Humanity's Values

In this conversation, SC Nealy and I discuss the impact of beliefs and oppressive systems on the creation of trauma, emphasizing the need for healthier approaches to spirituality and community involvement. We discuss their work in the LGBTQ+ community, with their dedication to the intersection of mental health and social involvement, where the role of the therapist doesn't just exist in the therap...

In this conversation, I talk with Heather Hester exploring the themes of parenting, identity, and the significance of traditions, particularly around Halloween and the upcoming holidays. Heather Hester is the host of the podcast More Human. More Kind. , and the author of Parenting with Pride . As a speaker, coach, and LGBTQ+ advocate, she helps parents, allies, and organizations move from fear to...

Elliott, aka Secular Rarity, is a secular community builder who has worked with many different organizations over the years. He is the founder and current President of Secular Rising US, a non-profit dedicated to connecting and supporting atheists, humanists, and secular-minded people. He is also a founder of The Conversation Coalition, a monthly gathering where believers and nonbelievers have cha...

Everett Uhl - media contacts Site: Everett Uhl Therapy Email: euhl@committed-action.com Instagram @everettuhltherapy In this conversation, I interview Everett Uhl, a licensed marriage and family counselor, about her role as a therapist. We discuss the importance of authenticity in therapeutic practices, the need for action-oriented approaches, and some critiques of traditional therapy models, espe...

BIO:     Kristen Hornung is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor #2071, offering in-person therapy in Encinitas and virtual therapy throughout California. She holds a Ph. D. in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, an M.A. in Counseling from the University of San Diego, and a B.A. in Chemistry from Brown University. She is an EMDR Certified Therapist by EMDRIA. Kristen specializ...

Steve Ghikadis is a Humanist Officiant, who conducts secular marriages, memorials, and many more meaningful life-affirming celebrations. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Bachelor of Education in primary, junior, and intermediate grades. Raised as a freethinker, Steve has been married to a Christian for over a decade. He and his wife, Cindy, believe in the importance of bridging the gap...

Rafael is a clinical social worker in North Texas. He has experience working with CPS, Psychiatric settings, hospitals, and is currently a Behavioral Health Officer in the Army National Guard. As a former Catholic, religion and apologetics have always been interesting and engaging. After going through his own personal deconversion, Rafa realized how underrepresented the non-believing populations w...

Casey McFarland, LAPC, NCC. Along with my Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, I also earned a certificate in Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Counseling, which gives me a professional framework to deconstruct religious structures that have caused harm.   As a secular therapist, I offer care that honors each person's values without imposing religious frameworks—something especial...

Diagnoses are a frame of reference for looking at behavior, and therefore often limit us to understanding one another and ourselves.  When it comes to gun control, the focus on mental health by both sides is accurate, but not for the reason either thinks. If we want to effect change, then we need to step away from limiting stories about our behavior, and into how we expand a person's flexibility i...

Discussed nature of mental health work, autism, seeing people as wholes rather than parts, and learning to experience life through different understandings of social influence.   Links for Jeff: Twitter: @primalhex Email: jeff.fullington@gmail.com   Links for show: Twitter: @lifeweavings Humanity's Values Life Weavings, LLC

Juan Lee is an author and teacher on the powerful principle of love. Raised within the Christian church, Juan has turned to teachings about love over the years to find strength, understanding and hope.   As a child, Juan was the youngest of four children raised by a single father. Juan struggled with an undiagnosed learning disability that made school difficult. He joined the US Air Force out of h...

Interview with Bryan Nixon, a therapist at and founder of Mindful Counseling GR in Grand Rapids, MI. Here we discuss therapeutic modality and the relationship with the client. Things to consider: 1. Philosophy of the therapist 2. Therapist idea of therapeutic relationship with client 3. Therapist dedication to continued education and self-inquiry ------ Why in the World Podcast   Why in the World...

We've been exploring habits and steps for building and maintaining healthy relationships. Here we continue that journey by looking at intimacy and its connection to authenticity. We can learn to express different parts of ourselves in different situations and through different relationships, by building the space for honestly reflecting on whether the person you're showing up as is the person you...

Exploring the work of John and Julie Gottman on the "4 Horsemen" of relationship communication errors and working through steps to build healthy connections for personal and relationship growth. We work through four steps beginning with identifying what you Value and finishing with applying grace often. Relationships, in all levels of intimacy, are fruitful spaces for expanding meaning and finding...

We all know love when we feel it, yet often it's the emotion most connected to confusion and heartache. The confusion and uncertainty, hurt and life search, is largely because while we think we know what love is, we rarely take a hard-stop to ask ourselves what we really mean by it.   Looking at 3 metaphors about love: "You Complete Me," "Two Become One," and "Being on the Same Journey." Explore t...

Exploration of the third untruth in Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt in their book "The Coddling of the American Mind." That untruth, "Life is a battle between good people and evil people" will be explained and an alternative truth given, of "Life is a lived experience through many perspectives."  We can encourage dialogue, explore our differences, and grow together through expanding our awarenes...

Looking at the "untruth" of "Always trust your feelings" from the book "The Coddling of the American Mind" by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. In response, I offer an alternative principle to live by, one that is grounded in science and provides a path of resiliency to develop. We look at the difference between "affect" and "feelings" and how the theory of allostasis can help us better understan...

As noted by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt in their book "The Coddling of the American Mind," there is an untruth of "what doesn't kill you makes you weaker." To that, we will instead embrace a deeper appreciation for how our brain/body system works within experience to prepare us for an uncertain future. Ultimately we can learn to accept and even desire to build a capacity for seeing errors an...

An exploration of hatred within an understanding of our very human need to shape reality to suit our vision of what we believe it to be or should be, and seeing then how anything that gets in the way of that vision invokes our passions. 

Democracy is a Value-based interpersonal construct for guiding human behavior. As such, democracy exists at the intersection of humanity's greatest potential and all our foibles. We can aspire to be the best versions of ourselves that we know to be, but it requires an active engagement, both on the ground through action and also through mindful reflection. Here we explore voting through the Relati...

Working through the stories that bring us down, that make it difficult to cope with adversity. Exploring three basic truths concerning how we deal with consequences, create meaning/purpose and learn to accept our feelings without having them be the only truth that matters.  References "Coddling of the American Mind" by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt. --------- Site for Humanity's Values , and t...

Looking at failure, it's inevitability in our lives and how you can accept, learn from and not define the whole of who you are by it. Will tie the nature of failure to last episode's discussion of behavior and go over six steps to working through the difficulty of failing. 

Ever wondered what behavior was all about? Here we explore Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) through the relational structure of Values - Narrative - Behavior. We'll be challenging the usual understanding of behavior for one that takes into consideration the nature of our predictive brains and our deep need to construct a reality that works for us and makes sense. 

Our desire for simple answers is funneled through the intrinsic psychology of having the stories of our lives be consistent. This consistency is always self-serving, in the sense of providing a feeling of 'being right,' of having perception prove the truth of our judgments. This whole process finds a troubling outlet in the medicalization of our inner worlds and the pathologizing of human behavior...

Anger is often maligned as "negative" and "destructive," looked at as morally suspect and commonly sought to be removed from the lives of those coming in for therapy. Exploring these stories, we can come to see anger as a tool for assessing what we Value and step back from behavior that only feels inevitable. You can flexibly respond to your stories in ways that show the best version of yourself.