DEPTH Work: A Holistic Mental Health Podcast

If we want more Intimacy and connection with others, it requires vulnerability. We all have ways that we protect ourselves from potential rejection, pain, and vulnerability. Many of these self-protection strategies are depely subconscious and picked up in childhood as ways we had to adapt and survive in our life context. But in adulthood they become ways we distance from oursleves, each other, and...

“If you've come here to help me, then you're wasting your time. But if you have come here because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” Lila Watson Martyrdom, or self-abandoning and self-sacrificing for the sake of a mission or cause, is so highly rewarded in our culture. It can show up in our interpersonal relationships, but also when it comes to our work, our...

Celiac disease is an unfortunately common autoimmune disorder that affects about 1 in 100 people. That’s 1%, a HUGE proportion of the population. What's most concerning is that many aren't ware they have celiac often because many of the symptoms are mental health related and treated solely by psychological means. However, we need to rethink this approach. There's a high correlation bet...

Functional medicine and psychoneuroimmunology is on the rise as a more integrative way of understanding the physiological roots of mental health concerns. For decades we’ve been obsessed with the theory that mental health concerns are solely about chemical imbalances in the brain - but that’s not what the research has shown. The truth is much more complex since environmental, societal factors, chi...

“We arise out of the very conditions that will heal us.” - Asia Suler In this episode, herbalist, nature philosopher, and author Asia Suler shares lessons from her journey through chronic pain and illness and the transformative power of the natural world, which she most recently has written about in her new book - Mirrors of the Earth. She is a wise proponent of the importance of depathologizing s...

Why are so many mental health professionals, researchers, and activists critiquing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)? In this episode, we dive deep into the complexities surrounding mental health diagnoses and explore the limitations and hazards of labeling and codifying human experiences. We look at why researchers have called the DSM “scientifically meaningless” as...

“There's something incredibly dangerous to the status quo about us no longer feeling ashamed for choosing lives that are right for us, and within that choosing to direct our creative life force energy that we all embody into whatever we so choose.” - Ruby Warrington Today I delve into the complex and often ignored topic of non-motherhood with author Ruby Warrington. Ruby wrote “Women Without K...

Harm Reduction Specialist and Peer Counselor, David Levine, and I discuss the social and political context of the war on drugs in the United States and how drug laws and policies disproportionately affect those who are disenfranchised and most marginalized. David works on the ground helping people who have overdosed on opioids and discusses what true harm reduction means when it comes to mental he...

In this much-requested episode, we explore the topic of shame and blame, how we can become mired in these emotions, whether by taking on too much responsibility or deflecting it onto others. What does centered self-accountability look like and when and why do we engage in both over and under-accountability? We discuss the pitfalls of using the language of ‘victim mindset. ’We delve into the comple...

“I think in this day and age the field of psychology/psychiatry is our modern day religion come together around these sets of ideas that tells us how we’re supposed to live, what’s right and wrong as far as how we should be and exist in the world” - Noël Hunter Despite the wealth of research on trauma and what truly helps when people are suffering, the fields of psychiatry and psychology stubbornl...

If you’ve ever felt like you’re “going crazy,” heard voices, or had strange and unusual experiences, you’re not alone. My guest today, Brittany Quagan, a therapist and psychic medium is ultra familiar with all things “spooky” - both in terms of trauma and spirituality. We discuss what it’s like to struggle as an empath, with anxiety, depression, and suicidality as a young adult. We also discuss co...

“The questions we ask ourselves when we’re in the midst of crises have the potential to either liberate or confine us." Mental health concerns have multiple roots and many contributing factors. We cannot reduce mental health symptoms to a single cause or origin. We are dynamic human beings, and need many pathways for healing. The term ‘holistic’ is often used to elicit the concept of mind-bod...

Our capacity to authentically relate to one another is shaped not only by our life experiences, early childhood, and attachment, but the broader culture we live in and the myths we pick up from society about what relationships should look like. In this episode, I speak with a trauma-informed couple’s therapist about the qualities of healthy loving relationships, how toxic and transactional societa...

Recently, as I've been caring for a sick relative in his death process, an old familiar feeling arose for me - the fear and pain of abandonment through loss. As a child of neglect and a trauma survivor, I consider abandonment to be my particular "core wound," a familiar pain or pattern from usually our early years, that arises repeatedly in life in order to be healed. Life gives us m...

In all of our relationships, we bring our history, the roles we’ve played, our strategies for belonging, our privilege, and our worldview to the dynamic. In this episode, we get to hear from two deeply reflective mental health workers, who spend much of their time attempting to redefine helping relationships within and outside the system, about their personal experiences with love and relationship...

“As long as there’s breath there’s still hope for a change.” - Daryl Rocco. Addiction is not a moral failing nor an unrecoverable disease. Addiction is often a way we learn to lessen the pain of overwhelming trauma and isolation. In this episode, my dear friend Daryl Rocco shares her story of what it took to get sober after a lifetime of interpersonal and intergenerational trauma. She discusses le...

“You have a lot of sickness [in the United States] because people are trying to behave in a way that will look “normal,” but that’s one thing the body wasn’t created for: to behave, to be controlled, to live like you are in a prison. “ - Thabiso Mthimkhulu.  What if “going crazy” was part of a larger process? What if it was a message from your body, your ancestors, or a wisdom larger than yourself...

"The only way it works is when you can allow yourself to be like water and take to it." - Christopher Rhodes. Energy healing, psychic work and mysticism is not reserved for a select few, these gifts are available to anyone who desires to engage with it, as many of our ancestors did. Today's magical guest is a fellow psychic and energy healer who also trains others in the craft. We ta...

“You don’t learn how to not be codependent by avoiding intimate relationships. That’s not the antidote." - Caitlyn Lune. Codependency has little to do with being "dependent" vs. "independent" and much more to do with our attachment wounding and the  subtle ways we may subconsciously seek control. Codependency can happen in any connection - friendships, lovers, and partners...

There is no cap to the depth and intimacy of our friendships. Yet most of us never learn that we can have this kind of intimacy outside our romantic relationships. In today's episode, you'll hear a vulnerable, real life story of conflict and repair in my friendship with Caitlyn Lune, professional dominatrix and communication nerd, who I have learned so much from when it comes to healing at...

"What you risk, reveals what you value " - Jeanette Winterson. Our values inform every decision and aspect of our lives. Knowing what we value is more than a self-help exercise or some words to place on a sticky note in the bathroom. It turns out, not knowing, not acting on our authentic values, or having "junk" values, can actually make us more depressed and anxious. It takes...

“Grounding” or cultivating feelings of presence and safety in the body is not only about integrating a few practices into your life. There are often very real barriers we face when trying to ground or calm the nervous system, especially for trauma survivors. Grounding isn’t about hugging a tree, it’s about facing the discomfort of landing our full presence and power here onto this earth, when we m...

What does it mean to become an ancestor who is worthy of praise? To leave a legacy? How do we become the kind of ancestor our familial or collective future descendants want to call on? Today’s guest, Veronica Agard, founder of Ancestors in Training, shares her journey realizing what was missing in activist and mental health circles, and her motivation for creating circles where people could explor...

It takes courage to own your story, especially for trauma survivors. Jessie Roth shows us, in this episode, the power of storytelling, showing up as your full self with the multiple roles and identities you hold and why it’s important to intentionally straddle frameworks to re-story your experiences as a form of healing. As the director of The Institute for the Development of Human Arts, she’s als...

This is one of the most intimate and refreshing conversations I've ever had on childhood sexual abuse. As my guest and long-time best friend of 15 years, Jagger Waters, says, societally, "We tend to treat it like it's a disease rather than an experience." As a comedy writer, she brilliantly sheds light on this topic by intentionally using humor to alchemize one of the most trauma...