Behind The Line

Show Notes: As we continue in our “Normal People Problems” series we are diving in to the common challenges of mastering money and the unique and nuanced features of finances while working in first response or front line work. I am honoured to be joined by Sandy Yong, author of The Money Master: What They Don’t Teach You About Wealth & Investing, and her husband, Albert Ho, nurse and author of...

Show Notes: As we continue in our “Normal People Problems” series we are diving in to the common challenges of parenting and the unique and nuanced features of parenting while working in first response or front line work. I am thrilled to be joined by one of my favourite people on earth, Karen Peters. Karen is a child and family therapist who specializes in parenting support, and she is bringing t...

Show Notes: Today I am joined by Raina Beugelink, a registered dietitian who is luckily (and happily) married to a first responder. She’s worked in private practice for almost ten years in weight management and chronic disease management.  She feels incredibly passionate about supporting shift workers and first responders increase their energy and improve their health, as she’s seen firsthand the...

Show Notes: We have been talking about how to know when you have “done” the work of healing from trauma and stress-related concerns. We have touched on what to look for to let you know that you are through the thick of it, as well as what comes next to maintain the gains you’ve worked so hard for. Today, we are focusing in on the last major piece of the puzzle that comes when you have done the har...

Show Notes: Today, I want us to talk about resilience, and how we work at retaining the resilience we have cultivated so that we don’t find ourselves in over our heads again. This piggybacks on what we talked about last week – we can’t know what we need to do for resilience if we can’t see the forest for the trees and know what’s going on for us. Awareness is ALWAYS the first and most important st...

Show Notes: The last couple of episodes we established some of the things to look for to help guide you in knowing where you are at in the process of healing. To get here you’ve put in a ton of work, and I’m sure that it has not been easy. But, now what?? The primary focus is to stay on top of things and to maintain all you’ve worked so hard to accomplish. How do you do that? Well, this may sound...

Show Notes:  If you missed the intro to our latest series last week, here’s a quick recap:  Based on listener feedback, we received a request to talk about how to know when you’re done the work of trauma processing, and what to do once you have “done” the work of therapy or healing. If you missed last week, you’ll want to be sure to go back and start there as it was part one of a two-part intro ar...

Show Notes: As we kick off this new year, we are also kicking off a new series here on Behind the Line and covering a topic we haven’t tackled before. Back in the fall I put out a question to my followers on social media, and I was so grateful for the thoughtful responses. The question was simply, what would you like to hear about on the podcast? And yes, for those of you who listen but aren’t fol...

Show Notes: We have been look at simplifying and finding genuine meaning in the midst of the chaos of the holiday season. This week we are focusing in on how to connect with our own selves, and how this is a stepping stone to strengthen relationships with others. Don't miss this discussion on immersing ourselves in studying our own internal landscape - it may sound a bit cooky, but it is essential...

Show Notes: We have been diving into simplifying and finding genuine meaning in the midst of the chaos of the holiday season. Today we are digging into what we value and looking at how this can evolve and change over time. We are talking about how to reflect on what serves us, as well as what doesn't serve us well; how to refine what we choose to better reflect what serves us meaningfully; and way...

Show Notes: Last week we opened the conversation of finding quiet in the chaos of the holiday season and working to shape the expectations we allow to have placed on us to be more reflective of who we want to be, what feels important to us and what we choose for ourselves during this season. I shared that our family loves a lot of really meaningful traditions and rituals and I already feel like we...

Show Notes:  December has arrived and we are into that time of year that many people experience as a love/hate relationship. The holiday season can come with a lot for us. There can be a lot of joy and excitement and connection, but there can also be a lot of overwhelm, stress, and grieving. For many who work in First Response and Front Line Work, there are added factors, like being on call or wor...

Show Notes: We have been on a journey this whole month, talking about early indicators to be watchful for and aware of as people who work in higher risk jobs. If you’ve been listening, you’ll know that we’ve been talking about the things that let us know that we are changing, being changed, and that we need to know what to look for so that we can intervene early and catch it before we’ve gone too...

Show Notes: Today we are continuing in our series on the impacts of trauma, and we are really trying to focus on the early indicators that alert us that trauma is starting to take a toll. The goal we are working toward is to be able to notice these earlier so we can catch them and intervene earlier and prevent ourselves and others from landing in my office…or worse. Your job as a First Responder o...

Show Notes: You guys, we are back and talking some more about early indicators for trauma and stress-related injuries that are common to front line workers. We’ve been talking about how important it is to be familiar with what to look for in yourself and those around you, so you can catch things early and ensure your wellness. For your sake, for the sake of the job you love, and for the sake of th...

Show Notes: We are continuing in a new series around what to look for and be aware of as professionals more exposed and more likely to suffer from things like PTSD and related occupational stress injuries. This comes after so much feedback that I hear about first responders and front line workers getting a lot of lip service advising to be on the lookout and conscientious about the risks for stres...

Show Notes: Since starting this podcast, one of the most frustrating things I hear all too often is that as front line workers you are told to be aware of trauma. To be looking out for PTSD. To be on alert that you are at higher risk for stress-related mental health concerns. …But then never being told WHAT to look for. Not knowing what exactly PTSD looks like, feels like. How to know when there’s...

Show Notes: We have been talking about alignment for the last few weeks – the way we intentionally align ourselves with the kind of people we want to be. We’ve been talking about how to be the authors of our own stories, rather than bystanders while life writes our story for us. We’ve talked about how to be a scientist and use curiosity, experimentation and learning to craft alignment and tweak it...

Show Notes: The process of considering alignment and experimentation involves asking questions about what might fill my bank account back up. What feeds my spirit? What brings energy? What replenishes? Or, at minimum, what limits the rate at which I get depleted?  Last episode I shared some examples from my own life and what felt noteworthy to me as I shared them was just how small and simple most...

Show Notes: The really cool but often uncomfortable thing about life changes is that they open up an opportunity, a potential, for learning and growth. They tend to push us into a place of HAVING to do something differently, and by extension, learning about ourselves, what fits for us and what doesn’t, and sorting our way through how we either contort ourselves or how we make things contort to fit...

Show Notes: I’m not sure where you are at in your world right now – maybe you feel like you are totally killing it…maybe you feel like you’re drowning. Maybe you are somewhere in the in-between. As for me – I am in this weird and uncertain and beautiful stage of change and transition. I know that change can be scary for a lot of people, myself included, for sure. But this stage, I’m finding myself...

Show Notes: Today I am so excited to be joined by Michael Mariano, neurotherapy expert, and we are diving into the benefits of neurotherapy including neurofeedback, biofeedback and related tools. I am so grateful for this conversation including Michael’s show and tell with some of his equipment so you can get an idea of what it all looks like. You can listen to this episode, or watch and see the s...

Show Notes: As we continue in our series on alternative approached to healing, today I am sharing about my background in using Observed Experiential Integration (OEI) as well as a related therapeutic approach called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Both of these therapies integrate neurological understandings of trauma/high stress experiences and the ways these experiences map...

Show Notes: Today I am joined by Registered Clinical Counsellor, Claire Weiss, who is sharing about her work is psychedelic assisted psychotherapy. Hear her story to brought her to this alternative treatment method as a client and a clinician, and learn about a non-traditional treatment intervention that has been shown to be helpful for many “treatment resistant” individuals. As a follow up to our...

Show Notes: I’ve been trying to lean in to the openness to the not knowing more generally in life these last many months. It’s not my knee-jerk – I’m pretty hardwired toward planning, perseverating, anxiety and hyper-controlling. Settling in to the unknown and trusting that I’ll have what I need whenever I end up needing it – trusting that I have done what I can and allowing the rest to fall where...