Therapy Chat | Psychotherapy | Mindfulness | Trauma | Attachment | Worthiness | Self Care | Parenting

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week we have a conversation with two guest that I hope you'll find interesting whether you identify as a therapist, a human with complex PTSD/developmental trauma, part of a system of multiples or someone with a dissociative disorder, or if you are anyone who's curious about parts work and your inner world. I was honored to record this interview earlier this month with two amazing therapists who are thought leaders in the trauma world: Dr. Jamie+ Marich, author of Dissociation Made Simple and many other books; and Dr. Dick Schwartz, who developed Internal Family Systems (IFS). Dr. Jamie Marich (she/they/we) began her career as a humanitarian aid worker in Bosnia-Hercegovina from 2000-2003, primarily teaching English and music. Jamie travels internationally teaching on topics related to trauma, EMDR therapy, expressive arts, mindfulness, and yoga, while maintaining a private practice and online education operations in her home base of Akron, OH. Marich is the founder

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week's guest is Sacha Mardou, an illustrator who has documented her journey of healing from family trauma and abuse using IFS therapy in a new graphic memoir called Past Tense, which is available now. Sacha is not a therapist, but she has a gift for making the process of IFS therapy relatable and her book is a fabulous resource for anyone who is interested in learning about healing. She's someone I've followed on social media for years - I even have an original work of hers in my home. I'm so excited that her work is now reaching a larger audience. There's something really powerful about the combination of artwork and therapy-related material that reaches another level when reading. Sacha Mardou is a British cartoonist and graphic novelist who now makes a home in St Louis, Missouri. Her graphic memoir, Past Tense: Facing Family Secrets and Finding Myself in Therapy (Avery Press, 2024) is an account of her emotional healing journey using IFS therapy.Find S

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, it feels like women's health is even more important to discuss than before. This week I'm joined by my friend and my pelvic floor PT, Dr. Gina Hahn. Gina explained what pelvic floor PT is, what to expect if you begin working with a PFPT, why this area of all of our bodies, including women and those who have given birth as well as those identifying as male, is so important to our life and health. She spoke about how someone would know if PFPT could be helpful, how physical and emotional trauma can factor in and much more. Dr. Gina Hahn, DPT, RKC is an expert pelvic floor physical therapist. She chose the pelvic floor as a speciality during her first pregnancy. She realized the need for and value of this specialization as she moved through an adverse event and came out stronger on the other side. Gina empowers clients and helps them feel fully seen and heard, moving seamlessly from health care provider to coach to integrate and address the mind-body-soul of each

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, as we look toward a very important election in the United States, my guest is Erin Spahr, a licensed therapist, mother, feminist, podcast host, and maternal mental health advocate based in Raleigh, NC. Erin uses her large social media following on her Instagram account, Feminist Mom Therapist, to raise awareness about the issues affecting moms and women in the U.S. We talked about why moms are feeling burned out and how their recovery process involves setting boundaries, and feeling angry at the inequality in our gendered society. And we talked about how the Patriarchy harms everyone in a family, regardless of gender or age, because of its impossible expectations. Erin uses a feminist lens in her work with mothers and strives to help mothers free themselves from oppressive societal expectations and find more self-confidence and self-compassion. She hosts the Feminist Mom Podcast where she discusses the intersection of feminism and motherhood with inspiring guests. Erin

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! As part of our continuing series on women's health, today's episode features Dr. Julie Bindeman, an integrative psychologist who specializes in reproductive psychology. This was an area of the field I was unaware of before we connected. This episode was recorded before Joe Biden stepped down as the Democratic nominee for President. We talked about reproductive trauma, the importance of body autonomy and the traumatic consequences of people losing the power to make decisions over their own bodies. Julie spoke about why it's important to find a therapist who understands the ins and outs of reproductive psychology - it goes beyond perinatal mental health. Dr. Julie Bindeman graduated from George Washington University and is the co-owner of Integrative Therapy of Greater Washington in Rockville, Maryland. Her specialty is in the field of Reproductive Psychology, where she actively writes, lectures, and presents. She is an approved consultant in EMDR through EMDRIA. She ha

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week we are talking sex, sexuality, eroticism, arousal and psychedelic assisted integrative relationship therapy! My guest today is Dr. Tammy Nelson, a relationship therapist who is the founder of the Integrative Sex Therapy Institute and author of six books. We had a fascinating discussion where we talked about how the Patriarchy creates shame around our relationships to pleasure, sexuality, sensuality and eroticism, and thus disconnection from ourselves. Tammy explains how individuals and those in relationships can reconnect with ourselves by reconnecting to our eroticism in this episode. We also talked about her work offering relationship intensives using Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy with her Integrative Relationship Therapy model. This is a juicy episode, I hope you’ll enjoy learning with Dr. Tammy Nelson as much as I did! Find special offers on Dr. Tammy Nelson’s courses and books through our partnership with PESI here: https://my.pesi.partners/L2Z3N5/W3N1D7/Find the

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week's guest is known internationally for her advocacy and expertise in women's health. I was so grateful to speak to Dr. Rachel Rubin about hormones, menopause, pelvic health and much more. If you identify as female or love someone who does, you will want to learn from her! Dr. Rachel Rubin is a board-certified urologist and sexual medicine specialist. She is one of only a handful of physicians with fellowship training in sexual medicine for all genders. Dr. Rubin is a clinician, researcher, and passionate educator. In addition to being the former education chair and current Director-at-Large for the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), she serves as associate editor for the journal Sexual Medicine Reviews. Dr. Rubin completed her medical education at Tufts University, her urology training at Georgetown University, and her sexual medicine fellowship training with Dr. Irwin Goldstein in San Diego. She is currently in private practice

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week's episode is the third part of our series with guest Dr. Sharon Martin, LCSW. This week in a replay episode you'll hear Sharon talk about setting boundaries with families that are enmeshed, and which prevent members from individuating.You'll hear Sharon talk about her Boundaries workbook, The Better Boundaries Workbook. There's a companion guided journal now available as well. And her latest book, "Cutting Ties With Your Parents: A workbook to help adults make peace with their decision, heal emotional wounds, and move forward with their lives," is now available. Order Sharon's new book now and find other great resources via her website: https://livewellwithsharonmartin.com 

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! As a follow up to last week's episode in which guest Dr. Sharon Martin described the communication dynamics and boundaries of families that could be described as unhealthy, toxic, dysfunctional, abusive, emotionally immature, Sharon is back with a new discussion. We talked about the challenges of accepting one's family of origin as it really is - and what that means. Sharon explained that a tremendous amount of grief can arise when we see that our family is not open to changing, and how those who decide to cut ties with their families can come out on the other side and move forward with their lives. My guest for this replay episode from 2021 is Dr. Sharon Martin. Sharon has been working with adults whose parents were emotionally immature, emotionally neglectful, emotionally unavailable, substance abusing, or otherwise unable to meet their children's attachment needs for 20 years, and she has written several books about healing from difficult childhoods. Her latest boo

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week we're talking about the communication dynamics and boundaries of families that could be described as unhealthy, toxic, dysfunctional, abusive, or emotionally immature. My guest for this replay episode from 2021 is Dr. Sharon Martin. Sharon has been working with adults whose parents were emotionally immature, emotionally neglectful, emotionally unavailable, substance abusing, or otherwise unable to meet their children's attachment needs for 20 years, and she has written several books about healing from difficult childhoods. Her latest book, "Cutting Ties With Your Parents: A workbook to help adults make peace with their decision, heal emotional wounds, and move forward with their lives," comes out in mid-October, 2024. Next week I'll share a new interview with Sharon about this book, so this week I wanted to give some context about these relational patterns. Pre-order Sharon's new book now and find other great resources via her website: https://li

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! The typical approach to trauma therapy has been to go down deep and excavate the trauma. While I love doing deep trauma therapy work as much as anyone else (likely more than some), if a client's nervous system doesn't have the capacity to tolerate "going there," it can be too much.That's why I was really curious to talk to Libby Murdoch, LPC, CCTP about her Resilience-Focused EMDR therapy training! The concept of building resilience is gaining traction in our field, and it makes sense! Listen in to our conversation as Libby and I discuss her EMDR Basic Training offerings and what's different about her Resilience-Focused approach.I met Libby last year in London at a conference where she was a speaker and I loved her enthusiasm for the work and her way of clearly explaining the neuroscience, making it accessible for more people to understand.  Libby Murdoch is a licensed professional counselor and certified clinical trauma professional who is an EMDRIA-appro

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! I recently connected with Amber Trejo, LMFT, who I've been following on Instagram (The Integrative Trauma Therapist) for a while. I really appreciate how she creates content for social media that educates people with accurate information about complex trauma in a compassionate and authentic way. We got together to talk about being trauma survivors and showing up authentically to help trauma survivors with the content we create. We ran out of time to go deeper in our conversation so we decided we'd follow up with another talk live on Instagram sometime later this month. I'm so happy I got the chance to meet Amber (virtually) and start this conversation about what it feels like to be a therapist with complex trauma creating content to educate people with complex trauma, and why this is so important to both of us. Check out Amber's website to find all of the resources she's created to help survivors of childhood trauma heal!More about Amber Trejo, LMFT: Amber is

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! I've been eager to find residential treatment programs that are truly trauma sensitive and even better if they actually include bottom up healing methods. This has not been easy to find, but this summer I visited my colleague and friend Benjamin Fry's Khiron Clinic in Oxfordshire, UK. I was able to see the beautiful grounds and meet the highly skilled staff. They generously answered my questions about their work and I learned about the investment Khiron Clinics have made in bringing in leaders in the trauma field to provide training, supervision and consultation to the clinicians and staff. It's pretty amazing, and I was honored to interview Benjamin about why he started Khiron and how the programs serve trauma survivors through communal living and bottom up therapies in a beautiful setting in the English countryside. He shared his healing journey and what he learned from his nervous breakdown. I encourage you to watch this episode on YouTube where you can see images

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week I was honored to interview Sivan Perdue, LCPC, ATR-BC, an art therapist who specializes in working with individuals and families impacted by dementia. We had a beautiful conversation that was thought provoking in terms of how our society treats individuals with dementia. I'm so appreciative of Sivan and the work she does. Sivan Perdue, an art therapist located in Salisbury, MD, is dedicated to advancing mental health care for older adults, with a particular focus on those living with dementia. Sivan earned her bachelor's degree in studio art from Nazareth College of Rochester and continued her education at Nazareth, obtaining a master's degree in art therapy.Through her private practice, Perdue Art Therapy, Sivan seamlessly blends creativity with therapeutic support. She specializes in assisting individuals coping with dementia and leads a tailored support program designed for people navigating the complexities of caring for their partners during this challe

This week's episode of Therapy Chat features Trauma Therapist Network member Dr. Julia Knach. Julia has worked for years with survivors of child abuse and is now the owner of a group practice North of Baltimore, Maryland as well as a training institute. In our conversation, Julia shares how she uses Brainspotting with sand tray therapy and play to help her clients work through their trauma. Listen to our conversation and be inspired to use some new ways of working with clients! Julia Knach is the owner and founder of My Crossing Paths Counseling Center and My Crossing Paths Training Center. Julia was previously the Manager of Clinical Services at Baltimore Child Abuse Center (BCAC) and before that she was the Clinical Supervisor with Family and Children’s Services (FCS), supervising both Baltimore City and County. She works with all populations dealing with trauma and abuse. She is currently an adjunct professor at the Community College of Baltimore County, teaching in the human service counseling departm

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week's guest is Jeremy Mohler a licensed therapist, men's coach, and writer. We talked about how he facilitates men's groups and works with individual clients to help men connect with their emotions using IFS. Jeremy shares from his own experience of connecting with his vulnerable younger parts. I really appreciate what Jeremy is doing to help men have healthy relationships with the important people in their lives. Jeremy is the author of Make Men Emotional Again, an email newsletter helping men and couples have better relationships. He sees therapy clients in Baltimore and Silver Spring, Maryland. Follow Jeremy on Instagram Subscribe to his Substack here.Find Jeremy's website here.The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is an EMDRIA-approved EMDR Therapy training institute created by Dr. Jamie Marich, a clinician and author who is on a mission to confront stigma around mental health, trauma, and dissociation.They’re offering a special discount to Therapy Chat

This week on Therapy Chat, my guest is Dr. Thomas Hübl. We talked about his work over more than 2 decades working with groups of survivors of war, oppression, genocide and other collective traumas about how healing happens. This episode is particularly timely at this point in history - with violence, including war and political violence; oppression and the impact of a worldwide pandemic affecting millions of people, so many of us feel powerless and hopeless about the future. This episode is meant to inspire hope that healing is possible, even after the unthinkable occurs in communities.Thomas Hübl, PhD, is a renowned teacher, author, and international facilitator who works within the complexity of systems and cultural change, integrating the core insights of the great wisdom traditions and mysticism with the discoveries of science. Since the early 2000s, he has led large-scale events and courses on the healing of collective trauma. He is the author of Attuned: Practicing Interdependence to Heal Our Trauma—and

This week on Therapy Chat, my guest is Theresa Soltzberg, LMFT, MBA, a Certified IFS therapist who uses expressive arts and specializes in complex trauma. Theresa and I had a fascinating conversation about her work. She described how she uses the Enneagram with Expressive Arts and IFS to help survivors of complex/developmental trauma to reconnect with their inner worlds. She combines these approaches to support healing through deep parts work and creativity, offering a playful, colorful and enjoyable journey of self-discovery, transformation and authenticity. She offers coaching and therapy groups as well as individual counseling sessions. She is currently working on a book that captures the steps of this journey focused on mixed media visual arts journaling. Find Theresa Soltzberg's website hereFind Theresa on social media; Instagram and LinkedInThe Institute for Creative Mindfulness is an EMDRIA-approved EMDR Therapy training institute created by Dr. Jamie Marich, a clinician and author who is on a miss

This week's Therapy Chat episode features Dr. Judy Ho, a triple board certified and licensed Clinical and Forensic Neuropsychologist, a tenured Associate Professor at Pepperdine University, and author of three books, including most recently, The New Rules of Attachment, which was published in March 2024. Despite her impressive academic credentials, Judy presents complicated information about attachment in a way that is relatable and easy to understand, even for those who are not mental health professionals.Find Dr. Judy Ho's website here: https://drjudyho.com/Find Dr. Judy Ho on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.Buy Dr. Judy Ho's newest book, "The New Rules of Attachment: how to heal your relationships, reparent your inner child, and secure your life vision" on Amazon here.The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is an EMDRIA-approved EMDR Therapy training institute created by Dr. Jamie Marich, a clinician and author who is on a mission to confront stigma around mental health, trauma,

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week’s guest is someone I really respect and admire, Dr. Arielle Schwartz! This time we talked about her newest book, Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga: therapeutic practices for Emotional Health. When I was recently in the UK, I attended a two-day workshop with Arielle where she taught some of the material from the book - it was wonderful! I highly recommend any of her offerings!Find Dr. Arielle Schwartz ‘s website with all of her offerings at: https://drarielleschwartz.com Find Dr. Arielle Schwartz’s newest book, Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga: therapeutic practices for emotional health, on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3WhYoF4The Institute for Creative Mindfulness is an EMDRIA-approved EMDR Therapy training institute created by Dr. Jamie Marich, a clinician and author who is on a mission to confront stigma around mental health, trauma, and dissociation.They’re offering a special discount to Therapy Chat listeners! Save 15% on any of their courses or CE programs including