In the Open

Theresa and America explore the art of making habits stick. There is a discussion about being in tune with your body and building routines. They talk about the importance of rituals and boundaries, how to turn a habit into a routine and trying to replace your bad habits with good habits. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

Dr. Stew Shankman, a Professor and Clinical Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at Northwestern, joins the podcast to discuss therapy and the brain. Dr. Shankman explains what happens with the brain when it’s at rest and when it’s doing tasks and he also shares information on the affect therapy has on the brain. They talk about the time it takes to heal the brain, the benefits of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and how the real work is done outside the therapist’s office. For more information on Dr. Stew Shankman’s work visit: https://sites.northwestern.edu/nearlab/ To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

America and Theresa talk about a topic they struggle with…asking for help. They share the scale of asking for little and big types of help and when they first remember asking for help. They talk about why people struggle even asking for any kind of assistance, finding the right people to ask for help and some available resources if you are seeking help. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

America and Theresa identify what matters and how that ties into personal values. There is a discussion about how in middle school their value systems started to begin to take form and how their culture shaped what mattered to them. They talk about why America values family and why Theresa values honesty plus they speak on why exposure and introspection matters. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

America and Theresa dive into the topic of finding your purpose. When googling this topic one of the main search results was creating a vision board so they share the process of putting a vison board together. They talk about what they believe their purpose is, finding meaningful roles and why it’s more important to accept who you are. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

Theresa and America talk through what it’s like giving love to others. They ask each other if they feel like they are good at loving others and they describe their individual love language. They talk about the signs of a healthy relationship, loving through touch and how to give and receive love genuinely takes vulnerability and humility. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

America and Theresa go through the feelings of being happy. They both share their relationships with happiness and how it’s evolved over time. They describe their versions of happiness, trying to be present in the moment and finding validation and feeling grateful. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

America and Theresa explore how to be mentally strong. They feel some anxiety when talking about strength, so they explain how society has played such a big part on how the world views strength. They talk about control and power, the differences between strength and confidence and building better mental habits. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

Theresa and America talk through how they learned how to calm down when tensions are high. America starts off by sharing why she’s triggered by the phrase “calm down” in the moment and where that comes from. They talk about using productive and non-productive energy, their personal definition of “being calm” and learning how not to be reactive even when you don’t feel calm. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

America and Theresa add onto their conversation last week and discuss building confidence. They talk about what confidence looks like and believing in your confidence. They link confidence and competence, having friends to help build you up and they talk about building confidence around an illness. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

America and Theresa are back from their holiday break to bring you a show on the topic on trusting yourself. There is a discussion about personal responsibility and whether or not they each trust themselves. They talk about the importance of healing with others, gaining self-confidence and being vulnerable and trusting yourself with a mental illness. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

Emily Skehill and David Riley are back to explore getting the most out of your medication treatment. They talk about discussing expectations with your doctor about what you want from your medication and the first steps to take after you fill your prescription. Emily and David share when they started taking medication and the process of where they are now in their medication treatments, being consistent taking your medication to know if it’s helping and trying to tell the difference between medications that work and those that aren’t working. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

How To Stay Positive It’s raining at America’s house so she and Theresa try to bring some light on a dark day by discussing how they try to stay positive. The perception of positivity is different for everybody and these two go to completely different places to distract themselves and try to stay upbeat. They talk about the impact of having a positive people around you, what they do to pull themselves out of a negative place and how sometimes being positive is just trying to hurt a little less. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

Theresa and America are talking about the benefits of owning pets and the effects on your mental health. One is a pet owner and the other done is not so they both dive into their current situation and all the pets they’ve owned throughout their lives. Pets can be a real companion in life but finding the pet that matches your needs is key. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

This is the conclusion of the trauma series with learning to connect with others. Theresa and America share their progress through this series and how it’s helped them connect with other people better. They talk about the steps leading to being vulnerable with a group of people, being a part of support groups and finding your community. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

America and Theresa explore the feeling of being stuck. This topic was inspired by a listener question about moving to the action of getting un-stuck. They talk about the ties to trauma and being stuck, how telling people can help push you to do the thing you need to do, turning off your anxious brain and the biggest thing to change behaviors is to change the behaviors themselves. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

Theresa and America give insight on building healthy relationships after trauma. They recall how their relationships were before acknowledging their trauma and how conflict was the real test in a relationship. They take a question about repairing relationships and offer some important keys to conflict resolution. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

Theresa and America explore learning how to love yourself in spite of your trauma. They go through their process of discovering how their traumatic experiences affected their personalities. They talk about how they’ve progressed in their self-love, the benefits of positive affirmations and if self-love is tough; try to get to the bottom of why that is and what is preventing you from doing so. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

America and Theresa dive into dealing with strong emotions surrounding trauma. There is a conversation about fight or flight and also trying to get a grip on control when strong emotions pop up. They talk about how stress becomes a major contributor to your reactions, some differences in men and women with trauma and finding people who will help you navigate through your strong emotions. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org

Theresa and America are continuing the topic of trauma, but they transition to healing. They explore the concept of changing the thoughts you tell yourself which is also known as cognitive restructuring. They share recent moments where things bothered them more than expected and they dive into why they think it affected them plus they narrow it down to two choices: you can avoid you issues or do the hard work. To take a mental health screen, or to find mental health information and resources, visit mhascreening.org To submit questions, comments or ideas about future topics on the podcast, contact  podcast@mhanational.org