Conversations With a Wounded Healer

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...

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 e...

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...

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...

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 betwee...

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 gro...

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 ant...

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 the...

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 (albei...

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 lookin...

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 an...

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...

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 joine...

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 inclus...

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-found...

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 o...

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 o...

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 dis...

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...

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...

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 en...

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 pau...

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 sh...

"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 trai...

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...