Deconstruction: Recent Episodes
Rachael Spyker
Deconstructing the narratives that define our lives in order to find the common humanity in all of us. This podcast explores the intersection of psychology, spirituality, and society as a way to navigate the current political climate in a healthy way.
In this conversation, Rachael, Jen, and Tamar discuss their experience training to do Psychedelic Somatic Interactional Psychotherapy (PSIP). PSIP is a therapeutic approach that combines psychedelic substances with somatic (body-focused) techniques and interactive psychotherapy to facilitate deep emotional and psychological healing.
They explore the importance of support and trust in therapy, the role of relational dynamics and transference, the profound impact of PSIP on perception and healing, and the significance of trusting the body and embracing incremental change. The conversation highlights the transformative nature of PSIP and the excitement and gratitude the participants feel for this therapeutic approach.
Key Takeaways:
- PSIP is a trauma therapy that targets the nervous system and can be done with or without the use of medicines.
- Selective inhibition is a key skill in PSIP, helping individuals access and regulate their primary consciousness.
- The therapeutic relationship and the presence of the therapist are crucial in PSIP, providing a safe space for clients to explore and process their experiences.
- PSIP focuses on finding solutions that address the needs of the nervous system and promote healing and integration.
- Attachment and witnessing play a significant role in PSIP, allowing clients to feel supported and accompanied in their healing journey.
- PSIP empowers individuals to move towards and explore challenging emotions and sensations, fostering trust in their own capacity to heal.
Tamar Pearl has over 20 years of psychotherapy and trauma healing experience. As a Registered Clinical Counsellor, ketamine-assisted therapist, and PSIP therapist, she has worked with organizations like the Chopra Addiction and Wellness Centre, Roots to Thrive, and Numinus. Tamara has also taught at Adler University. She specializes in healing intergenerational, collective, and cultural trauma, using modalities such as EMDR, Expressive Arts Therapy, and Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy for Complex Trauma.
Jen Olson is a relentless adventurer, exploring the heights of mountains and the depths of the mind through rock and ice climbing, as well as the realms of emotions and sensations in psychedelic ceremonies and therapies. With a background as a professional climber, internationally certified mountain guide, and somatic experiencing practitioner, Jen is uniquely prepared to navigate life-changing altered states of consciousness, which she now facilitates for others. Reach her at Jen@jenolson.ca
Learn more about PSIP
Psychedelic Somatic Institute
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In this conversation, Rachael and Alice discuss the power of creating safe containers for healing and transformation. They share their experiences of running retreats and the importance of attunement, presence, and compassion in creating a safe space. They explore the impact of relational healing and the need for safe family structures. They also discuss the use of systems and traditions for sacred work and the importance of self-awareness in creating safety in group settings.
Key Takeaways
- Creating a safe container is essential for healing and transformation.
- Relational healing can have a profound impact on individuals and communities.
- Self-awareness is crucial in creating safety in group settings. Creating a safe container is essential for participants to feel held and supported in a retreat or workshop setting.
- Healing is not a linear process and involves navigating both highs and lows with patience and love.
- Belonging, love, and attunement are key elements in creating a supportive and transformative community.
Alice Buckley is cherished friend, sister, storyteller, wise woman, activist, retreat facilitator, and politician serving as a State Representative for Bozeman, Montana.
Follow Alice on Facebook & Instagram
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In this conversation, Davis Wiggs, a sex addiction therapist, discusses his approach to therapy and the importance of building trust and breaking barriers with clients. He emphasizes the need to work from the bottom up, addressing underlying wounds and trauma before focusing on specific addictions. Davis highlights the role of curiosity and connection in therapy, and the importance of pacing and allowing clients to work at their own pace. He also explores the impact of social media on body image and self-perception, and the process of reclaiming a true sense of self. Davis concludes by discussing the power of therapy as a dress rehearsal for life and the potential for change outside of therapy.
Key Takeaways
- Therapists should prioritize their own personal growth and healing to better serve their clients.
- Sex addiction can be fuelled by a sense of loneliness and disconnection from self and others.
- Curiosity and connection play a significant role in therapy, allowing clients to feel heard and understood.
- Bringing light to porn and sex addiction helps normalize these issues and provides support for individuals struggling with them.
- Healing shame is a crucial part of therapy, allowing clients to let go of self-judgment and embrace self-acceptance.
Learn more about Davis on his Website:
Between The Vines Counselling
Psychology Today Davis Wiggs
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Between The Vines Counselling
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In this conversation Rachael speaks with Vickie Grayson as they discuss her passion about tarot and dreams. She discusses her early fascination with dreams and the support she received from her mother. Vickie also recounts a visitation dream she had after her grandfather passed away. She then explains how she got interested in tarot and how it helped her during a period of burnout. Finally, she talks about her discovery of dream work and how it has become an obsession for her.
Takeaways
Dreams can be a source of inspiration and curiosity.
Tarot can be a helpful tool for self-reflection and guidance.
Dream work and storytelling can provide inspiration and connection.
Niche interests can lead to unexpected and fulfilling paths.
Vickie is a registered nurse, folk herbalist, tarot reader and dream worker passionate about exploring our inner worlds through story, symbol, and ritual. To her, tarot and dreams provide a portal for reflection, magic, and transformation.
Learn more about Vickie on her Website
Follow her on Instagram
Content mentioned in the podcast:
Initiation into Dream Mysteries: Drinking from the Pool of Mnemosyne
@sarahjanesdreaming @mossdreamsart
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In this conversation, Alice and Rachael discuss the importance of embracing difficult emotions and developing a relationship with them. They explore the power of gratitude for emotions and how it can lead to healing and transformation. They also delve into the significance of authentic mirroring in relationships and the role it plays in personal growth. The conversation then shifts to the rehumanization of politics and the impact of trauma in political environments. Finally, they explore triggers as guideposts for healing and the importance of embracing our shared humanity.
Alice leads a grounding meditation exercise in the beginning of this episode. Interview begins at the 9:00 minutes
Takeaways
Practice gratitude for emotions, recognizing their role in personal growth and self-discovery.
Authentic mirroring in relationships can be a powerful tool for personal and collective healing.
Rehumanize politics by bringing compassion and humanity into the political sphere.
Triggers can serve as guideposts for healing, leading to a deeper understanding of oneself and others.
Embrace our shared humanity and recognize the importance of connection and compassion.
Alice Buckley, is a cherished friend, sister, storyteller, wise woman, activist, retreat runner, and politician serving as a State Representative for Bozeman, Montana.
Follow Alice on Facebook & Instagram
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In today's episode, Rachael speaks with Zara Neukom as they engage in a captivating conversation exploring the transformative modality of Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP). Zara shares her personal journey to AEDP and how it has become her clinical home, offering insights into its depathologizing framework and emphasis on the inherent healing capacities within each individual. Throughout the discussion they touch upon themes such as embracing the unfelt, navigating the intensity of healing, and reorienting towards the experience of embodiment.
Key Takeaways
Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) is a modality that focuses on creating the conditions for healing and transformation to occur.
AEDP is a depathologizing model that recognizes the inherent healing capacity of every human being.
Being seen and validated in therapy can be a transformative experience for clients.
Reorienting to the experience of being a body and reconnecting with the places of pain and aliveness is an important part of the healing journey.
Choosing to heal and embracing the call to wholeness requires courage and a willingness to face fear and uncertainty.
Based in Kelowna British Columbia, Zara Neukom is a dedicated psychotherapist whose practice centres around relational and somatic approaches. With a focus on facilitating deeper connections to one's body, accessing innate wholeness, and privileging lived experience, Zara's work embodies a commitment to holistic relational healing.
Learn more about Zara on her Website.
Guest mentions
Hillary McBride: Other People’s Problems Podcast
AEDP Institute Website
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In this episode, I finish my talk with the master somatic practitioner and my dear friend, Tanya Wishlove. Here, she talks about the ways our bodies are hardwired for our benefit and survival. She shares how through SE practices, we can move through stuck processes looping in our system releasing them: coming home to ourselves.
In this episode, I talk with the master somatic practitioner and my dear friend, Tanya Wishlove. Tanya has been practising SE for over 15 years. She has studied trauma-informed somatic practice for over 5 years, and is currently in the 3rd year of a 4-year training program that further addresses the power of the body and nervous system to transform parasitic patterns of behavior. We spent time talking about the way trauma overwhelms the nervous system and how to unlock and heal it through somatic practises.
In this episode, I finish my talk with the brilliant entrepreneur Ryan Langford. We talk about somatic experiencing, the healing power of touch, curiosity, and wonder. Content Warning: Suicide and Abuse. https://kelownatraumatherapy.com https://www.hopeguide.com/story https://www.alchemycounselling.ca
In this episode, I talk with the brilliant entrepreneur Ryan Langford. We discuss the idea of "what is wounded in relationship only heals in relationship" which is a core component of the therapeutic modality I use: Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP). We also cover topics around embodiment, witnessing, and collective healing. Content Warning: Suicide and Abuse. The interview starts at: 8:53 minutes. https://kelownatraumatherapy.comhttps://www.hopeguide.com/storyhttps://www.alchemycounselling.ca
Welcome back! It feels so good to be back in this space after a couple years off. This episode speaks the the 'why' beneath the purpose of this podcast and lets you know what you can expect for the season ahead. Check out Beyond the Wound., the religious trauma summit I will be co-hosting. https://www.beyondthewound.com/My practice's websitehttps://www.alchemycounselling.ca/
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 of10% 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