The Vegas Therapist - Ryan Wynder

In this episode I talk about what I discovered in a book called the Joy Reset by MaryCatherine McDonald. The Book talks about 3 areas that trauma tries to steal our joy: Fear Resistence, Joy Fear, & Joy Guilt and Shame. I lay the ground work for each of these areas and talk about how we can better receive joy in our lives. I provide some tools she gives in the book as well. I also give an upda...

In this session I will provide info on my personal experience with ketamine. This is my third session and maybe the most emotional and significant one in terms of healing and insight. As a precursor you may want to listen to Episode #24 if you have not already. It will provide some background to the things I experienced in this session. For this experience I had the "intention" to just b...

In this episode I explore the idea of harmony vs authenticity. Many times in our relationships we choose to have harmony over expressing our truth. In her book, Growing Yourself Up, Jenny Brown discusses how as we mature and grow in our relationships we should move towards truth and honesty over keeping harmony. Harmony often results in suppressing our truth or eroding our boundaries we may have s...

In this episode, I share my experience with my second time doing a Ketamine Therapy session. For reference I utilized many of the principles found with IFS Therapy. If you are not familiar with IFS I strongly suggest it, especially if you are interested in doing Ketamine. There is a great connecting aspect to IFS and Ketamine that is very beneficial to the process. My Goal for this session and the...

In this episode I reflect on my take aways from the year. The podcast journey was stunted in 2025 with only 4 episodes.. where do I go from here? Main topics - no limits, I found out this year more than ever, age is just a number. We can always be growing and getting better at whatever we put our mind to. Excited for the utilization of KAP (Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy) In my practice, I have a...

In this Episode I discuss the begginning of my Ketamine Journey. I will do this in two parts. I want to share my experience from my first dosing session and then follow that up with my experience of my second dosing session. In addition to discussing my experience in general with ketamine, I will discuss the benefits I have seen so far. I also provide information about the science behind ketamine...

In this Episode I discuss the benefits of Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. In addition to discussing the benefits of this treatment, I also have a special guest, who is coming on to discuss their experience with Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. Ketamine has been shown to accelerate the therapeutic process compared to traditional talk therapy. Some people have described it as taking “the express el...

The most powerful human need is to be seen and heard. We want to know that we matter. In this episode I explore the impact of not being seen or heard in our lives. The lack of having that type of acknowledgment in our life comes with a variety of consequences, including losing trust in our inclinations and our intuitive needs. I discuss a variety a ways that we try and compensate for this in our l...

Here you go! This is the latest installment of my marathon running adventures! What I learned from running my 4th Marathon in a calendar year. This one was my most successful marathon all time and I learned a lot about myself during this race and over all 4 races. Thank you to all my supporters through this last year of training, especially my running mates my son Maddux and my brother Justin. Mak...

In this episode I reflect on my recent turn in decades! Living the life of a 50 year old! I present some interesting facts about being 50 and what that may look like for how you want to live the rest of your life! In a timely manner I had a listener reach out who was contemplating her own life and purpose. The following questions were asked: What happens when we realize we have not been living the...

In this episode I look at concepts that were discussed in Jonathan Haidt's recent book The Anxious Generation. There is much to digest in this book and I am only looking at one part that I feel plays a major role in the development of our kids and the keys to their well-being, mental health, and overall competence. Our kids need to face challenges, obstacles, and have the opportunity for risky pla...

In this episode I tackle the topic of goal setting! There are a few key parts for a new way to set goals that I address in the episode. First, there are two types of motivation, "Want-to" and "Have-to" Motivation, the type you have will influence your overall success with achieving your goals! The main part of the episode is dedicated to having goals that are centered in our values. Goals that are...

In this episode I breakdown the life lessons I learned from running my 4th Marathon, second this year! Overall I go through 4 things I learned that are life lessons for everyone, not just runners. One of the main lessons gained from this race was the importance of purpose. Victor Frankl said, "Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose." Such an importa...

In this episode I tackle the dark side of meaning making. As humans we instinctively assign meaning to events or experiences we go through. Some of the info I draw from comes from Dr. Benjamin Hardy's book Personality Isn't Permanent. In the book he says "we can generate a premature cognitive commitment about ourselves" this cognitive commitment can be based on mistaken or misinf...

In this episode I give you the break down of what I learned from running my third marathon. This was to Utah Valley Marathon that started in Provo Canyon. The Race was a challenge to say the least! I wanted to share a few the things I learned and the takeaways for life. Things around preparation, expectations, embracing obstacles, setting goals and accountability, people, and one final lesson you...

This episode is a result of the thought I had while watching the documentary called Dynasty. It’s about the New England Patriots and in particular the focus on Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and how he came to be the Patriots quarterback. As Fate would have hit a huge hit on the starter at the time, Drew Bledsoe opened the door for Brady to get his opportunity! An opportunity he did not let go of an...

In this episode I tackle the topic of relationships. It’s Valentines Day so I assume everyone is thinking about their relationships and how they want them to improve! With 20 years of experience in the field and seeing thousands of couples I thought to myself, I should know what are essential components to a successful relationship. Sit back, take notes and enjoy my relationship essentials and see...

In this episode I break down the concept of mental load. It refers to the invisible burden that is associated with the effort involved in managing your work, relationships, family and household. This is typically associated with woman in a relationship. There are 4 parts to the mental load: anticipate, identify, decide, and monitor. Education and awareness are key to helping to alleviate the burde...

In this episode I update everyone on what I have been up to and what things have been going on in my life since the last episode. My focus is on the value of time. As we approach this new year how do we want to utilize our time for effectively. Time is the stuff life is made of and our use of it determines many things things in our life. I leave you with 3 questions - 1. What do you want to do wit...

In this episode Ryan dives into part 2 of 2. This episode will focus more on the Defense Mechanisms we use to keep us "safe" or to keep us feeling more hurt or pain in our lives. "Most of us do not reenact the experience of the trauma itself. Instead we act out the coping strategy (or defense mechanism) we evolved to deal with the trauma. Ryan will discuss a number of different defe...

In this episode Ryan breaks down the first of a two part episode. The focus for the first episode will be on Triggers. The word trigger itself has become a hot topic and according to MaryCatherine McDonald and her new book Unbroken, it has become a catchall for any occasion in which we have an emotion that is remotely unpleasant or unwanted. This misconception also leads to a misunderstanding of h...

Just in time for Father's Day! In this episode I sit down with David Frey, who is currently a marriage researcher and coach for men who want to be better husbands in their relationships. David himself has been married for 33 years to Ingrid Frey. They met as missionaries in Bolivia and started dating in college. They adopted two children at birth. Their names are Sterling, who is 26 and Alina,...

In this episode, I welcome in Kathy Moffat, who currently is a Relationship Coach. For this show though, she is hear to share her story about raising a child that has severe Mental Health issues. Kathy and I have been intertwined for 16 years now as we have worked together in helping her son. This was a very real and vulnerable conversation about the challenges that come with having a child that e...

I am honored to celebrate my 100th episode with my special guest MaryCatherine McDonald, PhD. She is the author of the book Unbroken: The Trauma Response is Never Wrong. MC (as she goes by), is a research professor and life coach who has been researching, lecturing, and publishing on the neuroscience, psychology, and lived experience of trauma since beginning her PhD in 2009. For more, visit alche...

In this episode I discuss the process of taking power back in our lives. There are a number of things in life that can take our power from us: trauma, people, and especially negative labels. When these things have taken us down and put us in a cage or we find ourselves feeling powerless or helpless to them, its time to take a stand and take our power back. In order to take back the reins we may ne...