Deconstruction

I am back after a bit of a break! This week's episode, my partner Jon interviewed me. I hope you enjoy getting to know me a little better. This episode focuses on my research, psychological conceptualization, and my therapeutic modalities. Part II focuses more on my own journey, my career moving forward, and the reasoning behind the name "Deconstruction". Me? I recently graduated with my Masters of Counselling Psychology, and this fall it will be 10 years that I have been studying Psychology in some capacity. Therefore, it felt right to take some time to reflect on all that I have been learning. On top of studying Psychology, I have worked in the mental health field for many years. I started out worked as a Behavioural Interventionist while simultaneously working for the Crisis/Suicide hotline. I then worked for the coolest organization in the world: CRIS Adaptive Adventures. Look them up. Then I worked as a family preservation worker. For this job, I worked with parents in order to help them get their children back when they had been/ or were at risk of being removed from their homes by MCFD. From there, I went on to work as a Clinician at the Adult Withdrawal Management Unit, Adult Psychiatric Inpatient Unit, Opioid Substitute Treatment Program, Nechako Youth Treatment Centre, and with the Intensive Case Management team. I also got to spend a short time at the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect clinic. Finally, I ended up at my most favourite job in the world: The Early Psychosis Intervention Team. Here I got unbelievable access to psychiatric training by phenomenal psychiatrists and a psychologist. On top of the medical school level training, (our program was affiliated with UNBC's medical program so we always had med students and psychiatry residents) I was able to work with the most incredible, resilient, and fascinating individuals. I was unbelievably lucky to have the opportunity to work closely with some of the most rare and severe psychiatric disorders in society. I cannot even begin to explain the learning and growth this job fostered. On top of that, I worked in collaboration with the best team in the world (Love you EPI). These last last 8 months for my practicum, I have been working as a psychotherapist in private counselling, school counselling (middle school and University), and non-profit counselling settings. While a jarring difference from the clientele I was used to working with, it expanded my repertoire of knowledge and expertise. I loved working with this population just as much as the more severe cases; humans are Fascinating! All that to say: I. Love. Psychology. Enjoy.

The Decolonized Christian is an Instagram handle that seeks to educate people, from an anticolonial perspective, on the (often overlooked) colonial history of Christianity. The page also amplifies post-colonial voices. It is a platform that provides resources to help people, particularly Christians, to begin the journey of decolonizing their minds and their actions, so that in turn they can help decolonize the church. I thoroughly enjoyed this insightful conversation! If you find yourself being triggered by any of the content discussed, I really encourage you to sit with those feelings in gentle curiosity and explore them. As always, please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you want resources to further your growth journey. Instagram: the_decolonized_christian Blog: https://thedecolonizedchristian.com/

You Are Collective is an Okanagan-based, mental health social enterprise. We focus on creating empowering apparel, supportive resources and content, and collaborating with community partners to keep the conversation going around mental health and illness. Keep scrolling to learn more about our impact and how we give back. You Are Collective donates a minimum of 10% of each item purchased from a collection, revenue from workshops and events, plus any additional donations to the #1MillionCampaign. $6,500+ YAC partners with a variety of small businesses and organizations to create collaborative events, apparel collections, and resources to help support + connect the community. 5,600+ The #1MillionCampaign aims to fund 1,000,000 sessions of traditional and non-traditional counselling services across Canada. 120+ https://youarecollective.ca/ Facebook: You are Collective Instagram: You are Collective #1millioncampaign

This episode I got to sit down and chat with the author of the book "A Thought is A Thought" Nikki Hedstrom. Nikki is a first-time author from Vancouver, Canada with a passion for helping people and creating change. She has been working in the advertising industry for the past 15 years, creating immersive brand experiences, using interactive displays and meaningful dialogue to engage and shift minds. She has leveraged this skill to help make the discussion about thoughts tangible and to create activities that help households reduce anxiety. Her methodology and concepts stem from the work of Eckhart Tolle, Brene Brown, Don Miguel Ruiz, Maya Angelou, Byron Katie, Jen Sincero, stoicism, along with many others whose work is to reduce human suffering caused by our thoughts. Introduction to Tapping: https://athoughtisathought.com/how-to-help-an-anxious-child#tapping-eft Free worksheets: https://athoughtisathought.com/buy-the-book Recommended Reads as mentioned by Nikki Hedstrom: https://athoughtisathought.com/resources How to buy the book: https://athoughtisathought.com/buy-the-book Find Nikki at Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest - @athoughtisathought Website: athoughtisathought.com

TW: We discuss Intimate partner violence and sexual abuse. In this episode, I got to learn from the incredible Chris Wilson. Chris is an Interfaith Minister, a community organizer, physically disabled EDS warrior, a nonbinary and queer activist, and neurodivergent extraordinare! They are currently completing their second Masters degree with this thesis focused on exploring religious trauma and the cult indoctrination tactics within the Christian institution. We covered a broad range of topics and let me say, an hour was not long enough when talking with this brilliant soul. You can find Chris at: Instagram: ThatPastorChris Tik Tok: ThatChrisWilson

In this episode of the Deconstruction podcast, I got the immense privilege of talking with Bhikshuni Lozang Yönten. Yönten is an American-born Buddhist nun in the Tibetan tradition who has been practising for over 26 years. Yöngten has trained under amazing teachers like Khensur Rinpoche Geshe Tashi Tsering. She has taught all over the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and Israel. Currently, Ven. Yönten divides her time as a touring teacher and retreat leader, as well as annually offering the Buddhadharma from a secular perspective in Israel as a member of the Buddhist faculty for a seven-year post graduate program called Human Spirit which is a Buddhist Psychoanalytic Training Program. With that amazing resume, we talked about how to ground and centre ourselves in order to best serve the world. Discussing the many intersections of Psychology and Buddhism, I had an excellent time conversing with this wise soul. To find more about them: Website: https://lozangyonten.wixsite.com/website Instagram: Ven. Yöngten Tik Tok: Ven. Yöngten