T is for Trauma

In this episode, David sits down with Bri Liu, a Licensed Professional Counsellor offering mental health services through the YWCA and her own private practice, with a focus on immigrant trauma, and somatic healing. They discuss Bri's early struggles with her racial identity as a Chinese immigrant in small town Texas, what drew her to become a mental health professional, what she learned working with the unhoused communities in Austin, trauma conscious yoga, practicing unconditional positive regard, and much more! Bri brings wonderful energy and insights to this episode, and its one you won't want to miss! Bri is a Licensed Professional Counselor who is passionate about social justice, providing accessible trauma informed care, and offering people a different lens than the dominant culture to make sense of their experiences. Bri has experience working with folks of all ages and backgrounds, in a variety of settings.She is currently one of the lead therapists at YWCA Greater Austin and also owns a small private practice. Prior to becoming fully licensed, she worked in community mental health, providing services to unhoused individuals with complex physical and mental health needs. She also has experience with working with college students and providing school based counseling services to grade school children and teens. As a daughter of Chinese immigrants herself, Bri is particularly drawn to working with other children of FirstGeneration immigrants and those who identify as BIPOC. She is passionate about working with people who have been most impacted by oppressive systems in the US, examining how individual and collective well-being impact one another, and exploring what liberation for all can look like, all while acknowledging that ancient wisdom and teachings often has the answers we are seeking. Bri has training in various trauma processing and somatic modalities, including Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Body Mind Psychotherapy, and the Trauma Conscious Yoga Method. The heart of her work is people centered, connection focused, and influenced by Relational Cultural Theory and Liberation Psychologies. She is also a Trauma Informed and Inclusive Registered Yoga Teacher and loves to incorporate play, movement, and the body into her work, when possible.  https://www.briliulpc.com/

In this episode, David sits down with Kari Kinkead, a sex and intimacy coach, based in Austin, TX .A student of embodiment (breath sound and movement), sexual yoga, kink, and ontological coaching, she also brings her devotion to and scientific knowledge of the physical body and levels of consciousness, from having spent 18+ years as a nurse and anesthesia provider. Kari works with clients on being in the body in day to day life, navigating relationship challenges, harnessing the power of desire, and unshaming and healing sexual struggles, in order to unlock and create more passion and freedom in the bedroom that then ripples out to more passion and freedom in all areas of their life. This episode contains strong language and adult themes throughout. Website: https://www.karikinkead.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kckinkead/

In this episode, David sits downs with Kelly Thomas, a transformational coach specializing in addiction recovery, psycho-spiritual integration and entheogen treatment preparation. Kelly talks about how the patterns of her early childhood shaped her to be fiercely codependent, the struggles she faced in her abusive first marriage, discovering how her second husband had PTSD and TBI from his time in the military, what she learned from the recovery community during her daughter's time in rehab, and how her husband Devin's work with psychedelics therapies through the Mission Within took her on her own psychedelic journey, which led to some startling discoveries!

In this episode, David sits down with author, poet and activist Dr John A King and his wife Melissa at their home in Grapevine, Texas. John talks about the stunning realization at age 45 that he had repressed more than a decade of sexual abuse and sex trafficking during his childhood, and the heartbreaking years that followed, which would cost him his health, his family and his career. John would eventually find healing in writing, publishing 2 books about his experiences, and appearing in several documentaries about sex trafficking. John and Melissa now run the Give Them A Voice Foundation, which was launched in 2015 to provide advocacy, support, resources and rescue for those who have been sexually abused or trafficked.   Website - https://drjohnaking.com/ Give Them A Voice Foundation - https://drjohnaking.com/give-them-a-voice/ Deal With It (book) - https://drjohnaking.com/shop/dealwithit-ebook-download/ No Working Title (poetry) - https://drjohnaking.com/shop/no-working-title-hardcover-poetry-book/ Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/drjaking/ Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/drjohnaking/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/DrJohnAKing IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8400508    

In this solo episode, David talks about his experiences with being on sabbatical for most of 2022, what are some of the important questions and considerations before taking a sabbatical, and goal setting for how you will spend your career break.

In this episode, David sits down with Olivia Miller-Guerra, the youngest sister of two previous guests, Becca DeRoeck and Hannah Albrecht, to discuss how early childhood experiences affected Olivia in a substantially different way to her sisters. For as long as she can remember, Olivia has struggled with severe anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and intrusive thoughts, which led her to acting out in increasingly self destructive ways, through her teens and twenties. Olivia also talks about her frustrating experiences with therapy in her mid teens, and how restrictive hospital policies jeopardized her health, after she developed complications during her second pregnancy.

In this episode, David sits down with psychologist Tracy Carver, to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, Tracy's personal experiences with ayahuasca, and what we can learn from the rituals and traditions of the ayahuasca shamans in Peru. Tracy is a licensed psychotherapist, with a private practice in Austin, Texas. She has a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology and an M.A. in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is also a certified yoga, meditation and yoga nidra teacher. You can find out more about Tracy at Website - https://www.tracycarver.com Spotify Playlist - https://open.spotify.com/user/tracelechescake?si=HcfzrBY0Rz6Rql0M3QoQ1g   https://www.tisfortrauma.com

In this episode, David sits down with musician, author, and podcaster Maurice F Martin. Maurice talks about growing up in an abusive home, his struggles with depression and anxiety through his teens an early adulthood, losing 2 brothers in a short space of time, and how a moment of divine intervention kickstarted his healing journey when he was at his lowest point, leading him to become an addiction counsellor, motivational speaker, and life coach. You can find out more about Maurice at the following links: Official Website - https://www.mauricefmartin.com Grace Factor Podcast - https://anchor.fm/grace-factor-podcast Save the Day - https://www.mauricefmartin.com/savetheday Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/mauricefmartin  

In this solo episode, David does a retrospective on the factors that led to his decision to start MDMA therapy, what his experiences have been like so far over 7 sessions, addresses the topic of repressed memories and the sexual abuse he suffered as a child, why he chooses to continue pursuing plant medicine, and what his long term goals and outlook are when it comes to doing this work.

In this week's episode, David sits down with Scott Van Camp, of Search & Create Counseling (http://www.searchandcreatecounseling.com). Scott is a licensed family and marriage therapist practicing here in Austin, and he has been a mental health professional for the last 33 years, and during that time, he also actively pursued competitive fighting and touring with his punk band! During the interview, Scott shares with us some of his astonishing life story, including what it was like growing up in a broken home in upstate New York, beginning his professional journey in the same correctional system that housed Mike Tyson, living in active gang neighborhoods in Hawaii, and how he cultivates humility and the warrior-poet ethos, without sacrificing his masculinity. 

In this episode, David sits down with Hannah Albracht, the eldest sister of Becca DeRoeck, who appeared in episode 003. Hannah tells her story of growing up in a strictly conservative, religious household, how the messaging she received during the height of Purity Culture undermined her relationship with both her spouse, and herself, and how encountering bullying early on in her teaching career led to her suffering from severe anxiety and imposter syndrome.

In this episode, David sits down with Laura Shook Guzman, a trauma therapist practicing here in Austin, and somebody who David has worked closely with while processing his own trauma in the last 3 years. Laura talks about the trauma she experienced at age 16 that catalyzed her decision to become a therapist, gives introductions to the fields of somatic therapy and internal family systems, and explains what people can expect when embarking on the therapeutic journey, and how to find the right therapist for you.

In this episode, David sits down with his good friend Danny Mulvihill, host of The Mindstate Podcast. Danny talks about what it was like to grow up in a single parent home, why he chose to stop drinking without a traditional 12 step program, how he has struggled with overspending as an adult, and how being locked up for more than 2 months in a county jail changed his outlook and direction in life. This episode was recorded as part of a collaboration between both podcasts, as Danny also interviewed David for his show, and that episode is available now at www.mindstatepodcast.com

In this episode, David sits down with his good friend, Jose Porras. Jose talks about how a chance misunderstanding during high school in his native Mexico led to him enduring an extensive campaign of bullying, why he chose to attend military school in the US to escape the daily harassment, as well as how he struggled with depression in young adulthood, before discovering that the condition was pervasive within his entire family.

In this episode, David sits down with Joshua Johnson, who talks about what it was like to grow up in households with both overt domestic violence, and covert racism and religiosity, how the pressure to perform academically and contribute financially as a teenager led to depression and increasingly self destructive patterns, why his complicated relationship with his mother made grieving her passing incredibly difficult, and how he was able to reconnect with his spirituality, and get his career back on track, after so many challenges in young adulthood. 

In this episode, David sits down with Thanh Hoang, who talks about what it was like growing up Vietnamese in Oklahoma, experiencing domestic violence from a young age, visiting the source of intergenerational trauma in Vietnam, finding compassion and grace for his parents through therapy and meditation, and how to understand the grieving process.

In this episode, David sits down with Becca DeRoeck to talk about what draws her to volunteer work, emigrating to the US from Sweden at age 10, developing an anxiety disorder that would undermine her relationship with the man she wanted to marry, and ending up in the hospital with a misdiagnosed disease that her family worried would be fatal. This story does have a happy ending though, as Becca finds healing while working in Europe after college, and eventually reconnects with her lost love.

In this episode, David sits down with his good friend Melanie Robinson, to talk about working with at-promise children, having to become self sufficient at a young age when both of her parents suffered severe health problems, and losing her father.

In this introductory episode, T is for Trauma host David O'Connor shares some of his story, why he chose to start the podcast, and what you can expect from future episodes.