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

Welcome to episode 73 of the Therapy Chat Podcast with host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C. This week’s guest features Xanthia Johnson. She is the founder of Urban Playogoly in Washington, DC. Urban Playology provides psychotherapy services to children, adolescents, individuals, couples and families. During defining transitions, she provides a safe place for you to be who you are. Whether you are 2 years old or 85 years young, you will enjoy a transformative experience. Her clinical areas of specialization and interest include but are not limited to: Women & Women of Color Issues, Urban Play Therapy, Expressive Arts, Sandtray Therapy, Grief & Loss, LGBTIQ Folk, TF-CBT, Broad Spectrum Couples & Family Work At Urban Playology, they utilize an Integrative therapy model with emphasis on advocacy and social justice for all clients. This approach helps them provide optimal support and sustainable nurturing for all clients. They offer professional training, clinical supervision, and clinical consultation on advoca

Welcome to episode 72 of the Therapy Chat Podcast with host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C. This week’s guest features Amy Weintraub. Amy has been a pioneer in the field of yoga and mental health for over twenty years.  She offers the LifeForce Yoga Practitioner Training for Mood Management to health and yoga professionals and offers workshops for everyday practitioners. Amy leads workshops and professional trainings at academic and psychology conferences internationally at such venues as the Boston University Graduate School of Psychology, the University of Arizona Medical School, the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium, the Integrative Mental Health Conference, the Cape Cod Institute, Kripalu Center, Omega Institute, Sivananda Ashram, Yogaville, Esalen, Patanjali University in Haridwar, India and Yoga studios throughout the United States. Amy is also a regular contributor on the Goddesses in America blog. In the episode, Amy talks about her background, the primary practices of Yoga for depression & anxiety and give

Welcome to episode 71 of the Therapy Chat Podcast with host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C. This week’s guest features Robert Cox, NCC. Robert is a therapist in Missouri near Kansas City who specializes in trauma, addictions, and autism. Trauma and addictions almost always go hand in hand. He specializes in walking with his patients through those rough patches. He uses therapy and mindfulness to work towards overcoming the past, repairing damaged relationships and moving into the future with a new ability to set boundaries and hold healthy relationships.  As Robert says in his own words:  “It has occurred to me that some of my future clients might wonder who they are hiring to help them through some very rough patches and trusting to walk with them on some vulnerable journeys.  I understand that because I have been many of the places my clients have been and will go.  I have my own history of addiction.  In 1988 I used for the last time and I have been clean since.  I know what it is to struggle with trauma, anxiety an

Welcome to episode 70 of the Therapy Chat Podcast with host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C. This week’s guest features Hilary Jacobs Hendel, LCSW. Hilary was gracious enough to speak to me again after a fault with technology disrupted our previous interview. I originally touched base with Hilary because she consulted on the show Mad Men (which I’m a huge fan of) and in episode 53 & 54 you can hear me dissect the character of Don Draper and relate it to childhood trauma, secrecy, and shame. Hilary grew up in New York City in a culture of "mind over matter." Raised by a psychiatrist and a guidance counselor, family time included analyzing her thoughts and dreams. Feelings were rarely mentioned (except perhaps to discuss how to get rid of them!) She thought she had total control over my emotions. Now she wants to share what she (and many psychotherapists and researchers) know about the new science of emotions. She wants others to learn what she had the good fortune to learn: that core emotions provide a path t

Welcome to episode 69 of the Therapy Chat Podcast with host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C. This week’s guest features the director of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MCASA), Lisae Jordan.MCASA supports legislation that promotes justice for survivors of sexual assault, accountability for offenders, and protection for the general public. MCASA supports legislation that promotes justice for survivors of sexual assault, accountability for offenders, and protection for the general public. MCASA responds to policy questions and legislative initiatives throughout the year and is represented in Annapolis during the legislative session. MCASA tracked over 35 bills during the 2016 legislative session to assure that the needs of survivors are addressed. In the episode, Lisae talks about the work she does and her commitment to support rape crisis centers, schools, forensic nurse examiners, law enforcement, and survivors. She also talks about the ways in which MCASA has been able to change laws in Maryland to benefi

Welcome to episode 68 of the Therapy Chat Podcast with host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C. This is the third episode in the integrative mental health series featuring Lisa Mitchell. She became a therapist 20 years ago — and for the first 10 years of her private practice, taught thousands of therapists how to integrate art into their work safely and effectively. As she walked along her teaching path, she made a surprising discovery. Most of the therapists she met already identified as “creative types” — but most were nervous about incorporating “creativity” into their work, with clients.  In the episode, Lisa talks about the work she does, working in her private practice in Sacramento, California. Her two niche categories of people she works with are teens and professional women, she helps them to work more with art to understand themselves better and to find experiences that help them resolve the issues going on in their lives. She also touches upon of the five stages of the creative process and how the therapist and

In Episode 67 Therapy Chat host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews therapist and group specialist Katie K. May, a licensed professional counselor in the Philadelphia area who also calls herself the “Group Guru” because she loves running groups and teaching therapists how to effectively plan and market their groups. Katie talks about how therapeutic groups are different from individual therapy and why she loves offering groups in her practice. If you’re a therapist, this episode will likely inspire you to offer more groups, and if you are someone who is interested in continuing your therapeutic journey by participating in groups, hopefully you will have found inspiration.   As always, please visit iTunes to leave a rating and review and subscribe to Therapy Chat so you will receive the latest episodes as soon as they’re released!   Find Katie May’s info on growing groups for therapists here: http://katiekmay.com   Sign up for information about Laura Reagan’s Daring Way™ groups beginning in March, 2017 here: http:

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! Today's episode, the second in the Integrative Mental Health Series, includes a fascinating interview with author Dr. Leslie Korn, who is a Harvard-trained body-oriented psychotherapist who has worked for four decades to help people understand the connection between physical and emotional health. Leslie spoke with host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C all the way from Mexico, where she lives and works. Leslie talks about how she got started doing body-oriented psychotherapy, what she learned in the jungle, and how nutrition can help our mental health. She discusses the connection between trauma and physical and mental health; self care; and her book "Nutrition Essentials for Mental Health". She talks about the "right diet" for everyone, explaining that fat is actually our friend! She explains that she prefers to take the ideology out of nutrition, stating that clinicians can use the science and the art of nutrition to help clients. Leslie discusses the idea of the gut as

Welcome back! In this brief episode host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C extends an end of year greeting to listeners of Therapy Chat. She pauses to reflect on the increase in audience of Therapy Chat from the beginning of 2016 to the end, talks about what is coming up in the next few months, and makes a confession about the difficulty she finds in practicing self care. Happy New Year!Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Looking for some new podcasts to listen to? I'm on a bit of a holiday hiatus from new episodes of Therapy Chat podcast. In the meantime, I wanted to tell you about some other podcasts I love. Here are 6 podcasts I'm listening to and recommending frequently! I hope you will check them out and please comment with your favorite podcast! 1. Women In-Depth with Dr. Lourdes Viado, MFT - I love this podcast because my friend and colleague Lourdes Viado conducts interesting and (as the name implies) in-depth interviews on topics that people don't usually talk about. Lourdes is a depth psychologist who was mentored by Jungian analyst and author Dr. James Hollis. She is so knowledgeable about her work and I love listening to her soothing voice. The podcast is fantastic and I recommend it without reservation! Some of the episodes I frequently recommend to my clients include: Episode 10: Spiritual Abuse: What It Is & Why It Matters with Tamara Powell, LMHC Episode 23: Understanding Spiritual Abuse

Today, I did something hard. Have you heard Glennon Doyle Melton say "We can do hard things"? Well, we can. I can. I think. It's not always something huge - for me, today, it was trying something new and very challenging. Fulfilling a promise I made to myself and to listeners of Therapy Chat (talk about accountability!), I took my 45 year old body which has not been on the back of a horse for 32 years - and even then, at age 13, my experience was limited to two or three times I rode a horse while someone held on and walked it - and had my first horseback riding lesson. My first lesson, ever. It was clear that the people at the barn and at the shop where I bought my helmet today expected I had SOME kind of experience on a horse when they were talking to me. They kept saying "so you're coming back to riding?" I was like, "no, I'm an absolute beginner. I've never done it at all." I like knowing. I'll be honest, I hated how it felt to admit that I didn't know ANYTHI

Welcome to episode 62 of the Therapy Chat Podcast with host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C. This is the third episode in the trauma and attachment series featuring Stuart Fensterheim, LCSW. Stuart is a clinical social worker in Scottsdale, Arizona, practicing with couples using Sue Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) which is an attachment-based couples therapy method.  In the episode, Stuart talks about how he works on making connections with couples and how our childhood attachment affects the way we show up in relationships as adults. He also touches upon John Bowlby's Attachment Theory, which focuses on your relationship with your primary caretaker and how it influences everything through your life. To make sense of this theory, he talks further about the relationship young babies have with their caretaker, avoiding failure to thrive and how the needs of a young baby to experience touch and closeness, continue with us throughout our adult life.   Resources http://www.thecouplesexpertscottsdale.com http:

Welcome back! In Episode 61 Therapy Chat host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C asked 11 therapists to contribute their best tips for using self care to manage holiday stress. With Thanksgiving Day tomorrow in the US, hopefully you will find something useful here.   Thanks for listening to Therapy Chat. Please get in touch and let host Laura Reagan know what you thought of this episode!   Thanks to the eleven therapists who participated! See below for their names and links to their websites!     Elizabeth Cush, MA, LGPC Progressioncounseling.com Robert Cox, MA, PLPC, NCC http://www.liferecoveryconsulting.com Charlotte Hiler Easley LCSW ESMHL www.charlotteeasley.com Daniela Paolone LMFT westlakevillage-counseling.com Elizabeth Burke, LCSW www.empoweredtherapy.org Gina Della Penna, LMHC www.ginadellapenna.com Jackie Flynn EdS | LMHC | RPT www.counselinginbrevard.com Melvin Varghese, PhD melvinvarghese.com Ellis Edmunds, Licensed Psychologist www.drellisedmunds.com Re

Welcome back! In Episode 60, the first in the series on Integrative Mental Health, Therapy Chat host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews James Lake, MD, an integrative psychiatrist in California who has authored four books, including 2009’s Integrative Mental Health: A Therapist’s Handbook. Dr. Lake is a leader in the field of integrative mental health, as you will hear in this interview.   Dr. Lake discusses how he uses complementary and alternative medicine (“CAM”) in his clinical practice, and how Master’s-level therapists can use integrative methods in their practices, within their scope of practice. He discusses use of supplements in psychotherapy practice, collaboration with alternative and complementary practitioners as well as allopathic medicine physicians as well. He shares information on his E-book series on integrative mental health and how practitioners can use it.   This is the Episode 1 of the series on integrative mental health, which will continue on alternating weeks through the next few months.

Welcome back! In Episode 59, # 2 in the series on Trauma and Attachment, Therapy Chat host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Rebecca Wong, LCSW-R, a relationship therapist in New Paltz, NY, the creator of Connectfulness, and co-host of the upcoming Practice Of Being Seen podcast.   Rebecca talks about using play in her couples work, as well as how our attachment relates to our ability to trust our partners. Rebecca explains that needing attention is not a bad thing – it’s normal. She talks about the concept of being seen, in relationships and in our work with clients. She and Laura discuss getting out of our heads and into our bodies to connect with our partners, other people in our lives and as therapists, how we can connect with our clients. Rebecca explains how using animal-assisted therapy with dogs and horses helps us understand our emotions as shown in our bodies.   Rebecca describes her five-step process of Connectfulness, a research based practice she developed and uses with her couples therapy clients.

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! Episode 58 is the first in the series on Trauma and Attachment. In today’s episode host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Amy Sugeno, LCSW. Amy is a clinical social worker in private practice who specializes in working with survivors of trauma related to attachment, particularly related to adoption.   Amy explains how attachment trauma can affect children who were adopted, even if the adoption went as smoothly as it possibly could. She describes how children who have been adopted may act out behaviorally to tell their parents how they feel. Amy also talks about a surprising way adoptive parents (and others parenting traumatized children) may experience trauma themselves and how to recognize the symptoms. She and Laura discuss how prior difficulty with conceiving a child can contribute to the experience for parents, how the parent’s own attachment style and trauma history is “churned up” through the process of adoption. She describes how adoption can change relationships within a fa

How Children Are Like Horses (And Why You Should Care)   If you have been listening to Therapy Chat podcast lately, you know that I have been talking about using equine assisted psychotherapy and education methods to get in touch with our emotional experiences. In Episode 55 I described my own experience of making a deep soul connection in a barn when I spent a Saturday morning at an equine learning workshop with four other women and two horses. That changed me and I am still feeling it, weeks later. I can’t wait to do more – and I will in a couple weeks when I trek to the Hudson Valley for a beautiful Equine Retreat for Therapists and Healers offered by my friends and colleagues Rebecca Wong and Marisa Goudy.   Then in Episode 56 I interviewed Charlotte Hiler Easley, an LCSW and Equine Specialist in Lexington, Kentucky who developed a model called Equine Assisted Survivors of Trauma Therapy that is being used with survivors of sexual assault to experientially teach safety in our bodies, to see what it feel

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! In today’s episode, as a follow up to Episode 55 about falling in love in a barn, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Charlotte Hiler Easley, LCSW. Charlotte is a psychotherapist in private practice who specializes in working with survivors of trauma using equine-assisted psychotherapy (EAP). Charlotte discusses her work using Equine Assisted Survivors of Trauma Therapy, a method she developed in collaboration with a rape crisis center when she was in grad school.   Charlotte talks about how horses are able to read our body language and react to our emotional experience. She explains what equine assisted psychotherapy is – hint: you don’t have to touch a saddle. She describes how survivors of trauma working with horses are able to learn and practice new ways of being in relationship; setting boundaries; making a mind-body connection; feeling what safety feels like – because the work is all experiential. Finally, Charlotte shares about her work helping therapists create practices

I found my heart and soul connection in a barn. I had a new experience which was a game-changer for me. I've been saying for at least 10 years that I want to take horseback riding lessons. I talked about it on an episode of Therapy Chat earlier this year, vowing that I would make it happen.   I've ridden a horse maybe 5 times in my whole life, all between the ages of 10-13 years old. For a time I was obsessed with them, as many children are. I grew up in the city but close enough to rural areas that there was one horse farm many of us knew to visit.  Recently as I've learned more about equine-assisted therapy and the benefits of spending times with horses, I've become determined to increase the amount of time I spend with horses. I'm now 44 years old and my body has changed quite a bit since I was 13. I think it's safe to say that my heart hasn't changed much, if at all, though, as I learned through this experience.  Before I tell you what happened, let me give you some i

Welcome to Therapy Chat! In today’s episode host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C discusses the AMC drama “Mad Men.” If you are a fan of the show, you’ll want to listen and if you haven’t watched it before, maybe you will be intrigued to check it out. Just a warning, though, this episode contains some spoilers so if you don’t want to know some of the important plot points, maybe you should watch the show first and come back to this episode later. Laura is a trauma therapist, and she talks about how the main character of Mad Men, Don Draper, exhibits characteristics common in survivors of childhood abuse trauma. Actor Jon Hamm and show creator Matthew Weiner masterfully characterize a man who is tormented by his inner demons. Laura describes how the traumatic experiences of Don Draper’s childhood could have led to him becoming the adult we meet in the first episode of the series, and what someone who has these symptoms now can do to get help. Laura explains some of the symptoms commonly experienced by survivors of childho