Bear Psychology podcast

In the first episode of Dr. Anna Baranowsky's radio show she explains how individuals can become isolated when they experience trauma, and the importance of reaching out to the community as a crucial part of recovery. The example highlighted is the "van attack" in Toronto, Ontario that occurred on April 23rd, 2018, and the community outpour of love and support in North York following that event. 'Traumatic isolation' can undermine our well-being, leading to loneliness, confusion, depression and anxiety. A crucial part of recovery is gentleness with yourself as there is no one quick-fix. Recovery is often a product of every day practices in turning down the volume of stress. Whether that involves exercising, yoga, meditation, - you name it - consistency is key! You also have to be reasonable and allow yourself the time to recover. It is a natural, evolutionary defense mechanism for the body to create a heightened response to incidents and it takes time to settle down. One of the most important buffers to this

Understanding habits is the key to breaking or building them. We can set goals and be aware of the need for change, but how do you go about making that change? This episode discusses how habits are formed in the body and brain, and how to channel the power of habits for good. Emotions form an incredibly important tool at our disposal as long as we sit with them and experience what is happening within ourselves. Keep in mind that lecturing and shaming yourself won’t help you change behaviour. Once a habit is formed, it happens without a lot of thought. You need to explore new behaviours and repeat them deliberately. Embrace the possibility of growth and put in the work! Charles Duhigg has dedicated his work to studying and empowering people to harness their habits. He wrote a book ‘The Power of Habit’ that you can learn about here or purchase here. He also has many resources on his website that you can explore here. Bad habits that you hold over long periods of time are the basis of addictions. Gary Zukav dis

In this episode Dr. Baranowsky engages with guest speakers Dr. Daniel Fisher and Shontelle Prokipcak, proponents of the E-CPR approach to building real, human connections, strong communities, and a broader life.   Emotional-CPR Emotional CPR (“E-CPR”) stands for Connection, emPowering, and Revilatizing. It is a meaningful new approach for dealing with crisis and emotional struggles that was developed by Psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Fisher. Using this approach people can learn how to connect with individuals and help them work through their trauma. Dr. Fisher’s approach comes from the belief that ‘everyday emotions are tiny revelations’ and when listeners are present for those revelations it allows them to build emotional connections and support each other. For more information on the use of this method or Dr. Fisher’s work, please visit www.emotional-CPR.org Dr. Fisher also wrote a book entitled ‘Heartbeats of Hope: The Empowerment Way to Recover’ in which he discusses his personal journey and the profound impac

In the many relationships that you navigate in life, do you find that one is significantly tougher to manage? This could be because a partner, spouse, friend, or co-worker has a personality disorder. There could be times where you are uncertain as to whether their moral compass truly points North. The focus of this episode is a few personality disorders, namely narcissism and anti-social personality disorder (i.e. sociopathy). Narcissists A narcissist is someone who has a pervasive pattern of thriving on/stirring up conflict, showing no empathy and neglecting to validate the experiences or feelings of others. Narcissists can be emotionally explosive, exploitive and abusive when they don’t get the attention that they crave. The first guest speaker is Ingrid from Show Boundaries, who explains the ‘Observe rather than Absorb’ approach to navigating a relationship with a narcissist. This method involves learning about the methods and techniques a narcissist will employ by observing them and my paying attention to

The focus of this episode which aired on June 28th, 2018 is on the stress experienced by First Responders and the tools that one can use to bolster your resilience to that stress. This episode has two guest speakers, Gary and Andrew. Gary is a retired paramedic who shares insights on how he increased his resilience to the inevitable on-the-job stress he experienced. The second guest speaker is Andrew Scollick who is the Director of PDA International, a Psychometric Behavioural Assessment and Consulting firm. This firm applies the DiSC behavioural profile theory in the workplace to understand individuals' underlying behaviours, reactions to stress and risk tolerance. Andrew works with police services and other first response teams, as understanding our tendencies can help us bolster our weaknesses. For more information about PDA International and the DiSC model, visit Andrew's website here. For more information on Dr. Stephanie Conn, first responder turned psychologist, you can watch Dr. Baranowsky's interview

In this episode Dr. Anna Baranowsky discusses the issue of bullying and harassment in the workplace. On a weekly basis 40% of Canadian workers experience bullying - it can happen in any workplace, even yours! Seemingly regular procedures become major dilemmas and erupting events that can leave individuals feeling alienated and in danger, leading to high degrees of stress. The toxic environment that it creates can have a serious impact on your mental and physical health as it propagates severe feelings of anxiety, depression and possibly even suicidal thoughts. Just remember if you have a bully at your workplace and you are being targeted - you are not alone. This episode discusses a clip of Jeff Salkin's interview with Cynthia Kay Stevens about bullying in the workplace. Follow the link to view the full video here. A clip of Dr. Gary Namie also appears in this episode in which he outlines the four main types of workplace bullying tactics. For more information you can see his resource kit here. This episode fe