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

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, due to a death in the family, host Laura Reagan is away and replaying a past episode which relates complex trauma, dissociation and EMDR. This week, Laura revisits her conversation with Kathy Steele on Structural Dissociation. Kathy Steele is a psychotherapist, consultant, trainer, and author. She practices in Atlanta, Georgia, working with complex psychological trauma, dissociation, attachment issues, therapeutic impasse, therapist self-care, and many other related topics in psychotherapy.Kathy has been in private practice since 1985, and with Metropolitan Psychotherapy Associates in Atlanta, Georgia since 1988. She was Clinical Director of Metropolitan Counseling Services, a non- profit psychotherapy and training center until 2016. Kathy received her undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina in 1978, and completed her graduate work at Emory University in 1983.She is a Past President and Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Trauma and

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, due to a death in the family, host Laura Reagan is away and replaying a past episode which relates to last week's conversation with Rotem Brayer. on the Art & Science of EMDR. This week, Laura revisits her conversation with Dr. Debbie Korn on identifying and assessing dissociation in preparation for processing complex trauma using EMDR. Deborah L. Korn, PsyD maintains a private practice in Cambridge, MA and is a faculty member at the Trauma Research Foundation and the EMDR Institute. She is also the former Clinical Director of the Women’s Trauma Programs at Charter Brookside and Charles River Hospitals and a past board member of the New England Society for the Treatment of Trauma and Dissociation. Dr. Korn has authored or coauthored numerous articles and chapters focused on EMDR therapy, including comprehensive reviews of EMDR applications with Complex PTSD. She is an EMDR International Association-approved consultant and also on the Editorial Board of the Jour

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Rotem Brayer, M.Ed, LPC, who is a licensed professional counselor, certified EMDR therapist, EMDR consultant, and advanced EMDR trainer. He is the founder of The EMDR Learning Community (emdr-learning.com), a community that brings EMDR therapists together and provides education on EMDR therapy and the integration of this modality with other treatment approaches. As the co-founder of EMDR Denver, a practice that helps clients heal with an “EMDR first” approach, Rotem divides his time between consulting on cases, coaching EMDR therapists, and helping clients heal from the effects of trauma and attachment wounds.   Rotem and Laura discussed the art and science of trauma therapy, and how he is working to take EMDR clinicians beyond protocols, so they can work effectively and safely with clients who have attachment wounds, trauma and dissociation. This was such a great conversation that will surely spark many thoughts and ideas for liste

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C shares about her recent experience attending Psychotherapy Networker, where she met this week's guest, Jules Taylor Shore, in person! Jules is a neuroscience nerd who is passionate about relational therapy. In this conversation you'll hear Jules explain memory reconsolidation, a natural healing process in the brain which can be interrupted by trauma and attachment wounds. Jules explains the role of implicit memory in how we function in relationships. This is a fascinating conversation about a complex subject that Jules makes understandable. Here's more about Jules:   Jules became a therapist because she stumbled into a therapist's office when she was in a hard space, fought with him for several months over whether or not feelings are important (she argued they were not), and found herself at the other end transformed. She remembers the day as clearly as if it were yesterday, when she looked up at him from a worn couch in a low c

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Laura Khoudari, author of Lifting Heavy Things: Healing Trauma One Rep At A Time. In this conversation, you'll hear the two Lauras discussing trauma-informed strength training; dissociation and disembodiment within fitness culture; and how the culture of the fitness world is evolving.    Laura Khoudari is a pioneer in trauma-informed strength training, a speaker, and the author of Lifting Heavy Things: Healing Trauma One Rep at a Time. She is passionate about giving people the tools they need to heal from trauma and cultivate mental health and wellness. Her work has been widely recognized by the trauma and fitness community, and she has been featured by The New York Times, NPR, Buzzfeed, UpWorthy, Outside Online, Medium, Vice, and Nike.com. She has presented her work for Somatic Experiencing International, The Breathe Network, Reebok, Les Mills, Fitness4AllBodies, and conferences, schools, and fitness studios in the US and Canad

Welcome back to TherapyChat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C speaks out about a major issue affecting those who use online mental health platforms like BetterHelp and others, and how this breach of public trust is likely to impact trauma survivors and anyone who has been abused or marginalized particularly deeply. Laura reminds listeners that we all have a voice, even when learning about abuse, as horrifying as it is, we are not powerless. In this episode Laura goes through the press release, pointing out important parts and offers some suggestions of what those affected can do.    Laura Reagan, LCSW-C, a trauma therapist located in Maryland, United States, who hosts Therapy Chat Podcast, shares important information that consumers who have used BetterHelp and other online mental health platforms need to know. Laura shares information from a press release sent out by the United States Federal Trade Commission regarding reported violations of privacy protections they claimed they would provide. According

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Kasey Compton, LMFT, author of the recent book, "Fix This Next for Healthcare Providers: Your Business Is Like A Patient, You Just Have to Treat It That Way," psychotherapist, group practice owner, consultant, coach, mother, and human.    Laura and Kasey had a deep conversation about the surprising mindset shifts that can make all the difference for entrepreneurs. It's not what you think! Kasey shared about her journey from successful entrepreneur to happy, healthy and balanced human (who is still a successful entrepreneur). We all know that there's no end to the journey of healing - life is filled with experiences that help us grow. Kasey shares a message that there is no shame in embracing all of who you are. This conversation is filled with many meaningful nuggets you won't want to miss. She shared some of her story and Laura met her in that place to share her from her own experiences.   More about Kasey: Kasey

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Dr. Shefali, Tsabary. Dr. Shefali received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Columbia University. Specializing in the integration of Western psychology and Eastern philosophy, she brings together the best of both worlds for her clients. She is an expert in family dynamics and personal development, teaching courses around the globe. She has written five books, three of which are New York Times best-sellers, including her two landmark books The Conscious Parent and The Awakened Family. Her newest book is "The Parenting Map: Step-by-Step Solutions to Consciously Create the Ultimate Parent-Child Relationship," which is scheduled for release on February 28, 2023. In this conversation, you'll hear Dr. Shefali speaking about the process of becoming a conscious parent, and then she described the 5 parenting strategies that create problems in our relationships with our children. In her newest book she lays out

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Dr. Elizabeth Guthrie, author of "The Trauma Informed Herbalist," about how we can use herbs and nature to improve self connection and self care. Elizabeth Guthrie is a board certified wellness practitioner who holds a PhD in Natural Medicine with a focus in Naturopathic Psychology and a Master's of Public Health in Functional Nutrition. She has helped create research for University of Alabama Birmingham’s Integrative Medicine clinic, teaches practitioners online, and works as a wellness practitioner and yoga instructor in Birmingham, Alabama.   Visit Elizabeth's website.   Purchase Elizabeth's book, The Trauma Informed Herbalist, on Amazon here. Thank you to Kelly + Miranda for sponsoring this week's episode! Therapists - Make More Profits & Work Less in Private Practice from Kelly + Miranda of ZynnyMe begins 2/6/23! Therapists - Attend a free webinar presented by Dr. Janina Fisher. In this

  Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews Alicia Barmon, LCPC, a Baltimore area yoga therapist and psychotherapist, about breath work. Alicia combines Somatic Experiencing with breathwork to build a bridge between the subconscious and conscious mind - the implicit and the explicit... allowing trauma energy to emerge and be supported, held and felt in a new way - in relationship with the loving witness.  Her work emerges from the intersection of science and spirituality as she weaves modern science with ancient practices to create 30 minute daily practices that draw from quantum physics, Vedic philosophy, Chinese medicine, Buddhism and her deep reverence for trees and fungi.    She offers a breathwork class that has been running daily for 2 years. She also teaches the "Therapeutic Applications of the Breath' to practitioners, and she provides somatic based therapy and individualized breathwork sessions to harness the breath for personal and collective liberatio

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews an esteemed guest, Dr. Stacey Freedenthal on the important subject of how to support someone who shares with you that they're considering suicide. In this episode you'll hear Stacey normalizing the common experience of having suicidal thoughts and clarify what happens when people tell mental health professionals they're having suicidal thoughts.  Stacey Freedenthal, PhD, LCSW, is recognized for her expertise in helping people who have suicidal thoughts. She authored the books Helping the Suicidal Person: Tips and Techniques for Professionals (Routledge; 2018) and Loving Someone with Suicidal Thoughts: What Family, Friends, and Partners Can Say and Do (New Harbinger Publications; scheduled to be published Jan. 2, 2023). Dr. Freedenthal created and maintains the website Speaking of Suicide, which has had more than six million views in ten years. She has authored or co-authored two dozen peer- reviewed articles and book

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews returning guest Keri Nola. Keri is an Intuitive Entrepreneur, expressing her medicine as a Former Psychotherapist, Best-Selling Author, Podcaster, Oracle Card Creator and Founder of the Abundance Activator for Healing Entrepreneurs, a membership community oriented to aligning with your Divine desires. While birthing and stewarding an abundant clinical practice specializing in complex trauma and dissociation for over a decade, Keri’s work has since evolved to support therapists, coaches and healers in activating their abundant service through mentorship, products, programs, events and retreats.   Keri explained that trauma can cause a shift in our relationship to receiving, on multiple levels, affecting mind, body and spirit. She talks about how being blocked from receiving results in feeling disempowered and losing trust in self and others. You'll hear Keri guide Laura through an exercise to explore this energetically, and thei

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! We have talked a lot on Therapy Chat about perfectionism, and this week’s guest brings a slightly different perspective. Our guest today is a former onsite therapist at Google who proposes that it’s not always necessary to let go of being a perfectionist, because there are many positive aspects of this characteristic.  Katherine Morgan Schafler is a psychotherapist, writer and speaker, and former on-site therapist at Google. She earned degrees and trained at UC Berkeley and Columbia University, with post-graduate certification from the Association for Spirituality and Psychotherapy in New York City. Katherine’s new book, The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control: A path to peace and power, came out in January 2023.  In this episode: - Katherine explains the 5 types of perfectionism: Classic Perfectionists  Intense Perfectionists  Parisian Perfectionists  Messy Perfectionists  Procrastinator Perfectionists She describes how each type presents with positive and negative aspe

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! Following up on last week's conversation on therapists and dissociation, this week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C welcomes a guest who is an expert on complex trauma therapy and mindfulness.   Dr. John Briere, a trauma and abuse survivor, has spent his 30 year career doing therapy with survivors of torture, sex trafficking and with patients on burn units, as well as research on complex trauma. He is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, and Senior Advisor to the USC Adolescent Trauma Training Center. He is recipient of the Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Science of Trauma Psychology from the American Psychological Association and the William N. Friedrich Lecturer: Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Child Psychology from the Mayo Clinic. He is author or co-author of over 140 articles and chapters, 15 books, and 9 trauma-related psychological tests. His recent (2019) book w

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! As we welcome the New Year, we are welcoming new perspectives. This week's episode is all about reconsidering what you've always thought about dissociation (if you've thought about it at all!).   This week's guest is Dr. Jamie+ Marich. Jamie/Dr. Jamie uses she/they pronouns, identifying as a bisexual woman in recovery from a substance-related disorder who is part of a dissociative system. She is also an internationally recognized speaker, trainer in EMDR and expressive arts, the author of many books, and a psychotherapist in private practice.  Their newest book, Dissociation Made Simple, includes stories shared by Jamie/Dr. Jamie and 61 contributors, nearly 40 of whom are mental health clinicians living with dissociative disorders. The book is for anyone to learn about dissociation, and the stories shared truly demystify this misunderstood and highly stigmatized experience.   Listen in to hear Laura and Jamie+ discuss:   - Reconceptualizing trauma - Understanding

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, continuing our theme of coping with holiday and family stress, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C, revisits a recent Therapy Chat episode with frequent guest Dr. Sharon Martin, LCSW. Last week Sharon shared strategies to help us feel empowered when interacting with family and during the holidays in general. This week she will teach us why expressing our wants and needs, and naming our boundaries can help us feel in control of our lives as the grown @$$ adults that we are. We can't control everything but do have autonomy and choice as adults. With mindful intention, it is possible to thrive, even during stressful times.    It's common to feel disempowered when we grew up in homes without our emotional needs being met consistently enough. However, as an adult, you have more power than you may be giving yourself credit for. No one can actually take that away from you. By focusing on what is within your control and letting go of what isn't, you can take your power back

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, continuing our theme of holiday stress, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C, revisits a classic Therapy Chat episode with frequent guest Dr. Sharon Martin, LCSW. Last week Sharon shared some of the family of origin dynamics that can make our holiday gatherings feel more stressful and disappointing than fun. This week, she shares strategies for doing more than "surviving" during family gatherings. With mindful intention, it is possible to thrive, even during stressful times.    It's common to feel disempowered when we grew up in homes without our emotional needs being met consistently enough. However, as an adult, you have more power than you may be giving yourself credit for. No one can actually take that away from you. By focusing on what is within your control and letting go of what isn't, you can take your power back during the holidays. Using the strategies Sharon shares in this episode can help.Next week we will talk in more depth about setting boundaries.

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C, revisits a classic Therapy Chat episode with frequent guest Dr. Sharon Martin, LCSW. After the November holidays, as we move into the winter holiday season, we may find ourselves feeling a sense of dread, unease, anxiety, or other feelings that are hard to name. We might find ourselves fantasizing about making the holiday "perfect" and "magical" either for ourselves or our family. Sharon explains that sometimes we are unaware of aspects of our family of origin's communication patterns and boundaries that don't really work for us. She describes some of the dysfunctional dynamics that can be common in households where there was abuse and emotional neglect.   If your family of origin relationships are continuously disappointing you, maybe this episode will help you feel less alone. Tune in next week as we continue our series with Sharon Martin. Next week she'll talk about strategies to get through the holidays when yo

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week we continue the conversation on decolonizing therapy as host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C interviews social justice educator Julia Alexander. Laura and Julia first met in Fall 2016 at an equine retreat for therapists. Laura and Julia share deeply held values around respect for the dignity and autonomy of another being within a relational interaction - whether with another human or a non-human animal. Julia shared how she helps white-bodied therapists identify who are working toward embodied anti-racism, through the influence of teachers including Resmaa Menakem and partnership with Colors of Austin.    Julia provides compassionate therapy, education and consulting services rooted in anti-racist, social justice and liberatory frameworks. She offers a safe and accepting space to alleviate shame, heal trauma and discover inner resilience. Her approach is founded on an unwavering belief in the healing power of safe connection, and a deep knowing that sustained relationship to natu

Welcome back to Therapy Chat! This week, host Laura Reagan, LCSW-C shares a replay of a past interview with Dr. Arielle Schwartz. Listen in on this interview with this knowledgeable, warm and compassionate therapist as she shares about her work with survivors of Complex PTSD.   Dr. Arielle Schwartz shares how she uses yoga and other somatic practices in healing complex trauma and dissociation. She talks about "functional freeze" and shares her perspective on assessment and treatment of dissociation as part of trauma therapy. Next week Laura will share about an opportunity to learn from Dr. Schwartz in a very special place!   Arielle Schwartz, PhD, is a psychologist, internationally sought-out teacher, yoga instructor, and leading voice in the healing of PTSD and complex trauma. She is the author of five books, including The Complex PTSD Workbook, EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology, and The Post Traumatic Growth Guidebook. Dr. Schwartz is an accomplished teacher who guides therapists in the applicati