 36

Welcome to the Healing Pod! 

This week we talk about deciding to do a Do Over. This can be a simple thing such as scrapping a small project or recipe, or a major decision such as completely changing a career or ending a relationship.

It’s incredibly scary to make that choice sometimes, especially as we know we will mourn that which we leave behind, no matter how much it was time to leave it.

Embracing potential failure as a natural ending of things and a contribution to actual learning can help as well. Keeping that grace both to allow yourself to change and realize that previous decisions were not the ones you need at this point in your life lets there be room for growth. 

Happily ever after only exists when you stop reading the story before the next challenge comes along. 

Join us online for #DoOverDare and tell us about the big or little things you’ve done over this week! Like me finally redoing our office website (it’s not pretty pretty, but it’s functional!) and Jess’ attempt to revive our social media. And follow Jess and my progress as we set up therapy retreats in Florida this fall!

And the pot parable came from a book called “Art and Fear” by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Although apparently the true story of it used photography rather than ceramics. 

And remember, scary does not necessarily mean bad. 

As always, thank you to the wonderful Miki Anderson for our intro and outtro music. She can be found under Pax Minerva on Apple Music and is all around a wonderful human being. 

Come join us and chat, complain, or send in what mental health you would like to hear us ramble about! 

Find us on Facebook, TikTok, and instagram at The Healing Pod 

We are online at https://www.PeasInTheHealingPod.com  

You can email us any questions, suggestions, comments, or memes at [email protected]  

If you want to hunt down the bits and bobbles that have been cut out of our episode, join us for another live recording, or just to buy us a cup of coffee, come join us at https://www.patreon.com/TheHealingPod 

Episode 35

Welcome to the Healing Pod! 

Spirited away was the movie I could not remember!

Anyway, here we are talking about the mental junk drawer! All the half done tasks, worries, things we’re trying to actively process or hold onto in case they get forgotten, people who we need to reply to and make sure they’re being taken care of, everything. 

And just like with regular junk drawers, or internet tabs, too much unfinished stuff that we try to hold onto becomes very overwhelming. We wake up tired. We avoid even the easy things that we should be able to get done. We talk down to ourselves for not being able to do the things we think we should do. 

So we try to do what we need to do anyway. We sort and prioritize the boxes. We face the things that have grown bigger than they really are and shrink them back to their original size/energy space. We pull things out of our head and write it down, or draw it, or talk it out. Anything so it has edges and boundaries and tangibility instead of just filling our heads. 

The more things we can pull out of active brain processing mode the more energy and space we have.

I do want those floor to ceiling library shelves again someday. I had them as a kid..they were lovely. 

As always, thank you to the wonderful Miki Anderson for our intro and outtro music. She can be found under Pax Minerva on Apple Music and is all around a wonderful human being. 

Come join us and chat, complain, or send in what mental health you would like to hear us ramble about! 

Find us on Facebook, TikTok, and instagram at The Healing Pod 

We are online at https://www.PeasInTheHealingPod.com  

You can email us any questions, suggestions, comments, or memes at [email protected]  

If you want to hunt down the bits and bobbles that have been cut out of our episode, join us for another live recording, or just to buy us a cup of coffee, come join us at https://www.patreon.com/TheHealingPod 

Episode 34

Welcome to the Healing Pod! 

Jess’ amazing line of the day” I’m not broken, I’m building. Take it one tiny messy step at a time, every step forward is movement.” 

Reparenting is a hard process of paying attention to what lessons we didn’t learn, what lessons we learned that don’t work for us anymore, and what we need now that we may be pretending we don’t because no one else specifically said it’s a need.

There is a very fantastical way of rebirthing and reparenting where you squish people with pillows (has resulted in death by asphyxiation, not recommended), have a conversation with your inner child and tell yourself you’re lovable, cry, and suddenly adult.

Or there is the actual functioning way of assessing where you’re at and what you need, calling yourself out on bad habits, and letting yourself learn and explore what could help you be a better functioning person without shame for where you’ve come from and what you may have missed.

Jess’ ideas to work on between sessions: What would you do different in response to what age of yours is acting out?

Take a pause and ask yourself: What am I feeling emotionally right now? What do I need that I didn’t get today? And what would a healthy, grounded version of me do next?

As always, thank you to the wonderful Miki Anderson for our intro and outtro music. She can be found under Pax Minerva on Apple Music and is all around a wonderful human being. 

Come join us and chat, complain, or send in what mental health you would like to hear us ramble about! 

Find us on Facebook, TikTok, and instagram at The Healing Pod 

We are online at https://www.PeasInTheHealingPod.com  

You can email us any questions, suggestions, comments, or memes at [email protected]  

If you want to hunt down the bits and bobbles that have been cut out of our episode, join us for another live recording, or just to buy us a cup of coffee, come join us at https://www.patreon.com/TheHealingPod 

Episode 33

Welcome to the Healing Pod! 

I want to go to pirate pride week…Happy pride everyone! Pride was a riot and no one can make me ashamed of myself no matter how hard they try, I’ve way too much practice doing that myself to fall for it.

But anyway, this episode is actually about the trap of comparing ourselves. To others, to ideals, to shoulds, to anything that leaves a winner and a loser.

While it seems like a shortcut to belonging and to doing things “right,” all it tends to do is make space for us to feel worse because we are not someone else, rather than revel in our own experiences and accomplishments. 

We explore our experiences with this trap and find ways to backtalk into actually supporting ourselves as ourselves rather than trying to “win” an unending and unwinable game.

Guinea fowl say hi in the background! Tis the season of chickens. Not to be outdone by chickens of course. 

If Jess’ words don’t seem to match her mouth at times in the video version, you’re totally imagining that, just go with it. 

As always, thank you to the wonderful Miki Anderson for our intro and outtro music. She can be found under Pax Minerva on Apple Music and is all around a wonderful human being. 

Come join us and chat, complain, or send in what mental health you would like to hear us ramble about! 

Find us on Facebook, TikTok, and instagram at The Healing Pod 

We are online at https://www.PeasInTheHealingPod.com  

You can email us any questions, suggestions, comments, or memes at [email protected]  

If you want to hunt down the bits and bobbles that have been cut out of our episode, join us for another live recording, or just to buy us a cup of coffee, come join us at https://www.patreon.com/TheHealingPod