Nathan Gallenson, co-founder of DBT with Friends, a peer-led mental health community, joins Natasha on this episode of the Natasha Helfer Podcast. They discuss how they are creating an innovaite, peer-led mental health community dedicated to making evidence-based skills like DBT, IFS, and ACT accessible outside of traditional clinical settings.

Based in Salt Lake City, his work focuses on reimagining how emotional skills are taught, shifting from isolated learning to community-based practice.

You can checkout their website for more: https://www.dbtwithfriends.com

After completing their own DBT programs, the co-founders realized what many others know: everyone needs these skills, but too few have access. What began as teaching DBT skills to a small group of friends has grown into a broader movement rooted in a simple idea: healing is more joyful and more effective when we do it together—and access to these tools should be a human right, not a privilege. Nathan's work centers on creating spaces where people can learn real life skills while connecting with communities focused on growth, healing, and fun.

He is especially interested in how connection, shared experience, and structured skill-building can transform the way people relate to their emotions and each other. Through their work, DBT with Friends is helping build a model of mental health support that is scalable, human-centered, and grounded in both science and lived experience.

When he's not at his day job as a software engineering consultant, Nathan is building communities, facilitating or organizing weekly skills groups, and exploring how healing can be both practical and joyful.

To help keep this podcast going, please consider donating at natashahelfer.com and share this episode. To watch the video of this podcast, you can subscribe to Natasha's channel on Youtube and follow her professional Facebook page at natashahelfer LCMFT, CST-S. You can find all her cool resources at natashahelfer.com.

The information shared on this program is informational and should not be considered therapy.

This podcast addresses many topics around mental health and sexuality and may not be suitable for minors. Some topics may elicit a trigger or emotional response so please care for yourself accordingly.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or feelings of Natasha Helfer or the Natasha Helfer Podcast. We provide a platform for open and diverse discussions, and it is important to recognize that different perspectives may be shared. We encourage our listeners to engage in critical thinking and form their own opinions.

The intro and outro music for these episodes is by Otter Creek. Thank you for listening.

And remember:

Symmetry is now offering Ketamine services. To find out more, go to symcounseling.com/ketamine-services.

There are also several upcoming workshops. Visit natashahelfer.com or symcounseling.com to find out more.

On this episode of the Natasha Helfer Podcast, Natasha is joined by Mellissa Perry Hill, MS, LPC. They discuss how high-demand religions affect the "self".

Mellissa Perry Hill, MS, LPC is a Licensed Professional Counselor and approved clinical supervisor based in Arizona, where she owns and operates Inner Compass Counseling & Consultation, LLC, a small group practice serving clients in Arizona and Utah through virtual and in-person care. Her work centers on supporting individuals and couples healing from religious trauma, spiritual abuse, and faith transitions, with particular experience working with those impacted by high-control religious systems, including Mormonism.

Mellissa's clinical approach integrates EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), DBT, and narrative therapy, with an emphasis on nervous system regulation, identity reconstruction, values-based living, and restoring internal authority after spiritual harm. Her work is shaped by both professional training and lived experience navigating faith transition and major life change.

She is the author of the "Faith Transition Journal," a self-published reflective resource created to support individuals processing disaffiliation, grief, and meaning-making after leaving religion. Mellissa has developed and facilitated curricula and group experiences for local faith-transition and religious-trauma communities and regularly provides consultation, supervision, and education for clinicians working in this area.

Mellissa has been a guest on numerous podcasts and professional conversations focused on religious trauma, ethical mental health care, and post-faith identity development. She also maintains an active online presence through her professional community and Instagram platform, @mellissaperrytherapy, where she offers education, reflection, and resources for both clinicians and clients. She is certified as a sex-informed professional and works with couples navigating intimacy, attachment, and relational repair after purity culture and spiritual conditioning.

Quick link: Instagram

@mellissaperrytherapy

@shley.does.therapy (the other clinician who works with men and LDS specific issues at Inner Compass!)

Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CMsAzrjS6/

Clinician Newsletter: https://inner-compass-counseling.com/instagram-email-subscribers

Website: www.inner-compass-counseling.com

Faith Transition Journal: http://www.amazon.com/dp/b0cdz79s55/

Psych Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/mellissa-perry-hill-gilbert-az/848150

Booking for Clients: https://inner-compass.clientsecure.me/

To help keep this podcast going, please consider donating at natashahelfer.com and share this episode. To watch the video of this podcast, you can subscribe to Natasha's channel on Youtube and follow her professional Facebook page at natashahelfer LCMFT, CST-S. You can find all her cool resources at natashahelfer.com.

The information shared on this program is informational and should not be considered therapy.

This podcast addresses many topics around mental health and sexuality and may not be suitable for minors. Some topics may elicit a trigger or emotional response so please care for yourself accordingly.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or feelings of Natasha Helfer or the Natasha Helfer Podcast. We provide a platform for open and diverse discussions, and it is important to recognize that different perspectives may be shared. We encourage our listeners to engage in critical thinking and form their own opinions.

The intro and outro music for these episodes is by Otter Creek. Thank you for listening.

And remember:

Symmetry is now offering Ketamine services. To find out more, go to symcounseling.com/ketamine-services.

There are also several upcoming workshops. Visit natashahelfer.com or symcounseling.com to find out more.

On this episode of the Natasha Helfer Podcast, Brittney Hartley joins to discuss different global initiatives various governments have done to protect children from religious abuse. Natasha and Brittney discuss the events and then share their thoughts on how and where things can improve.

Brittney Hartley is an Atheist Spiritual Director at No Nonsense Spirituality. She has a Masters Degree in Applied Theology with a focus on the Future of American Religion. Her emphasis is in nihilism recovery, faith deconstruction, spiritual reconstruction, and feminist spirituality. You can find her on social media under the handle No Nonsense Spirituality, or on her website www.nononsensespirituality.com for courses, coaching, podcasts, and her new book.

She can be found on the socials: @nononsensespirituality

To help keep this podcast going, please consider donating at natashahelfer.com and share this episode. To watch the video of this podcast, you can subscribe to Natasha's channel on Youtube and follow her professional Facebook page at natashahelfer LCMFT, CST-S. You can find all her cool resources at natashahelfer.com.

The information shared on this program is informational and should not be considered therapy.

This podcast addresses many topics around mental health and sexuality and may not be suitable for minors. Some topics may elicit a trigger or emotional response so please care for yourself accordingly.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or feelings of Natasha Helfer or the Natasha Helfer Podcast. We provide a platform for open and diverse discussions, and it is important to recognize that different perspectives may be shared. We encourage our listeners to engage in critical thinking and form their own opinions.

The intro and outro music for these episodes is by Otter Creek. Thank you for listening.

And remember:

Symmetry is now offering Ketamine services. To find out more, go to symcounseling.com/ketamine-services.

There are also several upcoming workshops. Visit natashahelfer.com or symcounseling.com to find out more.

On this episode of the Natasha Helfer Podcast, Natasha is joined by Danielle Calder, LCSW, and Bekah Barton, to discuss reconstructing female sexuality.

Danielle is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and therapist who specializes in helping people navigate major life transitions such as religious and faith transitions, relationship challenges, life style shifts, confidence, dating, career, and identity work. Danielle lives in Carlsbad, California and is licensed in multiple states, offering remote therapy sessions throughout California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Idaho. Danielle works with individuals and couples. She loves hanging out with her friends, being a fun, warm mom, and having fun, and is also a devoted Swiftie like Bekah.

Bekah Barton is on a mission to help women reclaim their pleasure, especially those who have left high-demand religions and were taught that their bodies and desires were something to fear or suppress. As a licensed marriage and family therapist with a Master's degree and specialization in systemic sex therapy, she brings both clinical expertise and deep compassion to her work. She practices at Covenant Sex Therapy, where she works with couples and individuals navigating the full spectrum of sexual concerns, and offers coaching through Everglow Healing. Off the clock, she's a cookbook club host, a devoted Swiftie, and a firm believer in the healing power of a really good nap.

You can find out more about Bekah on her socials:

Instagram @bekah_barton: https://www.instagram.com/bekah_barton?igsh=MWk0M3ZvcDJzMDNjag%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

TikTok: @bekah.barton

Check out their pre-recorded course at: https://www.everglowhealing.com/

To help keep this podcast going, please consider donating at natashahelfer.com and share this episode. To watch the video of this podcast, you can subscribe to Natasha's channel on Youtube and follow her professional Facebook page at natashahelfer LCMFT, CST-S. You can find all her cool resources at natashahelfer.com.

The information shared on this program is informational and should not be considered therapy.

This podcast addresses many topics around mental health and sexuality and may not be suitable for minors. Some topics may elicit a trigger or emotional response so please care for yourself accordingly.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or feelings of Natasha Helfer or the Natasha Helfer Podcast. We provide a platform for open and diverse discussions, and it is important to recognize that different perspectives may be shared. We encourage our listeners to engage in critical thinking and form their own opinions.

The intro and outro music for these episodes is by Otter Creek. Thank you for listening.

And remember:

Symmetry is now offering Ketamine services. To find out more, go to symcounseling.com/ketamine-services.

There are also several upcoming workshops. Visit natashahelfer.com or symcounseling.com to find out more.

Natasha is joined by Jennifer Aull on this episode of the Natasha Helfer Podcast. They discuss the male experience with purity culture.

Jennifer is passionate about empowering people to live their fullest lives. This dedication has been lived out through some of her personal and professional experiences. Jennifer brings with her a wealth of life experience. Along with her marriage and family therapy practice, Jennifer serves as a pastor at the Greenpoint Reformed Church. She has also worked as a chaplain in both hospital and hospice settings. These experiences have taught her that life can be a journey toward greater awareness and spiritual growth and that such awareness can bring about deep joy and fulfillment.

Jennifer enjoys working with clients to help them author an authentic life by examining their most challenging past experiences. By creating a warm, safe, nonjudgmental environment, she encourages clients to assess those elements that are limiting them. Through short-term, solution-focused therapy and deeper relational techniques, Jennifer guides clients to find the relationships they long for. Jennifer is experienced in working with a wide variety of people, regardless of religions, genders, cultures, life circumstances, and sexual orientations.

Jennifer is a licensed marriage and family therapist who completed her master's degree in marriage and family therapy at Hofstra University. She also received a bachelor's degree in English literature from San Francisco State University. After working for several years as a technology specialist for several investment banks, Jennifer attended Union Theological Seminary, where she received a Master of Divinity Degree. She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.

Jennifer is a certified Prepare/Enrich premarital counselor with ten years of experience helping couples prepare for greater levels of commitment. She is an AASECT certified sex therapist. She has taught as an adjunct professor at Hebrew Union College, Long Island University Brooklyn, Syracuse University and Widener University. She is expected to complete her PhD in Clinical Sexology from Modern Sex Therapy Institutes in March 2025. Her dissertation focuses on the impact of purity culture messaging on male sexuality. She is available for both individual and couples therapy.

To help keep this podcast going, please consider donating at natashahelfer.com and share this episode. To watch the video of this podcast, you can subscribe to Natasha's channel on Youtube and follow her professional Facebook page at natashahelfer LCMFT, CST-S. You can find all her cool resources at natashahelfer.com.

The information shared on this program is informational and should not be considered therapy.

This podcast addresses many topics around mental health and sexuality and may not be suitable for minors. Some topics may elicit a trigger or emotional response so please care for yourself accordingly.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or feelings of Natasha Helfer or the Natasha Helfer Podcast. We provide a platform for open and diverse discussions, and it is important to recognize that different perspectives may be shared. We encourage our listeners to engage in critical thinking and form their own opinions.

The intro and outro music for these episodes is by Otter Creek. Thank you for listening.

And remember:

Symmetry is now offering Ketamine services. To find out more, go to symcounseling.com/ketamine-services.

There are also several upcoming workshops. Visit natashahelfer.com or symcounseling.com to find out more.

On this episode of the Natasha Helfer Podcast, Christine Forner joins Natasha on this episode of the Natasha Helfer Podcast to discuss patriarchy and misogyny.

Christine Forner is a seasoned clinician, educator and author based in Alberta, Canada, and has over 35 years of experience working with clients affected by coercive control, domestic violence, sexual abuse, and chronic neglect. She specializes in traumatic dissociation, developmental trauma, and the neurobiology of mindfulness. She has a masters in social work and is certified in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and is internationally recognized as a thought leader in the intersection of dissociation and mindfulness. Her work illuminates the role of patriarchy and misogyny in the genesis of trauma, and she developed the concept of Therapeutic Nurturing, and the term "secure fullness", which reframes the need for nurturing as a biologically essential force that organizes emotional safety, regulation, and human health. Her upcoming book is titled, "The Craving: How Prolonged Fear Shaped Humanity." You can find her work at Christineforner.com, on Instagram and X and on Substack @TheFierceNurturer

To help keep this podcast going, please consider donating at natashahelfer.com and share this episode. To watch the video of this podcast, you can subscribe to Natasha's channel on Youtube and follow her professional Facebook page at natashahelfer LCMFT, CST-S. You can find all her cool resources at natashahelfer.com.

The information shared on this program is informational and should not be considered therapy.

This podcast addresses many topics around mental health and sexuality and may not be suitable for minors. Some topics may elicit a trigger or emotional response so please care for yourself accordingly.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or feelings of Natasha Helfer or the Natasha Helfer Podcast. We provide a platform for open and diverse discussions, and it is important to recognize that different perspectives may be shared. We encourage our listeners to engage in critical thinking and form their own opinions.

The intro and outro music for these episodes is by Otter Creek. Thank you for listening.

And remember:

Symmetry is now offering Ketamine services. To find out more, go to symcounseling.com/ketamine-services.

There are also several upcoming workshops. Visit natashahelfer.com or symcounseling.com to find out more.

Welcome to Part 6 of the Lucy in the Sky with Dinahs series where Natasha discusses psychedelic-assisted therapy within high-demand religious context of Sexual and Religious Trauma. Natasha is joined by Amy Rossi and Aimee Heffernan.

In this episode, the team discusses ketamine.

Note that neither Natasha or the Amie's are doctors. They do not condone illegal behavior. Please make sure you know your local and state laws before using psychedelics.

For more on Amy Rossi, you can go to her instagram at @messages.from.the.medicine

For more on Amy Heff, she has an office in Bountiful, Utah, and does video consulting. She's on instagram at: @aimeeheff

To help keep this podcast going, please consider donating at natashahelfer.com and share this episode. To watch the video of this podcast, you can subscribe to Natasha's channel on Youtube and follow her professional Facebook page at natashahelfer LCMFT, CST-S. You can find all her cool resources at natashahelfer.com.

The information shared on this program is informational and should not be considered therapy.

This podcast addresses many topics around mental health and sexuality and may not be suitable for minors. Some topics may elicit a trigger or emotional response so please care for yourself accordingly.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or feelings of Natasha Helfer or the Natasha Helfer Podcast. We provide a platform for open and diverse discussions, and it is important to recognize that different perspectives may be shared. We encourage our listeners to engage in critical thinking and form their own opinions.

The intro and outro music for these episodes is by Otter Creek. Thank you for listening.

And remember:

Symmetry is now offering Ketamine services. To find out more, go to symcounseling.com/ketamine-services.

There are also several upcoming workshops. Visit natashahelfer.com or symcounseling.com to find out more.

Natasha is joined by Katherine Spearing, MA, CTRC, to discuss her latest book, "A Thousand Tiny Paper Cuts," which addresses the spiritual abuse survivor's recovery journey, on this episode of the Natasha Helfer Podcast.

Katherine Spearing MA, CTRC is the founder of Tears of Eden (https://www.tearsofeden.org/), a nonprofit supporting survivors of spiritual abuse, and the former executive producer and host of the groundbreaking podcast "Uncertain", a podcast that pioneered pivotal conversations around Spiritual Abuse. She's also a Certified Trauma Recovery Practitioner (https://www.katherinespearing.com/coaching) working primarily with women who have been impacted by the patriarchy and artists navigating religious trauma.

Katherine is a huge advocate for the power of art to help us on our healing journey. She participates in improv theater both as a performer and coach and is the author of one novel ("Hartfords" https://www.katherinespearing.com/books). She has been a guest on a number of podcasts, including "IndoctriNation" and "A Little Bit Culty," is the author of several nonfiction articles, and writes regularly at katherinespearing.com and tearsofeden.org.

Sign up for the newsletter at her website:

katherinespearing.com

You can purchase her book at the link below:

https://amzn.to/49J7OAs

To help keep this podcast going, please consider donating at natashahelfer.com and share this episode. To watch the video of this podcast, you can subscribe to Natasha's channel on Youtube and follow her professional Facebook page at natashahelfer LCMFT, CST-S. You can find all her cool resources at natashahelfer.com.

The information shared on this program is informational and should not be considered therapy.

This podcast addresses many topics around mental health and sexuality and may not be suitable for minors. Some topics may elicit a trigger or emotional response so please care for yourself accordingly.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or feelings of Natasha Helfer or the Natasha Helfer Podcast. We provide a platform for open and diverse discussions, and it is important to recognize that different perspectives may be shared. We encourage our listeners to engage in critical thinking and form their own opinions.

The intro and outro music for these episodes is by Otter Creek. Thank you for listening.

And remember:

Symmetry is now offering Ketamine services. To find out more, go to symcounseling.com/ketamine-services.

There are also several upcoming workshops. Visit natashahelfer.com or symcounseling.com to find out more.

Tara Olson joins Natasha on this episode of the Natasha Helfer Podcast. They discuss the intersection of eating disorders, religion and sex.

Tara Olson is an Associate Certified Social Worker (CSW) who approaches therapy from a feminist-multicultural, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive framework. She views healing as a collaborative process, where clients bring their lived wisdom and cultural expertise, and together, client and therapist co-create a space for growth and change.

For more on Tara, go here: https://symcounseling.com/tara-olson/

Natasha is doing an Ethical Nonmonogamy group starring February 24th. For more, go here: https://symcounseling.com/navigating-ethical-non-monogamy/

To help keep this podcast going, please consider donating at natashahelfer.com and share this episode. To watch the video of this podcast, you can subscribe to Natasha's channel on Youtube and follow her professional Facebook page at natashahelfer LCMFT, CST-S. You can find all her cool resources at natashahelfer.com.

The information shared on this program is informational and should not be considered therapy.

This podcast addresses many topics around mental health and sexuality and may not be suitable for minors. Some topics may elicit a trigger or emotional response so please care for yourself accordingly.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or feelings of Natasha Helfer or the Natasha Helfer Podcast. We provide a platform for open and diverse discussions, and it is important to recognize that different perspectives may be shared. We encourage our listeners to engage in critical thinking and form their own opinions.

The intro and outro music for these episodes is by Otter Creek. Thank you for listening.

And remember:

Symmetry is now offering Ketamine services. To find out more, go to symcounseling.com/ketamine-services.

There are also several upcoming workshops. Visit natashahelfer.com or symcounseling.com to find out more.

Dr. Quintin Hunt joins Natasha on this episode of the Natasha Helfer Podcast.

They discuss a difficult topic: preventing suicide.

More on Dr. Hunt:

My journey towards being a therapist began when I was 8 years old: my oldest brother died by suicide, my youngest brother developed schizophrenia, and I was sexually abused. It was then, at 8, my own suicidal thoughts began. Throughout my adolescence and early adulthood I struggled with deep feelings of depression, that no one could ever love me, and that even my feelings and emotions did not matter. I even felt God hated me because of the trauma I had gone through and more because of who I was attracted to. The only way I knew how to receive some pieces of love and acceptance I deeply desire was to hid myself and my feelings from everyone around me.

My trauma, my family's trauma, and our struggles to get help that helped us deal with OUR patterns of generational trauma is what pushed me towards doctoral education (PhD) and studying what makes someone suicidal and how to help the process of suicide bereavement. It was through this process of studying suicidality over nearly two decades that I was finally able to see the patterns of generational trauma many suicidal folks live in—and I was finally able to see the patterns of generational trauma in my own life and how my own compulsion to hide myself perpetuated the patterns of self-hatred, depression, and loneliness.

Identifying the patterns of trauma in my life allowed me to believe that I did not deserve my trauma, that my emotions mattered, and that I mattered. I was finally able to advocate for myself and have been able to finally, for the first time to develop friendships and accept love that others were willing to offer but I was unable to see.

You can check out more information at his practice: Olive View Therapy: https://www.oliveviewtherapy.com

To help keep this podcast going, please consider donating at natashahelfer.com and share this episode. To watch the video of this podcast, you can subscribe to Natasha's channel on Youtube and follow her professional Facebook page at natashahelfer LCMFT, CST-S. You can find all her cool resources at natashahelfer.com.

The information shared on this program is informational and should not be considered therapy.

This podcast addresses many topics around mental health and sexuality and may not be suitable for minors. Some topics may elicit a trigger or emotional response so please care for yourself accordingly.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed by our guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or feelings of Natasha Helfer or the Natasha Helfer Podcast. We provide a platform for open and diverse discussions, and it is important to recognize that different perspectives may be shared. We encourage our listeners to engage in critical thinking and form their own opinions.

The intro and outro music for these episodes is by Otter Creek. Thank you for listening.

And remember:

Symmetry is now offering Ketamine services. To find out more, go to symcounseling.com/ketamine-services.

There are also several upcoming workshops. Visit natashahelfer.com or symcounseling.com to find out more.