CuriosiFy

EMDR Therapy has become a recognized modality for psychotherapeutic healing. Its a treatment for everything from eating disorder and addictions to the unkind or unhealthy ways that we talk to ourselves, treat other people, or react to moments of adversity. In this episode, an unidentified guest shares his own experience of turning from skeptic to believer. He talks about his resistance to this non-traditional therapeutic modality, the bizarre experience of participating in EMDR sessions, and the ways in which EMDR Therapy has contributed to his healing and forever changed his life. If you or someone you know could benefit from learning about EMDR, this episode is a rare change hear from someone who’s been in the driver’s seat. For more information about EMDR Therapy, visit my website at RedRocksCounseling.com and click on the “About” link. You can also visit EMDRIA.org to learn more, explore the research, or find an EMDR-specialized clinician in your area.

Most of us probably say we live a life of integrity. But do we really? Do you actually stop to rumble with whether or not your choices and responses are in alignment with your core values? My guest in this episode is Shalisa Pouw. We talk about the process of working to know who you authentically and truly are, at your core. Shalisa shares about her own ongoing self identification journey and the utilization of personal values in a variety of life experiences including her navigation through a divorce, owning a business, being remarried and becoming a first time mom.

Perhaps we are all on a shared journey of coming to more fully know ourselves and function from a place of truth. If that's true, then knowing the name and work of a brilliant Deep Self Designer ain't a bad thing. Sunni Brown is a best selling author, a creator, a speaker, a long time student of American Zen, a lover of Internal Family Systems, and an expert in visual thinking. Her TED Talk has received more than 1.5 million views. Sunni is also super funny and generally just fascinating to listen to. In this episode, Sunni tells us about the process of internal exploration and the roles of readiness, fear and pain in personal evolution.

The tension in communities all over the country reached a new level when school districts announced their learning options for the fall 2020 semester. Some parents asked me questions and voiced their concern about our local school board's decision and the detriment it may have on the psychological wellness of their kids. I wrote my answer in a blog post that went viral the day after I posted it on my business website. This episode is the reading of that article. I hope it feels helpful to someone.

If you've spent any significant amount of time in the great outdoors, you know that being in nature just makes us feel good. But have you ever wondered why that is? My guest, Natalie Richardson, has turned adventuring in nature into a passion and a lifestyle. She tells us, in this episode, how spending time engulfed in nature returned her mind, body and spirit to herself after trauma. We talk about the connection between nature and neuroscience. And Natalie shares some fascinating goals, destinations and jaw-dropping moments from her life out in the arms of Mother Nature.

Regardless of where you land with opinions and thoughts on Black Lives Matter, nobody can deny that this is a monumental moment in history. The CuriosiFy Podcast was created from the intention of wanting to use more question marks in hopes that it would increase a felt sense of human connection. This conversation with Terita Walker helps us to step into her shoes and learn just a little bit about what it feels like (to her) to be a black mother, educator, woman, and human living in our country these days. We talk about how healing and connection are created when hurt + anger meets curiosity + empathy. My hope is that every listener will approach this episode with a learner’s mind so that you can expand your own personal perspectives and contribute to the improvement of humanity... because we can do better.

Alcoholism affects more people and more homes in each of our immediate lives than any of us probably want to realize. Its hard to talk about. Its uncomfortable and far too easy to douse with judgement and bias. Carly Malsom is a wife and home-schooling mom of 3 kids. She is smart and funny and creative and bold, and she’s been a role model to many young lives, especially throughout dance industry. But behind the scenes, she sometimes battles with a craving to escape. For many years, binge drinking was her solution to that. Carly caught my attention with a 7-minute video, posted to Facebook on her first day of sobriety, describing her struggle with addiction and her plan to document her wellness pursuit in the form of 30-day video blog that she titled The Sober Chronicles. Now, nearly 3 months sober, Carly shares her vulnerable experience with alcoholism and the destruction it was causing within her family and inside of herself. She knows she’s not out of the woods yet, which makes her willingness to have this conversation just that much more awe-inspiring. My hope is that this episode will resonate with someone who can relate to Carly and to the pain she’s been in. If that person is you, be assured… you are not alone.

The likelihood is high that you know someone using Benzodiazepines. They are among the most common psychotropic prescription medications prescribed in the United States, used for symptoms of anxiety, troubles with sleep, and migraine headaches. Some of the most recognizable benzos are Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, and Ativan. Kelsi Kraus lost her husband, Max, to suicide this spring on April 14th. It is believed that he had been living in torment and fighting to survive the torturous symptoms of Benzo Withdrawal Syndrome. This episode is the audio from an Instagram Live interview that I had with Kelsi just 4 weeks after Max died. Kelsi is convicted about using her voice to inform people of the symptoms of BWS and the dangers associated with these medications.

Something magical happens when an individual knows and believes in themself enough to chase their dream, especially when doing so involves going against the grain. Tristin Gleason has led an incredibly fulfilling and successful career in the highly male-dominated construction industry. She has proven that by relentlessly pursuing a passion, odds can (and will) be overcome. Tristin also reminds us that it also doesn't hurt to surround ourselves with wonderfully supportive people, choose to focus on the positive, and hold tight to our sense of self-worth. She also shares ways that young women interested in STEM can seek out guidance and direction.

Many of us have an inner perfectionist component to our personalities. Candice Jones is a technically trained dancer, model, and high performing career woman. She shares stories that describe how the perfectionist part of her psyche showed up in childhood and has served her well throughout life. We also explore ways that perfectionism, when not balanced out with more grace-filled parts, can chip away at our sense of self worth. Its an interesting conversation that looks at both sides of the perfectionism coin.

The reality of how under-educated and under-resourced our first responder heroes are promoted an eye-opening conversation with Emergency and Disaster Management specialist, Emergency Medical Technician and Fire Fighter, Tony Young. In this episode of the CuriosiFy Podcast, Tony shares his personal experience of discovering what post trauma consequential symptoms feel and look like. We explore trauma triggers and the distracting and numbing tactics that he tried in an attempt to feel better. He talks about the healing he has found utilizing Internal Family Systems therapy and various reroutes in lifestyle choices. And he sheds light on some shocking statistics of suicide in the fire fighting population. Tony is a walking, talking, breathing example of the many emergency responders who suffer life-altering consequences of trauma response because of the work they do. He encourages listeners to embrace vulnerability and to unlearn the social myth that asking for help is indicative of weakness.

Suicide is uncomfortable to talk about. But we have to. Bringing the conversation into the light with intention and courage will help expand our perceptions of why it happens and increase our compassion around it. I believe having brave discussions will ultimately result in a decrease in the rates of suicide. This episode was unplanned and is unscripted. Its just me, encouraging us all to change our perceptions and approaches to suicidality. The instinctive fear-based and reactive responses to someone's thoughts or actions of suicide contribute to making the problem worse. When we dial into empathy and learn to use more question marks, compassion is felt and healing can begin. The world lost an incredible human to suicide on April 14th. Please join me in honoring and memorializing my friend, Max Kraus, with your listen of this episode.

Since the mid-80s, research shows that consumers have spent increasingly more and more money, year after year, on drugs and hospital treatment for mental health issues. Interestingly, the data on reported mental health-related symptoms and deaths has also been on an endless and steady rise. Something is very wrong with that. Brett Shrewsbury, the Chief Commercial Officer of Meru Health, Inc., is an innovator and entrepreneur who is putting his energy into finding new ways to provide mental health servicing. Brett is also using his voice to speak truth to what is NOT WORKING as we work to help people tend to psychological functioning and wellness. This is a topic that touches every single human and is important for us all to be in-the-know about.

If you are anything like me, the fact that its a presidential election year makes you want to turn your TV off and hide in a cave until it is all over. At the very same time, I am grateful for my right to vote and want to be an informed, involved citizen. Emily Haggstrom has been involved in the political journalism, advocacy, communications and the creation of public affairs campaigns for nearly two decades. She travels all over the world constantly expanding her own perspectives. In this episode, Emily talks about how and where to find non-biased information, the importance of respecting each other's differences while challenging our own beliefs, and how to have a meaningful conversations with someone who does not think or believe in the same way that you do.

Most of us know what it feels like to believe there's just supposed to be more to life than this... especially when we have settled into complacency or misalignment. Artist, aerial yogi, photographic creator, and business owner, Katy Paulson joins me for a conversation about how to move from a life that feel less than thriving into one that is full of passion, creativity and so much fun! You can follow Katy on social media at @AirKaty or contact Angel Productions or Morse Code Malas via her website: KatyPaulson.com

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has raised the level of collective fear amongst all of us. Instead of fighting like crazy to distract from, outrun, numb out, out-think, or sit in denial of our fear, what if we began to lean into it with the intention of learning from the wisdom or perspective it perhaps has to offer? The ridiculously inspirational Corporate and Public Speaker, Chad Bruegman joins me for this vulnerable episode as we explore our own relationships to fear and make a case for YOU to up your self-awareness game and speak honestly in moments when you feel afraid.
***There is no explicit content in this episode.***

Nationally recognized sportscaster, television host and Colorado native, Lauren Gardner, speaks boldly about the importance of knowing herself and living in alignment with that truth, especially as a female working in the male-dominated sports industry. She shares about a people-pleasing part of herself that contributed to living smaller than what she was meant to, and the process of rumbling with the recognition that she was meant for more and built to live fully in her personal power. She wraps it up with some pretty amazing stories about her favorite moments in the limelight.

As an athletically built adolescent, Kelsi Kraus was tormented and bullied about her “boy” physique, lending to an inner battle with shame and a long-term struggle with body image. In this episode, Kelsi opens up about that pain from childhood and the lasting effects of it. She shares a story of healing reconciliation, between her beliefs and her body, that required not running away from her biggest fears, but rather racing towards them and stepping straight into spotlights that once seemed terrifying and impossible. Kelsi’s faith-based journey reminds us of the powers of self-love, always being on the lookout for joy, a discipline of gratitude, and in the willingness to trust that something much bigger than us always has our back.

The Denver Broncos Cheerleaders are known as a top-notch organization of particularly high-caliber women. In this episode, program Director (and member of the first DBC team in 1993) Shawna Peters, helps us understand how the late Pat Bowlen (owner of the NFL team) played an integral role in conceptualizing this powerhouse program, inside perspective of the life-changing experience of being a Broncos Cheerleader, and how the legacy lives on through the active DBC alumni community. We explore the roles we play as women in the world and discuss the shift from neurotic female competition and comparison to support and empowerment.

Megan La Grave is the epitome of an entrepreneurial spirit who, at one point, lived out of her car so that she could invest her whole self into a brilliant passion project business. Early childhood tragedy birthed a love affair with collecting information, which serves Megan well in her data analytics work. But her inherent curiosity keeps her mind busy with scrolls and scrolls of innovative ideas. Paired with a fiery sense of courage, this female phenom lives a big life of expansive thinking. In this episode, we explore Megan’s route into entrepreneurialism as well as specific guidance to anyone who is feeling stuck or complacent in any area of life.