A Therapist Takes Her Own Advice

It was such a pleasure to speak with the owners of Ritual Yoga, Elle Randall and Rebecca Haber—two local moms, yogis and owners of Ritual Yoga in Ossining, NY. We discussed eastern philosophy, theater and how the practice of yoga helps you get better at life.  Ritual Yoga Ossining is the love child of Elle Randall and Rebecca Haber, two local yoga teachers and mamas whose fates have been intertwin...

🎧 Episode Summary: In this deeply moving and inspiring conversation, Rebekah Shackney welcomes therapist, teacher, and spiritual guide Deah Curry to explore her powerful journey through healing, transformation, and acceptance of terminal illness. With wisdom rooted in transpersonal psychology , naturopathic medicine , and Buddhist mindfulness , Deah shares how she has cultivated peace, equanimity...

Episode Title: Relax into Sleep with Bilateral Stimulation Welcome to A Therapist Takes Her Own Advice. I’m Rebekah Shackney, and in this episode, I’m guiding you through a sleep meditation designed to gently activate your parasympathetic nervous system using slow bilateral stimulation—an approach that engages both sides of the brain to promote deep relaxation and rest. For best results, listen wi...

Welcome to A Therapist Takes Her Own Advice . I’m Rebekah Shackney, and in today’s episode, I offer a guided meditation to help you navigate interactions with the challenging people in your life with more steadiness and compassion. Whether it’s a colleague, family member, or someone from your past, this practice invites you to stay grounded in your best self—responding with empathy without abandon...

Episode Summary: When standard treatments for depression stopped working, I found myself in uncharted territory—searching for healing in unexpected places. This episode marks the relaunch of A Therapist Takes Her Own Advice —and the beginning of a deeply personal journey through soul sickness, alternative medicine, holotropic breathwork, and the longing for true community. Join me as I share what...

Today local mom Jess Vecchiarelli , shares her profound experience with a shamanic healer after a period of loss and emotional distress. Now she's reimagining her life  and she’s using what she learned to uplift our community.  Jess's upcoming offering: The Aligned Path's Women's Wellness Retreat Saturday, June 7 from 9-3:00 pm at Reid Castle (Manhattanville Campus, 2900 Purcha...

This relaxing meditation uses bilateral stimulation, meaning it stimulates both sides of the brain to help trigger your para-sympathetic nervous system and increase relaxation. To fully take advantage of the bilateral stimulation you must be listening on headphones . This type of slow bilateral stimulation typically results in a deep calm, helping to reduce anxiety or other intense emotions or eve...

This new series of podcast parent tips aims to help you reduce conflict and better connect with your teen. In the fifth episode, I talk about problem solving options.   When we encounter problems in life, we have choices about how to respond.   1.     You can solve the problem. 2.     You can change how you feel about the problem. 3.     You can tolerate the problem. 4.     Stay miserable or make...

This new series of podcast parent tips aims to help you reduce conflict and better connect with your teen. In the fourth episode, learn to create a self-soothing kit to ease emotional intensity and get through a meltdown without making the situation worse. DBT is Dialectical Behavior Therapy , a model of therapy created by Dr. Marsha Linehan, that has been proven effective at helping people learn...

This new series of podcast parent tips aims to help you reduce conflict and better connect with your teen. In the third episode, learn to empathize with your teen even when you don't agree with them with the DBT Validation Skill. DBT is Dialectical Behavior Therapy , a model of therapy created by Dr. Marsha Linehan, that has been proven effective at helping people learn to tolerate stress, re...

This new series of podcast parent tips aims to help you reduce conflict and better connect with your teen. In the second episode, learn to change your perspective on your teen's behavior with The DBT THINK Skill. THINK is an acronym that can help you change how you see your teen's behavior. THINK stands for:  Think differently Have empathy Interpretation Notice Kindness The THINK Skill i...

This new series of podcast parent tips aims to help you reduce conflict and better connect with your teen. In the first episode, learn to stop conversations from becoming fights with the DBT STOP Skill. The STOP Skill can help you Stop a conflict in its tracks by encouraging you to  Stop Take a Step Back Observe Proceed Mindfully The Stop Skill is just one of the many DBT Skills I teach my clients...

In the last episode I told a story illustrating the DBT concept of the three states of mind, emotion mind, reasonable mind and wise mind. In this episode, I offer a guided meditation that will help you access wise mind when you need to make an important decision. As a reminder, wise mind is when you are thinking and behaving wisely. Seeing things as they are. Wise mind is in alignment with values...

In this episode, I tell a personal story that illustrates the DBT concept of the three states of mind, emotion mind, reasonable mind and wise mind. Emotion mind is when you’re thinking and behaving emotionally, treating feelings as facts about the world and letting your emotions rule your behavior. Emotion mind decisions disregards reason and pragmatics. They are pressured and desperate, you feel...

This episode offers a paced breathing guided meditation to help reduce emotional pain quickly and allow you to get through a difficult moment without making the situation worse. When emotional arousal is high the body goes into fight or flight mode. The adrenaline pumps and blood flows to the extremities to prepare the body to face danger. This process works well if you're in real danger, but...

For years I’ve told new meditators to allow themselves to begin again without judgement. When you realize the mind has drifted away just begin again. And, yet, until  now, I didn’t connect this powerful concept to the rest of life.  I didn’t really allow myself to fail without judgement.  In this episode, I will discuss beginning again and offer a guided meditation to practice the concept.  Thanks...

As we celebrate the New Year and a New Moon, I invite you to practice this guided meditation that asks you to go of what no longer serves you and make room for new intentions and new dreams for the year ahead. Together lets examine the previous 12 months and decide what’s been working for us and what hasn’t. Then we can make the choice to say goodbye to the old and invite in the new. We can let go...

Do you feel like your emotions control you? Like they come on quickly and intensely taking you by surprise? Or Have you ever felt stuck in an uncomfortable emotion? When our lizard brain senses pain or discomfort our natural instinct is to try and suppress it or avoid it. That impulse to suppress painful feelings is understandable but avoiding emotions is not effective. It’s like trying to sink a...

In this episode, I’m speaking with Maya Benattar, musician, vocalist and music therapist. She talks about how her parents inspired her to become a music therapist and how she uses music to help clients connect with their emotions and deepen their therapeutic experience. She invites clients to let loose, get messy and fully participate  and reclaim their rhythm. Maya Benattar, MA, MT-BC, LCAT is a...

In this episode, we practice the DBT Mindfulness Skill Observe. It’s one of the three What Skills David and I discussed a few weeks ago. As a reminder, Observe is noticing without pushing away or clinging to anything. We observe our external environment through our 5 senses: sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. We observe our internal world by noticing thoughts, emotions and sensations in the bod...

With stress levels through the roof,  we could all benefit from a little mindfulness. This season of  A Therapist Takes Her Own Advice is all about making mindfulness understandable and accessible to everyone. In this episode, David and I are talking about the DBT How Skills. These skills outline how to practice mindfulness. The How Skills are Nonjudgmentally, One-mindfully and Effectively. Nonjud...

With stress levels through the roof, we could all benefit from mindfulness. This season of A Therapist Takes Her Own Advice is all about making mindfulness understandable and accessible to everyone. In today's episode, David and I are talking about the DBT What Skills. These skills outline what to do to become more mindful. They are Observe, Describe and Participate. Observe is noticing witho...

Mindfulness is a word that you hear thrown around a lot these days, but is often misunderstood. It does everything from decrease depression to improve relationships to making pain more manageable… but how? This season of ATTHO, going is all about demystifying mindfulness, what is it? How is it helpful? And how exactly do you use it in your daily life? I’ll break it down into manageable steps and I...

In this week’s episode, I’m speaking with Lauren Selfridge, therapist, creative vision consultant and host of the podcast This is not what I ordered. She talks about everything from how Conan O’Brien and a rowing machine figure into her self-care routine to the silver lining of living with multiple sclerosis. Her version of full-hearted living means meeting herself where she is in each moment, all...

As we move into month 7 of the pandemic, with school starting, stress levels continue to rise, tempers are flaring and everyone seems to be at the end of their rope. We could all use some loving kindness. This powerful mindfulness is the perfect antidote for the anxiety and tension so prevalent in society, as it allows us to tap into our capacity for love, gratitude and compassion toward ourselves...