Latest / Ambitious Podcast / EP.75: The Truth About High-Functioning Anxiety, Trauma, and Entrepreneurship | The Ambitious Podcast
Transcript
- 0:00Most people have unresolved trauma from their past that they
- 0:03haven't yet faced. They think that the way the
- 0:05average person lives, because they don't know any better, is a
- 0:09driving force that perpetuates anxiety and depression.
- 0:12Most people spend a lot of time scrolling, feeling inadequate,
- 0:15feeling like they're less than, feeling like they're a failure.
- 0:17They get caught up in the pattern of comparison, and then
- 0:19they wonder why they feel depressed.
- 0:21I don't even want to be on social media.
- 0:23I don't even want to be on my phone, but yet I'm constantly
- 0:26feeling pulled toward it. It's.
- 0:27So much easier to scroll social media that it is to sit in your
- 0:31own skin, to sit with your own thoughts, to have to look
- 0:34yourself in the mirror. Hello and welcome back to
- 0:37Ambitious. Today we are joined by an
- 0:40incredible guest, Stephanie. Stephanie is a speaker and a
- 0:43coach who helps people to navigate trauma, addiction,
- 0:46mental health with honesty, compassion, and lived
- 0:49experience. In this episode, Stephanie
- 0:51unpacks her experience with trauma and addiction and
- 0:54actually unpacking her journey around healing.
- 0:56We talk about how childhood trauma shapes your sense of self
- 1:00and also creates patterns within adulthood.
- 1:02We talk about why therapy is actually in itself not enough,
- 1:06and what actually helps people to truly feel safe again within
- 1:09their lives. We talked about the role of
- 1:11movement and embodiment and being able to process your
- 1:14trauma. How shame and suppression
- 1:16actually fuels cycles of addiction and disconnection.
- 1:20What does it mean to actually re parent yourself now that you're
- 1:23an adult? Why can healing feel boring?
- 1:26And why maybe for you, that's actually a good sign.
- 1:30The cost of hustle culture and how you're actually using this
- 1:33as a way to navigate unresolved trauma, as well as how you can
- 1:38help other people and yourself to feel less alone in your
- 1:41mental health journey. This entire episode is just
- 1:46filled. With Nuggets and 1 liners and
- 1:49phrases and mantras and information that is going to be
- 1:54insanely helpful for you if you are someone who's looking to
- 1:57better understand mental health, better understand trauma, and
- 2:01better understand what addiction actually looks like for
- 2:04potentially the everyday person within their life.
- 2:06So without further ado, let's get into today's episode.
- 2:17Hello you guys, and welcome back to Ambitious.
- 2:19I am very excited for today's episode because we are joined by
- 2:23the incredible Stephanie and we are going to be talking about
- 2:25all things mental health and unpacking all the layers
- 2:29underneath that. So, Stephanie, welcome to
- 2:31Ambitious. Thank you, I'm so grateful to be
- 2:34here. Yeah, I'm so excited to dive
- 2:36into this. And we were just, you know,
- 2:37saying, guys, before we press record how much of like a needed
- 2:41conversation this is because obviously many of us navigate,
- 2:45you know, resistance is when it comes to mental health.
- 2:47And I think we truthfully don't have enough people talking about
- 2:50it publicly or maybe as openly or candidly in a way that can
- 2:54help people. So Stephanie, I wanted to kind
- 2:56of see as a starting point, like mental health, it seems like is
- 3:01a growing conversation, which is incredible and obviously is the
- 3:04goal. But I think that that's also
- 3:06because mental health and the issues around people having
- 3:10struggling with mental health is also on the rise.
- 3:13So I'm curious when it comes to the resistances that people are
- 3:16experiencing of, you know, increased depression, increased
- 3:19anxiety, and we're seeing all these numbers skyrocket.
- 3:22What do you kind of attribute that to or where do you think
- 3:25that comes from? Yes, I love that we're having
- 3:27this conversation today truly due just because mental health,
- 3:30as you shared, is completely on the rise.
- 3:33And I really think it's because there's more conversation about
- 3:36it and there's access to media and social media where people
- 3:39are actually talking about these things, right?
- 3:41Whereas before maybe people were struggling behind closed doors
- 3:44and there wasn't so much foreignness in the world, but
- 3:46today there's this foreignness where we're more connected
- 3:48because of social media. So there's kind of like this
- 3:51highlighter on mental health and it's, it's so much more than
- 3:54just this buzzing word that we hear on the Internet.
- 3:56But I do believe that now more than ever, especially here the
- 3:59the American way, people are working 40 plus hours a week,
- 4:04people are struggling with sleep, people are living off of
- 4:07processed food, right? There's all these things that
- 4:09contribute to our mental health. And I think that the way the
- 4:12average person lives because they don't know any better is a
- 4:16driving force that perpetuates anxiety and depression.
- 4:20I think it's lifestyle, I think it's, I think it's stress, I
- 4:23think it's environment. It comes down to those things.
- 4:25And then of course, most people have unresolved trauma from
- 4:28their past that they haven't yet faced, and as a result it
- 4:32manifests as addiction or anxiety or depression.
- 4:36OK, So I would love to dive into that because I think, you know,
- 4:39obviously lifestyle's a huge factor.
- 4:41If you think about even the way that older generations had it,
- 4:45they were able to go to work, come home, put work away.
- 4:48They weren't thinking about it until the next day, had dinner
- 4:51with their family all sitting at the same table.
- 4:53And now we're relying on things like, you know, you know, Uber
- 4:56Eats quickly on the go and drive throughs because you have no
- 4:59time to do anything on top of work, raising a family and all
- 5:03these pieces. So when it comes to lifestyle,
- 5:07what are some of the core elements that you see with even
- 5:10the clients that you work with in your practice and you know,
- 5:12in your profession? What are some of the lifestyle
- 5:16factors that people might be able to kind of check in on or
- 5:18self identify with that might be maybe like an underlying culprit
- 5:22of something that's aggravating and and kind of inflating their
- 5:26mental health right now? The biggest thing that we see as
- 5:29a contributing factor is being plugged into the phone around
- 5:33the clock because people are sitting at the family dinner
- 5:36table trying to enjoy dinner and the phone is beeping and then
- 5:39they're stopping in the middle of that moment to clear their
- 5:41notifications to respond to that e-mail, right?
- 5:44And so that in itself perpetuates anxiety and stress
- 5:48and maybe even fear creates this dysregulation because you're
- 5:50constantly being pulled by something.
- 5:53And then also social media, we know people post everything that
- 5:56they want you to see. And as a result, most people
- 5:59spend a lot of time scrolling, feeling inadequate, feeling like
- 6:02they're less than, feeling like they're a failure.
- 6:04They get caught up in the pattern of comparison, and then
- 6:06they wonder why they feel depressed.
- 6:08And So what we have found is that if people can have healthy
- 6:11boundaries around their access to social media and technology
- 6:15as a whole, that in itself can help reduce some of the levels
- 6:18of anxiety and depression that one faces.
- 6:21Obviously, there's a bunch of other things that you must
- 6:23incorporate into your day-to-day to become a well-rounded person
- 6:26who is experiencing optimal well-being, but that's one easy
- 6:30fix that a person can take to really see a reduction in some
- 6:33of the things that they're struggling with.
- 6:35It does seem so, and it sounds silly to say, but it does seem
- 6:38so hard to do though to be able to put the phone away right?
- 6:42And it like, I wonder, is it because of the, the dopamine hit
- 6:46that we get, right? We, we hear this term of, of the
- 6:48doom scroll in the sense of like, I don't even want to be on
- 6:51social media. I don't even want to be on my
- 6:53phone, but yet I'm constantly feeling pulled toward it.
- 6:57And I'm curious for you, like, what do you think that that's
- 7:00attributed to? Why do we feel even when we
- 7:02consciously don't want to be on our phone, why are we still
- 7:05feeling this pull to somehow always be on it?
- 7:08You nailed it. It's the dopamine, right?
- 7:09So every time you go on your phone and you see those
- 7:12notifications, someone liked your post, someone left a
- 7:14comment, there's that little release of dopamine and it's
- 7:17that reward. It feels good to see that.
- 7:20And so naturally, this is a much deeper conversation, but people
- 7:23actually get addicted to the release of the chemicals that
- 7:26are happening in the brain and the body.
- 7:27And so automatically we're drawn to it, no different than we are
- 7:31drawn to certain foods that we know aren't good for us or those
- 7:33who struggle with other forms of addiction, right?
- 7:36Most people will say I don't want to drink anymore, but
- 7:39there's relief when I drink, right?
- 7:41So they do it just as I don't want to spend, you know,
- 7:45literally an hour and a half plus on social media.
- 7:47Some people are spending 35 hours on social media every day.
- 7:50But there's that constant draw to it because of the release
- 7:53that happened. So I think that there's truly an
- 7:56addiction that's taking. Place and I'm wondering and I'm
- 8:01not sure even for my own education, is there an aspect of
- 8:04similar into your point? Cuz I know obviously you do a
- 8:07lot of addiction work and are extremely educated in it, in
- 8:10being able to step away from social.
- 8:12Does that mean that it also potentially kind of gives us in
- 8:15some way shape or form a taste of like truthfully like
- 8:18withdrawal in the sense of like we're getting this dopamine from
- 8:20social. And so when we step back from
- 8:22it, we're feeling this, you know, anxiety, fear, discomfort,
- 8:27basically around wanting to go back to it to kind of feel back
- 8:31to, to baseline again. 100% And I also think that most people
- 8:35are relying on social media without even realizing that it's
- 8:40filling a void that they have within themselves.
- 8:43It's distracting them from having to face themselves.
- 8:46And it's so much easier to scroll social media that it is
- 8:49to sit in your own skin, to sit with your own thoughts, to have
- 8:53to look yourself in the mirror, so to speak, right?
- 8:55Because then you have to face yourself.
- 8:57And that requires a level of accountability and willingness
- 9:00and vulnerability that most people fear taking.
- 9:03And so I think that social media is a perfect way for people to
- 9:06put a Band-Aid on whatever it is that they're really avoiding.
- 9:10Now, yes, of course, in some cases, social media can be used
- 9:12for inspiration and things like that.
- 9:14I'm not saying all people on social media are filling a void.
- 9:17But I do think that there is this subconscious thing that
- 9:20happens that it's just this easy way to scroll and next thing you
- 9:24know, hours go by and you don't have to face the thing that you
- 9:27wanted to face. And maybe facing the one thing
- 9:29is like finally applying to college, picking up the phone
- 9:32and calling somebody, you know, maybe it's not this this big
- 9:35trauma, but maybe it's just keeping you in the pattern of
- 9:37procrastination from pursuing the things that you want to
- 9:39pursue in life, which is something subconscious.
- 9:42Right. And I'm wondering that practice
- 9:45of avoidance, whatever that thing is, it could be the
- 9:47avoidance of doing the laundry. It could be the avoidance of, of
- 9:50doing, as you said, like applying for school, whatever
- 9:52that thing may be. How does that type of practice
- 9:55of avoidance kind of contribute or potentially play a role
- 9:59within things like depression or anxiety?
- 10:01Because sometimes even for myself, I've felt when I've been
- 10:05at low periods that I'd be on social media and I would leave
- 10:08it feeling worse. Like you would go thinking, I'm
- 10:11going to go scroll my phone to feel something that's, you know,
- 10:13scroll, as you said, something inspirational or something
- 10:16that's motivational. But then as soon as you put the
- 10:18phone down, you kind of feel like this low point, like you
- 10:21wouldn't necessarily feel charged after consuming it.
- 10:24So I'm wondering, is there also a tie in your opinion?
- 10:27Or do you think that there's a connection between the
- 10:30consumption that's potentially making someone who might have a
- 10:33baseline of any kind of level of depression or anxiety even
- 10:37potentially worse? Absolutely.
- 10:39I mean, just being on the screen, just the screen aspect
- 10:42and the light, that in itself we know isn't good for the brain
- 10:46long term, right? Like, it's one thing to check
- 10:48that e-mail and respond or to do a quick Instagram scroll, but to
- 10:52be on it scrolling and scrolling and scrolling, it's gonna
- 10:55naturally lower your mood. And also, again, I think that we
- 10:59are receiving information literally all day.
- 11:02You can't get through the day without receiving information,
- 11:05whether it's your phone's ringing and you pick up the
- 11:06call, you're standing in the checkout line at the grocery
- 11:09store and there's magazines with titles everywhere.
- 11:12You're on social media, you're at work.
- 11:13Like there's constant information.
- 11:15And so the way I look at it is imagine if your body almost is
- 11:19like this can and stuff is being shoved in it all day.
- 11:22If we don't intentionally pause to empty the can to Createspace,
- 11:27then naturally it's going to spill over.
- 11:30It's going to feel really heavy, right?
- 11:32And then imagine if you're like, actually walking through life
- 11:35carrying a can that hasn't been emptied.
- 11:38Like, at what point are you going to be like, I need to
- 11:39empty this can? Like this is hard.
- 11:41Yeah, right. So the same is true for our
- 11:44brain and body. We have to create that pause,
- 11:46that space and take care of ourselves.
- 11:48That self-care aspect is so so. Important so for someone who's
- 11:52listening and they think OK like I feel like I have the mindset,
- 11:55I have the perspective of I'd like to be on my phone less but
- 11:59yet I find myself time and time again being on it non-stop.
- 12:03Any recommendations or maybe insights as to maybe why even
- 12:07though they have the intention, they're not doing it?
- 12:11Well, I think that we stay in what we know.
- 12:13We're very habitual, you know, we're very habitual.
- 12:17And so when something has been familiar to us, we naturally
- 12:20stay in it because now it's a habit.
- 12:22It's happening automatically. Most people, myself included,
- 12:26all end up on Instagram. And I'm like, how did I even
- 12:28just have on Instagram like I was?
- 12:30Just a rabbit hole. Hauled into the kitchen, like
- 12:33why am I on Instagram, right? So in other words, it's
- 12:37happening automatically. I think that if we really want
- 12:40to create change in our life on social media, outside of social
- 12:43media, it doesn't matter what area of your life, it requires a
- 12:46certain level of awareness, which means you must be paying
- 12:49attention moment to moment. And when you find yourself going
- 12:53to do that very thing you don't want to do, you have to stop and
- 12:56correct yourself in the moment, right?
- 12:59So for example, let's say you want to spend less time on
- 13:01social media and you are walking from the hallway to the kitchen
- 13:05and you find yourself automatically going on it.
- 13:07The moment you become aware that you're on social media, stop,
- 13:11don't continue scrolling. Correct the behavior in the
- 13:14moment because that's how you're going to correct that new way of
- 13:16being or create that new way of being, right?
- 13:20You can't keep doing the same thing and then at the end of the
- 13:22day, being like, oh, I wish I had this new way of being.
- 13:25Change has to happen in the moment you're doing the thing
- 13:27that you want to change. Does that make sense?
- 13:30Yep, TuneIn notice it name the fact like OK I'm on my Instagram
- 13:34great. And then move and take action
- 13:36immediately. OK, you mentioned something
- 13:38earlier, which I'm really excited to dive into cuz I like
- 13:41had like Ding Ding, Ding in my head as you said it, which was
- 13:43sometimes we're on and we're distracting with things, whether
- 13:45it's social media, something else in our lives, because we're
- 13:48really avoiding doing some level of work.
- 13:51Now that obviously can be something small like as I said,
- 13:54doing a laundry or applying for school or a small task that
- 13:57you're avoiding. But for me, when you said that,
- 13:59I instantly went to something deeper, which was avoiding
- 14:03something that I know is brewing inside of me, I thought I'm
- 14:06having a fear, I'm having something I'm ruminating on or
- 14:09potentially a trauma in the sense of something that's, you
- 14:12know, occur that's happened in your life.
- 14:14And it's interesting because, you know, for me, for business,
- 14:17we've hosted retreats and the retreats are kind of half
- 14:20personal development and half business oriented.
- 14:22But it was really interesting because when we put people in a
- 14:26space and kind of create and set a container where there wasn't
- 14:29distractions and they had to just be with themselves in the
- 14:32sense of in silence or just around other people, but not
- 14:35constantly distracted or stimulated.
- 14:38That alone with no prompt brought up a lot for a lot of
- 14:42people because they had never been in a setting or in an
- 14:46environment where they weren't stimulated and distracted.
- 14:50And so I'm curious for you, when you kind of nodded obviously to
- 14:53the fact that sometimes people are avoiding being in tune with
- 14:57themselves, what might be some areas that someone could be
- 15:01avoiding if they're not comfortable really sitting in
- 15:04that lack of stimulation? Yeah, well, this to me, this
- 15:08question brings me right away to a trauma response of, of fight,
- 15:12flight, freeze and fawn. And so someone who has
- 15:15unresolved trauma in their life, understanding trauma is not
- 15:19always what happened to us. Sometimes it's what didn't
- 15:22happen for us. And it's the narrative that one
- 15:26has, right, the perception that one has as a result of what
- 15:29happened or what didn't happen. So I want to start by clarifying
- 15:32what trauma is, right? Because like I think sometimes,
- 15:34as you said before we hit record, people think trauma has
- 15:37to be this huge injury or this huge event.
- 15:41And we discount our emotional needs.
- 15:43And when our emotional needs haven't been met, whether as a
- 15:46child, an adolescent, an infant, or even as an adult, it creates
- 15:50trauma because we start to develop this narrative that I'm
- 15:52not good enough, my needs aren't important, so on and so forth.
- 15:55And so naturally we will fall into a trauma response.
- 16:00It's it's an automatic thing that happens.
- 16:02And so someone who has unmet needs and unresolved trauma,
- 16:06they likely have a freeze response, or they could have a
- 16:09freeze response. And what that means is someone
- 16:12in a freeze response will struggle with decision making.
- 16:15They'll be stuck in the patterns of procrastination.
- 16:18They will spend countless hours on social media, they will binge
- 16:22watch TV. They will avoid doing the
- 16:23laundry. They will struggle with the
- 16:26simple task. It's not because they don't want
- 16:28to do these things. In fact, they want to do these
- 16:30things, but their body won't allow them to.
- 16:32It's almost as if they're they're stuck energetically,
- 16:35right? And so I think that that's
- 16:37really what blocks people is that there's something happening
- 16:40in the brain and the body almost like it's created a traffic jam
- 16:43and now we can't get around it to do the things that we want to
- 16:46do or do the things that we need to do or that we desire to do.
- 16:49So we have to identify what are those things and then process
- 16:53through that, work through them so that we can take that first
- 16:56step and follow through. OK.
- 16:59So that's the the freeze. What do we see when it comes to
- 17:02behavior that you typically see around the flight aspect?
- 17:06Flight is flea run, right? So avoid typically a person in a
- 17:09flight response. This might be the person who
- 17:11goes, goes, goes, works, works, works.
- 17:13Never ever slows down. It's like we're laying in bed
- 17:17and we're still checking e-mail. It's like slow it out, you know,
- 17:21like give it. AI was like, I feel a little
- 17:23triggered right now. I think that there's some of
- 17:25those. Identify with me, yeah.
- 17:27Oh my goodness, I'm speaking totally to myself, which is why
- 17:30it's so easy for me to talk about this because I've lived
- 17:32it, you know, this was once me in so many ways.
- 17:35But flight is really about avoiding.
- 17:37It's so much easier to stay constantly busy than it is to be
- 17:42still because being still brings up stuff, whether like, just
- 17:47like you said, thoughts, emotions, fears, realities,
- 17:50insecurities, whatever it might be.
- 17:52So that person would rather just go, go, go, then have to take
- 17:56the chance of sitting with themselves.
- 17:57It's not safe. It doesn't feel safe to sit with
- 18:00stuff. I definitely resonate with that
- 18:03for sure because I think that there was a point even where
- 18:06people in my circle, I had kind of put it over the cloak of
- 18:09like, I'm just being productive and I do more than most people
- 18:13and I'm a high performer. And like all of these labels
- 18:16that would allow me, frankly, if I'm being direct to hide in it.
- 18:20And so this past year I had left like a, an engagement in an 8
- 18:24year relationship. And so it was interesting when
- 18:27it happened, I immediately drove into work and I was OK, great,
- 18:32go, go, go. And it was just like, I got
- 18:33stuff to get done. And so many people around me,
- 18:36even someone who I, I have as a peer, who's a trauma informed
- 18:39coach who works with people in trauma day in day out, was like,
- 18:42Hey, this what you think is high performer, being productive, Go
- 18:47go, go high achiever, quote UN quote ambitious is not what you
- 18:50think it is. You're really hiding.
- 18:52And I, I'm, I think we need to take some space to have a moment
- 18:55of just complete stillness in the sense of like tuning into
- 18:58yourself in whatever way feels to your point, safe, because if
- 19:03you don't, it's really just delaying the inevitable.
- 19:06It's, it's coming. That feeling that you're going
- 19:08to experience is going to happen.
- 19:09It's just more a matter of when. And so to to your point of
- 19:13feeling safe, that was exactly how I felt.
- 19:16I didn't know when I would cry or when I would have this very
- 19:21intense almost to be on a scary level of emotion come up.
- 19:25I didn't know or feel that I was in a space to be able to process
- 19:29it. I was like, what am I supposed
- 19:30to do with this overwhelming, extremely uncomfortable,
- 19:32terrifying feels like I don't feel comfortable with my own
- 19:36skin feeling. It was so overwhelming that only
- 19:39when I worked did that really push that all away.
- 19:43And so to your point of feeling safe, because I know obviously
- 19:46people talk a lot about I don't feel safe to process.
- 19:48I don't feel safe to feel when you when you say people don't
- 19:52feel safe, what are some things someone might feel that kind of
- 19:55are a sign that they may not feel safe to feel?
- 19:58Yeah, I think it's when someone finds themselves avoiding, right
- 20:02by being on the go, numbing, using sex, drugs, gambling,
- 20:07porn, shopping, social media, food, right.
- 20:10To not have to feel that would be a sign that someone doesn't
- 20:13feel safe. They have developed an unhealthy
- 20:15way of coping. That coping makes sense, but it
- 20:17is unhealthy and it can become problematic down the road.
- 20:20I think that if people find themselves constantly in
- 20:22relationships, so avoiding being alone because you're in one
- 20:25relationship to the next. Or if you're that person who
- 20:29again, you're always on the go, even down to like you're sitting
- 20:32on the couch, but you're let me text somebody.
- 20:35You can't even just sit there and watch TV.
- 20:36Let me just text or let me, this is a good time to FaceTime
- 20:38someone. It's like, but is it really a
- 20:40good time to face someone, or are you just keeping yourself so
- 20:43busy because you don't know how to just be still?
- 20:46Yeah. You feel attacked.
- 20:47You said the multitasker, The multitasker that is
- 20:50multitasking. And you're like, are you or are
- 20:53you just not being present? Yeah, right.
- 20:55Or are you not being present? And for most of us, if we're
- 20:57honest with each other, it's that we're not being present.
- 21:01And I think it's because we've never learned what it means to
- 21:04be present. No one ever taught us that.
- 21:06The only time we have is now. No one.
- 21:10We have been so conditioned to think about the future, worry
- 21:14about the future, plan for the future.
- 21:16And we've witnessed people in our lives, sometimes our own,
- 21:19our parents, our caregivers, our siblings, our closest people
- 21:22have modeled to us that they're still talking about what
- 21:25happened in the past. And so as a result, we have
- 21:28lived with one foot and yesterday and 1 foot and
- 21:30tomorrow, robbing ourselves with the only time we have.
- 21:33And then we wonder why we don't feel safe.
- 21:36Well, how can we feel safe if we're reliving the painful
- 21:38memories of yesterday and worrying about the worst
- 21:42possible thing that could happen that hasn't actually happened
- 21:44yet? Yeah, and then we're.
- 21:46Like, I don't feel together now. Yeah, right.
- 21:49Yeah. But what I have learned, and I
- 21:51have overcome so much and I'm still overcoming so much of my
- 21:54own trauma. What I have learned is that when
- 21:57I can safely guide myself back to where my feet are and notice
- 22:02what is happening around me, the true environment that I'm in
- 22:06right now, right, and be aware with all of my senses, what do I
- 22:09see, what do I hear, what do I taste, what do I feel, right,
- 22:13then I can feel safe. Little by little, I can find
- 22:16safety because my environment is actually safe, right?
- 22:20So unless you're actually in a situation that is not safe, it
- 22:23doesn't make sense not to feel safe.
- 22:25But our body doesn't know the difference between that past
- 22:28trauma and now. We have to teach our body that
- 22:31we are safe now. And in that, I'm curious, how
- 22:35does the trauma network come into this in the sense of, you
- 22:39know, I, I had somebody who was very close to me who experienced
- 22:42A trauma when they were younger and something like a smell
- 22:46instantly activated all of the emotions of that trauma that
- 22:51they had experienced and the context of the trauma.
- 22:54To your point earlier, and I think it's important as I really
- 22:56just want to reiterate it for everybody with this was not a A1
- 23:00time catastrophic event. Like I think so many people
- 23:03think of trauma to be something like going to war or for
- 23:06example, a intense assault that happens to somebody that's it's
- 23:10this one critical event that everything is stemmed to.
- 23:13But this was really a childhood parent dynamic that has just
- 23:17forever sat with this individual.
- 23:19So I'm curious, like for them, when they were trying to kind of
- 23:24again, process and go through things that this came up when it
- 23:27comes to the trauma network, it got activated in them.
- 23:30Can you maybe explain what the trauma network is for anyone
- 23:32who's not familiar? And then also, how does the
- 23:34trauma network potentially play a role in US continuing to
- 23:38experience trauma even as we go on and we live our lives?
- 23:41Sure. So a very simple way for
- 23:43everyone to understand this is imagine every single experience
- 23:46that you live, good, bad or indifferent.
- 23:49It doesn't matter what the experience is, it creates
- 23:52emotion. Every experience creates
- 23:54emotion. Emotion is nothing more than
- 23:56information and that information lives in the body.
- 24:00It's stored in the body. And so maybe you are struggling
- 24:05with constant headaches. Maybe you are the person you
- 24:07constantly has tension in your your shoulders, your lower back,
- 24:10your hips. That's old information that's
- 24:13stuck in the body from some memory, right?
- 24:17And So what happens is the brain makes these associations and
- 24:21that information stays there. And so to your point, let's say
- 24:24someone had a traumatic memory at 9 years of age and now Fast
- 24:28forward and they're 25 or 35 and one thing happens and all of a
- 24:32sudden they can smell what happened at 9.
- 24:36It could have even been, let's use this as an example.
- 24:39A candle spilt over and their mom yelled at them.
- 24:43We got in trouble because they possibly almost started a fire
- 24:45or wax ruined the carpet, right? And now they're 35 years old and
- 24:50what happens? A candle tips over.
- 24:52They're not really freaking out of the candle that tipped over
- 24:55in this moment. Their body brings them way back
- 24:58to that 9 year old episode, right?
- 25:01Because of that, the association that exists.
- 25:04And so I think that it's really important for people to have the
- 25:07awareness that every single memory lives in your body.
- 25:10Trauma is literally stored in your body.
- 25:13And so again, our job is to have that awareness to know what are
- 25:17the facts of the actual moment you're in right now, right?
- 25:22Are they actually happening now? Is it reality now?
- 25:26Or when something triggers you and you're activated, is it
- 25:29bringing up that old stuff? But you have to be paying
- 25:32attention to identify is this new stuff or is this old stuff
- 25:38right. And what are some of those
- 25:39feelings that someone feels in that moment?
- 25:41Like if you if you're at work because you obviously you do
- 25:43trauma work. And if someone is feeling like
- 25:45they're trying to create a connection between, OK, is what
- 25:48I'm feeling in this moment part of something totally different?
- 25:51Or is this connected to a trauma?
- 25:53What are some of the awarenesses that someone could tune into?
- 25:57To the point of your candle example, if someone has the
- 26:00situation and maybe they haven't connected the dots yet, how does
- 26:03someone connect the dots of their current behavior to
- 26:07something that traces back to potentially a trauma?
- 26:10Yeah, so a simple technique. We use this all the time.
- 26:12I use it in my own life. We use it with clients.
- 26:15It's very effective. When you find yourself feeling
- 26:17triggered or activated emotionally, if something were
- 26:20to happen now, pause and ask 5 what's what is coming up in me?
- 26:26Answer it and then keep peeling the layers asking what five
- 26:30times? Usually when you ask what five
- 26:32times, it'll guide the person to the core of what's really
- 26:35happening for them. More often than not, when we are
- 26:38emotionally activated, it usually really has nothing to do
- 26:42with happening, what's happening now.
- 26:43Sometimes it does, but it's usually bringing us back to a
- 26:46past memory that has not yet been processor or resolved.
- 26:51And so ask yourself the five what's just what's coming up in
- 26:54me? Answer.
- 26:54Then ask that again. What?
- 26:56What is that about? Answer it.
- 26:58Ask what again. Keep doing that five times and
- 27:01it'll usually guide you to what's really happening in that
- 27:03moment for you. Got it.
- 27:05OK. And so I'm thinking for someone
- 27:07listening to this, they're probably thinking, OK, well, if
- 27:10I maybe I'm someone who knows that I've experienced some
- 27:13trauma when I was younger or have experienced some trauma of
- 27:16different types of flavors in my life.
- 27:18Obviously the goal for most people would not wait till a
- 27:21moment when they're triggered, of course, to have to feel that
- 27:23that's the moment we're going to deal with the trauma.
- 27:25So I'm curious in a preventative nature, in the work that you do,
- 27:29where does someone even start with trying to decide?
- 27:33I want to better understand how trauma is impacting my life
- 27:36because I think there's a lot of people who go about the
- 27:39day-to-day who maybe, again, have no correlation or belief
- 27:42maybe that these two things are interconnected.
- 27:45And so them lacking motivation today, they don't correlate to,
- 27:50again, a trauma response. If they are having a certain
- 27:54behavior that might be a little bit addictive to your point of
- 27:56whether it's a substance, it could be sex, it could be
- 27:59anything. They're not attributing that to
- 28:01anything. Trauma.
- 28:03If someone knows that maybe they've had some traumatic
- 28:05events, but they currently are not in a place where they see
- 28:08the connection, what are some things that could kind of help
- 28:11someone to understand the role that may be past trauma is
- 28:15playing in their current life? I think that education, I think
- 28:20that taking the time to listen to podcasts, read self help
- 28:23books, right? Gain as much awareness as you
- 28:26possibly can around the topic of healing and, and self discovery
- 28:30and and recovery. You don't have to go overboard,
- 28:32but I think having the education is super important because
- 28:35again, a lot of people, as you said, they have no idea that now
- 28:39is connected to that, right? People don't know that.
- 28:42So I think that gaining awareness and educating
- 28:44yourself, a lot of times that in itself will create those aha
- 28:46moments. I know for me, that's how my
- 28:49whole journey started. I read a book and I was like, Oh
- 28:51my goodness, like this makes sense.
- 28:53I read Untethered Soul by Michael Singer and it literally
- 28:56sparked something in me realm like I have trauma and I had no
- 28:59idea that that's what I thought I was.
- 29:01This is just the cards. I was out.
- 29:03This is just who I am. I'm doomed.
- 29:04This is just what it is, right? So I think that informing
- 29:07yourself, being informed is very important.
- 29:10And then also you could do some type of exercise where you write
- 29:14down what are 5 patterns that you have that are getting in
- 29:19your way. Is it perfectionism?
- 29:20Is it procrastination? Do you get defensive?
- 29:23Get that stuff down on paper and then get curious about those
- 29:27patterns. Start to explore like where did
- 29:29this come from? Where did I learn perfectionism?
- 29:32From where did I learn manipulation, right?
- 29:35How is it serving me? Oh, when I manipulate I feel in
- 29:39control. Interesting, right?
- 29:41Be curious about that. Oh, when I strive for
- 29:44perfectionism and I come across as the A player in all areas of
- 29:48my life, people are high fiving me and suddenly I feel worthy.
- 29:51Oh that's interesting too. So your worth is attached to
- 29:55outside validation, right? Like start to peel the onion
- 29:59that makes up who you are and be very curious about what makes up
- 30:05who you are. Does that make sense?
- 30:07Well, I think that that question, yeah, 100%.
- 30:09And I think that that question of like how is it serving you
- 30:11was an interesting one. It was posed to me because we
- 30:14were talking about problematic or like non supportive
- 30:17behaviors. And I remember when we were in
- 30:19like a circle of entrepreneurs, we were talking about trauma
- 30:22with someone who was a trauma coach.
- 30:23And they were talking about, well, how is this serving you?
- 30:26And I remember the circle originally being like, well,
- 30:27it's not serving me, it's a bad behavior.
- 30:29And they had started to unpack the fact that you will not
- 30:33continue any behavior or belief system or pattern to your point,
- 30:37unless at a deeper level in some way, shape or form, it is
- 30:40currently serving you. So I'm curious if you could
- 30:43unpack that because I know many people think, well, if I'm, you
- 30:47know, say addicted to something in a certain area or I'm
- 30:50behaving in a certain way, I'm being defensive or I'm, you
- 30:53know, wanting to go for perfect. Like, of course, it's not
- 30:56serving me, it's hindering me in these different ways.
- 30:59But I'm curious how you might guide someone to see, or maybe
- 31:03you could give examples of the ways that even something that is
- 31:07technically on the outside considering hindering us
- 31:10actually always has this underlying level of supporting
- 31:14you or serving you in some way, otherwise you wouldn't be
- 31:17maintaining it. Yes, I love that you're asking
- 31:20this because it's so, so powerful.
- 31:22Just as you said, most people are like, of course this isn't
- 31:25serving me, but it's like, but you wouldn't do it if it wasn't
- 31:27serving you, right? So I'm actually going to speak
- 31:29about myself here because I think that it's most of us have
- 31:32been here if we're honest with each other.
- 31:35For me, I am recovering from a perfectionist pattern.
- 31:38I once had really bad OCD and it manifested as severe
- 31:42perfectionism that really crippled me in most areas of my
- 31:45life because I was over performing, over functioning to
- 31:48degrees that exhausted me. And I just thought, this is who
- 31:51I am, right? And it wasn't until an amazing
- 31:54mentor and therapist I realized that every time I show up and I
- 31:58give 150% and people are acknowledging how good I am and
- 32:03I'm getting high fived and I'm getting fist pumped and people
- 32:05are talking about man Stephanie crushes it every single time.
- 32:08I realized that that made me feel really good.
- 32:12I felt really good. And then I had to get curious
- 32:14about that. Why do I feel really good?
- 32:16Oh, because I actually believe I'm not good enough.
- 32:19I actually had a very deep rooted subconscious belief that
- 32:22I'm not good enough, I'm inadequate, I'm unworthy.
- 32:26And so every time I performed and I would crush it and people
- 32:29would acknowledge how good I was at something, suddenly it made
- 32:33me feel what? Good enough?
- 32:34Adequate and worthy. So that pattern made sense.
- 32:39Even though I could tell you this is exhausting me.
- 32:41My comp is beyond empty. My stress is through the roof.
- 32:46I feel so dysregulated. I look in the mirror, I don't
- 32:48like what I see. I'm not comfortable in my own
- 32:51skin. But what would happen?
- 32:53I'd wake up, I'd get to that plate.
- 32:55I'd swing, I'd hit out of the park just because I was being
- 32:58validated. And so that behavior, although I
- 33:01knew it was exhausting me, it was also serving me.
- 33:03Why did it serve me? Well?
- 33:05It served me because I was gaining the validation that I
- 33:07was unable to give myself, right?
- 33:11That's just one example, but it's no different than people
- 33:14who, let's say you're the person who you're easily triggered and
- 33:17you don't accept feedback well and you get defensive.
- 33:20You have to ask yourself, what's causing you to get defensive?
- 33:24Is there some deep rooted belief or do you have a fear of
- 33:28rejection? Like there's something deeper in
- 33:31there, but we have to be willing to dive deep, like really deep
- 33:35to find it because our life experiences block us.
- 33:39We get so guarded. Most of us are so pegged because
- 33:42we don't want to experience pain or suffering in any way, right?
- 33:47But we have learned certain responses and every single
- 33:51response and every single behavior makes sense.
- 33:53But we have to understand the origin in which we learned it
- 33:57and how it's protecting us in some way, because all behaviors
- 34:00that can be perceived as unhealthy, they're protecting
- 34:04us. They're keeping us feeling safe
- 34:05in some way. Well, you mentioned the aspect
- 34:08there of of trigger and I'm curious with a trigger that
- 34:13comes up. So again, someone being
- 34:14defensive or someone, you know, for example, struggling with
- 34:17perfectionism or maybe being overanalyzing or constantly
- 34:20future planning and trying to control control.
- 34:23In your opinion, do you think there's ever an aspect of that
- 34:26that is just a why, you know, for example, really care about
- 34:29this project that I'm working on and it's not connected to
- 34:31anything deeper? Or in your opinion, do you think
- 34:34a lot of what our triggers are kind of become our map for
- 34:37ourselves in the sense of that really is like the insight into
- 34:40deeper things that are always going on?
- 34:42Is there always a deeper level in your opinion?
- 34:44And it can't kind of just be chalked up to, hey, I'm just, I
- 34:48really care about this project. No, I, I do think that there
- 34:51could be moments where it's like, no, I'm just very
- 34:53passionate about this project and I'm working hard because I
- 34:56just want to smash it because it means so much to me.
- 34:59I think that that's possible. I do, I think that we have to
- 35:04get to a very honest level with ourselves to know what's the
- 35:07motive behind what we're doing. Like, are you really working
- 35:11that hard? Because it truly is a passion
- 35:13project and it means so much to you and the meaning is like
- 35:16authentic and genuine. If so, that's incredible.
- 35:19It's incredible. But are you doing something
- 35:21because you're going to gain some validation or it's you're
- 35:24avoiding something like what's the why behind what you're
- 35:27doing? I think that's very important to
- 35:28ask. OK.
- 35:31That makes sense to me because I'm thinking, you know, even for
- 35:34people in business to make this contextual for everybody, I
- 35:37think there's a lot of things that we, even when someone says
- 35:40to me, you know, I want to make a certain amount of money in
- 35:41business, first question I ask is why?
- 35:43And that's often because the the underlying aspect of it when we
- 35:46dove in with one client was the fact that it had everything to
- 35:49do with her family money Story about how, you know, you were
- 35:52considered successful only when you made certain amounts of
- 35:56money. And if you didn't achieve that,
- 35:58you weren't considered worthy until you had done it.
- 36:00So she didn't actually care about this number.
- 36:03It was only because if you achieved this then you were
- 36:07considered and her family to be quote UN quote like acceptable
- 36:09or worthy. Wow.
- 36:11Interesting. Yeah.
- 36:12So that's something deeper, right?
- 36:13Yeah. I'm taking a second out of
- 36:15today's episode to tell you what something really exciting and it
- 36:18is happening right now. If you are someone who is
- 36:21interested in getting scaling support with your business, if
- 36:24you know that you've been able to get some consistency, you've
- 36:26been able to get some sales happening in your business, but
- 36:29you also know that you have on top potential.
- 36:31You know that you are the person who's been taking notes on the
- 36:34different frameworks on this podcast that you're listening to
- 36:36each episode, tuning into the different strategies you need.
- 36:39That is an incredible thing to be doing, but it also is very
- 36:43different to consume information versus to integrate that
- 36:46information. And that is exactly what we do
- 36:48with these types of frameworks that we teach here and we help
- 36:50you to integrate those in a custom way in your business.
- 36:53Right now, our ITI Accelerator Mastermind doors are open.
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- 36:59And I want to make sure that you as the person diving into all of
- 37:03the strategy are not someone to miss this.
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- 37:08want to potentially 2345 extra business in the next 6 to 12
- 37:12months, this is your invitation to do so.
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- 37:18to help you to do that. It is a combination of all the
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- 37:28coaching, which helps you customize that and integrate it.
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- 37:51Step toward that potential that you know you have.
- 37:54So without further ado, let's get back into today's episode.
- 37:57And so I'm, I'm curious because obviously, you know, we talked
- 38:00very briefly about mental health and obviously the rise of how
- 38:03much this is impacting everybody.
- 38:06And I'm curious, how does, for example, an emotional response
- 38:11versus a mental health condition?
- 38:12What are the kind of two, how do they differ?
- 38:15Because I'm thinking in moments where someone, to your point,
- 38:19might just have a moment where they really care about
- 38:22something, you're having a heavy, intense emotional
- 38:24response. Is that different than having,
- 38:27for example, like you're having an anxious moment versus you
- 38:29have anxiety or you're having a sad episode versus you have
- 38:33depression? I think in my opinion, I'll
- 38:35speak for myself. I think at least in my circle or
- 38:39the people that I surround myself with, an entrepreneur
- 38:41space or just in general in life, there's kind of this like
- 38:45constant label culture. I feel like it's happening or a
- 38:48diagnosed culture, if you will, of people who really quickly
- 38:52want to say like, this is the condition that you have.
- 38:55And I think, you know, as someone who's navigating myself
- 38:58a lot of depression and anxiety, sometimes that label can feel
- 39:02freeing because you finally have an answer to the reason you've
- 39:05been feeling the way you have. But I think there's also the
- 39:07other side, which can sometimes be, is this depression or you
- 39:11just experiencing feelings, right?
- 39:13And so I'm curious, how do you decipher all of that noise that
- 39:17obviously there is a lot of today?
- 39:20Yes, well, one, to just normalize that we're humans and
- 39:23we're meant to feel a wide range of emotions.
- 39:26That's one of the many things that make us a human, right.
- 39:29And just to speak to your point, I, I, I love that you brought
- 39:31this up because today everybody labels themselves.
- 39:34I'm depressed, I have anxiety, I have bipolar.
- 39:37And people don't even really understand what the actual
- 39:39condition means or what it really looks like.
- 39:41But I just think that we hear these words again, they're
- 39:43almost like buzzwords. And it's like, oh, I'm gonna
- 39:45latch on to that. But it is completely natural and
- 39:49normal to feel sad. It's completely natural and
- 39:52normal to experience anxiety, stress and fear.
- 39:54It's completely natural and normal to experience up and down
- 39:57in mood. We're not meant to be the same
- 40:00exact mood 24/7. What I have found in my own life
- 40:03is that sometimes you're going to be up here and then you come
- 40:05back here, and sometimes you're even down here, but then you
- 40:07come back here. We all have that baseline and I
- 40:10think that. For me, I don't believe in
- 40:13disorders. I don't believe in any mental
- 40:15health disorder. I think that what the world
- 40:16would tell us is a disorder is a learned response.
- 40:19And so if somebody truly has, let's say they've been diagnosed
- 40:22with major depression disorder, that's what the world would call
- 40:25it. To me, that's major depression
- 40:27response. Again, there's some unresolved
- 40:30stuff that is manifested as depression.
- 40:33That is different than feeling sad because something went wrong
- 40:37today, right? Or you didn't get that
- 40:39opportunity. That doesn't mean you're
- 40:40depressed. That's sadness.
- 40:41And that sadness makes sense. Or maybe even you, you lost a
- 40:45job or you lost a big amount of finances or maybe even lost a
- 40:49loved one. Like that doesn't mean you're
- 40:50depressed. You might be experiencing what
- 40:53feels like depression as a result of grief, but you're not
- 40:55even on the long term depression, right?
- 40:59Are there some people who struggle with depression for a
- 41:02large amount of their life? Yes.
- 41:04And I think that that comes down to unresolved trauma.
- 41:07Again, lifestyle. What are you eating?
- 41:09What are you not eating? Are you hydrating every single
- 41:12day? Like there's so many different
- 41:13things, but I don't believe that depression and anxiety and
- 41:16bipolar and even PTSD, I don't believe these things are
- 41:19disorders. I think that these are
- 41:21responses. So, so for you, just to clarify
- 41:24for someone listening to, I feel like that's really empowering
- 41:28when I hear that because I feel like a lot of the time when we
- 41:31hear a label of a disorder, we feel like we've been kind of
- 41:35given this certain badge we have to wear for the rest of our
- 41:37life. And we're like, well, I'm just
- 41:39somebody who's depressed and that's just going to be the way
- 41:41that I navigate life. Or I'm thinking even, for
- 41:45example, for PTSD, that it would just be something that you just
- 41:48assume is now that's ingrained part of you you just have to
- 41:50forever live with. And this is just who I am.
- 41:52It was sort of almost becomes an identity in a way for some
- 41:56people. And when you say response, where
- 42:00does that come from? Like how does kind of a response
- 42:02Because I, I'm assuming obviously most people are
- 42:04thinking, well, I wouldn't choose to be depressed, right?
- 42:06Like I wouldn't choose to respond this way.
- 42:08So how to kind of responses for you work or what's kind of the
- 42:13underbelly of how that gets developed that leads someone,
- 42:16for example, to have maybe again, depression being a
- 42:19symptom or a reflection of their response to something in their
- 42:23life? Sure.
- 42:24So like, I'll use this as an example.
- 42:26Nobody chooses to wake up and say hey, today's a good day to
- 42:29have type 2 diabetes, but they have made certain choices
- 42:33throughout their life and as a result, they developed the type
- 42:362 diabetic response. And if they make a new set of
- 42:39choices, they can change the direction of their condition
- 42:43with a new set of choices. So the same is true for anxiety,
- 42:48depression, PTSD, all of them, in my opinion.
- 42:50No one wakes up and says, hey, today's a good day to be an
- 42:53alcoholic. Today's a good day to to have
- 42:55depression. Today's a good day to struggle
- 42:57with bipolar. But things have happened in
- 42:59their life events. They've continued to make
- 43:03certain choices. They continue to eat a certain
- 43:05way. They remain an unhealthy
- 43:08environmental relationships. So all these things compact and
- 43:12as a result, it, it develops that response, it manifests as
- 43:15what we would say, oh, that looks like a depressed person.
- 43:18They're unkept, they're disheveled, they have low
- 43:20motivation, their appetite is low, it's hard to get out of
- 43:23bed. They're isolated.
- 43:26We cluster that as depression. But really the question for me
- 43:29is what has happened in your life or what hasn't happened
- 43:33that has caused you to be where you are today, No different than
- 43:36a person with type 2 diabetes. What choices have you made or
- 43:40have you not made that led you here?
- 43:42And what are you willing to do to create a new version?
- 43:47Right. What are you willing to do to
- 43:48create a new version? Because for me, if we continue
- 43:51to come from the perspective of disorders, that does not feel
- 43:55good. It feels very disempowering.
- 43:57It feels like I'm used for life and there's something wrong with
- 44:00me. But I know if we come from the
- 44:02perspective of a response, it's kind of like, oh, wait a minute,
- 44:05I actually have a say in my life.
- 44:07I actually have space to reclaim power over my condition.
- 44:11I can do something about the way I feel, the way I think, the way
- 44:14I show up, right? That feels very powerful.
- 44:17For sure. And I think I think as you said
- 44:19that the instant thing that came to mind is, I think for you,
- 44:21based off what I'm hearing, you look at mental health disorders
- 44:25or mental health labels as less of a, a series of symptoms and
- 44:29more of an understanding of their story.
- 44:31Like basically, when I start to go back into history of all the
- 44:35things that have happened to you, we start to understand why
- 44:38you're currently presenting the way that you are.
- 44:40It's a by product of your story, less of just if you have these
- 44:44symptoms, you are this identity. You truly believe that the kind
- 44:48of identity or disorder or label that someone may have at this
- 44:52moment is really just a compilation of all of these
- 44:55things. So if you're able to, then I'm
- 44:56assuming dive into those. You can also rewire how the
- 45:00symptoms are presenting. That's exactly right.
- 45:03We can heal, we can change, we can transform.
- 45:06I believe that strongly for every single person.
- 45:08We all have the ability to heal and transform.
- 45:11In fact, I think that there's this deep innate capacity within
- 45:14every single one of us. But somehow we lost.
- 45:17We lost touch with that and we don't know how to get back home
- 45:19to it. And this is where we need
- 45:21mentors, we need guys, we need therapists, we need coaches, we
- 45:24need treatment facilities, right?
- 45:26Like we need providers, we need help because it just is a road
- 45:29map back home to self to rediscover and reconnect who you
- 45:32were all along to who you were all along.
- 45:36It's just that we get lost. We've all been lost.
- 45:38Some of us are still feeling lost.
- 45:40And I think that it's so important to normalize it.
- 45:42It's OK to not be OK. It's OK to feel lost.
- 45:44But it's also your responsibility to find your way.
- 45:48And you have what it takes to find your way.
- 45:50Well, I'm thinking for someone listening to this, as you said,
- 45:54it's, it's very motivating, it's very empowering.
- 45:56And I think that I just because I know how much noise is out
- 46:00there and how many competing opinions there are, I'm thinking
- 46:03of the person who's maybe felt they've had anxiety their whole
- 46:06life. All I've ever known has been
- 46:07anxiety or all I've ever known has been depression.
- 46:10And there's a couple different people of different
- 46:12perspectives, right? Some people say, well, you know,
- 46:14like there's just this inherent how you are and your being.
- 46:17And that's just something you kind of have to live with, IE
- 46:19people don't change. And obviously in your work,
- 46:23you're in the work of helping people change.
- 46:25So I'm curious in, in, in all of the exposure you have to people
- 46:29with, you know, addiction and depression and, and PTSD and all
- 46:32different types of mental health presentations.
- 46:37What does change look like in your world?
- 46:39Like have you seen people who've gone their entire life?
- 46:42For example, I'm thinking and I'm picturing on medication for
- 46:46anxiety, on medication for depression, who've just kind of,
- 46:49again, this has been what they've always known.
- 46:52And in this work and in kind of diving into what you're talking
- 46:55about, be able to kind of rewrite that and move forward
- 46:59without those things. Yes, and it's the best part of
- 47:02what I do every single day. It's it's literally my why to
- 47:05see those aha moments and see people change.
- 47:08It's it's literally what keeps me going.
- 47:11I think that when a person has only known something, you only
- 47:14know what you know and it's not until you know different that
- 47:16you can do different, right? So for the person who might be
- 47:20feel like exactly, we said, well, I've had anxiety since I'm
- 47:2210 years old. Like, what do you mean I'm not
- 47:24doomed by this? I think that it's one just
- 47:27opening your mind to the possibility that it could be
- 47:30different. Open your mind to the
- 47:32possibility that it could be different.
- 47:33Just start to wonder, is it possible that maybe I'm not
- 47:37doomed by anxiety? Do I even really have anxiety?
- 47:40Or have I been told I have anxiety?
- 47:43Or I heard my mom her whole life say she had anxiety.
- 47:46So I just adopted that narrative for myself and I've been
- 47:49carrying it all these years, right?
- 47:51I think that you have to open yourself up to start to think
- 47:53beyond what you've always known and be curious of a new way of
- 47:58being. That in itself, at least from
- 47:59the work that I do every day, that's what gets people to have
- 48:02that interest of like, maybe I am going to listen to what he or
- 48:05she has to say. Maybe I will read that book.
- 48:08Maybe I will apply this coping skill.
- 48:10I will try this new thing. I'm just going to trust.
- 48:13And what I have found is that if a person can remain open and
- 48:17trust the process of their journey, somehow it unfolds.
- 48:21And next thing you know, you're like, Oh my goodness, I actually
- 48:24don't feel anxious today, right? And then again, I don't feel as
- 48:28anxious or maybe I feel a little bit.
- 48:29And that creates this new momentum.
- 48:31And then people get very curious about this new momentum.
- 48:34And that's what gives the motivation to continue on the
- 48:37path that they're on. And next thing you know, they're
- 48:3990 days into treatment and they're like, who am I?
- 48:41I look different, I think different, I feel different.
- 48:44Everything becomes different. And it's not because there was
- 48:47some magic that happened. It's that the person allowed
- 48:50themselves to stay open and trust the process of their
- 48:52journey. This is bringing me back to what
- 48:55you said earlier with the idea of almost like the self
- 48:58fulfilling prophecy in a way, because I'm almost wondering,
- 49:02you know, I'm thinking of the woman who's maybe had anxiety or
- 49:04depression her whole life and kind of back to that where we
- 49:07were using of identity. It becomes so deeply ingrained
- 49:09as part of who you are. Or to your point, which I so I
- 49:12can instantly think of situations or people when you
- 49:14mentioned family, like I've been told that I'm anxious or I've
- 49:17been told that I'm quote UN quote sick with whatever that
- 49:22area is or that label might be. And I would imagine for the
- 49:25clients that you work with and for anyone listening to this,
- 49:28it's kind of terrifying to think about that being a choice.
- 49:32Like I'm thinking when you think about, you know, I've had, you
- 49:35know, depression my whole life. And so Stephanie's telling me
- 49:39that I could get curious to choose a different identity, but
- 49:42that's the identity I've lived with.
- 49:44That's what other people know me to be, which is depressed and
- 49:47anxious. I only know myself as depressed
- 49:49and anxious. And so I would imagine for
- 49:52people you work with and in the work that you do, there must be
- 49:55some pretty, I would think, serious resistance to.
- 49:59I've always known myself to be this way and I've always lived
- 50:02this way. And thinking about adopting
- 50:04another identity where that label is not your definition I
- 50:08would imagine would be really scary for most people.
- 50:11Absolutely. I think that most people
- 50:13actually go through a grief process.
- 50:14You grieve who you once knew yourself to be.
- 50:17And it really, it really is grief because it's so familiar.
- 50:21And I think that's what happens to most of us is that we like to
- 50:24be in the familiar because if we can be in the familiar, that
- 50:27means we find comfort. We can predict what's gonna
- 50:29happen next. And if we can predict what's
- 50:31gonna happen next, we usually feel safe and secure, which we
- 50:34all want to feel. So again, it brings us back to
- 50:36safety. And I think that This is why
- 50:38people have a hard time shedding old versions of themselves
- 50:41because it's like, well, if I can continue to be anxious and
- 50:43depressed, I usually know what's gonna happen next in my life.
- 50:46But if I step into the unknown, I'm completely out of control.
- 50:50And that's really scary and that's really overwhelming.
- 50:52And I'm here to confirm that yes, it is scary and it is
- 50:54overwhelming, but isn't it also scary and overwhelming to waste
- 50:58more time holding on to a version of you that so badly
- 51:02wants to change? Like you have to pick your heart
- 51:05in life. Both roads are hard.
- 51:07The heart of staying the same and being sick and suffering and
- 51:10living in stress and depression and anxiety.
- 51:12That's a hard Rd. I know because I've been there
- 51:15and the road to healing and self discovery and recovery is also
- 51:18hard. And I know because that's the
- 51:19road I'm on today, right? But this road it also so
- 51:23rewarding. And so I think that it comes
- 51:25down to that like you have to just decide which hard do you
- 51:28want to face every day. Well, I feel like so many, so
- 51:31many people listening to this, even myself included.
- 51:34Enter your point of comfort and safety.
- 51:35We know the hard that is living with the identity or living with
- 51:39depression or living with anxiety, for example.
- 51:42If someone is I would imagine is listening to this and they're
- 51:45feeling very empowered. I even myself, I'm like, OK,
- 51:47this is amazing how inspiring it is to be able to take back the
- 51:50reins of your life, of your mental health, of your
- 51:52experience going through every single day.
- 51:55But they're also scared a little bit of what does this mean?
- 51:59Like if I'm inspired by Stephanie and I'm motivated and
- 52:01I'm activated, what does this mean if I decide I'm going to do
- 52:04something about it? What does that journey, if you
- 52:08know, to your mention of of recovery or going through
- 52:10treatment or going through therapy, what does that process
- 52:13look like? If someone kind of wants to
- 52:15preview what they're saying yes to, they know they want that in
- 52:19destination. They know that they don't want
- 52:21the identity anymore. They know that, you know,
- 52:23depression or anxiety or whatever label insert, you know,
- 52:27label for yourself has been controlling your life, but they
- 52:31also again, have only ever known this.
- 52:33What does that path to getting to that place look like
- 52:36typically? It's going to look different for
- 52:39every single person. I believe strongly that we have
- 52:41to start where we are and we start small.
- 52:43Start where you are and start small because it can be scary
- 52:46and overwhelming. And we don't just heal and
- 52:48change overnight, right? You don't go 15 years of
- 52:51identifying as an anxious person and suddenly you're a calm
- 52:54person. Like it's not really how it
- 52:57works. If you figure that out,
- 52:58definitely let let us. Know like let us know.
- 53:00Call me. DM me, e-mail me, hit me up
- 53:02something because I'm still trying to figure that out
- 53:04because that's not how it works. I think that it's about
- 53:08realizing that you only have the moment you're in, you only have
- 53:12the moment you're in and making small choices every single
- 53:15moment to the best of your ability, right?
- 53:18So for example, if let's say you feel anxious or you're stressed
- 53:24about something, rather than continue to feed the thoughts
- 53:27and say, yes, I'm stressed and anxious, can you choose to go on
- 53:29a 5 minute walk instead? Can you pick up a phone and call
- 53:33somebody who you know is really good for your nervous system?
- 53:35Can you stand outside and soak up the sunshine for 5 minutes?
- 53:39Like what are those small micro moments along the way that you
- 53:42can do? Because those those moments are
- 53:44the moments that lead to the big outcomes.
- 53:46Yes, in some cases people are really struggling and they need
- 53:48therapy and they need treatment. And that's what we're doing at
- 53:50Agape. Like there's space for that type
- 53:53of work too. But I also think that sometimes
- 53:55it's just having awareness and choosing something that's good
- 53:58for you in the moment. And it could be very small,
- 54:02small things. It's the, it's the compound of
- 54:06the reaction point to your earlier point, right?
- 54:08The fact that we live in this place of reaction and basically
- 54:12having to your point with the phone even earlier, having the
- 54:14awareness of the small things to your point of picking up the
- 54:17phone or going for a walk. I remember I was chatting with
- 54:20somebody who was struggling a lot with really, really intense
- 54:24depressive episode. And it was interesting because
- 54:27their therapist had said, listen, when you feel like
- 54:31you're overwhelmed with emotion, all I want you to do is go for a
- 54:33walk. And it seems so simple.
- 54:36And the person thought like, OK, like this is not going to be the
- 54:38groundbreaking advice that gets me out of this feeling.
- 54:42But they had started to introduce the idea of a pattern
- 54:45interrupt, basically like getting your body and shifting
- 54:48your state to be able to tune in in that moment, whether it was
- 54:52jumping jacks, putting your face in a in a bowl of ice, whether
- 54:56it was going for a walk, whatever.
- 54:57Again, that obviously the spectrum of intensity varies,
- 55:01but doing something to kind of choose the state.
- 55:05And I'm curious for someone who maybe is kind of wanting to have
- 55:09some of those moments to tune in, is it that simple?
- 55:12Is it really truly about just picking a different behavior in
- 55:14the moment and allowing those to compound as a starting?
- 55:17Point it really is so many clients that I've had the honor
- 55:22and privilege of working with, they're like, I want that white
- 55:25light aha moment. I don't know that you're going
- 55:28to have that, you know, like it's not like this light that
- 55:31beams down on us and it's like, this is your chance to heal.
- 55:34Like it's really not that It's those small steps.
- 55:38It's choosing something that's better for you as often as
- 55:41possible. I often say, find the
- 55:43ingredients that make the perfect recipe that supports
- 55:46your mind, body and spirit and repeat it daily.
- 55:49Don't go trying to add new ingredients.
- 55:51If your grandmother gave you the recipe to her famous meatballs,
- 55:55like you're not gonna sit there and add new spices.
- 55:57You're like grandma said, this is it.
- 55:59It tastes delicious. I'm just going to make this for
- 56:00the rest of my life, right? But I believe that healing can
- 56:04be simple. Recovery can be simple.
- 56:06Changing your life can be simple.
- 56:08It's it's actually not that hard.
- 56:10Yes. Can it feel hard at times?
- 56:11Of course. But it really is the simple
- 56:14things that you can do every single day.
- 56:16Find what works for you and stick to it.
- 56:18Got it. OK.
- 56:20And as something I was curious about when it comes to, because
- 56:23I feel like A, to your point of all the new ingredients, we're
- 56:27told everyday that there's a new way of finding inner healing,
- 56:31right? We're always encouraged to like
- 56:33in this constant personal development journey of
- 56:35understanding ourselves. And there's so many different
- 56:38ways in which people do that. And so I know, you know,
- 56:41obviously a lot of people talk about cognitive behavioral
- 56:44therapy, people talk about CBT, they talk about inner child
- 56:48work, they talk about shadow work, right?
- 56:50There's a lot of these ingredients that are presented
- 56:54to people who are looking for healing.
- 56:56And even for myself, to be honest, I'm on TikTok just the
- 56:59same as the next person, or I'm on Instagram as much as the next
- 57:01person. And you feel like there's just
- 57:04all these modalities that you could be using.
- 57:07And it can feel really overwhelming to know, like if
- 57:10I'm searching to heal myself or to develop myself this year,
- 57:14where do I start? So I love that you started with
- 57:17the actions that you can control today, in the next hour, in the
- 57:20next week in your world. And I love that.
- 57:23And you also said that sometimes it does require that deeper
- 57:26work. And so I'm curious if you dive
- 57:29into that deeper work with people, what might be something
- 57:32that they could investigate or research or consider if they're
- 57:35thinking like, I really feel like there's something deeper
- 57:38here and they've maybe tried or have started already with some
- 57:41of those more smaller habits. Yeah, I think that if you're
- 57:44that person who you've tried with the smaller habits and you
- 57:47still find yourself feeling empty, you still feel like
- 57:49you're depressed, you still are self sabotaging.
- 57:52Maybe it's even more serious. You're drinking, you're using
- 57:54drugs, you're self harming, you're struggling with an eating
- 57:57response, right. Like if you're struggling to
- 58:00such a degree where there's real suffering happening every single
- 58:02day, I think that that's your body saying, hey, it's time to
- 58:05seek help and you, you deserve that help.
- 58:08And the reality is sometimes we need help and it's OK to need
- 58:11help. We're not meant to overcome
- 58:12trauma on our own. You don't have to go through it
- 58:14alone. So I think that you, you know
- 58:17yourself best. You have to be honest with
- 58:19yourself. Like, is this as simple as, hey,
- 58:21I need to go on a walk versus be on social media today?
- 58:24Or is it like my eating has changed, I'm losing weight, I'm
- 58:27gaining weight, I find myself in unhealthy relationships, I'm
- 58:31participating in high risk behaviors.
- 58:33That's a different story. And then I would recommend if,
- 58:36if you're that person struggling, reach out for help,
- 58:38whether it's a therapist or a treatment facility.
- 58:39But take action sooner than later.
- 58:43And I always say take action like your life depends on it
- 58:45because when you don't take action, time just continues to
- 58:48pass by. And if we don't address the
- 58:51things that we need to address, they will manifest as bigger
- 58:53problems. I'm curious because it's come up
- 58:57in connection to that when it comes to healing ourselves and
- 59:01for some healing trauma, can we do this work alone?
- 59:05Like I think about the idea of trying to identify your own
- 59:08limiting belief or identify your own trigger.
- 59:12Obviously, you know, for me, I know even in the business space,
- 59:14there's, there's a value in having an outside perspective or
- 59:17outside set of eyes to say, I see this a little bit of a
- 59:20different way. And I'm curious in your
- 59:23experience in most healing, is it almost necessary at some
- 59:27point to get an outside perspective because you can't
- 59:30see it the same way? Or do you think it's possible
- 59:33that people can really heal their own trauma without
- 59:37necessarily having another person there to reframe?
- 59:40I I, I think it can be both, and I also think it depends on what
- 59:45the person's struggling with personally and professionally.
- 59:48I often recommend help. I think that there's so much
- 59:52value in an outside perspective because like you said, when
- 59:56you're in it, you can't always solve it.
- 59:57It doesn't mean you can't solve it, right?
- 1:00:00I think if you really want to, you'll figure it out.
- 1:00:03But I do believe that there's so much to be said about support.
- 1:00:06We are hardwired for connection. We are not meant to go through
- 1:00:09life alone, especially when we're trying to overcome from
- 1:00:13trauma. And that's why people people are
- 1:00:15trained and certified in skill to support you.
- 1:00:18Right. You know, it's no different if
- 1:00:19you wanted to get really good at a new language, like, sure, you
- 1:00:23can maybe go online and read a book or whatever, but like,
- 1:00:25wouldn't it be cool to have a teacher?
- 1:00:27Yeah, you know, like, wouldn't that be nice?
- 1:00:31Well, I'm thinking about being in the jar and trying to analyze
- 1:00:35the jar at the same time. Like it's a very difficult
- 1:00:38experience. Again, not to say that to your
- 1:00:40point, maybe it's not impossible to do, but I'm just trying to
- 1:00:44think of all the situations. Like I, I remember one of the
- 1:00:47things that had come up as a response for me was like lack of
- 1:00:50boundaries and the fact that I was kind of self sacrificial in
- 1:00:52many ways in a way to deal with other deeper things that were
- 1:00:57happening. And in going through it,
- 1:00:59starting to kind of tie the connection to not realizing like
- 1:01:03I only I needed somebody outside of myself to be able to show me,
- 1:01:07hey, that thing that you think you're doing to help other
- 1:01:09people is actually not helping other people.
- 1:01:12That's actually you having no boundaries and self sacrificing
- 1:01:15in an effort to get approval. And I'm like, oh, and at the
- 1:01:18time I had thought it and seen it so totally differently.
- 1:01:21And so I'm curious because I think so many people think,
- 1:01:24well, I'm going to, I'm going to deal with it, I'm going to
- 1:01:25handle it. I'm going to, you know, figure
- 1:01:27this out on my own. And I was just curious about
- 1:01:29that because I think that there's such an, an asset to
- 1:01:32having a second set of eyes to see things that you don't see.
- 1:01:35Because again, trying to analyze the dryer while you're in it is
- 1:01:38extremely difficult typically to do.
- 1:01:41It is extremely difficult to do. And I will say that from my
- 1:01:44experience, even personally, not only with clients, there was a
- 1:01:48time in my life that I was so resistant to help.
- 1:01:51And I didn't realize until later my resistance to help meant if I
- 1:01:54got help, that meant I had to change.
- 1:01:56I would have to be accountable. And I wasn't ready to step up to
- 1:01:59the plate in that way. And so I think sometimes when we
- 1:02:01resist outside help, again, that might indicate something deeper
- 1:02:05that you're comfortable being who you are and you don't want
- 1:02:08to have to face yourself and take accountability.
- 1:02:10Maybe it feels easier just to keep blaming.
- 1:02:12You're almost hiding behind, not taking help.
- 1:02:14And so it's going to be different for each person.
- 1:02:17Our walk looks different. But I do believe that we are all
- 1:02:20worthy and deserving of healing and recovering change.
- 1:02:22And sometimes we need help to get there.
- 1:02:24Absolutely, absolutely. OK, So Stephanie, you have an
- 1:02:28amazing book and I'm thinking today's conversation has Nuggets
- 1:02:32that are all baked into that. And so I'm curious, can you
- 1:02:35share a little bit of someone's wanting to dive more into this?
- 1:02:39Obviously, you know, they can go to your website, your socials,
- 1:02:42and we'll have all those linked to the show notes for you guys.
- 1:02:44But for your book, can you just give us a quick synopsis of if
- 1:02:47someone wants to kind of dive into a lot more of what you're
- 1:02:51saying and get a better, deeper understanding what they might
- 1:02:53find in that? Absolutely.
- 1:02:55So unpack your bags. This is my most recent book.
- 1:02:57It's yourself help guide to inner peace.
- 1:03:00It's 11 chapters specifically written to help the reader
- 1:03:02identify what is the emotional weight you're carrying from your
- 1:03:06past. How is it interrupting the
- 1:03:08present moment, right? How is it blocking you from
- 1:03:10becoming your best self? And how is it weighing you down?
- 1:03:13And in the book, Ioffer 11 very, very easy practical skills that
- 1:03:18the person can begin applying right away to create positive
- 1:03:20change in their life. It's I've taken all of my years
- 1:03:23of experience condensed and I really believe that it has the
- 1:03:26potential to change your life. Amazing, amazing.
- 1:03:29Thank you. Yeah.
- 1:03:30Because I think if someone's listening to this, the wheels
- 1:03:32are turning. And the thing that I believe in
- 1:03:34anything, whether it's business, personal development, it can be
- 1:03:36mental health and anything is like if you have the activator,
- 1:03:39if you have this awareness as you're listening to this and
- 1:03:41you're thinking like this is what I need, I need to do this
- 1:03:44work. I need to stop ignoring the
- 1:03:45signs, stop ignoring the symptoms and you want to dive
- 1:03:47in. I wanted to mention that as a
- 1:03:49resource for everybody because that would help you to start to
- 1:03:53get the wheels turning on taking some of this.
- 1:03:55You know, whether you had the big to her point earlier, the
- 1:03:58aha moment today, or if you had a little nugget that landed, it
- 1:04:01can be the insight to say, hey, you know what?
- 1:04:03I'm taking this as my sign to dive deeper into it.
- 1:04:06And so I just wanted to mention that for anybody who wants to go
- 1:04:08deeper, Stephanie, we haven't kind of a ritual unambitious,
- 1:04:12which is really a 1 nugget for the audience, meaning it can be
- 1:04:15in context to today's topic. So it can be about mental health
- 1:04:18specifically, but obviously you are a powerful, ambitious
- 1:04:22female. And so we're really looking to
- 1:04:25just share with the audience a nugget of wisdom that you've had
- 1:04:27along the journey. So as you've been in this for
- 1:04:29years and you've been doing this work, if for the person who's
- 1:04:33listening, who's going for a lot of big things.
- 1:04:35And I would hazard to guess has pressed play on today's episode
- 1:04:37because she's probably kind of to the similar story you
- 1:04:41mentioned earlier, which I so resonate with, of like the go,
- 1:04:43go, go and kind of like constantly being in the doing
- 1:04:47and wanting to learn how to start to integrate the things
- 1:04:49you've shared today. Is there something that you've
- 1:04:52learned or a story of something that's happened or a quote that
- 1:04:55you've heard that you would want to share with her that maybe
- 1:04:58could provide some additional insight or aha for her?
- 1:05:01Yes, I think the biggest thing for me that I've learned in my
- 1:05:04journey of healing and self discovery is that within me
- 1:05:06there is light and that light can always guide me to the
- 1:05:09darkest of times. And so for me, I've learned that
- 1:05:12I have to look within self deeper, deeper and deeper and
- 1:05:16trust the inner wisdom and the light that is me and let it
- 1:05:18guide me. We have our answers within
- 1:05:20ourselves. I love it.
- 1:05:23So empowering. It's so empowering, it's so
- 1:05:25good. All right, 70.
- 1:05:28I know it flew by, it flew by. We'll definitely, we'll need to
- 1:05:32come back for a Part 2 at some point because there's so much
- 1:05:34more. I literally, no word of a lie,
- 1:05:35you guys, I had like 3 pages of note.
- 1:05:37I was like, I want to dive into inner child.
- 1:05:39I want to go into all these other areas.
- 1:05:40We'll need, we'll need a Part 2. We'll need a separate 1.
- 1:05:42Stephanie, thank you so much for coming on.
- 1:05:44This was so good. And I, I genuinely feel was like
- 1:05:47a master class in mental health. It was in every aspect of
- 1:05:50understanding so many layers. It was so good.
- 1:05:53So thank you so much for coming on.
- 1:05:55Thank you for having me. It's an honor to connect with
- 1:05:57you. I look forward to doing it
- 1:05:58again. Yeah, for sure.
- 1:06:00All right, to you guys. We will see you on the next
- 1:06:02episode. And as always, make sure that if
- 1:06:05you have any thoughts or maybe aha moments, as I said, are
- 1:06:09Nuggets that landed for you. Reach out to Stephanie, send her
- 1:06:11a DM, shoot a DM to me. Obviously, you guys know that we
- 1:06:14always talk about the fact that there's such massive power in
- 1:06:17being witnessed in transformation, meaning that if
- 1:06:19you're having an AHA moment, being able to share it with
- 1:06:22someone helps it to land even deeper.
- 1:06:23So really encourage you to shoot her a message.
- 1:06:25Shoot me a message. And with all that being said,
- 1:06:27guys, we'll see you on next week's episode.
- 1:06:29So, as always, stay ambitious.