MindThatEgo Podcast Archives - Page 2 of 3

🎧 MTE Podcast #7: Emotional Perfectionism

Posted on October 17, 2019

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Perfectionism is defined as a “combination of excessively high personal standards and overly-critical self-evaluation.”

This episode focuses on perfectionist tendencies with emotions. Beliefs such as “I should always be happy,” “anxiety is weakness,” or “normal people don’t feel so low” fuel feelings of frustration, shame, or hopelessness.

In truth, common concepts of healthy emotionality is skewed, in favour of positivity and fear of so-called negative emotions.

I unpack emotional perfectionism and it’s various guises (self-oriented, socially prescribed and other-orientated) and offer applicable solutions to move towards a place of acceptance and self-compassion.

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🎧 MTE Podcast #6: Let’s Talk About Suicide

Posted on October 10, 2019

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October the 10th is World Mental Health Day. This year’s theme is suicide prevention. Every 40 seconds, someone in the world dies by suicide. This has to change.

Mental health stigma is reducing. But it’s still incredibly tough to talk openly about suicidal tendencies. We may feel shame. We may feel burdensome. We may want to avoid worrying or upsetting those we love.

However, talking about suicide can be life-saving.

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🎧 MTE Podcast #5: Crazywise with Phil Borges

Posted on October 21, 2018

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What if psychological crises were opportunities for spiritual awakening? That’s the question that motivated Phil Borges to direct his documentary, Crazywise. While documenting indigenous and tribal cultures for over 30 years, he realised the healers and visionaries had each undergone a personal transformation our culture may label a breakdown, psychotic, crazy… Unlike in the West, these “disorders” are seen as gifts.

Phil’s Ted Talk on the subject has nearly 2 million views, and it’s easy to see why. Having watched Crazywise on a friend’s recommendation, I was eager to talk to Phil. I wasn’t disappointed — our discussion in MindThatEgo Podcast #5 was fascinating. We cover diagnosis, peer-support, the overuse of prescription drugs, hearing voices, authenticity, and much more.

On a personal level, our discussion was extremely emotional. I’ve shared a few things not many people know about my own crisis, particularly around grief and psychosis. Phil was open-hearted about his experiences, too. It’s a conversation that will no doubt stay with me for a while.

Enjoy the show!

Trigger warning: this podcast episodes contains reference to psychosis and suicide.

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🎧 MTE Podcast #4: Eight Step Recovery With Valerie Mason-John

Posted on October 7, 2018

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For MindThatEgo Podcast #4, I’m joined by Valerie Mason-John. Valerie (a.k.a Vimalasara) is an award-winning author, public speaker, and co-founder of Eight Step Recovery.

The structure of our discussion is based on her book, Eight Step Recovery: Using the Buddha’s Teachings to Overcome Addiction. Expanding on the Four Noble Truths, Valerie (and co-author Paramabandhu Groves) distill ancient wisdom to create a practical approach to tackle addiction. These steps are:

Step One: Accepting human life will bring suffering.
Step Two: Seeing how we create extra suffering.
Step Three: Embracing impermanence to show us suffering can end.
Step Four: Being willing to step on the path of recovery and discover freedom.
Step Five: Transforming speech, actions, livelihood.
Step Six: Placing positive values at the centre of our lives.
Step Seven: Making every effort to stay on the path of recovery.
Step Eight: Helping others by sharing the benefits we have gained.

Listen as Valerie guides us through each step. Drugs, alcohol, food, sex, shopping, social media… None of us escape addiction, to varying degrees. Consequently, the wisdom contained within this eight-step process is beneficial to all of us — spiritual or non-spiritual.

I highly recommend reading the book, which contains an in-depth exploration into the topic, as well as a host of tools and resources. Find more information on the Eight Step program here or send Valerie an email at [email protected] — she’s more than happy to answer questions.

MindThatEgo Podcast, Psychology

🎧 MTE Podcast #3: Banishing Winter Blues With Dr. Kelly Rohan

Posted on September 16, 2018

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The nights are drawing in. Autumn is upon us. For many, the change of season comes and gos with relative ease. But for some, winter is a time of low mood, low energy, junk food, hibernation, or even clinical depression.

For the MindThatEgo Podcast #3, I speak with psychologist and leading expert on Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Dr. Kelly Rohan. Kelly has undertaken extensive research around SAD as the Director of Clinical Training at the University of Vermont. Though light therapy is the frequent go-to for combating seasonal depressive symptoms, Kelly’s work has uncovered the important role thinking processes play in regulating seasonal mood.

In fact, the use of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is more effective than light therapy in preventing relapse. No longer do any of us have to feel helpless victims to our biology and body-clock; by working on our thoughts and creating healthy behaviour patterns, it’s possible to banish winter blues.

Talking points include:

The difference between normal fluctuation in mood, Winter Blues and full-blow SAD.
What Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is and how it combats SAD.
The effectiveness of CBT versus Light Therapy.
Noting common cognitive distortions contributing to low mood.
Ways to schedule activities to override the habit of hibernation.
How cultural messages can give us a bad impression of winter.
Mindful exercises to override symptoms.
Some example CBT restructuring… with real life examples from yours truly ;)!
Practical tools you can start using today to make winter fun and enjoyable.