“It is across racial lines, socioeconomic status, religious beliefs, and the like. This is not a phenomenon that just occurs to a certain person that looks and dresses and behaves a certain way.”
Introduction:
When everything builds up inside, managing emotions can oftentimes feel impossible.
As children grow, oftentimes there’s no one to teach them how to manage their emotions. For those with the trait of high sensitivity and/or those who experienced trauma, sometimes the way that they learn to cope, manage, or maintain their overwhelming emotions is through self-harm.
Self-harm is a subject that is riddled with misconceptions and negative judgments. In this episode, I talk with Vena Wilson about why people self-harm, and together we dispel some of those myths.
Vena deepens our understanding as to why women engage in this type of coping mechanism. She also shares her insights into what causes the emotional state that pushes individuals into self-harming tendencies, and what to do when someone you love struggles with this topic.
Take a listen to learn how to identify self-harm, support a loved one, or spark the healing process for yourself.
About Vena Wilson:
Vena Wilson is a licensed clinical social worker who provides psychotherapy services to children, teenagers, and adults. She is the owner and operator of Honey Bee Behavioral Health. She works to assist individuals and families in creating healthy, adaptive, and well-functioning relationships. With this, Vena also helps clients see their concerns through a different lens: she provides information on how trauma effects the functioning of various parts of the brain. She teaches strategies that allow them to take suicide and self-harm off the table as an option to release overwhelming emotions.
Some Questions I Ask:
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Podcasts that Discuss Dialectal Behavior Therapy Strategies, Managing Overwhelming Emotions, and Other Helpful Tidbits:
Charlie Swenson: To Hell and Back
Vena M. Wilson: The Honey Be Podcast
Practical/Helpful Reads on Validation, Mindfulness, Managing Overwhelming Emotions:
I Hear You: The Surprisingly Simple Skill Behind Extraordinary Relationships by Michael S. Sorensen
Freedom from Selfharm: Overcoming Self-Injury with Skills from DBT and Other Treatments by Kim Gratz
Books for Clinicians:
DBT® Skills Training Manual, Second Edition by Marsha M. Linehan
Treating Self-Destructive Behaviors in Trauma Survivors: A Clinician’s Guide by Lisa Ferentz
Treating Self-Injury: A Practical Guide by Barent W. Walsh
For Parents and Caregivers:
Other Resources:
To Donate:
“Mythology and storytelling are age-old methods of passing along wisdom, sharing experience, and explaining or teaching about life.”
Learning to trust your intuition, feelings, and dreams is a powerful experience.
With all the stories and lessons told to children today, our society does not seem to support the notion that women should learn to trust their intuition. This is a meaningful lesson for any woman, whether she’s a Maiden, Mother, or Crone. This is a lesson that is truly universal.
In this episode, I talk with Janet Lucy about her new children’s book Mermaid Dreams. This book encompasses many missing lessons from today’s children’s literature, while also depicting the connection between mother and daughter. Janet also tells the powerful story of goddesses and how goddess mythology illuminated her ideas within the book.
Take a listen to learn Janet’s new book Mermaid Dreams and how this story passes along universal wisdom to women.
About Janet Lucy:
Janet Lucy is an award-winning writer and poet, most notably the book Moon Mother, Moon Daughter: Myths and Rituals that Celebrate a Girl’s Coming of Age. She earned her master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from Antioch University. She’s also the founder and director of Women’s Creative Network, which is a consulting business utilizing intuitive, creative, and professional development through writing. She is passionate about the connection between mothers and daughters and how mythologies and stories coincide with the universal truths that women experience.
Some Questions I Ask:
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Resources:
Episode 91: The Heroine’s Journey: The Call to Transformation
Episode 95: Mothers, Daughters, Myth & Moon: Rituals to Honor a Girls’ Coming-of-Age
“We all have blind spots. We all have pitfalls and life terms. Part of the therapy process is about gaining insight and awareness of what those traps and what those lenses are and seeing that this is a recurrent theme that happens for you in your life.” (24:49)
Introduction:
Some people look like they truly have it all. Great job, great family, and the drive to keep moving toward success.
Oftentimes, in those who look like they have it all together, they are actually coping with a personality trait called rejection sensitivity. On the surface, rejection sensitivity looks like intrinsic motivation and perfectionism. The deeper you go, rejection sensitivity looks like isolation, anxiety, and intensity.
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jared DeFife about rejection sensitivity. Together, we talk about where this personality trait originates, what it looks like, and how people can work with rejection sensitivity rather than allowing it to have control over every action and relationships. Jared also shares insight into the role that rejection sensitivity plays in his own life, and why blending insight and awareness of this trait is essential to learning to thrive professionally and interpersonally.
Take a listen to learn about how to turn rejection sensitivity into a superpower-like trait and improve the lens through which you see the world along the way.
About Dr. Jared DeFife:
Dr. Jared DeFife is a clinical psychologist in private practice. He’s also an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and Behavioral Science at the Emory University School of Medicine. Jared is passionate about helping “intense” people integrate interpersonal and personality-focused therapies drawing from schema-focused and mentalization-based therapies into their lives.
Some Questions I Ask:
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
Resources:
Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire
Don’t Take it Personally! by Elayne Savage