#7 Finding the Joy Through the Pain with Cancer Survivor Merhawit and her Husband Aron

Dr. Patricia Wynn-Jones is an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist, with a focus on energy medicine and epigenetic based pain management practice. She worked very closely with our late father, a Hematologist-Oncologist.

Dr. Wynn-Jones helps us understand what exactly is energy medicine and epigenetics, both of which have been around for decades but are just now being accepted into the mainstream. In a nutshell, we are so much more than the bodies our souls are contained in. We create our own reality, and once we understand this and learn to harness universal energy, we can heal our bodies, improve our relationships, and live better.

If you're dealing with any type of chronic or terminal illness, or you're just interested in alternative medicine, this episode is for you!

Resources Mentioned:
Dr. Hew Len Ho'oponopono: https://www.self-i-dentity-through-hooponopono.com/
Dr. Alexina Hazzard: Back-to-back heart-to-heart: http://khepra-institute.org/dr-alexina-hazzard/

Get in touch with Michal & Maayan
Website: https://www.sistersinpsychology.com
Instagram: @sistersinpsychology
Email: sistersinpsychology@gmail.com

You wouldn't know it just by looking at Dr. Jaffe today, but he was once convicted and sentenced to 1 year in jail for using, buying and selling hard drugs. After getting out of jail, it was impossible to find anyone who'd accept him for a job.

For many in the US, this situation leads people back to crime and in jail again, and so the cycle repeats. But for Dr. Jaffe, he attributes his success to the fact that he had (and has) a strong support system--people who believed in him and saw his value.

In this episode, Dr. Jaffe shares his full story from being a drug addict and becoming a convicted felon, to where is is today: an author, TedEx speaker, and nationally recognized expert on mental health, addiction, relationships and shame.

We also unpack his perspective on why putting drug users in jail isn't the right approach, why the goal of 100% abstinence for drug and alcohol addiction recovery isn't the right approach either, how we can truly help people stuck in the cycle of addiction, why community is so important, and much more.

Adi Jaffe, Ph.D. is a nationally recognized expert on mental health, addiction, relationships and shame. He was a UCLA lecturer in the Psychology department at UCLA for the better part of a decade and was the Executive-Director and Co-Founder of one of the most progressive mental health treatment facilities in the country - until he started IGNTD.

Dr. Jaffe, through IGNTD, is changing the way people think about, and deal with mental health issues. His passion in the role of shame destroying lives is the philosophy behind IGNTD Recovery and its aim to greatly reduce the stigma of addiction and mental health.

Resources Mentioned:
Free resource from Dr. Jaffe: https://www.igntd.com/feelingswheel
Dr. Jaffe's Ted Talk: https://youtu.be/A9xFJ_hqzDQ

Get in touch with Dr. Jaffe:
Website: https://www.adijaffe.com
Book: https://www.theabstinencemyth.com
Igntd: https://www.igntd.com

Get in touch with Michal and Maayan:
Website: https://www.sistersinpsychology.com
Instagram: @sistersinpsychology
Email: sistersinpsychology@gmail.com

Sydney Estrada and Lauren Thomas, both Associate Marriage and Family Therapists, share how their experiences with racism, colorism, and racial trauma led to pursuing careers in therapy.

The discrepancies amongst the Black community within the education system, due to colorism, empowered Lauren to prioritize her practice for uplifting Black women of various backgrounds as well as unpacking racial trauma.

Sydney currently works at the Child Development Institute, where she and Maayan met. She supports young children and their families understand and develop social/emotional skills. After experiencing, first hand, the disparities in the education system, Sydney aims to provide the mental health resources necessary for children and families to thrive in all environments.

In this episode, Lauren and Sydney unpack the term "code switching", racism in the school system, the importance of having faith in something (even if it's just in yourself), and of course, how they define their meanings of life.

Get in touch with Lauren:
Instagram: @therapywithlt
Website: therapywithlt.com

Get in touch with Sydney:
Instagram: @showandtellyourstory

Get in touch with Maayan and Michal:
Website: https://www.sistersinpsychology.com
Instagram: @sistersinpsychology
Email: sistersinpsychology@gmail.com

Books and Resources Mentioned:
Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief by David Kessler, MD.
Journey of Souls by Michael Newton, PhD.

For most of us, death is a topic that was typically avoided in our households growing up. So, when a friend loses a loved one, it's difficult to know how to respond, especially if we've never experienced deep loss ourselves.

You don't know what to say, and don't want to say the wrong thing, so you say nothing. For those grieving, it can then feel like they are all alone.

With the help of her therapist, Kira learned how to be very vocal with her friends about what she needed from them when her father passed away by suicide. It helped as well that her father was also very vocal about his depression, in an effort to take away the shame and stigma, hoping others find it easier to open up about their own struggles.

In this episode, Kira shares the story of her father's death, and we discuss the importance of normalizing grief and the different ways we've felt supported by friends through our grief. We also talk about the different ways we've personally approached sharing the information that our fathers have passed with new people we meet.

Resources Mentioned:

The Inflamed Mind: A Radical New Approach to Depression
by Edward Bullmore

Healing from Within: Psychological Techniques You Can Use to Help the Mind Heal the Body by Dennis T Jaffe, PhD.

Get in touch with Kira Sklar:
kirasklar31@gmail.com

Donate to 'Sick Not Weak' Organization (organization that Kira's dad was very much involved with):
https://www.sicknotweak.com/

Get in touch with Maayan and Michal:
Website: https://www.sistersinpsychology.com
Instagram: @sistersinpsychology
Email: sistersinpsychology@gmail.com

More often than not, it's best to just keep things simple. Dr. Rafael Reisfeld, MD and Dr. Gabriel V. Rubanenko, MD, have known our dad for over 35 years, working together in the medical field and sharing a bond of being Israeli Americans.

Throughout those 35 years, our dad would continue to ask them the question, "What is the meaning of life?" Our guests each give their perspectives on the question, taking into account years of working with often terminally ill patients, and emphasizing the beauty in keeping things simple.

They also both share their own personal experiences coping with losing a loved one and coping with the existential dread that death may bring.

Dr. Rafael Reisfeld, MD is a General Surgery Specialist in Beverly Hills, CA and Dr. Gabriel Rubanenko, MD is a Orthopedic Surgery Specialist in Los Angeles, CA. Both have over 40+ years of experience in the medical field.

Resources Mentioned:
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl  

Get in touch with Michal and Maayan:
Website: https://www.sistersinpsychology.com
Instagram: @sistersinpsychology
Email: sistersinpsychology@gmail.com

"You could have everyone love you, but if you don't love yourself, you'll never be happy."

These were the words Justine heard while in rehab after an alcohol addiction relapse. It was after hearing these words that Justine realized she couldn't keep doing things, like quitting drinking, just to please others...she actually had to want them for herself as well.

With over six years of sobriety under her belt, Justine Wu vulnerably shares with us her journey of learning to live without being dependent on a substance, and all the life lessons she's learned about self love, communication, relationships, and managing conflict along the way.

Connect with Justine:
Instagram: @existential.world.problems

Get in touch with Michal and Maayan:
Website: https://www.sistersinpsychology.com
Instagram: @sistersinpsychology
Email: sistersinpsychology@gmail.com

You may be stuck, but you're not broken. This is what Justin Sunseri, LMFT and host of the podcast Stuck, Not Broken, wants you to know. He doesn't subscribe to the narrative that you are broken and need healing, but rather, your body is in a defensive autonomic state: flight, fight, shut down or freeze.

Better known as the "fight or flight" response, it is our body's natural physiological response to perceived danger. It's what makes your palms sweat or makes you want to run away and hide when your boss is demanding that finished assignment in two hours.

Polyvagal Theory is a tool clinical practitioners like Justin use to help their clients understand how trauma manifests in the body. Clients can learn to re-access their safety state so they can respond appropriately.

In this episode, Justin will dive deeper into what Polyvagal Theory is and how he uses it with his clients. We hope this episode opens up a whole new world for you on your journey of grieving, personal growth, and trauma recovery.

Resources Mentioned:
Deb Dana Polyvagal Theory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXGy7M4kvaY&ab_channel=NortonMentalHealth
Dr. Peter Levine, Somatic Experiencing: https://traumahealing.org/

Get in touch with Justin Sunseri LMFT:
Website: https://www.justinlmft.com/home
Podcast: https://www.justinlmft.com/podcast

Get in touch with Michal and Maayan:
Website: https://www.sistersinpsychology.com
Instagram: @sistersinpsychology
Email: sistersinpsychology@gmail.com

When couples say their vows at the altar, "through sickness and in health," you never really imagine that the sickness would come so soon.

Married couple Aron and Merhawit were caught completely off guard when Merhawit was given a cancer diagnosis while she was pregnant, and while Aron was in medical school.

Despite the heart-breaking, earth-shattering news, painful treatments, and hidden tears, this couple managed to find the silver lining in their adversity. In fact, they believe experiencing adversity in life is crucial to our growth and development as humans...just like it is for lobsters! (Tune in to hear the lobster analogy!)

Aron and Merhawit have a heartwarming perspective on the meaning of life after all that they've gone through.

If you have any questions for Aron & Merhawit, you can contact them at: Mgirmay33@gmail.com

Get in touch with Michal and Maayan:
Website: https://www.sistersinpsychology.com
Instagram: @sistersinpsychology
Email: sistersinpsychology@gmail.com

References:

Leukemia Lymphoma Society: https://www.lls.org/
Be the Match: https://bethematch.org/
The American Cancer Society: https://www.cancer.org/

In early January of 2018, Blaze Bernstein was only 19 years old when he was murdered in a hate crime. We had the privilege and honor of meeting and conversing with his mother, Jeanne Pepper Bernstein. She shares with us powerful messages about persevering in times of such despair, while emphasizing the power of hope.

Jeanne is an attorney, writer, speaker and advocate for the Kindness movement and advocates for the LGBTQ community as a parent of a gay teen. She received public attention when her gay Jewish son, Blaze, was murdered at the beginning of 2018 in the first hate crime of that year. Jeanne and her husband Gideon went on to start the #BlazeitForward movement which promotes intentional Kindness and Community Service.

To learn more about Blaze's story, see below:

https://forward.com/opinion/393426/my-son-blaze-bernstein-was-murdered-then-came-the-outpouring-of-love/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/blaze-bernstein-was-murder-of-ivy-league-student-a-hate-crime-48-hours/

Jeanne accepts messages through:
Instagram @jeannepepperbernstein and @BlazeitForward_BlazeBernstein
Facebook’s  #Blazeitforward public group
and their webpage at https://www.Blazebernstein.org

Get in touch with Michal and Maayan:
Website: https://www.sistersinpsychology.com
Instagram: @sistersinpsychology and @catharsispodcastmeaningoflife
Email: sistersinpsychology@gmail.com

Resources Mentioned
Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
Staring at the Sun by Irvin D. Yalom, M.D.
Journey of Souls by Michael Newton, Ph.D.

Kola Adetu is brain health advocate. He's one of those rare people with the "gift of the gab", so we cannot really fit him into a box title. His inspiration, passion and study extends from Neuroscience of Attachment science, Quantum Mechanics, Astrophysics and Astrobiology. He's a Corporate Brain Health Facilitator/Consultant. In all, he is passionate and ferociously curious about THE EXPERIENCE OF AWE.

In this episode, we hear Kola's unique perspective on the meaning of life through the lens of quantum physics and the biology of attachment. He also shares with us how his difficult divorce and becoming a father led to his fascination with these topics.

Resources Mentioned:
Dr. Don Colbert, Divine Health: https://drcolbert.com/
Dr. Daniel Siegal: https://www.drdansiegel.com/
The Body Keeps Score by Bessel A. van der Kolk: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693771-the-body-keeps-the-score
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=6NDfhcHtkH&rank=1

Get in touch with Kola Adetu:
Instagram: @interpersonalneurobiohealing


Get in touch with Maayan and Michal:
Website: https://www.sistersinpsychology.com
Instagram: @sistersinpsychology
Email: sistersinpsychology@gmail.com