Wellness in the Woods Podcast

In this episode, a Family Recovery Specialist shares insights on healing, rebuilding trust, and strengthening family relationships through life's challenges. Discover how resilience, connection, and hope can help families move forward and thrive.

Today we welcome Tim Reardon, a leadership development and organizational transformation expert. He details how he specializes in helping people and organizations build accountability, strengthen culture, achieve better results, and unlock human potential. Tim focuses on the intersection of leadership, equity, and personal transformation, helping leaders create meaningful change both within organi...

A conversation with Bill Houston about Harm Reduction.

Peer Support Specialist Dale Dow talks about his own path through recovery and how he supports others through their recovery.

A conversation about kids, safety and welfare, with Brian Andrews.

Karla Christiansen is an Adolescent Addiction Counselor. She is deeply committed to walking along side youth and families impacted by substance use and mental health challenges.

AnnaLynn joins us to discuss children's mental and emotional health in school. 

Destiny Tinnes, the Minnesota Suicidal Prevention Regional Coordinator joins us to discuss her role, and to remember your "WHY." Links to the resources discussed:   MN Suicide Prevention Trainer Network Regional Coordination SAMHSA 988 Helpline MDH  Region V+ Mental Health Initiative (Aitkin, Cass, Crow Wing, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena Counties) Additional resource for anyone in need: there is a M...

The pull of being approved. Seeking external validation can be momentarily rewarding, but ultimately it can be like a terrible addiction. Healthy self-esteem tends to be steady and allows for mistakes without collapsing into shame, and success without needing constant validation. Self-respect, Confidence, Acceptance, Resilience, Self-trust, giving yourself compassion.

Richard Huth tells us about his journal of survival and sobriety.

Turning Pain into Purpose is the lesson. Our teacher, and guest, is Janet "Awesome" Miller. She is a Peer Support Specialist at Keisler Wellness Center and a mother of three. She is active in local health and wellness.

A harrowing story of grief and the loss of children.

In part two of our expansive conversation with Bill Houston, we discuss emotional flack jackets, harm reduction, and cultural competency, and education.

A conversation with Bill Houston ranging from communication to compassion. Bill helps us understand compassion, patient advocacy, and Peer Recovery.

Nick and Raina discuss incarceration, Reentry and Substance Use Recovery with Justin McNeal, of Begin Anew.

Deanna Burke speaks eloquently and emotionally about her son and grief, and honors Jake's life with what we hope is truth and tenderness.

Rebecca discusses being the only woman in the troop, how this impacted her life in some hard ways and how she coped.

Join Raina, Bill and Nick for a discussion on the subject of the Self-Esteem Trap and related topics.  Validation from within, and seeking self-approval in spite of environmental pressures in a healthy, sustainable manner. Mental health, emotional wellness, lived experience, positive mental health, Minnesota.

A deep, meaningful conversation about substance abuse and recovery with advocate and community leader Randy Anderson of Bold North Recovery. Positive, Mental Health, Wellness Minnesota

Tausha joins Nick, Raina and Bill for a discussion of trauma as it pertains to immigration. 

A conversation about Dialectic Behavioral Therapy with Monica.

Monica joins us for a session where we discuss Dialectic Behavioral Therapy.

Raina Otoun takes us through the difficult path of sharing our stories without losing ourselves. It is personal and intentional. We are talking about how to share lived experiences in ways that are meaningful, professional, and yet emotionally safe as well.

Walking us through a different culture with compassion and clarity, we’re honored to have Michelle Berger joining us. She works for her tribal higher education department and is a student of Ojibwe Language and Federal Indian Policy. We discuss her culture, the clash of cultures, and how we can be allies, instead of enemies.

We dive into a topic that is important, eye-opening, and often misunderstood:Neurodiversity. Joining us is Sierra Grandy, she is a neurodiversity educator, disability rights advocate, mental health keynote speaker, attorney, and founder of Questify Your Life LLC – a Multimedia Storytelling Studio & Creative Guild. Sierra helps organizations build workplaces and communities where every mind has...