Whole Self Podcast

In this episode, counselors Sharon and Kayla discuss coping mechanisms, and the three underlying emotions that usually drive us to employ a defense mechanism. They detail the six ways we tend to respond to these emotions, and why it is important to recognize so we can work to identify the unhealthy defense mechanism and replace it with a healthy coping mechanism. For more, follow us on Instagram @wholeselftherapists

Free Coping Mechanism download available here: https://wellspringssolutions.com/resources/

In this episode, counselors Kayla and Sharon discuss the “inner child”, using simple analogies, stories, and real life examples to aid listeners in understanding this concept.They define the term, note why it is important to understand our inner children, how it impacts us in adulthood, and how to begin healing the inner child. Knowing and recognizing our inner child can help us identify why we react to things the way we do, and start to relearn new and healthy behaviors in response to triggering words or events. For more, follow us on Instagram @wholeselftherapists

Resources: 

Blog: https://insighttimer.com/blog/inner-child-meaning-noticing-healing-freeing/

Podcast: The Inner Child Podcast

Books : Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents: How to Heal from Distant, Rejecting, or Self-Involved Parents Paperback Lindsay C. Gibson PsyD, Healing the Wounded Child Within: Heal Your Wounds, Change Your Life by Ricky Roberts III

An agreement is a truth that is decided or agreed. They can be made as the result of some kind of traumatic event, statements or labels from relationships, roles in our childhood homes, or hurts and pains we’ve experienced. These experiences sent some kind of message to ourselves that we then agreed to, and now live our life as if it is truth. When we live our lives as if these agreements were truths, we find that they are binding and limiting as they play out into adulthood. Listen to Kayla and Sharon discuss examples of agreements, how they are formed, why it's important to understand them, and how to name and break them. For more, follow us on Instagram @wholeselftherapists

It's important to know your trauma and story so you can know what triggers you. When you're able to identify your triggers, you can begin to repave your neural pathways so you can respond differently to what might trigger you in the present. For more information on what triggers are, how to identify them, how they might make you respond, somatic exercises to help you out of a trigger response, and more- listen to Cait and Sharon in our 4th episode of our trauma series. Follow us on Instagram @wholeselftherapists

Knowing our attachment styles lends us insight into how we view ourselves, relate to other people, and can help us understand our trauma . In this podcast episode, counselors Sharon, Cait and Kayla discuss the importance of knowing your attachment style. They look at the five "A's" needed in childhood - affection, affirmation, attunement, affect regulation, and attention, how they relate to the five love languages, and describe the different styles of attachment. For more, follow us on Instagram @wholeselftherapists

The influence of parents is pivotal in child development in cognitive skills, behaviors, social skills, coping skills, and general security.  Therefore it is essential to understand our parent’s story and their trauma to gain a greater understanding of ourselves.  How did their own traumatic experiences influence how they parented us?  How did they model coping skills to us?  As we seek a greater understanding of our functioning in life, it is crucial to trace the roots of the previous generations so that we come to understand some of our beliefs resulting from our parent’s traumatic experiences.  For example, was one of your parents abused, and how does that impact how they under or over-protected us?  Did your parents experience a significant loss that they were never allowed to process?  Was your parent able to handle your losses as a child in a nurturing way, or were you forced to take care of their feelings? Although understanding the traumas of our parents is essential in unraveling our own unhealthy beliefs and coping skills, it does not negate their responsibility to pursue healing for themselves.  Our role is not to devalue our pain because of our parent’s pain, but we can more effectively heal when we understand them and, in turn, understand how to create a healthy foundation based on truth and not our parent’s trauma. For more, follow us on Instagram @wholeselftherapists

This episode is our introductory recording in our new series, “Know Thy Trauma.” Sharon Wegman, Cait Beiler, and Kalya Seader explain why each person needs to understand their personal trauma history and how it affects our body, mind, emotions, and relationships.   Unknown trauma can evidence itself in depression, anxiety, physical ailments, our ability to focus, our relationships, and a plethora of other symptoms. People fail to understand that the events from their childhood during the critical bonding stage affect them even if they have little memory. Additionally, beliefs formed years in childhood are also part of the foundation from which trauma operates in the person. When an event has occurred, the brain changes to accommodate the sheer amount of loss or transition the body has had to make for the events.  Our trauma events get stored like a disorganized filing cabinet that needs to be reorganized understandably, and therapy helps the brain and body again create the order it requires to function healthily. For more more information, visit wellspringssolutions.com or follow us on Instagram @wholeselftherapists

At our practice, we see a lot of teenagers and a lot of parents of teenagers. In this podcast, Cait Beiler and Sharon Wegman talk about the teen brain and why it is essential to understand what is happening during these developmental years. As therapists, we believe when you can receive knowledge about something, that can bring empowerment. Learning about the brain is so essential! In this podcast, we address why teenagers need stimulation all the time, how to communicate with your teen and some things the teenage brain needs to feel safe. Our brains always take in new information, but they are genuinely not done growing until about 24 years old. That means your teenager is stuck in the middle of the brain still being a kid, but almost being an adult (aka.. it’s a mess)! We hope this podcast leaves you feeling more equipped with tools to communicate and create safety for your teenager that serves both of you.

For a lot of people, the holidays can be a triggering time of year for a variety of reasons. While you may have been practicing how to manage these triggers, one new aspect has been thrown in the mix - COVID. In this episode, Sharon Wegman and Kayla Seader explore triggers such as rejection, fear of missing out, and having to say no, and setting firm boundaries. Sharon and Kayla then go on to explore areas that boundaries may need to be set, how to go about setting and respecting boundaries, and alternatives to still experience aspects of joy in this season. 

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Have you ever thought to yourself, “What is mindfulness?  What does that mean?”  Mindfulness is the process of doing specific exercises to transform how your brain engages with the rest of the world.  We often find that we have an automatic fight, flight, freeze, or fawn response to something that triggers a feeling similar to trauma events from our past.  For example, perhaps we were abandoned by our parents in some way in our childhood, and in turn, when someone behaves in a way that makes us feel the same emotion, we automatically respond in the same manner.  Our emotional brain responds to the trigger as if it is the same wound of our past.   Mindful practices change the emotional brain that reacts to the feeling, while the wise brain chooses to respond differently.   In this podcast, Sharon Wegman and Kayla Seader discuss mindfulness, what mindful practices look like in action, and how to transform how your brain reacts or performs.