Conversations With a Wounded Healer

"I feel like there's so many different aspects of being a hairdresser. It's like, you're an artist, you're a counselor, a psychologist." ~Shimi Shiba If only someone could take the easy intimacy that hairstylists enjoy with their longtime clients and translate the magic into a formal therapeutic setting… Oh, wait! I've met such a person.  In this episode, professional hairdresser Shimi Shiba share...

"Maybe it's not about healing. Maybe it's just about being with people who are wounded too. It's maybe like wounded is we're alive together." ~Claude Cayemitte Hello friends! This is the episode in which Claude Cayemitte, LCSW blows my mind -- by answering the wounded healer question in a way I've never heard before.  So, who is Claude Cayemitte? He's a NARM-certified, award-winning psychotherapis...

"Shame is the thing that keeps us from even admitting that there's an issue and that we might be complicit in it." ~Erin Law I'm back from a brief summer respite with a total buzzkill for some of my listeners: healing from supremacy culture sucks!  There's no rest for the (white) weary while our Black brothers and sisters continue to fight for their lives. More bad news: not only is our path pot-h...

As part of our "Archival August," we are re-releasing episodes from the past that have held specific significance for me recently, as I take some time for personal healing. This episode with David Clinton was really moving for me personally. David is from my same hometown and I don't know about you guys, but during the pandemic and everything that's been going on, there's been a lot of reflecting...

As part of our "Archival August," we are re-releasing episodes from the past that have held specific significance for me recently, as I take some time for personal healing. Lisa Lackey, is one of the premier therapists in Chicago. And it's funny, I knew Lisa from afar for a really long time and kind of had put her on a pedestal. Early on, when we were starting to talk, I remember feeling honored t...

As part of our "Archival August," we are re-releasing episodes from the past that have held specific significance for me recently, as I take some time for personal healing. This episode with Tanya Markul felt right to share right now because the world is going through a major transformation and all the shadows are coming to light so we can transmute them. Tanya's latest book is The She Book v.2. *...

As part of our "Archival August," we are re-releasing episodes from the past that have held specific significance for me recently, as I take some time for personal healing. This episode was recorded in the very beginning of my anti-racism journey, a touching conversation at a pivotal moment. *** Mishara D. Winston, LCSW is a Black, queer, creative adventure therapist and the owner of an uncommon s...

A quick note to let you know that I'm taking a break in August, and why. Never fear, I'll be back in September and in the meantime, we are revisiting some friends from previous episodes. *** 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/Wo...

"Having those wounds shapes you, but also lets the next person know that they can heal from their wounds." ~Da'Jonese Turner Empathy + Empowerment = Resilience. That's a standard formula for wellbeing, but without access, whole communities never receive the attention they deserve. That leaves generations of traumas and day-to-day anxieties unidentified and unaddressed.  Lean in to what Da'Jonese T...

"I feel like everybody has healing qualities in one way or another. We all have gifts, right, and blessings and so I believe everybody... no matter who you are, has that." ~Ryanne Bright With friends like Ryanne Bright MA, LCPC, CADC, it's a wonder we haven't yet solved ALL of the world's problems. But we're working on it! Ryanne is the co-founder, co-owner and Chief Clinical Officer of The Family...

"I think it's just really trying to take time to just sit. You don't even have to close your eyes.  Just sit in your home and just look around. What do you hear? What do you feel in your body?" ~Jay Taylor Heads up, beautiful people: My conversation with Sound Meditation Facilitator Jay Taylor was recorded waaaay back in the spring, the earliest days of regional pandemic precautions and well befor...

"We're all just trying to figure out a way through it and praying and hoping beyond hope that this hurt and anxiety we feel in these moments are actual birth pains that are about to birth for us something new and beautiful that we haven't yet imagined, or that we've imagined and have never, ever thought possible." ~Anna Golladay Anna Golladay is a balm for anyone who doesn't exactly vibe with Chri...

"The 12 steps are a return to the internal world...If you just do the cogs in a wheel, they will create an emotional rearrangement in you." ~Veronica Valli Hundreds of people take shaky steps toward sobriety every day. Veronica Valli began her journey 20 years ago this past May. Like many, she credits Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) with helping her stay joyfully sober. But the author, podcast host, psy...

" If you're not talking about power, then you're really not doing racial equity work or inclusive work." ~Brit Holmberg Brit Holmberg, MSW, LCSW , is a staff therapist at The Wellness Center of Loyola University and a longtime friend. He's also the co-creator, alongside his colleague Marion Malcome MSW, LCSW , of "Becoming An Anti-Racist Social Worker".  Use of that hyphenate is critical to this c...

"You've got to set up the dynamic, which is, we can talk about absolutely anything here. I'm not going to judge you. I'm not going to shame you. I can take it." ~Tristan Taormino Sex episode! Sexpisode? You decide. Either way, educator, author, and media-maker Tristan Taormino talks about the joys of her DIY career and what she wishes therapists knew about sex.  From her first book, The Ultimate G...

"I hope that my work speaks from the scars and not the wounds." ~Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD Revolutions take work. The movement to dismantle supremacy culture rightly demands that much of the work be done off-camera, by those who benefit most from its proliferation. Roberto Che Espinoza, PhD engages those willing to do the requisite heavy lifting through stories (and, sometimes, food).  As a queer...

~We decided to re-release this episode because we couldn't think of a better voice to lead during this time. We have chosen to mute ourselves and support #amplifymelanatedvoices through June 7th.  "We have inherited a system and there's nothing we can do about it except acknowledge that and dismantle it. But if we don't acknowledge it, then we are actually maintaining [it]." ~Derrick Dawson A conv...

"I think the most transformative practice that I've come across is this ability to see that in all of our responses and reactivity and whatever it is we're all, deep down, these beautiful animals who wish that they could live in a world in which everyone's needs were met and everyone loved each other. And we all have that wish. And that's not the world we live in." ~Tim Desmond This is exactly wha...

I'm happy to share with you an amazing podcast called Back From the Abyss! Our latest conversation was with Dr. Craig Heacock where we spoke a bit about his experiences working with psychedelics in psychotherapy. This episode " MDMA and the Inner Healer " showcases the story of a client and his experience with the MDMA-assisted therapy sessions. It's incredible! I'm sure you'll be as touched by th...

"I've had a lot of losses and vicarious trauma in my practice and, I think, starting Back From The Abyss was also a way for me to put out just balloons of hope into the world and to remind myself that people do get better and people heal and people do the hard work of therapy." ~Dr. Craig Heacock For every harrowing loss with which Dr. Craig Heacock has had to come to terms, his practice is also p...

"Well, that could've gone better…" Ever leave a therapy session wondering where things went off the rails or what you might've done differently?  Meet your new best friends Carrie Wiita and Ben Fineman, co-hosts of Very Bad Therapy ! They dropped by to discuss their show and managed to turn the tables on yours truly with questions of their own! VBT teases out the woulda, coulda, shoulda moments fr...

"We have inherited a system and there's nothing we can do about it except acknowledge that and dismantle it. But if we don't acknowledge it, then we are actually maintaining [it]." ~Derrick Dawson A conversation that eloquently connects the dots between capitalism and systemic racism? Straight talk about our American way of life and the foundation of white supremacy upon which it was built? Yes, p...

"Forgiveness is not a tool to heal trauma." ~Nate Postlethwait Here's the thing about my conversation with Nate Postlethwait: his story made this Wounded Healer all sorts of mad - in the best possible way!  Buckle in because Nate's journey from confused and closeted to out and authentic is a white-knuckle ride on the complex trauma rollercoaster. There are enviable highs - travel, career success....

"The whole system was created to keep you distracted onto a battlefield. You could not have been put on this wonderful journey called life to fight. That could not be what we are here to do." ~Monika Black  What do you get when a leadership maximizer and the Wounded Healer get together to discuss light and shadow, happiness and shame? A roadmap to joy and an invitation to claim your agency, natura...

"You do your personal work. We really believe that we're the change agents and we can't take our clients anywhere we haven't gone." ~Adena Bank Lees Adena Bank Lees, LCSW, LISAC, BCETS, CP is an accomplished speaker, author, experiential trainer, and consultant working in traumatic stress and addiction. She's a leading authority on, and advocate for, psychodrama, a modality that employs guided rol...