Conversations With a Wounded Healer

Whiteness is the problem. Many white folks know it; many more don't. Or won't. None of us are at the same point in the journey, yet all of us play a role in dismantling this inherited concept of racial identity. So, how can we nurture discovery, recovery, and anti-racist action without replicating the same judgments, shame, or gaslighting that whiteness thrives on? Shelly Tochluk doesn't have all the answers. Instead, she offers practical advice, road-tested in her own life, to help white folks move beyond the performative and into a genuinely anti-racist life. GUEST BIO Shelly Tochluk is a professor of education at Mount Saint Mary's University–Los Angeles. She is the author of Witnessing Whiteness: The Journey Toward Racial Awareness and Antiracist Action (3rd Edition), Living in the Tension: The Quest for a Spiritualized Racial Justice, and co-author of Being White Today: A Roadmap for a Positive Antiracist Life. Shelly volunteers with AWARE-LA (Alliance of White Anti-Racists Everywhere-Los Angeles), and for 15 years, she co-produced their 4-day institute, Unmasking Whiteness, which leads white people into a deeper understanding of their personal relationship to race, whiteness, and systemic racism. Celebrate our Anne-iversary and Win! We are celebrating Anne Remy's one-year anniversary as co-host of the show. Join us by leaving a review for Conversations With a Wounded Healer on Apple Podcasts. Tell us how and why you appreciate Anne's contributions to the show, and you will be entered to win a drawing for a 1-on-1 session with Sarah or Anne. Sarah is offering the choice between business coaching or Reiki. Anne is offering the choice between yoga or travel consulting. Here's How: 1. Go to https://ratethispodcast.com/woundedhealer 2. Click the link for Apple Podcasts and follow the instructions. 3. Take a screenshot of your review. 4. Email the screenshot to [email protected] between March 6 - April 24, 2024. 5. We will do a drawing and email the winners the week of April 24, as well as announce on social media May 1, 2024. Groups for Wounded Healers We're currently running one cohort of the Burnt Out Practice Owner support group and Authentic Leaders group. Please join the waitlists to be updated about future groups: Burnt Out Practice Owner Support Group Waitlist and Authentic Leaders Group - Fall 2024 Waitlist SUPPORT THE SHOW Conversations With a Wounded Healer Merch Join our Patreon for gifts & perks Shop our Bookshop.org store and support local booksellers Share a rating & review on Apple Podcasts *** Let's be friends! You can find us in the following places… Sarah's Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness

Being a practice owner isn't *all* bad. The folks who do it well just know how to set industrial-strength boundaries. Not me, but some folks…like Alicia Taverner, LMFT, owner of Rancho Counseling in California. Private practice ownership is Alicia's jam. How is that possible, you ask? There's keeping the practice small and cash-only. While this may astonish some, Alicia shrugs off their incredulity. She also fully recognizes the value of her personal and professional time and has set super clear priorities: work-life balance and ample opportunity to train the therapists in her care. If you have a burning question or a topic that you'd like to hear discussed on this series, email me at [email protected] or send me a DM on Instagram @headheartbiztherapy. GUEST BIO Alicia Taverner is a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, #50414, with a Bachelor's Degree in Speech Communications from the University of La Verne, and a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University. Alicia specializes in helping couples find the calm within the storm of some of the most difficult relationship struggles, such as infidelity, divorce, and postpartum anxiety and depression. She is also a trained Discernment Counselor and helps couples explore options for continuing their relationship despite some very heavy challenges. Groups for Wounded Healers We're currently running one cohort of the Burnt Out Practice Owner support group and Authentic Leaders group. Please join the waitlists to be updated about future groups: Burnt Out Practice Owner Support Group Waitlist and Authentic Leaders Group - Fall 2024 Waitlist SUPPORT THE SHOW Conversations With a Wounded Healer Merch Join our Patreon for gifts & perks Shop our Bookshop.org store and support local booksellers Share a rating & review on Apple Podcasts *** Let's be friends! You can find us in the following places… Sarah's Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness

Having a uterus and ovaries isn't for the faint of heart. Just when we've figured out how to successfully navigate (or at least tolerate) periods and possibly pregnancy, the body decides to school us once more. Giulietta Durante, the nutritionist and women's health expert behind Hormones In Harmony and one-half of the Femme Powered Podcast team, wants folks to get curious about how their menstrual cycle can help them access the most complete version of themself via hormone-healing nutrition. Anne's conversation with Giulietta truly is for all gender expressions. GUEST BIO Giulietta Durante is a Nutritionist & Women's Health Expert based in London. She is a member of the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy (BANT) and is registered with the Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council (CNHC). She works with clients all over the world via Zoom, Skype and WhatsApp video. Groups for Wounded Healers We're currently running one cohort of the Burnt Out Practice Owner support group and Authentic Leaders group. Please join the waitlists to be updated about future groups: Burnt Out Practice Owner Support Group Waitlist and Authentic Leaders Group - Fall 2024 Waitlist SUPPORT THE SHOW Conversations With a Wounded Healer Merch Join our Patreon for gifts & perks Shop our Bookshop.org store and support local booksellers Share a rating & review on Apple Podcasts *** Let's be friends! You can find us in the following places… Sarah's Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness

There's a thin line between burden and bliss when you own a group practice. Rebel Therapist™ creator Annie Schuessler didn't realize she'd crossed it until she weighed her past motivations against her ownership experience. Annie joins me to discuss assuming the risks of practice ownership, the importance of having a supportive bestie, and predictions for the future of the group practice model. GUEST BIO Annie Schuessler is a business coach and the host of the Rebel Therapist® Podcast. With her Rebel Therapist® Programs, she helps therapists, healers and coaches make an impact beyond a traditional private practice. You can find her resources at rebeltherapist.me Groups for Wounded Healers We're currently running one cohort of the Burnt Out Practice Owner support group and Authentic Leaders group. Please join the waitlists to be updated about future groups: Burnt Out Practice Owner Support Group Waitlist and Authentic Leaders Group - Fall 2024 Waitlist SUPPORT THE SHOW Conversations With a Wounded Healer Merch Join our Patreon for gifts & perks Shop our Bookshop.org store and support local booksellers Share a rating & review on Apple Podcasts Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Sarah's Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness

Capitalism sucks. But living beyond this suffocating system is difficult if you struggle to comprehend how you'll make a living in a liberated society. This episode is an invitation to jump despite that confusion. Bear Hébert helps folks get a little bit more free via their work as an artist, anti-capitalist business consultant, and social justice educator. They help tiny business owners build thriving livelihoods while sidestepping the traps of capitalism. Our conversation delves into the guilt, shame, and inaction that often accompany upward shifts in economic status (a capitalist trap, btw). GUEST BIO Bear Hébert (they/them) is an artist, anti-capitalist business consultant, and social justice educator. Self-employed since 2014, Bear helps tiny business owners build thriving livelihoods while sidestepping the traps of capitalism. Their side gig is teaching men+ how to unlearn patriarchy. They believe that relational work is real work, and emotional work is movement work; they're trying to help us all get a little more free. Groups for Wounded Healers We're currently running one cohort of the Burnt Out Practice Owner support group and Authentic Leaders group. Please join the waitlists to be updated about future groups: Burnt Out Practice Owner Support Group Waitlist and Authentic Leaders Group - Fall 2024 Waitlist SUPPORT THE SHOW Conversations With a Wounded Healer Merch Join our Patreon for gifts & perks Shop our Bookshop.org store and support local booksellers Share a rating & review on Apple Podcasts *** Let's be friends! You can find us in the following places… Sarah's Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness

Hey, practice owner, how would you define your role in that business you worked so hard to create? Are you a visionary focused on pursuits related to company culture or community initiatives? Or are you a dedicated integrator, dutifully keeping up with basics like billing, payroll, and website upgrades? Maureen Werrbach, LCPC, is a visionary for sure. She owns Urban Wellness, a multi-location group practice in the Chicago area. She's also the innovative mind behind The Group Practice Exchange, where she counsels owners on successfully starting and scaling their businesses. In our conversation, we're throwing pipin' hot honest-tea on the realities of practice ownership. GUEST BIO Maureen Werrbach, LCPC, is a visionary entrepreneur in the mental health field as the owner of Urban Wellness, a multi-location group practice in the Chicago area. She knows firsthand the focus healthcare providers put on making a positive impact in the world. She also knows that many healthcare professionals put business second to boots on the ground, helping in the community. Maureen shares her expertise in group practice leadership by coaching, educating, and training group practice owners as the owner of The Group Practice Exchange. She helps group practice owners learn how to successfully start and scale their businesses so they can have a larger impact on their communities. Burnt Out Practice Owner Support Group Hey Practice Owners! Do you feel exhausted, over-extended, and under-appreciated? Does the thought of returning to solo practice cross your mind from time to time (or more often)? If so, you're not alone. Running a group practice is a challenging and often thankless job. And it can be hard for others to relate if they aren't business owners too. Join our support group starting January 2024: https://www.headheartbiztherapy.com/burntout Authentic Leaders Group Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles? Our Authentic Leadership Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners. February - September 2024 Monthly morning sessions on Fridays Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Join the group now at https://www.headheartbiztherapy.com/authentic-leaders-group Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

Even if you aren't a fan of Hollywood films from the 1980s through the early 2000s, chances are you can name the ethnicity of the "baddie" in 99.9% of them. Sure, my math might be a bit fuzzy––H'wood has a legacy of demonizing all brown-skinned folks––but an overwhelming number of screen villains during this period were either vaguely or expressly rendered as Muslim. Decades of prejudicial portrayals are no match for Arij Mikati, the managing director of Culture Change at Pillars Fund. She designs and leads programming that challenges damaging narratives about Muslims in the U.S. and amplifies Muslim voices in artistic spaces. What struck me most about this episode is the joy that Arij and Anne infused into a conversation that could've (rightly) focused only on pain and anger. Arij chooses to focus on hope, but her shift in mindset took time to nurture. GUEST BIO Arij Mikati is the Managing Director of Culture Change at Pillars Fund, where she designs and leads programming that challenges damaging narratives about Muslims in the U.S. and amplifies Muslim voices in artistic spaces. Her storytelling work seeks to change the lens through which Muslim stories are told to one that is authentic, complex, and honest. Burnt Out Practice Owner Support Group Hey Practice Owners! Do you feel exhausted, over-extended, and under-appreciated? Does the thought of returning to solo practice cross your mind from time to time (or more often)? If so, you're not alone. Running a group practice is a challenging and often thankless job. And it can be hard for others to relate if they aren't business owners too. Join our support group starting January 2024: https://www.headheartbiztherapy.com/burntout Authentic Leaders Group Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles? Our Authentic Leadership Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners. February - September 2024 Monthly morning sessions on Fridays Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Join the group now at https://www.headheartbiztherapy.com/authentic-leaders-group Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

The decision to sell a practice is fraught with more questions than answers (a lot like owning a practice!). Selling is a lonely headspace to navigate because folks who've gone through the process often keep those helpful emotional and transactional details to themselves. Why?! Gabrielle Juliano-Villani and I are breaking that curse! Gabrielle is an LCSW, consultant, coach, entrepreneur, and educator who's been in the mental health field for over a decade, specializing in stress, chronic health conditions, and trauma. After scaling her group practice to seven figures (!!) and then burning out, she sold it to focus on helping overwhelmed healers, entrepreneurs, and therapists reach their full potential––whether that means scaling or selling. GUEST BIO Gabrielle Juliano-Villani, LCSW, is a consultant, coach, entrepreneur, and educator based in Sarasota, Florida. She's been in the mental health field for over a decade, specializing in stress, chronic health conditions, and trauma. After scaling her group practice to seven figures and realizing her own burnout in 2021, she sold her practice and made it her mission to educate others on the impact that stress has on our everyday lives. Burnt Out Practice Owner Support Group Hey Practice Owners! Do you feel exhausted, over-extended, and under-appreciated? Does the thought of returning to solo practice cross your mind from time to time (or more often)? If so, you're not alone. Running a group practice is a challenging and often thankless job. And it can be hard for others to relate if they aren't business owners too. Join our support group starting January 2024: https://www.headheartbiztherapy.com/burntout Authentic Leaders Group Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles? Our Authentic Leadership Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners. February - September 2024 Monthly morning sessions on Fridays Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Join the group now at https://www.headheartbiztherapy.com/authentic-leaders-group Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

Heyyy, burnt-out practice owner! Yeah, you, the one who's overburdened, under-resourced, and lonely. The practice owner who thinks that no one understands their particular pain. I feel you. I know you. I WAS you. Welcome to the inaugural episode of The Burnt Out Practice Owner (BOPO). I'm Sarah Buino, a heart-centered, liberation-minded consultant helping individuals, groups, and organizations in the therapy field evolve with courage, authenticity, and vulnerability. I'm also the creator and co-host of Conversations With A Wounded Healer. Most importantly, I'm a former, frazzled practice owner who's gone through all the highs and lows associated with creating, nurturing, and selling a business. Now I'm here to help you navigate your practice journey via quick (30 minutes or less) episodes, between our usual Wounded Healer episodes. Buckle up! I'm transparent as hell about my experiences––be they successes or slip-ups––and not shy about sharing. Hell, in this episode alone, I talk about burnout-induced suicidal thoughts, co-dependency, the practice valuation process, and my final sale price! There are a million questions associated with practice ownership, so tell me, what do you wish you'd known last year or even last week? Are you contemplating opening a new practice or expanding the team? Are you struggling to maintain a self-care routine? Or are you considering an exit strategy? Let's explore the answers together, one episode at a time. If you have a burning question or a topic that you'd like to hear discussed on this series, email me at [email protected] or send me a DM on Instagram @headheartbiztherapy. Burnt Out Practice Owner Support Group Hey Practice Owners! Do you feel exhausted, over-extended, and under-appreciated? Does the thought of returning to solo practice cross your mind from time to time (or more often)? If so, you're not alone. Running a group practice is a challenging and often thankless job. And it can be hard for others to relate if they aren't business owners too. Join our support group starting January 2024: https://www.headheartbiztherapy.com/burntout Authentic Leaders Group Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles? Our Authentic Leadership Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners. February - September 2024 Monthly morning sessions on Fridays Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Join the group now at https://www.headheartbiztherapy.com/authentic-leaders-group Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

It's a difficult time to identify as a fiercely open-hearted, optimistic human. That's especially true for folks embodying marginalized identities. And yet, somehow, Michael J. Morris finds ways to lead with love. They're a powerhouse multi-hyphenated talent committed to personal and collective healing and liberation through their work as an astrologer, tarot reader, artist, writer, teacher, facilitator, and witch. Michael deepened their knowledge of witchcraft under elders of the Ara tradition and studied astrology with Demetra George and Chani Nicholas while also pursuing their Ph.D. in Dance Movement. Their professional endeavors are, as a result, incredibly diverse: tarot consultations, reiki, astrological readings, ritual facilitation, teaching… Ultimately, Michael helps folks find the tools they need to create a more meaningful life. GUEST BIO Michael J. Morris, PhD., is an astrologer and tarot reader, artist, writer, teacher, facilitator, and witch committed to personal and collective healing and liberation. They began their consulting practice, Co Witchcraft Offerings, in 2019, through which they share astrology, tarot, and movement ritual practices. They hold a PhD in Dance Studies, and their work is inspired and informed by many years of experience in dance, yoga, feminism, queer studies, and making connections between different disciplines and practices. Burnt Out Practice Owner Support Group Hey Practice Owners! Do you feel exhausted, over-extended, and under-appreciated? Does the thought of returning to solo practice cross your mind from time to time (or more often)? If so, you're not alone. Running a group practice is a challenging and often thankless job. And it can be hard for others to relate if they aren't business owners too. Join our support group starting January 2024: https://www.headheartbiztherapy.com/burntout Authentic Leaders Group Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles? Our Authentic Leadership Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners. February - September 2024 Monthly morning sessions on Fridays Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Join the group now at https://www.headheartbiztherapy.com/authentic-leaders-group Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

One of the things I love about Anne's episodes is I get to experience them as a fangirl first. Anne's conversation with Nadia Gilani, a London-based yoga teacher and author of The Yoga Manifesto, is no exception (there's a reason Anne calls Nadia "a warrior pose of a woman"). Sure, the tl;dr header is appropriation vs appreciation within the retail-oriented, whitewashed atmosphere of modern yoga. However, the unabridged version goes deeper, like a good asana, inviting folks to explore their relationship to yoga and its tenets, question the teachers, and consider how our favorite classes are taught and sold. There's no "proper way" to asana (that's colonizer thinking!). Nadia and Anne simply, gracefully encourage everyone to get into a sloppy lotus if that's where they're at today, investigate their relationship to this vital living practice, and question their participation process, whether that's as a teacher or a student. GUEST BIO Nadia Gilani (she/her) is a yoga teacher and author of The Yoga Manifesto a part-memoir, part-polemic on the wellness industry and state of play within modern yoga. Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles? Our Authentic Leadership Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners. February - September 2024 Monthly morning sessions on Fridays Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Join the group now at www.headheartbiztherapy.com/authentic-leaders-group SUPPORT THE SHOW Conversations With a Wounded Healer Merch Join our Patreon for gifts & perks Shop our Bookshop.org store and support local booksellers Share a rating & review on Apple Podcasts *** Let's be friends! You can find us in the following places… Sarah's Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items! https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

In the words of post-punk pioneers Talking Heads, "This ain't no party! This ain't no disco! This ain't no foolin' around!" Instead, we're getting serious about ketamine and psychedelic-assisted therapy with Heather Friedman, a New Hampshire-based psychotherapist, NARM-certified therapist, EMDR practitioner, and witchy-witch. Whether you're psychedelic curious or cautious, it's worth noting that the use of MDMA, psilocybin, ayahuasca, etc., in guided practice could expedite breakthroughs in the treatment of PTSD, C-PTSD, and depression that might take years via talk or somatic modalities alone. Heather views psychedelics as a true "assist," meaning she advocates for advanced client prep plus post-experience support to correctly disseminate the epiphanies one may have while under the influence. GUEST BIO Heather Friedman MC, LCMHC, LPC, is the owner of Tree of Life Psychotherapy, where she treats a wide variety of clients for PTSD, C-PTSD, mood and anxiety disorders. While she has been trained in many modalities over her 12 year career, her heart belongs to NARM, EMDR and most recently, psychedelic assisted therapy. When she is not busy with the work of healing, you can find her gardening, writing, snuggling her hounds and being with the people she loves. Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles? Our Authentic Leadership Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners. February - September 2024 Monthly morning sessions on Fridays Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Join the group now at www.headheartbiztherapy.com/authentic-leaders-group SUPPORT THE SHOW Conversations With a Wounded Healer Merch Join our Patreon for gifts & perks Shop our Bookshop.org store and support local booksellers Share a rating & review on Apple Podcasts *** Let's be friends! You can find us in the following places… Sarah's Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items! https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

When I say "it's all connected," I'm not pushing a love 'n light colloquialism; I preach the gaddang truth! That cranky back you woke up with this AM? That IBS that took you down during a meeting? That nagging knee injury that kept you from your run? It's ALL connected to the way we treat ourselves. Those messages are often tied to big "T" or little "t" traumas that we haven't correctly processed, leading to miscommunication between head and knee (or back or gut), says John Gasienica, a therapist and the Director of Development at the Pain Psychology Center in Los Angeles. Listen in to mind-blowing revelations about pain and the life-changing therapy called pain reprocessing within the confines of this conversation between John, Anne, and me––truth bombs that just might change the way you approach the mind-body connection and your relationship with the physical vessel you inhabit. GUEST BIO John Gasienica, MSW, is a therapist and the Director of Development at the Pain Psychology Center in Los Angeles where he works with the founder of Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT), @alantgordon, to help people with chronic pain and anxiety. John is also currently a research clinician studying the efficacy of PRT in racially/ethnically diverse adults with the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine. Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles? Our Authentic Leadership Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners. February - September 2024 Monthly morning sessions on Fridays Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Join the group now at www.headheartbiztherapy.com/authentic-leaders-group SUPPORT THE SHOW Conversations With a Wounded Healer Merch Join our Patreon for gifts & perks Shop our Bookshop.org store and support local booksellers Share a rating & review on Apple Podcasts Get 2 Free Months of Marco Polo Plus *** Let's be friends! You can find us in the following places… Sarah's Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy Anne's Website: www.spareroomwellness.com Instagram: @spareroomwellness NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items! https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

I'm gonna subhead this one, "A Simpatico Of Sarahs," not just because the alliteration pleases me. Sarah Bryski-Hamrick is a like-minded liberation-focused, anti-exploitation-oriented therapist and business coach who believes therapy IS political. She also believes that caring for our personal and professional selves is imperative, especially if we hope to break free from capitalism. We're talking power to ALL people! First comes the hard work of deconstruction; the second step on our journey towards anti-capitalism is a messy but miraculous mourning period – and Sarah is deeply empathetic to those of us just starting down the path. GUEST BIO Sarah Bryski-Hamrick (she/her) is a leftist therapist and coach out of Pennsylvania. She offers services through an anti-capitalist, socialist lens. She has worked with clients around the world, including the US, Australia, Switzerland and Canada. *** 2 Free Months of Marco Polo Plus Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles? Our Authentic Leadership Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners. February - September 2024 Monthly morning sessions on Fridays Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Join the group now at www.headheartbiztherapy.com/authentic-leaders-group *** Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

Anne's recent conversation with Movement Coach Olive Walton is an excellent reminder of how much mental anguish and physical damage the shame monster can inflict. It's no surprise, then, that shame is a favorite weapon of both white supremacy and many in the fitness industry. Olive: "Conversations I've had recently with a lot of people is how their firsthand experiences with physical education were pretty negative". We carry that negativity into adulthood, often pursuing movements our bodies couldn't accommodate then shaming ourselves for failing to fit a painfully restrictive mold. Olive is here to help: "A big part of what I do is breaking down those barriers, reframing their perspective, working with a more positive, playful attitude." GUEST BIO Olive Walton is a movement coach who shares movement practices from yoga to strength training, mobility to handstands, and leads with curiosity and playfulness for the body and mind. Are you a therapist stepping into leadership for the first time? Or maybe you've been in a leadership position for a while, but are bumping up against new struggles? Our Authentic Leadership Group is here to help you become the authentic and wholehearted leader you aspire to be. And we believe this journey is best undertaken with the guidance of experienced mentors alongside fellow learners. February - September 2024 Monthly morning sessions on Fridays Join Sarah in this journey of self-discovery and leadership mastery, where you'll enhance your leadership skills and forge meaningful connections with fellow therapists who are committed to their own growth and the betterment of the therapy field. Join the group now at www.headheartbiztherapy.com/authentic-leaders-group SUPPORT FOR THERAPISTS Be Your Own Boss Private Practice Workshop Thursday, November 9, 2023 9:00am - 4:00pm, and Friday, November 10, 2023, from 9:00am to 4:00pm DePaul University Loop Campus - DePaul Center 1 E. Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604 So you want to be your own boss? Many therapists feel pulled by the allure of private practice but have no idea where to begin. Some hang their shingle and wait for the phone to ring only to sit twiddling their thumbs, asking, "Where are the clients?" Facilitated by Sarah Buino, you'll learn the business 101s including insurance, business structure, and basic financials. You'll also have the opportunity to create your brand and begin a marketing plan. Cost: 12 CEUs / $199 Nonmember / $159 NASW Member. Register now: https://tinyurl.com/naswprivatepractice Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

My guest procurement process is pretty standard: a social follow or professional acquaintance morphs into an invite and eventual recording session. For this episode, however, I gotta thank the gods of analog alignment. They placed me in my favorite wellness collective at a personal low point. Here, I encountered a flier announcing a special event featuring Lama Rod Owens. The topic? Tantric Buddhism. Lama Rod is a Black Buddhist Southern queen, international influencer with a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist studies from Harvard Divinity School, and author. And if your only reference point for Tantric anything is based on the mid-90s sexploits of a certain English musician and his wife, this ain't that. Instead, Lama Rod is distilling liberation to its most profound, heartbreaking, and, yes, pleasurable essence. GUEST BIO Lama Rod Owens is a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. An international influencer with a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School. Author of Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger and co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation, his teachings center on freedom, self-expression, and radical self-care. A leading voice in a new generation of Buddhist teachers with over 11 years of experience, Lama Rod activates the intersections of his identity to create a platform that's very natural, engaging, and inclusive. His new book, The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors is available for pre-order now! SUPPORT FOR THERAPISTS Know the Numbers/Navigate the Feelings: A Financial Literacy Workshop for Therapists Tuesday, October 17, 6-8pm CST on Zoom Does the word 'finance' make you want to run and hide? We get it! As therapists, we didn't learn this stuff in school! Join Aggie Chydzinski and Sarah Buino for a live, interactive online workshop designed specifically for therapist business owners. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your financial knowledge and improve your practice. 100% of ticket price donations go to Sista Afya Community Care. Reserve your spot: https://tinyurl.com/therapistfinance Be Your Own Boss Private Practice Workshop Thursday, November 9, 2023 9:00am - 4:00pm, and Friday, November 10, 2023, from 9:00am to 4:00pm DePaul University Loop Campus - DePaul Center 1 E. Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604 So you want to be your own boss? Many therapists feel pulled by the allure of private practice but have no idea where to begin. Some hang their shingle and wait for the phone to ring only to sit twiddling their thumbs, asking, "Where are the clients?" Facilitated by Sarah Buino, you'll learn the business 101s including insurance, business structure, and basic financials. You'll also have the opportunity to create your brand and begin a marketing plan. Cost: 12 CEUs / $199 Nonmember / $159 NASW Member. Register now: https://tinyurl.com/naswprivatepractice Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

You, who are about to experience the brilliance of this episode for the very first time, are in for an extra special treat. With glitter on top. This one had me hootin', hollerin', AMENing, and researching tons of new-to-me things. Ladies, gentlemen, and those who eschew binary categorizations, please welcome the extraordinary Dr. Cheddar Gorgeous in conversation with our own amazing Anne. That's Doctor Cheddar Gorgeous, as in PhD for real. As in darling of RuPaul's Drag Race UK s4. As in renowned drag performer, celebrated artist and activist, mind-blowing academic, and all-around beautiful human. – I'm bookmarking every sentence that falls from Cheddar's perfectly applied lips for future reference. GUEST BIO Dr. Cheddar Gorgeous (A.K.A Dr Michael Atkins) is an Academic, Drag performer and visual artist based in Manchester, England. Their body of work stretches across a broad spectrum of arenas. The alien deity is most well known as the star of Channel 4's Drag SOS as well as BBC's RuPaul's Drag Race UK Series 4, however their work was born from their roots in underground queer club culture, academia, and activism. The depth and breadth of their take on the power of drag as have quickened their reputation as an advocate and educator of the more serious, complex and profound dimensions of queer culture that is able to move between niche and popularised mediums which a whimsical charm that is able to captivate audiences of multiple dispositions. SUPPORT FOR THERAPISTS Know the Numbers/Navigate the Feelings: A Financial Literacy Workshop for Therapists Tuesday, October 17, 6-8pm CST on Zoom Does the word 'finance' make you want to run and hide? We get it! As therapists, we didn't learn this stuff in school! Join Aggie Chydzinski and Sarah Buino for a live, interactive online workshop designed specifically for therapist business owners. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your financial knowledge and improve your practice. 100% of ticket price donations go to Sista Afya Community Care. Reserve your spot: https://tinyurl.com/therapistfinance Be Your Own Boss Private Practice Workshop Thursday, November 9, 2023 9:00am - 4:00pm, and Friday, November 10, 2023, from 9:00am to 4:00pm DePaul University Loop Campus - DePaul Center 1 E. Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604 So you want to be your own boss? Many therapists feel pulled by the allure of private practice but have no idea where to begin. Some hang their shingle and wait for the phone to ring only to sit twiddling their thumbs, asking, "Where are the clients?" Facilitated by Sarah Buino, you'll learn the business 101s including insurance, business structure, and basic financials. You'll also have the opportunity to create your brand and begin a marketing plan. Cost: 12 CEUs / $199 Nonmember / $159 NASW Member. Register now: https://tinyurl.com/naswprivatepractice Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

Healing takes on many forms. While our lists may vary, I'll wager that not many of us place "business stewardship" in the top ten. The thing is, in a capitalist society, doing business differently just might be the antidote to community disinvestment and unsustainable consumption of people and physical resources. And, since we gotta start somewhere, why not with a little fizzy bevy? Mindy McCord, one-half of the team (alongside Layne Cozzolino) behind Siren Shrub Co., believes that being the best doesn't necessarily mean being the biggest. Nor does it mean following a rule book written by those who've come before, which, in the alcohol and alcohol-adjacent industries, means mostly male-lead, mainly venture capital-backed brands. From engaging with local farm partners (the brand is based in Wisconsin) to being mindful of where they spend their dollars, Mindy says Siren's guiding principle is community wealth-building rather than scaling for global market dominance. GUEST BIO Mindy McCord is the co-founder (alongside Layne Cozzolino) of Siren Shrub Co., a women-owned, values-led beverage company that's on a mission to create space at the table for everyone, regardless of their drinking preference! Siren Shrub Co crafts tangy apple cider vinegar-based mixers used a splash at a time to create delicious cocktails with or without the addition of alcohol! SUPPORT FOR THERAPISTS Know the Numbers/Navigate the Feelings: A Financial Literacy Workshop for Therapists Tuesday, October 17, 6-8pm CST on Zoom Does the word 'finance' make you want to run and hide? We get it! As therapists, we didn't learn this stuff in school! Join Aggie Chydzinski and Sarah Buino for a live, interactive online workshop designed specifically for therapist business owners. Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your financial knowledge and improve your practice. 100% of ticket price donations go to Sista Afya Community Care. Reserve your spot: https://tinyurl.com/therapistfinance Be Your Own Boss Private Practice Workshop Thursday, November 9, 2023 9:00am - 4:00pm, and Friday, November 10, 2023, from 9:00am to 4:00pm DePaul University Loop Campus - DePaul Center 1 E. Jackson Blvd, Chicago, IL 60604 So you want to be your own boss? Many therapists feel pulled by the allure of private practice but have no idea where to begin. Some hang their shingle and wait for the phone to ring only to sit twiddling their thumbs, asking, "Where are the clients?" Facilitated by Sarah Buino, you'll learn the business 101s including insurance, business structure, and basic financials. You'll also have the opportunity to create your brand and begin a marketing plan. Cost: 12 CEUs / $199 Nonmember / $159 NASW Member. Register now: https://tinyurl.com/naswprivatepractice Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

Let's tug on the thread woven through much of the world's established (ahem, accepted) architectural design. Yep, it's racism. I'll be honest: before Anne's fantastic conversation with Wandile Mthiyane, an Obama leader, TedX fellow, founder and CEO of Ubuntu Architecture Group, and social entrepreneur, I hadn't given this aspect of institutional racism much thought. Nor had I considered the healing characteristics that culturally competent architects might incorporate into future designs. To be fair, Wandile says architecture isn't inherently racist. Still, the biases imposed on designs by those in power are, and the discipline is ripe for revolution: "My work now centers around using architecture as a vehicle to restore folk's dignity by building homes." GUEST BIO Wandile Mthiyane is an Obama Leader, TedxFellow, architectural designer, social entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of Ubuntu Design Group (UDG). This architectural organization focuses on social impact design projects ranging from individual housing to urban design scale. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

Witchcraft has always been a radical act, and I am never more in my element than when I'm playing with tarot, crystals, and even my houseplants. This tracks since witches often work with the elements of earth, air, fire, water, and spirit to enact personal or societal transformation. Elena Rego isn't "just" a witch; she's the force behind The Holy Witch and The School of Holy Witchery, and our conversation isn't "just" about the much-maligned tradition of witchcraft. Instead, we explore rituals that reconnect us to our inherent wholeness, we reclaim honest, inclusive dialogue, and we revel in the juiciness that is Lilith: the original witch. GUEST BIO Elena Rego. A practicing Witch for close to 30 years, I have woven together my experience as a Social Worker, Body Worker, and artist to inform my Priestess work as a ritualist and teacher. My spiritual path has been rooted in deep shamanism, animism, feminism, and magic, with studies and initiations in Dianic Witchcraft, Sri Vidya Tantra, and Core Shamanism. The core of my work is to be in deep service to our collective unfoldment as spiritually rooted, connected, and potent Witches. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

Whatcha hungry for? It's a cheeky question with answers that reveal more than our immediate desire for something salty or sour, crunchy or creamy. As Anne discovers in conversation with UK-based chef and social justice change-maker Neha Patel Hampton, food can heal literally and figuratively, bringing us back to ourselves and each other. Neha sprinkles tales of personal reclamation with lessons in world history and views on current events. Her stories remind me that none of us exists in a vacuum; our choices are informed by who and what came before us. For Neha, that's her parents and the colonialism that forced them to carve out lives far from their home state of Gujarat, India, enduring unbearable pressures to assimilate as "obedient migrants." But her narrative is also flavored by boxes of rare, fragrant mangoes, the ultimate expression of life's sweetness. GUEST BIO Neha Patel Hampton is so many things. With over 20 years of experience in corporate, hospitality, and charity settings, she now fights for social justice through her work with organizations that help improve the lives of those who migrate and fight racial and gender inequality. Topped off with a heartfelt sprinkling of food and yoga as her way of bringing people together. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

This episode contains a conversation about suicide & suicidal ideation. Do you struggle to complete basic tasks and have tactile sensitivities? Do you overshare in conversation or perpetually interrupt others? You might be neurodivergent. Or not. ADHD––attention deficit hyperactivity disorder––is one possibility that often goes underdiagnosed. While greater awareness could lead to vastly better ADHD treatment options, self-diagnosis via TikTok is NOT the answer! Alyse Ruriani, a queer femme registered art therapist and licensed professional counselor, is a recipient of a late ADHD diagnosis. As someone with vast personal and professional lived experience, Alyse is uniquely qualified to help folks leave the agony behind in favor of reclaiming agency. GUEST BIO Alyse Ruriani (she/they), MA, ATR, LPC, is a queer femme registered art therapist, licensed professional counselor, illustrator, and person with lived experience. Their work aims to communicate information, provide tangible tools, and validate the human experience through engaging illustrations and designs. When Alyse is not working, you can likely find her swimming in some body of water, making art with friends, or hyper fixating on some new idea. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Our Bookshop.org page! https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

The more I learn about indigenous and traditional approaches to well-being, the more I understand that humans ARE nature, not something outside or above it. Shay Grant, an herbalist and yoga teacher who relocated to the UK from Canada, operates from a similar POV. As Anne discovers, the land around us has the power to enhance our mental and physical well-being. All we have to do is stop and smell the roses. Or the gorse. And here's the great thing: your locale doesn't matter. Urban, suburban, or rural, you're never more than ten steps from experiencing the emotional and physical support that plants provide. Shay believes in creating an empowering relationship between our bodies and the world around us, and her training perfectly combines ancient wisdom and modern scientific discovery. "I would not choose a world without modern medicine. I would not choose to live in that world," Shay asserts. GUEST BIO Shay Grant (she/her) is a Canadian yoga teacher and Medical Herbalist living in the UK. She's been teaching yoga for 8 years and practicing as a herbalist for 2. Shay believes in creating an empowering relationship with our bodies and the land. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website:www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Our Bookshop.org page!https://bookshop.org/shop/HeadHeartBizTherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

Christine Leone, LCSW, has experience shining a light on realities folks would rather leave in the dark. As a child, she and her family left liberal NYC for Portland, OR, the little-big city advertised as a cultural and political utopia. In actuality, life in that PNW paradise was anything but. Christine and her family discovered that the city's progressive patina obscured a very different––and dangerous––reality. "Under the guise of liberalism, there's definite, blatant racism," she says, adding, "but I've discovered also that that's kind of everywhere." Christine argues that it's the less blatant, passive-aggressive racism embedded in well-meaning care systems that takes a more insidious toll. GUEST BIO Christine Leone has been a social worker and therapist since 2008. She was born in New York City, lived in Portland, OR, and has been settled in the Chicago area for over 20 years. For the last several years, she has been focused on creating a sense of home after divorce and seeking balance between self-care and community care while providing healing spaces for others. She currently lives with her eight-year-old son and partner of five years. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

When I say there's a palpable spiritual quality running through Anne's chat with Dr. Isha McKenzie-Mavinga, it's not me getting all woo-woo as I'm wont to do. Dr. Isha is an integrative transcultural psychotherapist, trainer, and supervisor in the UK with over three decades of professional experience. She's a lecturer, writer, and Reiki master as well as a published author, poet, editor, and, as Anne puts it so well, an amazing human. The profoundly intimate cadence of this conversation no doubt stems from Dr. Isha's role as Anne's mentor. But the mentee has to meet the mentor halfway; they have to pick up what the mentor is putting down. GUEST BIO Dr. Isha McKenzie-Mavinga has thirty-three years experience as a Transcultural Psychotherapist, Supervisor, Lecturer, Writer, and Reiki Master. As a published writer & poet, she is the author of 'Black Issues in the Therapeutic Process' (2009) and 'The Challenge of Racism in Therapeutic Practice' (2016). She also co-authored an autobiography, contributed papers and poetry to several anthologies, and most recently co-edited and presented in 'Therapy in Colour' (2023). Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

How's your nervous system these days? Oof. I don't ask to provoke. Still, I understand that the question can stir up immediate and unpleasant vibrations deep in the marrow, feelings that cannot be put into words. And that's okay. In fact, it's evolutionary. Courtney Rolfe is a psychotherapist, trainer, and speaker who has spent much of her professional career translating the language of Polyvagal Theory, those adaptive behavioral strategies that all mammals access to varying degrees. While the theory behind our vagus nerve's role in emotional, relational, and fight-or-flight responses is a modern field of study, that bone-deep knowledge is ancient wisdom, according to Courtney, and has always guided our lived experience. She's here to help us put language to that spine-tingly, unconscious knowing and become more aware of our agency in the process. GUEST BIO Courtney Rolfe is a psychotherapist, trainer, and speaker who uses the wisdom of the nervous system to guide and inform her clinical work. Courtney is passionate about teaching other healing professionals about the nervous system through the lens of the Polyvagal Theory. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items!https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

We're in it now, folks: the first episode of the rest of our lives. And, oh my, does Anne bring the sauce. Even better, her first guest delivers the spice! Dee Albert is a UK-based psychotherapist and trainee supervisor offering both long and short-term therapy plus group and individual supervision focused on navigating the impact of racism, the challenges of personal and cultural identity, and empowering women. Dee is also a shamanic student who weaves massage techniques, yoni steaming, cacao ceremonies, and other spiritual practices into her psychotherapy. This conversation is a vibrant reminder to all practitioners (regardless of modality) that showing up as our authentic selves is a therapeutic salve. Sprinkle your spice into every space. Without apology. GUEST BIO Dee Albert is an England-based psychotherapist who incorporates the personal navigation of her internal world in the work she does with her clients, culminating in a unique therapeutic approach. She is inspired by shamanism and spirituality. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items! https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

Change is effing hard! And also… change is what's needed so that we can fully embody our wildest dreams. Keen fans of the podcast will note that I've hinted at changes coming here, too. Well, today's the day I forgo cryptic signals in favor of the big reveal: Introducing my new co-host Anne Remy! Wait, what?! Who? Why? Maybe I should say, "Re-introducing Anne Remy" because you met her earlier this year (go listen now, if you haven't). Judging by the response to that episode, y'all love her as much as I do, so this change won't be as hard as you might imagine. To refresh: Anne is a fellow Ohio native, a humanist therapist, TCTSY trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator, a breathwork facilitator, and a yoga teacher living and working in the UK. The timing feels right, and Anne's presence, doubly so. She shares my desire to connect with a global community of radical visionaries––therapists, light workers, and healers who are revolutionizing their chosen modalities. That wasn't so hard, was it? Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items! https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

Money: the root of all evil or a force for good? Maybe you grew up with little financial security, and that anxiety now strains your attempts to plan responsibly. Perhaps you've accumulated some wealth but have no idea where to invest it. River Nice, an anti-capitalist financial planner and the founder of Be Intentional Financial, LLC, wants to turn that storm of individual financial worry into a tsunami of collective financial activism, one client at a time. They acknowledge the harms of white supremacist, patriarchal capitalism and help families use their money to get as close to their ideal lives as possible. So what does River's profession have to do with healing? Oof. Capitalism has seeped into and monetized almost everything we come into contact with. Isn't it time we liberated ourselves and our communities from its grasp? GUEST BIO River Nice (they/them) is an anti-capitalist financial planner, meaning they acknowledge the harms of white supremacist, patriarchal capitalism and help individuals and families use their money to get as close to their ideal lives as possible! River helps their clients with topics like budgeting, debt, financial emergency preparedness, investing, insurance, and planning how to afford life goals like gender transition, family planning, buying a house, and retirement. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy NEW: Check out our cute new merch items! https://tinyurl.com/CWHmerch

My guests pulsate at such perceptive, heartfelt levels that I expect only aural soundscapes to emerge rather than actual conversation. I wouldn't be mad about that, but then we'd miss out on receiving the wisdom of folks like Kenji Kuramitsu, M.Div, LCSW. The two of us went spelunking in the deep caverns of generational trauma, shame, and resistance. Our conversation connected the many dots between what has become divided and what has gone willfully unaddressed. GUEST BIO Kenji Kuramitsu, LCSW, M.Div (he/him) is a mental health and spiritual care professional living in Chicago, IL. Kenji draws on training in health care chaplaincy, group psychotherapy, and anti-racism consulting to provide care in clinical, nonprofit, and movement settings. His creative writing has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and he is the author of "A Booklet of Uncommon Prayer: Collects for the #BlackLivesMatter Movement." Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy

True confession time. I have, on occasion, found myself getting comfy with a rote response to the world's -isms (capitalism, racism, ableism) and villainous influences (patriarchy and white supremacy). "I know" these ills deeply affect me, personally and professionally. "I know" what my responsibility is in challenging those forces and creating an equitable world. "I know" is a sign that I've grown too accustomed to my own answers. You know? Hurrah for Loretta Pyles, Ph.D.! Her writing forced a hard reboot of my "I know" attitude, flipping what had become automatic over to active and embodied. Loretta advocates for continual self-inquiry as critical to professional growth. She's dedicated her career to helping folks resuscitate the connections they've been conditioned to ignore: heart-mind, community, and nature. GUEST BIO Loretta Pyles, Ph.D., is Professor at the School of Social Welfare, University at Albany, SUNY. Her work centers on environmental disasters, racial/economic/gender justice, integrative healing, and human rewilding. She is the author of Progressive Community Organizing: Transformative Practice in a Globalizing World, 3rd ed. and Healing Justice: Holistic Self-Care for Change Makers. When she's not teaching or working on her new book on rewilding, she can be found playing outside or camping in her Volkswagen van. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy

Y'all know I've relinquished the ownership reigns of Head/Heart Therapy to the brilliant Rayell Grayson LCPC, CADC. If not, I urge you to check out our fantastic conversation. Now, it's time to welcome the rest of Head/Heart's leadership team: Clinical Manager Anna Goldberger, Director of Operations Benji Marton, and Clinical Director Joanna Taubeneck. Tune in to an excellent introduction to anti-capitalist, liberation-focused strategies for professional development in any role or industry. The Head/Heart team has been there, done that, and is still committed to doing the work. Active anti-racism? Compassionate accountability? Meaningful self-care? Tick! Tick! Tick! GUEST BIOS Anna Goldberger, LCSW (she/her), is a licensed clinical social worker and Clinical Manager at Head/Heart Therapy. Before becoming a social worker, she worked as a community organizer. Because of this experience, she recognizes the need for emotional, spiritual, and psychological healing among communities and individuals fighting for justice. She brings this recognition and a joy for holding compassionate healing space for all who need it into her therapeutic relationships. Benji Marton, LCSW (he/him), is a licensed clinical social worker and Director of Operations at Head/Heart Therapy. Benji believes therapy supports the telling of your story from a non-judgmental and curious lens. You, and only you, are the expert in your story. He sees therapy as a journey in which therapist and client experience together through a non-hierarchical relationship that focuses on empowerment. Benji is the guide, but ultimately, the journey is yours. Joanna Taubeneck, LCPC, R-DMT, GL-CMA, E-RYT (she/her) is a licensed clinical professional counselor, registered dance/movement therapist, certified movement analyst, and experienced registered yoga teacher. She's also the Clinical Director at Head/Heart Therapy. As a former dancer, Joanna is passionate about movement and acknowledges that the body holds deep, intuitive wisdom and also the imprints of our many life experiences. The body remembers, on a physiological level—oftentimes much more fully than does the brain—moments of calm and also moments of trauma. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy

We all need unofficial mentors and cheerleaders. One of mine is Samson Teklemariam. He "constructs clinical leadership models designed to navigate change in behavioral health and addiction treatment spaces, delivering results that improve quality patient care." That's the fancy stuff out of the way. What you really need to know about Samson is that he has a gift for encouraging folks to reach their potential as they lift others. What you need to know about our conversation is it's juicy! Let's explore ways to promote authenticity and accountability in peer-led recovery spaces. Let's break down strategies for maintaining that tightrope balance between the art and science of what a therapist does. Let's get real about sustainable anti-capitalist supervisory structures. Ready? Set? Let's go, Samson-style! GUEST BIO Samson Teklemariam, LPC, CPTM, is an industry thought leader with a track record for leading large-scale transformations that generated new thinking, shifted business models, and disrupted the marketplace. As a catalyst for innovation, Samson constructs clinical leadership models designed to navigate change in the behavioral health and addiction treatment and deliver results that improve quality patient care. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy

Well, hello there! Just me, your Wounded Healer, firing up the guest audio tracks after a month of solo shorties. I'm chatting with Anne Remy this week, a humanist therapist, TCTSY trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator, breathwork facilitator, and yoga teacher. Anne and I spin in a pretty tight orbit to each other, lives intersecting at various points right up to both of us becoming therapists (albeit years apart). Anne's career has taken on an international flair (her passport boasts stamps from 70+ countries), and she recently settled in the seaside city of Brighton, England. Globe-trotting has gifted Anne with a unique perspective on how the US and the UK train and certify therapists, manage their healthcare systems (ah, socialized medicine!), and value the pursuit of mental wellness. GUEST BIO Anne Remy is a humanistic therapist, a TCTSY trauma-sensitive yoga facilitator, a breathwork facilitator, and a yoga teacher. Originally from the US, Anne has lived and traveled in over 70 countries before moving to the UK. She uses her international experience to inform her practices and to support the decolonization of the health and wellness industry. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy

As we transition out of both a Mars and Mercury Retrograde this month, I'm looking forward to having a better relationship with my body. Sometimes I overwork myself. Sometimes I, unfortunately, punish my body by consuming things I don't think really suit it. Sometimes I push my body past its limits. So this year, my intention is I want to listen more to what my body is asking for. I'm also looking forward to taking Foundations in Somatic Abolitionism with Resmaa Menakem with my colleagues and past podcast guests Rayell Grayson and Sarah Suzuki. We're really delighted to get to learn directly from Resmaa. I recommend checking out his books, courses, and other media! Support for mental health workers: If you work in the mental health field and are looking for support from like-minded people, check out our third installment of the Wounded Healers Virtual Group. It's a juicy, sweet, and really cool place to connect. Virtual community for group practice owners: I offer a working collective for group therapy practice owners who want to lead from the heart while building a thriving, ethical business. Join us at Wounded Healers as Leaders. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy

I'm happy to be in 2023, and one of the reasons is…. (drum roll please!)... I've stepped down from my duties as president of Head/Heart Therapy and I am launching a new business called Head/Heart Business Therapy! The mission is to work directly with individual therapists, group practice owners, and larger healthcare and mental health organizations in order to transform through heart-centered and business-minded practices. I want to help therapists heal and I think that needs to happen at a more collective level. Don't worry! Conversations With a Wounded Healer podcast isn't going away. In fact, we have some cool sh*t coming up this year! So stay tuned… Meanwhile, listen to this short solo episode to find out what the tarot cards had to say about the show for 2023. Thank you so much for being here. I'm curious to see what's coming this year and I hope to see you in one of my upcoming groups to support you in your professional healing practice. Support for mental health workers: If you work in the mental health field and are looking for support from like-minded people, check out our third installment of the Wounded Healers Virtual Group. It's a juicy, sweet, and really cool place to connect. Virtual community for group practice owners: I offer a working collective for group therapy practice owners who want to lead from the heart while building a thriving, ethical business. Join us at Wounded Healers as Leaders. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places… Website: www.headheartbiztherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartBizTherapy/ Instagram: @headheartbiztherapy

Fans of the pod already know that I fangirl hard for Dr. Jennifer Mullan and Decolonizing Therapy, the global movement she created to "radically reimagine the old mental health paradigm. If you're new here, allow me to introduce you to the future as envisioned by this badass author, speaker, organizational consultant, teacher, course creator, and community builder. Dr. Jennifer describes herself as a mixed-race Black woman with lighter skin privilege and a bigger-bodied, neurodivergent cat mom with East Coast roots and West Coast devotions who believes that accountability coupled with community is the answer. Dr. Jennifer holds space for the really big, complex emotions that block our progress. She also provides an access point: a reintegration and re-remembering that she calls knowledge-with-a-capital-K. MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS Check out our Wounded Healers Virtual Group. It's a juicy, sweet, and really cool place to connect. GROUP PRACTICE OWNERS I'm offering a working collective for group therapy practice owners who want to lead from the heart while building a thriving, ethical business. Join us at Wounded Healers as Leaders. GUEST BIO Dr. Jennifer Mullan is the author of the forthcoming book Decolonizing Therapy: Oppression, Historical Trauma & Politicizing Your Practice, and is highly sought after international speaker. She is also an organizational consultant, teacher, course creator, community builder, and decolonized mental health movement starter. In December 2017, Dr. Mullan created the Decolonizing Therapy Instagram, which has grown a large, enthusiastic following and profoundly shifted the world's understanding of therapy and mental health. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

Onyx Fujii's contribution arrives by way of the Kintsugi Therapist Collective (co-founded with CWH guest Asher Pandjiris), and I'm in awe of what they have created: a virtual community offering "embodied care, support, wisdom, and resources to trans and non-binary, BIPOC, chronically ill, and disabled mental health providers." One of this conversation's "off-camera" revelations is that Onyx joined me from their bed. It's a small win for Onyx, allowing them to honor the day's physical and mental limits. While Covid exposed cracks in overburdened systems, societal acknowledgment of our vulnerability (and interdependence) remains non-existent. Even in a field supposedly aligned with self-care, productivity remains paramount. MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS Check out our Wounded Healers Virtual Group. It's a juicy, sweet, and really cool place to connect. GROUP PRACTICE OWNERS I'm offering a working collective for group therapy practice owners who want to lead from the heart while building a thriving, ethical business. Join us at Wounded Healers as Leaders. GUEST BIO Onyx Fujii, LCSW, is a queer, non-binary, chronically ill, mixed-race licensed clinical social worker. They are a home-owner and multiple small businesses owner, living and working on unceded Lenni Lenape land, colonially known as Philadelphia, PA. They are a trauma-informed psychotherapist, a clinical supervisor, an intersectionality-focused cultural humility consultant, and the co-director of the Kintsugi Therapist Collective, LLC. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

If the Moon could speak, what would it tell us? Creative Lunar Guide April Miller McMurtry says that the great orb is transmitting intel to us all the time; we just need to become more fluent in its language. Her work speaks to the part of me that loves it's-okay-to-say-witchy mindfulness. April's tools for engaging with energetic patterns are more robust than a daily tracking log and more inclusive than calendars that chart menstrual cycles. Her goal was to bring about more intention to how we experience our inner and outer lives, with the Moon reminding us that everything happens (or should happen) in phases. MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS Check out our Wounded Healers Virtual Group. It's a juicy, sweet, and really cool place to connect. GROUP PRACTICE OWNERS I'm offering a working collective for group therapy practice owners who want to lead from the heart while building a thriving, ethical business. Join us at Wounded Healers as Leaders. GUEST BIO April Miller McMurtry, MAT, is a Creative Lunar Guide who supports people on their path of growth and transformation through the simple yet profound practice of self-study in relationship with cycles. April is the founder of THE MOON IS MY CALENDAR and has independently published the New Moon Calendar Journal since 2014. With a Master of Arts in Teaching and a background in expressive art, yoga, and meditation, April loves to share the language of the Moon to help people access their inner wisdom - inspiring us all to take better care of ourselves, each other, and the Earth! For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

The last 2.5 years (and counting) have opened floodgates of reckoning, especially within therapeutic spaces, and I'm so here for it! So, too, is Asher Panjiris, who rightfully points out that our profession is overdue for an overhaul. Yasss! Asher claims a lot of different identities: psychotherapist, queer parent, human to two dogs, and the host of Living in This Queer Body. They're also co-founder and co-director of Kintsugi Therapist Collective, a community space dedicated to helping therapists build embodied and liberatory care practices. The Japanese art of kintsugi, or golden mending, is a perfect metaphor for the reparative work needed: more grace for therapists as we embrace our flaws and imperfections and heal our wounds––in full view of our clients. Sound scary? Freeing? Asher says it's a bit of both. And that's ok. MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS Check out our Wounded Healers Virtual Group. It's a juicy, sweet, and really cool place to connect. GROUP PRACTICE OWNERS I'm offering a working collective for group therapy practice owners who want to lead from the heart while building a thriving, ethical business. Join us at Wounded Healers as Leaders. GUEST BIO Asher Pandjiris is a chronically ill, white, non-binary psychotherapist, clinical consultant, podcaster, and co-founder of Kintsugi Therapist Collective. They are a queer parent to a super-rad human and two dogs and reside on stolen Nipmuc and Pocumtuc lands. Join Onyx and Asher March 3-5, 2023, for a virtual weekend intensive, during which you will experience a concentrated and highly personalized curriculum designed to support care workers. We hope to challenge the unrealistic expectations of the care work industrial complex, nurture pathways for reconnecting with pleasure, and develop enlivening professional practices/strategies. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

Happy anniversary! You and I have gone through a lot over the last five years. Progress! Stagnation! Rage! Exhilaration! And, would you believe, 200 conversations with wounded healers? A line-up of humans so generous of spirit that their insights echo throughout my body long after the recording session ends. There's something to this idea of embodied wisdom, the way we physically understand what our minds can't (or refuse to) comprehend. Somatic Experience Practitioner Sarah Wolfman (one of my first guests ever) calls it the power of our bones. So what do these old bones know now? Sarah returns to help me sift through the transformative lessons of the last five years. GUEST BIO Sarah Wolfman is passionate about embodiment as a tool for transformation. By attuning to the body's natural rhythms and sensations, her clients master their nervous system's ups and downs, creating space for empowerment, resilience, and vitality. Sarah specializes in transforming trauma and chronic pain through Somatic Experience Practice, functional & dynamic movement, somatic touch, cranial-sacral techniques, and mindfulness. NEW: Virtual community for group practice owners Starting in January 2023, I offer a new support/working collective for group therapy practice owners who want to lead from the heart while building a thriving, ethical business. Join us at Wounded Healers as Leaders. CONNECT: Support for mental health workers If you work in the mental health field and are looking for support from like-minded people, check out our third installment of the Wounded Healers Virtual Group. It's a juicy, sweet, and really cool place to connect. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

College. If your origins story includes a collegiate stint, the word either ushers in a flood of autumnal-toned nostalgia or overwhelming anxiety. Which camp you occupy depends, in part, on the support you received from professors and administrators while attending school. Wouldn't it be great if all guidance counselors approached their task as Carrie Young did when she occupied the office, full of heart and candid intel on career paths? Luckily for millions of students, Carrie has traded in one-to-one academic advising for guidance on a grander scale. As host of the Paths In Progress podcast, she presents a more transparent take on life as a working adult, highlighting rather than downplaying all of its roadblocks, u-turns, and serendipitous detours. Carrie invites her guests (yours truly included), who pursued various majors, to reveal how they navigated all the twisty post-collegiate turns they took to become who they are today. GUEST BIO Carrie Young is a classically trained musician and experienced higher education administrator and educator. Throughout her work with students, she prioritizes mentorship and relationship-building. With her new podcast Paths in Progress, she wants to help students and recent graduates learn about the education and career paths of professionals across various fields who had challenges, pivots, and roadblocks along their path. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

Are you now, or have you ever been disabled? That's not a trick question. Artist, art therapist, and disability activist Bri Beck asserts that disability exists along a complex spectrum –– visible, hidden, physical, developmental, temporary, persistent, evident at birth, resulting from trauma –– rather than a simple binary. And yet… Even with close proximity to it, so much uneasiness surrounds disability and those for whom it is a fact of life. So, what's up with our everyday ableism, especially in therapeutic spaces? "There's always a very strange weirdness, and I find, at least in my experience, that it's like, people are trying to show you, 'I'm cool with this. I'm gonna make sure you know I'm fine!'" says Bri, who lives with pseudoachondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. Bri navigates a world where well-meaning folks can quickly cross the line. "As somebody that's apparently, outwardly, disabled, I have people touch me all the time, strangers that just don't know me, and that's so much, like, boundary-crossing." Bri's experiences don't end with touching. They often include a blatant disregard for her agency. Out-maneuvering such ableism is exhausting, says Bri, and puts me in mind of the tiresome intent of "good white people." Both broadcast their opposition to -isms through actions or language so beyond what is necessary that their efforts* become caricatures of authentic human interaction. *Insert face-palm here because we can all recall a situation (or many) in which we've overcompensated for our discomfort in exactly the same cringe-worthy manner. GUEST BIO Bri Beck is a disabled art therapist and disability arts and culture maker. Bri sees individuals in private practice and also works part-time with Access Living of Metro Chicago, where she facilitates the peer wellness program. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

Dropping this convo alongside recent pop culture reminders (hello, little mermaids and Emmy Award-winners!) that representation matters because it heals. Rico Ricketson created an entire platform around that idea. He's the founder and CEO of MH3, a subscription-based resource that partners with corporations to provide mental health education featuring the voices and experiences of diverse health and wellness experts. "We provide credible mental health education so that employees can learn how to catch changes in mood, energy levels, and sleeping patterns before they become something more serious," Rico says of the company he founded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While Rico's professional credentials are massively impressive, it's his personal motivations for creating MH3 that I find so profoundly moving. As a minority, a survivor of domestic violence, and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, finding credible mental health information from experts with whom he shares similar lived experiences isn't easy. He designed MH3 to deliver that vital life-saving mental wellness support through engaging interviews featuring voices not often represented in corporate wellness programs. "The only thing capitalistic about MH3 is that I hope millions and billions of people get to heal from stories." GUEST BIO Rico Ricketson is the Founder & CEO of MH3, Mental Health Education for the Mind, Body, and Spirit. When Rico learned of Covid-19's spread throughout Italy in March of 2020, he used his passion and desire to help and save lives. Rico took his 20 years of healthcare advertising experience and combined it with his expertise in human-centered design and his Master's in Biology/Neuroscience to create MH3 so he could do something to help. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

I've had a lot of conversations with a lot of amazing folks. Believe me when I say there's something special about the frequency from which Rusia Mohiuddin operates. She's tapped into a universal rhythm that, in simplest terms, is the deep understanding that people are the source of all power. If that level of embodiment comes across as too lofty for the "average" person to access, allow Rusia to share another vital facet of her being: "I have a potty mouth like a true New Yorker as well." That's what showing up as your whole self is all about. As founder and principal of Universal Partnership (UP), Rusia combines her vast experience as a master trainer, facilitator, and somatic coach with generational wisdom––the lived understanding that social movements require holistic foundations to achieve healthy momentum. Rusia centers on the cooperative rather than the singular: "If everything, all the ecosystems on earth, are reliant––our bodies and the ecosystems within them are reliant––why would all this reliancy then create societal systems that are unaligned and not reliant on each other, that's actually reliant on the suffering and the oppression of most of us?" Hell if I know, but here we are, in the wake of every -ism coming before us. There IS one -ism that can save us: collectivism. Us. The people with the power. It's a lesson handed down to Rusia through her elders, and we all have access to similar wisdom––if we commit to relearning its language. GUEST BIO Rusia N. Mohiuddin is a master trainer, facilitator, & somatic coach who pioneered the integration of somatics into an organizing framework. Her current mission, through Universal Partnership, has been developing a holistic model for social justice change work that places in its center the necessary transformation of social change agents. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

The longest, most important, and, let's be honest, most frustrating relationship of our lives is the one we have with ourselves. How amazing, then, to connect with someone who gets the struggle and sits alongside us in that space. Mia Park is one of those people for me. For a lot of folks. A talented, multidimensional artist based in Chicago, she's fueled by a boundless enthusiasm for community engagement through acting, producing events, teaching yoga, and more. Through these myriad pursuits, Mia cultivates kinship with others while deepening her relationship with herself. "I work hard on relationships because they're fearful for me in many ways." The admission acts as a preface to Mia's challenging backstory. Perhaps it's because of her difficult childhood that she's so committed to making connections across different communities in multifaceted ways. Mia's definition of wholeness is nothing like the commercialized ideal of completeness. "The body is never balanced. We're never gonna be whole, and that's part of the struggle and the acceptance of the struggle––and I think that's okay." She pauses to offer an addendum. "I believe we are 100% whole." Even amid our failures, redirects, and mulligans. Even when we opt not to forgive those who've caused us harm. "The ability to make peace with and accept yourself, forgive yourself, I think that's a byproduct of becoming whole." Wherever we go, there we are, already in our wholeness. GUEST BIO Mia Park is a multi-dimensional artist based in Chicago. Boundless enthusiasm fuels her community engagement through acting, producing events, teaching yoga, and more. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

I do not like CBT. Don't worry; I won't break into a salty Dr. Seuss-esque rhyme deriding cognitive behavioral therapy (although I could). But then Charles Small, LCSW, would kindly call me and my objections to CBT in rather than out. I know this because that's how he's handled my grumbling in the past. He's one of those rare souls who can debate without derision, urging folks (like me) to hit pause long enough to trust his professional experience, reconsider the reams of evidence, and assess their (my) personal resistance through a more transparent lens. And you know what? Sometimes* I get it wrong about CBT. Alright! Let's get ready to rumble! But not really. Our conversation isn't a CBT vs. NARM cage match. In fact (and I would only say this to you because we're friends), there are points along the healing trajectory where these two modalities intersect. "Where our actual locus of control is, for the most part, is in our behaviors," says Charles. This mindfulness component is just one example. Another is CBT's non-judgemental approach. "It's not that there's this moral right or wrong. Instead, if I'm gonna choose the sort of person I wanna be in the world, what do my behaviors have to look like?" *I still hate CBT, though. GUEST BIO Charles Small, LCSW, is a social worker providing therapy for adults at Cognitive Behavioral Associates of Chicago. Prior to private group practice, Charles worked with veterans of the US Armed Services at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center and the Road Home Program at Rush, where he provided evidence-based psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD, Military Sexual Trauma, and Moral Injury. Charles is also a lecturer at Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice at the University of Chicago, offering courses on Social Work with Veterans and Evidence-based Therapies for treating PTSD. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

Liz Dubé, MA, MS, has one of the best professional introductions on the planet. "I want to heal the world one bedroom at a time." For the record, Liz is a certified sex therapist, not a sex surrogate. In other words, she gets talky with her clients, not touchy. If visions of the Netflix show "Sex Education" come to mind or Dr. Ruth Westheimer answering embarrassing questions on her weekly radio show with sincerity and smarts, you're on the right path. We live in a world working overtime to cleave us from our innate sexuality. No wonder we disembodied creatures have difficulty connecting, regardless of our trauma histories. Hell, even the most "together" of relationships might struggle with the sexual part of intimacy. "Maybe a part of you thinks I'm not enough, I'm defective, I'm broken, I'm a fraud––all these things that so many of us relate to show up in the bedroom," says Liz. You're not broken; intimacy is overwhelming! Addressing trauma and restoring desire doesn't have to be. In addition to her psychotherapy practice, Liz offers a 4-week coaching program to empower women. She also shares adult sex education tips via her YouTube and TikTok channels. "So many people come to me, saying, 'Liz, can I be healed?' And I'm like, f*ck, yeah, you can!" Drs. Jean Milburn and Ruth Westheimer would be proud. GUEST BIO Liz Dubé (sounds like Doobay), a Certified Sex Therapist, Coach and Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, loves working with people who want to better understand themselves sexually and feel sexually empowered. She's helped thousands of men, women, and couples who were feeling stuck sexually and is working her ass off to save the world one bedroom at a time. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

"Movement is life." When Kira Macoun utters that phrase midway through our conversation, she's referencing both our physical and sacred selves. Whether she intended to or not is not up for debate because this woman embodies forward motion in all aspects of her life. Kira, a functional fitness specialist and somatic movement educator, is co-owner of Comfy Fitness, the online group and personal training studio dedicated to challenging what it means to be physically fit. She's also a hella inspiring activist. "One of the things we recognized about the methodology we invented was that we were getting people very consistently and reliably out of pain," Kira says. Comfy Fitness' body awareness practices turn what is often a disconnected, fast-paced pursuit into a journey of self-discovery. "What we do in somatic education is basically circumvent the brain. We stop, lay down, and allow the brain to catch up with what it didn't know it was doing." Kira's a passionate organizer and frontline advocate for issues relating to economic inequality. "As above, so below; as within, so without," she says of her enviable involvement with social causes. She offers real-life encouragement for folks (like me) so overwhelmed by the sheer need that we don't know where to begin. "I invite people to think about the one thing that sets your hair on fire, the thing that keeps you up at night. That's probably the direction you should go in." GUEST BIO Kira Macoun has been an avid mover and exerciser since the age of 12 and became a self-proclaimed "gym rat" by the age of 15. It seemed a no-brainer when she created a fitness and movement company in 2008 after receiving her personal training certification the year before. Since then, Kira has secured several certifications in the world of fitness and movement, and loves talking about the incredible adaptability of the human body and how we can use our bodies to coach us through life. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: https://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork. Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi

Given the recent reversal of Roe v. Wade, honest insight into and support for modern-day parents or child caregiving are more necessary than ever. Although recorded weeks before the ruling, this conversation seems incredibly prescient. Allison Staiger, LCSW, is spiraling. "Have you heard of that term before? Spiral-linear?" she asks. I hadn't but given her definition, it's a concept I'm down with. "It's where you're still moving forward but there's lots of cycles and you kind of cycle back. Things die and then are reborn." Makes sense given Allison's current physical and emotional "birthing" process. She's deep in the process of relocating her life and fierce feminist care practice from Metairie, LA, to Chicago. Highwire Therapy supports new, expectant, hopeful, and grieving parents, helping them process perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, loss, birth trauma, caregiver burnout, infertility, and the general OMFG of becoming a parent. The Matriarchy, her nascent coaching practice, is a shame-free space in which folks can rage against the mom-chine (well-played, Allison!), assisting clients in liberating themselves from the mommy complex. Parent or no, Allison challenges all of us to get in touch with our righteous anger and, honestly, there's no time like the present. Circle back to your Divine Feminine and give the patriarchal system of oppression a big middle finger. GUEST BIO Allison Staiger, LCSW, is the founder of Highwire Therapy, a psychotherapy private practice, and The Matriarchy, a feminist coaching practice. As a licensed clinical social worker certified in perinatal mental health, she works with new, expectant, hopeful, and grieving parents, offering support for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, pregnancy and infant loss, birth trauma, caregiver burnout, infertility, and the general holy shit-ness of becoming a parent. Fed up with the insufficient and oppressive norms and narratives in our current culture of caregiving, she created The Matriarchy to help parents socialized as mothers partner with their radical, rebellious anger, and channel it into fierce feminist care. For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: http://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Let's be friends! You can find me in the following places... Website: www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WoundedHealr/ https://www.facebook.com/HeadHeartTherapy/ Instagram: @headhearttherapy Twitter: @WoundedHealr @HeadHeart_Chi For full show notes, resources, and links to connect with our guest, visit: http://www.headhearttherapy.com/podcast *** Conversations with a Wounded Healer is a proud member of @mhnrnetwork.