Mental Health Insights

Redwood Trees are amazing and can shed some light on some helpful mental health concepts!

In this episode we talk about pruning to benefit our mental health. I hope you find this helpful!

Often we see ourselves as one of the biggest obsticles we face. Is this true or is there more to it than that. Are we really our worst enemy? Let's start to find out. Feel free to reach out and offer episode suggestions or just to say hi. I read and respond to every email! Craig@lifecarecounselingstl.com

People pleasing is seen as such a bad thing that we should take some time to think of if that is true or not. Join me in exploring people pleasing, its function, and if it is really a bad thing. Feel free to reach out at Craig@lifecarecounselingstl.com if you have episode suggestions or just to say Hi! I respond to every email!

In this episode we explore how long lasting issues or challenging could be less mental health related issues and more a possibility of how your brain just is. Our brains operate differently and their is a fairly significant variance as more and more people are born. This leads us to question if the different ways our brains think is actually a mental illness or is it just wired to operate and be used differently? We explore this idea in this episode, I hope you enjoy!  

In this episode, I talk about how porn use can impact our mental health. This is important because of how prevalent porn use is and how it can impact our body and relationships deeply. I hope you find it helpful!   If you want to reach out for questions or episode suggestions, please email me at Craig@lifecarecounselingstl.com 

This question was asked by a friend and I took some time to think it over and I believe you will resonate with the answer. Thinking of your own life, you will likely be able to pick out how you may do this very thing we discuss to harm your own mental health without meaning to.    If you have any questions or suggestions for topics you would like to share, please feel free to email me at Craig@lifecarecounselingstl.com 

More processing power equals more ability to decrease the emotional volatility of an experience. Today we talk about how to increase you brain's processing power several times over to help you though tough experiences.    Remember to give our other podcast a listen to, Mental Health Insights In the Bible! You can find some of those episodes on all major podcast apps and at: https://mental-health-insights.captivate.fm/mentalhealthinsightsinthebible    If you want to reach out to me, my email is craig@lifecarecounselingstl.com   Take care!

Here is an episode from our other podcast, Mental Health Insights In The Bible. This episode will be posted for a short while so feel free to listen as long as it is up. To listen more more episodes, please subscribe by following the link: https://mental-health-insights.captivate.fm/mentalhealthinsightsinthebible   Here are the show notes:  Thank you for joining us on this journey! We go over Genesis one and start to unpack some of the biblical lessons from before the fall occurs in the biblical narrative. This is one of the most powerful examples of what life as a human would look like before sin and exile from the Garden of Eden occurs. Lessons to Ponder We are an image of God Mental health issues caused by conflict with identity and purpose We are not meant to go through life alone The disconnecting damage of guilt and shame Communication issues at the very start of the biblical story We hope you enjoyed the session! If you would like to reach out for questions, episode requests, or encouragement then please feel free to email us at mentalhealthinsightsinthebible@gmail.com We love you very much!

Small wins can take us so much further in our mental health journey because they normally come more frequently than larger ones. In this episode I talk about leveraging habits to create these small wins that yield big results.    If you would like to check out our other podcast, Mental Health Insights in the Bible then here is a link: https://mental-health-insights.captivate.fm/mentalhealthinsightsinthebiblehttps://mental-health-insights.captivate.fm   If you would like to reach out, my email is Craig@lifecarecounselintslt.com    Take care!

In this episode we go over the steps to take when you are suffering and go through several examples to demonstrate them. The truth is, we have to do something because suffering is something we all experience or will experience.  It has been almost a year since I have published anything while I worked on my other podcast Mental Health Insights In The Bible. Now that we have that off the ground I am happy to be back recording for this one again as well. If you want to check that other podcast out (we have some great things on that one too) then here is a link to some of the episodes: https://mental-health-insights.captivate.fm I look forward to sharing more next time!

In this episode we talk about distance in the relationship. Often when we feel distance (emotional rather than physical in this case) we will react in several ways. I break this down in the episode and start to give some ways of considering and talking about distance in your relationship.    This episode is part of a series and is another building block so we can continue to more complex topics. We like to keep it simple so breaking it down and taking it slow is something we hope will help really soak in the understanding and ability to take action on some of what we are discussing! 

We are created to bond and connect with others. In this episode we talk about human attachment and responsiveness to give us a foundation to build upon as we further explore relationships and how they impact our mental health.    In this episode I do not really talk about attachment styles as I feel like sometimes labels can restrict ways we think about ourselves. If labels help you more then I recommend you look some up since we all learn differently!

Burnout is a challenging feeling to contend with. Most of us will have to face it at some point or another and we need a strategy to get out of it and a more clear idea of what burnout actually is. Thank you for listening and I am glad to be back!  

Emotional wounds can last a long time. With enough time, do they go away? In this episode, we explore this question and how we can work on helping emotional wounds heal.    If you want to support this podcast and our mission to create a safe online community for working on improving mental health, please consider becoming a supporter.    As a supporter, you will be working towards helping this new community start up and contributing to the resources to help people improve their mental health. Improving our mental health alone doesn't work, so please support this effort here!

In this episode we break down validation and how central it is to building understanding and empathy in relationships. Validation is the key to communicating understanding of what someone is communicating and in this episode we talk about how this is done. After this episode, you will be able practice validating and experience the change it can bring!

In this episode we explore how we naturally create our own narratives or stories about ourselves in our day to day life. This can be a bad things if we are not really happy with how we are living our life. This can also be a great opportunity to use a powerful tool to actually help our mental health by crafting and pursuing narratives we want about our life. As with all things, awareness helps and it is action from awareness that will create change!

In this episode we continue to explore the concept of mind over matter in relation to willpower. 

In this episode we talk about the concept of mind over matter and how it can impact your mental health.

When we have anxiety, it can be common to try and think our way out of our problems. That may not be the right approach, fighting thoughts with thoughts. How about we try a different way. 

A short rest or break can do wonders to develop great mental health. In this episode I break down why that is and how we can use this technique to help improve your mental health!

Hope is foundational to help keep us moving forward. In this episode I will talk about some functions of hope and how to use them to help improve your mental health. Mental health issues like depression will make this difficult, so make sure you set realistic expectations of yourself and keep that in you mind as you listen!   Hope can be a powerful tool if harnessed purposefully. I hope you enjoy the episode! 

In this episode I talk to Paula Fontenelle about suicide. Paula is a mental health clinician and expert in working with all aspects of suicide. Paula shares with us signs, interventions, and mindsets to be aware of when helping someone that is suicidal.    Paula helps us understand that anyone can help someone with suicidal thoughts. Paula has great resources available at her website, understandsuicide.com where you can look at her book, online course, and podcast.    I enjoyed my conversation with Paula and know you will find her knowledge and insight helpful!

As humans, we have amazing capacity to grow and learn. In this episode we will explore how technology can impact our attention and our propensity to avoid unpleasantness in life.  We will also discuss how to star to think about striking that balance to help improve your mental health!

In this episode we start to unpack some of the ways our use of technology can impact our mental health. Technology is here to stay, so understanding the relationship between our mental health and technology use is critical!  

Have you ever had a hard time thinking about the future? Maybe you know someone who has trouble with this now? In this episode we will explore how mental health impacts our thinking about the future. We will also talk about day by day planning and what functions that serve for our mental health. 

In this episode I break down depression and the various ways it can work. This episode will also explore what you can do to help your or someone else's depression. I hope you find this helpful!

Does your mind get flooded with thoughts that you can't seem to shake? Does your racing mind make it hard to focus or difficult to get anything done? In this episode, Pete Sandoval, LPC will explore with us what causes a racing mind and what we can do in order to calm ourselves in these moments.  This episode is part of the Calming A Racing Mind series but we go more in depth this episode to really drive home what you can do to help calm yourself in these tough moments. We hope you enjoy!

In this episode I start the conversation about how sex affects our mental health. First, we have to talk about both physical and emotional components that make up sex. I hope you enjoy!  

In this episode, Sarah Sanburn, LPC helps us to understand how physical touch impacts our mental health. Sarah also helps use to understand how to use touch to help improve behaviors and connection to our children (young and old)! We hope you find this episode helpful!

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder that can be complicated.  Today we have Dr. Jeremy Shuman help simplify OCD and guide us towards what treatment of OCD looks like. We hope you find this helpful!

Improving our mental health is important. This is an easy idea and tool to help you start the path to understanding what you can actually do to help your mental health. We hope you enjoy!  

In this episode, I talk to Stephanie Korpal, a therapist in Saint Louis Missouri that helps us understand how sleep helps our mental health. We hope you enjoy!  

Join Reshaunda Thornton and myself as we explore how the foods you eat can impact your mental health. We will also explore how you can transform your relationship with food and why a diet may not be the right direction for you. We hope you enjoy!

In this episode we explore how language, words, and description help our brain deepen its understanding of an experience we have. This is a crucial process in helping us process emotional events and helps us to better be able to communicate our experiences.    Being able to express your experiences is a great way to help yourself and others understand you. In this episode I will also talk about a process of helping you talk about your feelings and experiences in a deeper way with those around you. I hope you enjoy!

In this episode I talk about introspection and how to go about being more reflective of your own life experiences. I also talk about how important this is for our own personal growth. I provide personal examples to help you with your own journey as well!  

In this episode I start to talk about the science of some of what happens during counseling. This episode is great for understanding how counseling starts to produce change! 

Our brain creates labels as short cuts for helping us make logical leaps and conserve energy. The problem is, sometimes these labels are wrong or cause more issues for us. Today we explore how to look at and start the process of changing the way we use labels in the world around us! 

Today Matt Bauersachs from Learn To Live Recovery joins us to talk about recovery from substance abuse and how the transformation takes place. We talk about how how recovery is a process that helps addicts learn to live differently and feel differently about themselves. We hope you enjoy this episode! 

In this episode I talk about mindsets and how they form and impact your way of thinking and experiences life. We also start to talk about how to adjust a mindset you want to change and what that process looks like. I hope you find this helpful!

For those that decide to go to college, it is a stressful process and many times and very emotional one. Not only that but even getting to college can be create a very difficulty environment for a student to thrive. Join me as I explore these challenges with a college counselor, Joann Elliott, LPC. We hope you enjoy!

In this episode I talk about common mistakes I see in couples I work with. Being aware of these mistakes can give you the opportunity to creating a closer relationship with your significant other! I hope you enjoy this episode!

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Roland about functional medicine and the relationship that exists between physical and mental health. We explore how environment and illness can play a role in contributing or even causing different mental health issues. I hope you find this helpful! 

A continuation of our Calming A Racing Mind series. In this episode I talk about how experimenting is one of the best ways to discover what works for you and give you real life examples and practical ways to get into this mindset. I hope you enjoy!

Today I talk with Melissa Webb about how she has seen anxiety and trauma impact relationships with those she works with. We hope you enjoy!

In this episode I talk to Kim McGuiness, LPC about how she helps people find purpose and the importance that can have to our mental health. We hope you enjoy!

Today I talk to Heather Midgley who is a specialist in perinatal mental health. We talk about the importance of taking care your mental health when trying to have a child and when having a child. We hope you enjoy this episode!

Join Cheryl Kinney, a therapist that specializes in working with the elderly, and myself as we talk about the difficult task of protecting the mental health of the elderly. We also explore the complications around dementia and the importance of doing mental exercises to help maintain as much functioning as possible. We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode I talk to Susan Moore, LPC about some of the intricacies of trauma to help understand why it can be so intense. We also talk about realistic expectations for trauma work. We hope you find it helpful!

In this episode we start to explore a type of therapy called Psychodynamic Therapy with Gabi Black. This type of therapy is what we may call a deep therapy that is designed to help create understanding around deep rooted issues and behaviors.  We also start a conversation about dreams and how they can have psychological significance. We hope you enjoy!

How can you make everything you do a little easier? Just try to protect your mental bandwidth and learn what drains it! Today I talk about what this mental bandwidth is and why protecting it is so important.