Living From Happiness: Recent Episodes
KSFR
The Happiness Doc, Dr. Melanie Harth, and guests share thought-provoking convos every week on Living From Happiness. From mindfulness and neuroscience to positive psychology and creativity, the show's all about living well in transformational times.
Yes, it’s possible to live well while holding our grief and sorrow for what’s been lost, and knowing that we are simply mortal beings. And Martha Crawford is the perfect guest to share some big ideas and deeply personal experiences in this episode of Living From Happiness. Martha earned a master’s degree in social work, followed by an advanced certificate in clinical social work from NYU. After working for 25 years in New York City, she relocated to Santa Fe just in time to hunker down when the pandemic took over the world. In 2016, she was diagnosed with a unique, unstageable, unprognosable cancer that transformed and reshaped her vocational goals, capacities and priorities. Martha now works as a mentor, teacher, writer, coach, psycho-spiritual director and as a group and workshop facilitator. This fascinating conversation ranges from archetypal and depth psychologies (curious about the Mad King and Dangerous Buffoon?) to the collective stressors we’re all facing these days. “Privilege is eroding.” “We’re living in the crack between worlds.” “Our problems are collective.” These are just a few of the provocative ideas from Martha Crawford. It’s a big-brain conversation you don’t want to miss. Martha Crawford’s website here: https://www.whatashrinkthinks.com/ Dr. Melanie Harth is a licensed psychotherapist in Santa Fe NM working with people who’ve lost their way. Her website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/
Kelsey Blackwell is a cultural somatics practitioner and author dedicated to supporting women of color to trust and follow the guidance of the body.
She’s a facilitator, coach, and speaker who's brought abolitionist embodied practices to such diverse groups as riders on Bay Area Rapid Transit trains to students at Stanford University to the offices of LinkedIn.
She has a new book called "Decolonizing the Body: Healing, Body-Centered Practices for Women of Color to Reclaim Confidence, Dignity, and Self-Worth".
Finally, Kelsey believes that working towards personal and collective liberation must also bring joy.
She’s one of the most thoughtful, engaging guests Melanie’s had the pleasure of talking with.
This is a gentle conversation about what is too often conflictual and difficult with an important young voice in the worlds of happiness and healing.
Kelsey Blackwell website here: https://www.kelseyblackwell.com/
Dr. Melanie Harth website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/.
Cheryl Alters Jamison is the Queen of New Mexico food (at least, that’s what Melanie calls her)! Cheryl is a 4-time James Beard award winning cookbook author. She’s published 22 cookbooks, and sold over 2 million copies. Not one to rest for very long, she’s also been voted Edible New Mexico’s Local Heroes Best Food Writer award twice, is the founder of the online Excited About Foods community, a Contributing Culinary Editor for New Mexico Magazine, culinary tourism consultant, and a radio host at Hutton Broadcasting, where she has a show about food called Heating It Up. Finally, in her spare time she leads foodie tours to Europe and exotic places like Morocco. Some of the convo topics include food and travel and happiness, the ways in which cultures and foods are connected, the political and social power of food, how to keep going when we’ve lost a loved one, and yep … … chickens. This show is full of stories, and laughter, and a lot of living that Cheryl shares with y’all. Finally, you’ve got to listen to the 2nd half, when she shares a few names of in-the-news northern New Mexico places to eat (not all of them restaurants). Cheryl Alters Jamison website, Excited About Food, here: https://excitedaboutfood.com/ Dr. Melanie Harth, the Santa Fe Therapist website, here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/
Really! Melanie and guest Jon Baskin have a lot of fun talking about psychoanalysis in this episode. Things like what it is, why there are so many negative biases against it (at least on Melanie’s part), and what motivated Jon to become a candidate psychoanalyst-in-training at the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute. Jon Baskin is already a seasoned psychotherapist. He’s a licensed clinical social worker, completing his bachelor’s degree in philosophy at UCLA along with a master’s degree in social welfare, also at UCLA. Over the course of his career, he’s worked with children with neurodevelopmental disabilities; military service members, veterans, and their families; first responders; education and mental health professionals; teenagers and young adults; and those experiencing crises related to severe psychological distress. Jon’s a warm, compassionate, engaging guest who’s articulate about a sometimes confusing psychotherapeutic modality. The prominent psychoanalytic therapist, Jonathan Shedler, shares this sort-of description about how it works: "Our patients recreate their problematic relationship patterns with us in the therapy relationship. Our unavoidable participation in these patterns provides a crucial window into their inner worlds. “Our unexpected participation in our patients’ problematic relational patterns necessarily stirs up difficult feelings for us. It is not a question of if we experience difficult feelings but of whether or not we can use them constructively, as a source of understanding.” Come along with Melanie as she learns more about psychoanalysis in this light-hearted (honest!) episode. Jon Baskin’s website here: https://www.baskinpsychotherapy.com Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com The Santa Fe Therapist I’m Melanie, and I love helping people who are ready to work with a trauma therapist. In balancing the science of therapy with the art of healing, I’ll create an innovative program for you that sets you on a path of success from the very first session. My compassionate, creative approach weaves together my ability to hear below the surface of the words, advanced degrees, years of specialized training, professional experience, and my own healing around trauma. I use the latest neuroscience findings as I combine Western systems, Eastern wisdom, Earth-based practices, as well as creative, innovative ideas to help you process, heal and begin building your future. My hope for you is that you’ll feel safe every step of the way as you transform “I don’t feel safe” into “Yes, I’m safe and well and happy.” If you’d like a free, 15-minute phone consult, just send me an email: melanie@melanieharth.com.
This episode takes a deep dive into healing the shame of childhood sexual abuse. National expert Beverly Engel is Melanie’s guest as the two of them explore some of the many unhealthy consequences of shame. An acclaimed advocate for victims of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, Beverly’s a psychologist and best-selling author who’s published 22 books, including four bestsellers on emotional abuse. Her most recent book is Freedom at Last: Healing the Shame of Childhood Sexual Abuse. Even though the subject matter may feel dark and heavy, the reality is that millions of people, both men and women, suffer deeply from the shame of having been sexually abused as children. And that shame can become an insidious self-saboteur, holding you hostage, never allowing you to live a full, rich life. There are many, often hidden, negative health consequences of having experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA). As Beverly writes: “CSA survivors have a significantly higher risk of medical, psychological, behavioral, interpersonal, and social difficulties. Systemic reviews have also specifically established that CSA is a risk factor for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociative patterns, sexual problems, relationship problems, sexual exploitation, intimate partner violence, suicidality, substance abuse, eating disorders, and educational difficulties. But all those effects and risk factors pale in comparison to one particular consequence of child sexual abuse—shame.” The very good news is that there is so much hope and healing possible, which is what the focus of the show is really all about. Bad things happen to very good people. When you understand how much can be done to heal the shame of those early childhood wounds, your life will change for the better, in ways you may not even be able to imagine at this point. As Beverly wrote in Freedom at Last, “being reminded of your own abuse is not necessarily a negative thing. This is because many former victims are in so much denial that being reminded of what happened to them can help them get out of denial, a major problem for many former victims. The more you can face the truth about what happened to you, the healthier you can become.” This episode takes a fearless look at the truth about what happened, and offers lots of ideas, suggestions, and evidence-based strategies to help folks begin the transformational journey of healing themselves into wholeness. Finally, please don’t expect this to be a horrible downer of a show. These two women offer wide-open, heartfelt personal experiences and professional guidance into a taboo subject that must be openly talked about. For that is where the healing lives. Beverly Engel’s website here: http://healmyshame.com/ Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/about-santa-fe-therapist/ You don’t have to suffer alone anymore. If you’re struggling with the shame of childhood sexual abuse, CPTSD, or any other traumatic experience, please reach out to Melanie for a free 15-minute phone consult: melanie@melanieharth.com.
Melanie shares several tips for enjoying the holidays in this episode. She also highlights some of the common holiday happiness traps that can cause folks a lot of sorrow, resentment and anger. As she says, “while almost everyone has fantastical dreams of perfect holidays that go all the way back before we were able to talk and encode explicit memories, almost as many of us are stressed, overwhelmed, sad or depressed, and can even become bitterly disappointed … every holiday season.” There’s a lot of good news, though! When you slow down and mindfully manage your holidays, you’ll feel a lot better. And your beloveds will, too. (If they don’t? They’re not really beloveds, are they?) Melanie also offers the latest neuroscience research findings to help you feel more ease-full and peaceful this year. Her first tip? Don’t give away your ability to choose how and with whom you spend your time. As she says, “You don’t have to keep giving yourself, or your very precious time, or your emotional health and wellbeing away to ideas about how it’s supposed to be, or to people who cannot see you, respect you and offer you, at the very least, kindness. “You don’t have to choose to keep on doin’ the holidays the same old ways it’s always been done. “We’re living in a new world. And to the extent we can accept that, even surrender to the new reality, then we’ve given ourselves some sacred space to begin building new rituals and ceremonies and traditions.” Can you give yourself some sacred space and create new rituals and ceremonies and traditions that are in alignment with who you are and what you need? As usual, Melanie doesn’t shy away from talking about the difficult things that most of us would rather not think about. Things like toxic families, grieving your losses during this supposedly “HappyHappy” time, and how to navigate the season as an HSP (Highly Sensitive Person). And she also shares that a couple of the creative ideas that showed up surprised her, including her favorite, which she’s calling The Soup Circle! She ends the show with a few poems to help sooth your nervous system and calm your weary mind, including this one entitled The Shortest Day, by Susan Cooper: So the shortest day came, and the year died,
And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world
Came people singing, dancing,
To drive the dark away.
They lighted candles in the winter trees;
They hung their homes with evergreen;
They burned beseeching fires all night long
To keep the year alive,
And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake
They shouted, reveling.
Through all the frosty ages you can hear them
Echoing behind us—Listen!!
All the long echoes sing the same delight,
This shortest day,
As promise wakens in the sleeping land:
They carol, feast, give thanks,
And dearly love their friends,
And hope for peace.
And so do we, here, now,
This year and every year.
Welcome Yule!
More about Dr. Melanie Harth here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/about-santa-fe-therapist/
Silvia Stenitzer returns to the studio for this episode. Silvia’s a licensed professional clinical counselor in Santa Fe. She has a private practice as a psychotherapist. And she also trains the trainers, offering continuing education workshops throughout the year for licensed counselors. She has specialized training in some important areas, including somatic therapy and interpersonal neurobiology. Melanie and Silvia share ideas about how to manage the holiday season when it feels overwhelming, or you’ll be spending time with toxic people, including family. Some of the topics include how healing can happen in relationships, and that sometimes the people who drives you the most crazy can be sources to help you deepen into your evolutionary journey. Narcissists and attachment styles are part of the discussion, as well. Melanie shares the 5 S’s, from neuroscientist and psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Siegel. The 4 S’s can be helpful to use when your nervous system has been activated, and you need some help with emotional safety and emotional regulation. The 5 S’s are five fundamental needs that all humans have. They are: “1) Be SEEN—meaning our inner life is perceived, made sense of, and responded to in a timely and effective manner. The attunement of others helps us “feel felt” in the world.
2) Be SOOTHED—meaning that our distress is noted and the interactions with others helps us to feel calmer, more at ease. This interactive soothing becomes internal soothing as we develop.
3) Be SAFE—meaning that we are protected from harm and also that those we care about are not the source of terror. This is how we come to have a sense of trust in others.
4) Be SECURE—meaning that we develop an overall internal model of solidity, enabling us to feel that in general, we are worthy of being seen, soothed, and safe and that we can rely on others for this important sense of connection.
In addition, a “fifth S” might be the notion of “SENSE-making”—meaning how we rely on our interactions with others to make sense of the world. This making sense process enables us to feel a coherence between what we experience ourselves and how we are told the world actually is. With a coherent sense-making experience, we have what some researchers term, “epistemic trust.”
Furthermore, Siegel says “But if your family has not in the past provided these S’s of security for you or others, then this list may be helpful to keep in mind as you enter this holiday season. We have a saying that you can ‘name it to tame it,’ meaning that if you name an emotional state it will help you create equilibrium in your life. If you are at the dinner table and Aunt Mary doesn’t see you as you are discussing some important issues in your life, when the feeling of disconnection arises, say to yourself, with your inner voice, ‘Ah—how fascinating—agitation from not being SEEN. That’s one of those S’s of security, fully missing here from her reactions to me, no wonder I have this unsettling feeling of disconnection.’ You may not be able to change Aunt Mary, but you can change how you understand and respond to her non-secure ways of interacting with you. Finally, Siegel writes thatyou can be your own secure attachment figure. “You can see what is actually going on inside you with clarity and acceptance, you can soothe your own inner distress, you can keep yourself safe, and you can make sense of what is going on as you name it to tame it.” https://drdansiegel.com/expanding-your-holiday-hub/ Silvia Stenitzer’s website here: https://silviastenitzer.com/ Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/ Questions or comments about the show: happiness@ksfr.org.
Kimberley Brown is the guest on this episode which focuses on how to navigate grief and loss. Kim is a popular meditation teacher and author. She leads classes and workshops that emphasize the power of compassion and kindness to reconnect us to ourselves and others. She studies in both the Tibetan and Insight schools of Buddhism and is a Certified Mindfulness Instructor. Kim and Melanie talk all about her newest book, titled Navigating Grief and Loss: 25 Buddhist Practices to Keep Your Heart Open to Yourself and Others. She’s a lovely teacher who’s written a very accessible book to help guide folks through how to feel safe feeling all of our emotions and understanding how to be compassionate and kind to ourselves, no matter what shows up. For the truth is that this is when healing begins. Her book chapters are titled by different kinds of losses, including * sudden death, or conversely, * when you know it’s coming, * losing a child or grandchild, * if your family disappoints you, * grieving for strangers, * and beloved pets, among others.
One of the things that Buddhism teaches is that “everything is impermanent and death can happen at any moment, to anyone, at any age … it’s the nature of life,” as Kim writes. Further, “for us to live fully with this unsettling truth requires that we acknowledge impermanence and change, be willing to mourn loss and face grief, and meet the unexpected with gentleness rather than denial or blame.” Kim and Melanie share ideas for how to deal with emotions such as anger, compassion, anticipatory grief, collective grief, and how to hold our grief during the holidays. This is a lovely show, with many ideas to ponder. Kimberly Brown’s website here: https://www.meditationwithheart.com/ Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/ Questions or suggestions: email happiness@ksfr.org Grief Counseling in Santa Fe, NM
Sadness and loss are part of being alive. And grieving our losses is part of what it means to live a rich, full life. If you’re stuck in the past and can’t seem to move forward on your own, or living with ambiguous loss, please reach out to schedule a free, 15-minute phone consultation: melanie@melanieharth.com.
I’m Melanie, the Santa Fe Therapist. My compassionate, creative approach to grief counseling in Santa Fe NM weaves together my ability to hear below the surface of the words, advanced degrees, years of specialized training, professional experience, and personal experiences healing from loss.
I use the latest neuroscience research as I combine Western systems, Eastern wisdom, Earth-based practices, as well as creative, innovative ideas to help you process and heal.
Clients usually work with me once a week for 8-12 months. As we work together, you’ll process your sadness and loss in an emotionally safe space, and begin learning how to step into the world again, on your terms.
Please know that I welcome ongoing conversations about making therapy the best experience it can be for you.
The Santa Fe Therapist Offers Online Counseling in Santa Fe, NM
Online therapy helps women who are struggling with grief and loss find the time away from day-to-day pressures to calm their nervous systems. It also makes it easy and convenient to process emotions and learn new neuroscience techniques cope with challenges, heal the past, and begin building your future.
I strongly believe in the power of online counseling. Along with the research that proves its effectiveness, I see the positive benefits for clients every week. Click here if you've got questions about online therapy.
Online counseling from anywhere in New Mexico, including Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Taos, Los Alamos, Pecos, Las Vegas, Tesuque and El Dorado.
How to Get Grief Counseling in Santa Fe NM
You don’t have to suffer alone anymore. Please, send me an email, and let’s schedule a free, 15-minute phone consultation: melanie@melanieharth.com, for grief counseling in Santa Fe.
Other Services From The Santa Fe Therapist
The Santa Fe Therapist specializes in several areas of health, wellbeing, healing and recovery. We know that one size never fits all. Our services are individualized to each client, and are based on your values, your needs and desires, and your goals.
We offer individual adult counseling and guidance in Santa Fe NM for:
- dealing with overwhelming angst and despair
- anxiety help
- depression help
- emotional and spiritual healing
- processing grief
- overcoming low self-esteem
- learning how to make peace with the present
- PTSD and CPTSD/trauma
- helping you manage stress
Have you ever been told that you’re “too sensitive,” thinking too much, or that you should be happy going to parties ‘cause the more the merrier? Do you hide you who are because you’ve been shamed or told there’s something wrong with you? You might be an HSP, a highly sensitive person. Melanie (Dr. Melanie Harth) explains what being an HSP means, and offers lots of ideas and strategies for coping with too much stress, overwhelm, and an over-stimulated nervous system. She references the work of the psychologist who developed the theory, Dr. Elaine Aron, author of several books on being highly sensitive, including her first one, "The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You.” One quote Melanie shares in this episode from the book is "If you are going to notice every little thing in a situation, and if the situation is complicated (many things to remember), intense (noisy, cluttered, etc), or goes on too long (a 2-hour commute), it seem obvious that you will also have to wear out sooner from having to process so much so thoroughly. Others, not noticing much or any of what you have, will not tire as quickly [or at all!]. "They may even think it quite strange that you find it too much to sightsee all day and go to a nightclub in the evening. … . Indeed this is often the behavior we and others have noticed most — that HSPs are easily stressed by overstimulation (including social stimulation), or, having learned their lesson, that they avoid intense situations more than others do.” Melanie shares information about what being highly sensitive can look like in different people, along with ways that an HSP can cause problems for themselves. Other areas she covers include HSPs and narcissists, HSPs and shame, HSPs and psychological/mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, and ways to help soothe yourself. Dr. Elaine Aron’s website here, including the free quiz: https://hsperson.com/ Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/
Have you ever been told that you’re “too sensitive,” thinking too much, or that you should be happy going to parties ‘cause the more the merrier? Do you hide you who are because you’ve been shamed or told there’s something wrong with you? You might be an HSP, a highly sensitive person. Melanie (Dr. Melanie Harth) explains what being an HSP means, and offers lots of ideas and strategies for coping with too much stress, overwhelm, and an over-stimulated nervous system. She references the work of the psychologist who developed the theory, Dr. Elaine Aron, author of several books on being highly sensitive, including her first one, "The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You.” One quote Melanie shares in this episode from the book is "If you are going to notice every little thing in a situation, and if the situation is complicated (many things to remember), intense (noisy, cluttered, etc), or goes on too long (a 2-hour commute), it seem obvious that you will also have to wear out sooner from having to process so much so thoroughly. Others, not noticing much or any of what you have, will not tire as quickly [or at all!]. "They may even think it quite strange that you find it too much to sightsee all day and go to a nightclub in the evening. … . Indeed this is often the behavior we and others have noticed most — that HSPs are easily stressed by overstimulation (including social stimulation), or, having learned their lesson, that they avoid intense situations more than others do.” Melanie shares information about what being highly sensitive can look like in different people, along with ways that an HSP can cause problems for themselves. Other areas she covers include HSPs and narcissists, HSPs and shame, HSPs and psychological/mental disorders such as anxiety and depression, and ways to help soothe yourself. Dr. Elaine Aron’s website here, including the free quiz: https://hsperson.com/ Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/
Dur e Aziz Amna is the guest who’s keeping Melanie on her toes in this insightful, wide-ranging, and delightful conversation. Aziz Amna grew up in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She graduated from Yale College and the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Financial Times, and Aljazeera, among others. Winner of the 2019 Financial Times Essay Prize, she was longlisted for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award 2020. Her brand-new debut novel is American Fever. And it’s a powerhouse of a novel. The protagonist, Hira, is an adolescent Pakistani girl who comes of age as an exchange student in rural Oregon. Hira's voice is impressive, with observations ranging from who she is to who she is not. Here's one example, “I don’t yet know how to react to life—its sadness and disappointments—without blaming those around me, because I am only half formed and so it feels to me that I am nothing but the sum of other people’s actions.” Another quote from Hira as the older narrator is, “At 16, I was tired of limits, aghast that life could be so small. Tired of the same girls I had known all my life, girls who called their periods their ‘visitors’… who didn’t know, didn’t desire to know, how powerful and clever and beautiful they were, who had already decided on the low, petty ceilings of their limits.” Finally, from Hira, as narrator/observer, comes this,“Stereotypes happen when you don’t understand the thing itself, and so you interpret it. This is not an account of how America was. It’s an account of who I was.” The conversation between Dur e Aziz Amna and Melanie touches on themes such as: * emigration and immigration * assimilation * what “home” means * globalization * racism and Othering * the challenges presented when we stereotype something * the place of one’s culture and tradition * the hubris, ignorance, and fear of at least some of “America” and Americans
The two women also talk quite a bit about happiness and well-being in the 2nd half of this episode. Dur e has a lot to say about this and does so with style and grace. This show is for snuggling down with a cuppa on a lazy early evening and spending the hour with friends enjoying each other's company. Dur e Aziz Amna’s website here: https://www.dureazizamna.com/ Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/ Questions or comments? Send them to happiness@ksfr.org.
Dur e Aziz Amna is the guest who’s keeping Melanie on her toes in this insightful, wide-ranging, and delightful conversation. Aziz Amna grew up in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She graduated from Yale College and the Helen Zell Writers’ Program at the University of Michigan. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Financial Times, and Aljazeera, among others. Winner of the 2019 Financial Times Essay Prize, she was longlisted for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award 2020. Her brand-new debut novel is American Fever. And it’s a powerhouse of a novel. The protagonist, Hira, is an adolescent Pakistani girl who comes of age as an exchange student in rural Oregon. Hira's voice is impressive, with observations ranging from who she is to who she is not. Here's one example, “I don’t yet know how to react to life—its sadness and disappointments—without blaming those around me, because I am only half formed and so it feels to me that I am nothing but the sum of other people’s actions.” Another quote from Hira as the older narrator is, “At 16, I was tired of limits, aghast that life could be so small. Tired of the same girls I had known all my life, girls who called their periods their ‘visitors’… who didn’t know, didn’t desire to know, how powerful and clever and beautiful they were, who had already decided on the low, petty ceilings of their limits.” Finally, from Hira, as narrator/observer, comes this,“Stereotypes happen when you don’t understand the thing itself, and so you interpret it. This is not an account of how America was. It’s an account of who I was.” The conversation between Dur e Aziz Amna and Melanie touches on themes such as: * emigration and immigration * assimilation * what “home” means * globalization * racism and Othering * the challenges presented when we stereotype something * the place of one’s culture and tradition * the hubris, ignorance, and fear of at least some of “America” and Americans
The two women also talk quite a bit about happiness and well-being in the 2nd half of this episode. Dur e has a lot to say about this and does so with style and grace. This show is for snuggling down with a cuppa on a lazy early evening and spending the hour with friends enjoying each other's company. Dur e Aziz Amna’s website here: https://www.dureazizamna.com/ Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/ Questions or comments? Send them to happiness@ksfr.org.
This is an intimate episode with Melanie sharing an essay from the scientist, activist, humanitarian and writer Barry Lopez. The essay is from his last book, “Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World,” published posthumously. Lopez makes a poignant plea to not fall into despair and hopelessness at the state of the world.
Building on the foundation of Lopez’s essay, Melanie shares several suggestions for how to find joy in dark times. The focus is on simple ways to help reset your nervous system in challenging times. For instance, did you know that trying to resist painful emotions increases psychological suffering? Or that helping other people or a cause that’s important to you has been proven over and over again to helps get you out of your little mind and ego and into something more important? It helps manage the non-stop ruminating monkey mind thing. Also, nature is a powerful healer! Hanging out in nature can help elicit joy and happiness. She also shares several pieces of writing from the poets David Whyte and Mary Oliver, educational visionary Maria Montessori, and the Zen Buddhist teacher and writer Thich Nhat Hanh. Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/
This is an intimate episode with Melanie sharing an essay from the scientist, activist, humanitarian and writer Barry Lopez. The essay is from his last book, “Embrace Fearlessly the Burning World,” published posthumously. Lopez makes a poignant plea to not fall into despair and hopelessness at the state of the world.
Building on the foundation of Lopez’s essay, Melanie shares several suggestions for how to find joy in dark times. The focus is on simple ways to help reset your nervous system in challenging times. For instance, did you know that trying to resist painful emotions increases psychological suffering? Or that helping other people or a cause that’s important to you has been proven over and over again to helps get you out of your little mind and ego and into something more important? It helps manage the non-stop ruminating monkey mind thing. Also, nature is a powerful healer! Hanging out in nature can help elicit joy and happiness. She also shares several pieces of writing from the poets David Whyte and Mary Oliver, educational visionary Maria Montessori, and the Zen Buddhist teacher and writer Thich Nhat Hanh. Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/
Shepherd Siegel, PhD, has written a lot of books, including two in which he writes about the importance of the Trickster mythology.
Shep is an activist, writer, musician, researcher, prankster and author of the book we talk about in this episode — “Tricking Power Into Performing Acts of Love: How Tricksters Through History Have Changed the World.”
The Trickster archetype, or myth, or god/goddess, is one of the most ancient deities, found in almost every indigenous culture around the globe. In the southwestern United States, the Trickster is often portrayed as Kokopelli.
In his book, Shep writes "about how grown-ups who have retained the ability to be playful as they were when a child view and behave in the world. Such a grown-up will consciously or unconsciously engage with the Trickster."
One of Trickster's main characteristics is having fun and playing, no matter what else is going on around him or her.
Shep brilliantly leads us through his research findings, tells beautiful stories of different Trickster deities, and Melanie asks a lot of questions.
As he writes, "The trickster just sets out to have fun, and somebody might get hurt, but the intentions are never to deliberately hurt others. In fact, quite the opposite: this book is about the role of the trickster (human), and the Trickster (demigod, archetype), in opening our eyes and our minds to the tangible possibility of a more perfect and playful society, a utopia if you will.”
Dr. Melanie Harth’s website: www.TheSantaFeTherapist.com.
Shepherd Siegel, PhD, has written a lot of books, including two in which he writes about the importance of the Trickster mythology.
Shep is an activist, writer, musician, researcher, prankster and author of the book we talk about in this episode — “Tricking Power Into Performing Acts of Love: How Tricksters Through History Have Changed the World.”
The Trickster archetype, or myth, or god/goddess, is one of the most ancient deities, found in almost every indigenous culture around the globe. In the southwestern United States, the Trickster is often portrayed as Kokopelli.
In his book, Shep writes "about how grown-ups who have retained the ability to be playful as they were when a child view and behave in the world. Such a grown-up will consciously or unconsciously engage with the Trickster."
One of Trickster's main characteristics is having fun and playing, no matter what else is going on around him or her.
Shep brilliantly leads us through his research findings, tells beautiful stories of different Trickster deities, and Melanie asks a lot of questions.
As he writes, "The trickster just sets out to have fun, and somebody might get hurt, but the intentions are never to deliberately hurt others. In fact, quite the opposite: this book is about the role of the trickster (human), and the Trickster (demigod, archetype), in opening our eyes and our minds to the tangible possibility of a more perfect and playful society, a utopia if you will.”
Dr. Melanie Harth’s website: www.TheSantaFeTherapist.com.
September 7th, 2022
There are a lot of ways to help reduce anxiety. CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), mindfulness (especially MBSR, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), and emotional regulation can absolutely change your life for the better if you're struggling with anxiety.
There are also plenty of ways to get creative when you're feeling overwhelmed.
- Journaling is one powerful way to help calm your nervous system and manage those anxiety gremlins.
-
Bringing your mind back home to the present moment is a simple, effective way to ride the wild horse of your anxious mind, even if it's just for a sec.
-
Music is super-powerful for self-soothing an anxious mind. Sometimes when my mind is scurrying around in too much worry, I listen to quiet jazz (or classical and all dance music, from 60s soul to contemporary salsa). Find your happy place with music and listen away (yep, I had to get up offa' my thing and dance listening to this!).
- Finally, if you're curious about divination tools such as Tarot cards, the I-Ching, Runes, or astrology, learning more about whatever's calling you can also provide creative ways to work with anxiety.
Note: if anxiety symptoms are getting in the way of work and relationships or causing health issues, please talk to a professional anxiety counselor and get help.
Can Astrology Help Reduce Anxiety? Maybe. Sometimes. Sometimes a lot.
I recently spent an hour interviewing the nationally known astrologer Elisabeth Grace. We talked a lot about events and people in the news. We also talked about how understanding the bigger astrological picture of why things happen the way they do can help you feel less anxious.
In my experience, it can be a helpful tool along with psychotherapy when struggling with how to reduce anxiety. And according to The Atlantic, astrology is having a moment.
Astrology offers an understanding of the planetary patterns that reflect your life's potential.
Another way it can be helpful is that, once you understand those planetary patterns reflected in how you make choices, you can learn how to surf the waves of the inevitable life changes and curve balls everyone has to deal with.
Elisabeth and I talked about the chaos that seems to be happening these days. She mentioned the esteemed American historian Heather Cox Richardson (her free Facebook page; her paid substack page). If you're interested in current events and politics and how history repeats itself, check her out.
In the second half of the episode, I get personal with part of my astrology chart so Elisabeth could explain how a chart works.
Elisabeth Grace website here
more from Dr. Melanie Harth, The Santa Fe Therapist: https://thesantafetherapist.com/
September 7th, 2022
There are a lot of ways to help reduce anxiety. CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), mindfulness (especially MBSR, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), and emotional regulation can absolutely change your life for the better if you're struggling with anxiety.
There are also plenty of ways to get creative when you're feeling overwhelmed.
- Journaling is one powerful way to help calm your nervous system and manage those anxiety gremlins.
-
Bringing your mind back home to the present moment is a simple, effective way to ride the wild horse of your anxious mind, even if it's just for a sec.
-
Music is super-powerful for self-soothing an anxious mind. Sometimes when my mind is scurrying around in too much worry, I listen to quiet jazz (or classical and all dance music, from 60s soul to contemporary salsa). Find your happy place with music and listen away (yep, I had to get up offa' my thing and dance listening to this!).
- Finally, if you're curious about divination tools such as Tarot cards, the I-Ching, Runes, or astrology, learning more about whatever's calling you can also provide creative ways to work with anxiety.
Note: if anxiety symptoms are getting in the way of work and relationships or causing health issues, please talk to a professional anxiety counselor and get help.
Can Astrology Help Reduce Anxiety? Maybe. Sometimes. Sometimes a lot.
I recently spent an hour interviewing the nationally known astrologer Elisabeth Grace. We talked a lot about events and people in the news. We also talked about how understanding the bigger astrological picture of why things happen the way they do can help you feel less anxious.
In my experience, it can be a helpful tool along with psychotherapy when struggling with how to reduce anxiety. And according to The Atlantic, astrology is having a moment.
Astrology offers an understanding of the planetary patterns that reflect your life's potential.
Another way it can be helpful is that, once you understand those planetary patterns reflected in how you make choices, you can learn how to surf the waves of the inevitable life changes and curve balls everyone has to deal with.
Elisabeth and I talked about the chaos that seems to be happening these days. She mentioned the esteemed American historian Heather Cox Richardson (her free Facebook page; her paid substack page). If you're interested in current events and politics and how history repeats itself, check her out.
In the second half of the episode, I get personal with part of my astrology chart so Elisabeth could explain how a chart works.
Elisabeth Grace website here
more from Dr. Melanie Harth, The Santa Fe Therapist: https://thesantafetherapist.com/
David McRaney is an author, science journalist, lecturer, and the creator of
the blog You Are Not So Smart, which became an internationally
bestselling book, later followed by You Are Now Less Dumb.
He hosts the popular YANSS podcast and speaks internationally about
irrational thinking and delusion.
And David has a new book called “How Minds Change: The Surprising
Science of Belief, Opinion, and Persuasion.”
This is a big show, covering a lot of ground. He and Melanie discuss the
psychology of changing minds, both our own as well as others.
How to have conversations that might be difficult is part of the thread. As
David said, “It’s more about how you’re approaching the conversation.”
And he gets into the particulars of what contemporary interdisciplinary
scientific research says is most effective.
David’s got an intriguing interdisciplinary approach, encompassing the
fields of psychology, sociology, conflict, tribal psychology, and yes ... even
more.
As he writes in his book, “How Minds Change”:
“Societies aren’t fixed. Large social systems, though they seem
stable, are always changing in subtle ways that are imperceptible to the
people living within them. Even if thresholds remain constant in a way that
prevents a cascade from building momentum within a single group, all
manner of circumstances can affect the average number of connections
between groups, altering the conditions in ways that randomly create
percolating vulnerable clusters. Any society can, without its knowledge,
change from one in which a global cascade is impossible to one in which it
could happen at any time. Repeated shocks to the system that before
seemed futile now have the potential to change the world.
“Change can creep along with no signs of meaningful progress for
decades. It makes the status quo seem like it was unanimously agreed
upon, stable and eternal. It makes mind change seem impossible — until
one day, a lucky strike causes so much change that everyone’s thresholds
are met within a percolating cluster. Then the culture-wide spread begins.
A social change cascading this way reach everyone except those who have
difficult-to-meet thresholds who are part of a cluster that is disconnected
from the network, cult, an insulated religion, or a remote community.”
Living from happiness includes many components, including
psychological resilience and the ability to adapt as change happens.
Especially important skills to cultivate in this rapidly accelerating era of
change.
David’s an engaging, articulate, super-smart, and fun guy. Listen in to the
pod, and let us know your thoughts: happiness@ksfr.org.
David McRaney’s How Minds Work here: https://www.davidmcraney.com/
howmindschangehome
Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/
Linda Durham’s professional and personal life centers on art, artists, global travel, and humanitarian causes. She is the founder and director of Santa Fe’s Wonder Institute, which sponsors art exhibitions, lectures, workshops, and salons focused on discovering and implementing creative solutions to contemporary social and cultural issues. For more than three decades, Durham promoted New Mexico-based artists as the hands-on owner of a contemporary art gallery with seven exhibition locations through the years: six in Santa Fe, and one in New York. In 2012, the New Mexico Museum of Art acquired her extensive gallery archives. A prolific writer and speaker, she has been guest lecturer or workshop presenter at Brigham Young University, the University of Wisconsin, Ohio Wesleyan University, Yale University, the Sundance Institute, the College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe Community College, and the New Mexico Museum of Art. For her seventieth birthday, Durham circumnavigated the world in seventy days, meeting Indigenous women, educators, artists, entrepreneurs, and peace activists, and planting “Seeds of Peace” in gardens, schoolyards, and parks in South Africa, Lesotho, Madagascar, Thailand, Myanmar, and Hawaii.
Dr. Mike Rucker is an organizational psychologist and charter member of the International Positive Psychology Association whose work has been published in the International Journal of Workplace Health Management and Nutrition Research. His ideas about fun and health have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Vox, Thrive Global, mindbodygreen, and more. Named one of ten digital changemakers by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, he currently serves as a senior leader at Active Wellness. Learn more at MichaelRucker.com.
Daniel Bergner is a contributing writer for the New York Times Magazine and author of The Mind and the Moon.
Feeling sad and feeling anxious are two common signs of ambiguous loss. Dr. Pauline Boss, one of the world's leading experts on ambiguous loss, shares insights and research in The Myth of Closure: Ambiguous Loss in a Time of Pandemic and Change, her newest book.
Dr. Boss is a psychologist, thought leader, emeritus professor, and author of the seminal books Loss, Trauma, and Resilience: Therapeutic Work with Ambiguous Loss, and The Myth of Closure: Ambiguous Loss In A Time of Pandemic and Change.
She's known worldwide for developing the theory of ambiguous loss and as a pioneer in the interdisciplinary study of family stress management.
And at the age of 87, she's having a moment!
A delightful guest, Pauline freely shares some of her personal journey and how her experiences of loss changed the scope of her newest book even as she was writing it.
She says that ambiguous loss is "an unclear loss." And that many people don't realize they're grieving. The result can be that the grief then becomes frozen.
When we understand that how we're feeling and why we're feeling it is because we're grieving an unclear loss, our lives can begin making more sense.
Examples of ambiguous loss include
- the Covid pandemic,
- leaving one’s home and/or country as an immigrant or refugee, romantic relationship breakups,
- divorces,
- family disintegration,
- adoption
- caretaking an elderly spouse, partner, parent, or adult child with physical and/or mental health issues.
Pauline Boss makes it clear that most caregivers are not depressed. Nor should they be labeled with a pathogizing diagnosis they don't deserve.
What many caregivers are is sad. And it's a sadness that's very normal and understandable given the circumstances.
Closure on normal grieving is a myth. Grief does not end. Further, if we've loved someone or something, we want to remember. Because we're remembering with love.
Pauline offers thoughtful, and helpful counsel for how to increase our tolerance for ambiguous loss, and continue moving forward with our lives, even as we hold what's dear to us in our hearts.
If you're feeling sad, depressed, confused about how to move forward after a traumatic change, or if you'd like to explore grief counseling in Santa Fe, please reach out to the Santa Fe Therapist for a free 15-minute phone consult.
Send an email to melanie@melanieharth.com and schedule a session, won't you?
What's the connection between fear, anxiety, cPTSD and/or activism? Melanie and Artemisio Romero y Carver dive into all of it in this fast-paced episode. Arte is a Chicana artist, poet, and grassroots organizer. Santa Fe Youth Poet Laureate in 2020, Arte's voice is informed, intelligent, and vibrant with hope.
Sharing openly about his diagnosis of cPTSD, he and Melanie talk about the stress of living in a chaotic world with so many challenges facing his generation, including the climate crisis.
cPTSD (C-PTSD, or complex PTSD, is
Anxiety, depression, and addictive behaviors can be best friends. I'm talking about the kind of "best" friend that can suck you in so deeply that you forget who you are and how it feels to be healthy and thriving.
Yvonne Castaneda is a licensed social worker, adjunct professor of Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, online facilitator of BC School of Theology and Ministry, and author of the new book, Pork Belly Tacos With a Side of Anxiety: My Journey Through Depression, Bulimia, and Addiction.
She's an expert in anxiety, depression, and addictive behaviors. She's also super articulate and a lot of fun!
This thought-provoking, light-hearted conversation touches on a wide range of topics, including cultural identity. Yvonne identifies as Latina, writing that her identity "as a Latina is rooted in the core values we share as a people, in our ability to overcome hardships with tenacity, perseverance, and determination, in the underlying passion and respect for life that I've encountered in all of the [Latinos] who have crossed my path, our cultural differences not strong enough to drive us apart because combined we wrote the book on how to laugh, how to love and how to vivir."
In addition to Latina cultural identity, Yvonne and Dr. Melanie Harth, the show host, talk about how:
- anxiety and depression can develop in children and adolescents
- early signs of the eating disorder bulimia
- anxiety and depression can lead to disordered eating in adolescents
- low self-confidence and low self-esteem can contribute to eating disorders
- shame develops and contributes to anxiety, depression, and addictive behaviors
- Latino families can unknowingly encourage eating disorders in children and adolescents
As Sandra Cisneros, author of The House on Mango Street, wrote: "There are wounds of the spirit impossible to heal alone. Yvonne Castañeda is a healer healing others by sharing her own story. This book resonated deeply with me, as it will with many who are lost when their DNA contradicts the image of the ideal."
"Anxiety, Depression, & Addictive Behaviors" is a beautiful episode, with Yvonne Castenada and Melanie Harth sharing sensitive experiences with transparency, clinical knowledge, and the wisdom earned through painful personal experiences.
Dr. Melanie Harth, Santa Fe therapist and life coach, helps stressed women struggling with anxiety, sadness and grief, and low self-esteem. Click here for her website.
Guest Duff McDonald, journalist and New York Times bestselling author, discusses his philosophy, and his new book, "Tickled: A Commonsense Guide To The Present Moment."
Melanie continues her conversation with Aliza Einhorn, astrologer, and author of A Mystical Practical Guide to Magic: Instructions for Seekers, Witches, & Other Spiritual Misfits.
Guest host Diane Tegmeyer talks with author and expert on American cheeses, Laura Werlin.
Guest Aliza Einhorn, astrologer, and author of A Mystical Practical Guide to Magic: Instructions for Seekers, Witches, & Other Spiritual Misfits discusses emotions, spirituality, and tarot.
Animals can be such wonderful contributors to our healing, happiness and well-being!
Guest host Diane Tegmeyer talks all things animals with Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Human Society Executive Director Dr. Jennifer Steketee.
Born and raised in Oregon, Jennifer attended vet school in Oregon and Washington states. Hers is an important voice in helping us understand the plight of sheltered animals in northern New Mexico. She shares stories of hope and healing, as well as lots of ideas for volunteering in this episode.
We can find a tremendous amount of wisdom when we journal. Dr. Elaine Casquarelli and Dr. Karin Lubin share insights, ideas, and lots of laughter in this episode.
Elaine is a psychotherapist who incorporates IFS (Internal Family Systems) into her work with clients.
Karin's professional background includes having been the Global Director of The Passion Test Certification programs. She's the co-owner — along with her husband, Randy Crutches, of Quantum Leap Coaching and Consulting. And she's co-hosted and guest hosted several episodes of Living From Happiness. Karin's doctorate is in education and organizational leadership.
There is now a large body of research that supports journaling as an activity that can have a profound impact on our health, happiness, and wellbeing. Karin explains some of these benefits to listeners.
And Elaine offers insights into how powerful it can be to understand our internal parts.
When the two are combined together -- IFS and journaling -- amazing things can happen. Elaine, Karin and Melanie talk about the importance of curiosity and clarity, how to access our inner wisdom, and how journaling can help us reconnect with ourselves.
In the second half, Karin shares her feelings about the books cover art, created by Estella Loretto (be on the lookout for a show with Estella in the near future).
Elaine and Karin are co-facilitating a 6-week virtual journaling wisdom circle Oct 8 – Nov 12, 2021. They’ll incorporate their book -- Living From Your Centered Self: An IFS Wisdom Journal -- and teach you how to connect with your centered Self and help the wounded and overworked parts of you to heal.
You’ll reconnect with your body, mind, and spirit through guided meditations, journaling and the sharing of your experiences and inner wisdom with one another.
for more information about the Journaling Wisdom Circle, click here
Dr. Elaine Casquarelli's website here
Dr. Karin Lubin's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Stress. Who isn't stressed these days? Absolutely no one. Melanie's the guest on her own show in this episode inspired by a New York Times article on smart phones and stress.
Do you know that stress really does affect everything else in our lives, from how we feel when we wake up (how’d you sleep last night, by the way?) to how we interact with too fast or too slow drivers around town?
Stress has a major affect on our health, wellbeing and happiness. It’s an important component of almost decision we make all day long, all our lives. Stress contributes to anxiety, sadness, anger, brain fog, rational thought, self-control and our decision-making abilities. It’s a contributor to serious health problems.
Basically, stress can make us miserable.
The article states that “cortisol is our primary fight-or-flight hormone. Its release triggers physiological changes, such as spikes in blood pressure, heart rate and blood sugar, that help us react to and survive acute physical threats.
“These effects can be lifesaving if you are actually in physical danger — like, say, you’re being charged by a bull. But our bodies also release cortisol in response to emotional stressors where an increased heart rate isn’t going to do much good, such as checking your phone to find an angry email from your boss.
“If they happened only occasionally, phone-induced cortisol spikes might not matter. But the average American spends four hours a day staring at their smartphone and keeps it within arm’s reach nearly all the time … . The result, as Google has noted in a report, is that ‘mobile devices loaded with social media, email and news apps create ‘a constant sense of obligation, generating unintended personal stress.’"
The good news? There's lots of it in the 2nd half of the show, including the idea of being with beauty to help calm our nervous systems down.
As Terry Tempest Williams wrote, “Finding beauty in a broken world is creating beauty in the world we find.” (in Finding Beauty in a Broken World)
Listen in for more ideas about calming down our stress response.
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Notable New Mexico psychotherapist Dr. Elaine Casquarelli is featured in this episode. Elaine is a counselor, instructor, and an author. She's a certified EMDR therapist, as well as an IFS (Internal Family Systems)-trained practitioner.
IFS "is an approach to psychotherapy that identifies and addresses multiple sub-personalities or families within each person’s mental system. These sub-personalities consist of wounded parts and painful emotions such as anger and shame, and parts that try to control and protect the person from the pain of the wounded parts. The sub-personalities are often in conflict with each other and with one’s core Self, a concept that describes the confident, compassionate, whole person that is at the core of every individual. IFS focuses on healing the wounded parts and restoring mental balance and harmony by changing the dynamics that create discord among the sub-personalities and the Self." [from www.psychologytoday.com]
Don't freak out if that sounds too headsy, or complicated, or weird -- Elaine is masterful at helping us understand how IFS works!
She's even co-authored a book about it with Dr. Karin Lubin (stay tuned for a show with both of these amazing women in just a couple of weeks). The book is "Living From Your Centered Self: An IFS Wisdom Journal."
Elaine and Melanie talk about how IFS can help us recognize the internal voices that can either help us move into greater health or sabotage us, strategies to navigate the Covid-19 pandemic, how to define happiness and wellbeing, and much more.
note: Elaine and Dr. Karin Lubin are co-facilitating a 6-week virtual journaling circle Oct 8 - Nov 12, 2021. They'll incorporate their book, and teach you how to connect with your centered Self and help the wounded and overworked parts of you to heal. You'll reconnect with your body, mind, and spirit through guided meditations, journaling and the sharing of your experiences and inner wisdom with one another.
for more information about Dr. Elaine Casquarelli's work click here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website is here
"Normal is broken," Melanie and guest Erin Doerwald agree. Erin's a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, mindfulness facilitator, and mindfulness program developer based in Santa Fe, NM. She was the Program Director for The Sky Center of the New Mexico Suicide Intervention Project for many years and developed the core programming of Sky’s Toolkit for Wellbeing model. Finally, she's a member of the Board of Directors of Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center.
Erin's an expert when it comes to mindfulness and how to manage when normal is broken.
She's also an incredibly articulate and compassionate psychotherapist who shares insights on life in a (sort of) post-pandemic world.
What does the process of meaning-making look like? What's resiliency? What's that "skillful place in the middle" that Erin mentions?
This conversation is wide-ranging, in-depth, full of curiosity and insights and laughter and hope.
For the truth is, there's always hope. There is always a way to create a little more space in our nervous systems and psyches. Which allows us to adapt to an ever-changing world, deepening into what's real and true and good and possible.
Erin mentions the internationally respected resiliency researcher, Dr. Ann Masten.* Resilience is basically the capacity of a system, whether that be an individual, a family, an organization, or a culture, to adapt in adverse circumstances.
One of the ways to strengthen our ability to adapt in adverse circumstances, to strengthen our resiliency muscle, is by practicing mindfulness.
How that works is a big part of this episode.
Among other things, Erin works with individuals and families in therapy, and teaches virtual affiliated mindfulness classes from UCLA.
Mindfulness, "normal," successfully adapting to an insane world ... so much in this 25-minute show!
Erin Doerwald's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
*here's a link to Dr. Masten's free YouTube talk on the role of resilience in the face of COVID-19
David Bedrick, JD, psychotherapist specializing in process psychology, teacher, founder of the Santa Fe Institute for Shame-Based Studies, author, and all-around cool guy, is featured in this episode.
He and Melanie talk about his newest book, "You Can't Judge a Body by its Cover: 17 Women's Stories of Hunger, Body Shame, and Redemption."
David's insights into disordered eating, why diet programs fail, shame and self-hatred, and "the desire behind the desire, the hunger behind the hunger" are fascinating.
He explains that "failing at dieting masquerades as a problem of willpower and discipline, but it’s just as potent and complex as any other psychological issue or physical illness. My research has shown that resistance to dieting is a healthy response to the shaming that is baked into what drives people to try to lose weight. Because people naturally resist shame and self-hatred, they subconsciously undermine diets motivated by these feelings.”
Another quote from David regarding shame is, "What desire are you trying to satisfy behind the desire for nachos, or ice cream, or pie? You can’t love the parts of yourself you’re not yet aware of. These parts of you are waiting for you to notice them and let wisdom launch you forward. These parts need a loving not a shaming witness."
David brings deep insight, many years of clinical research and work with clients, as well as a real passion for making a difference in people's lives.
Part of his clinical and healing work includes diving into and re-working "the assumption that the thing that is wrong with me is not me. I can get rid of it and become the pure me, the right me, the “healed” me. But psychological difficulties are different. If we get angry but try to get rid of it, we only end up suppressing parts of ourselves. I can’t get rid of myself; I must become myself. I can’t get rid of my hungers and body size; I must become them—not the size and eating habits themselves, but the intelligence expressed in my size and habits."
This episode is terrific for anyone who's curious about how psychology works, how to develop and use self-insights and self-awareness, and some of the components of happiness and wellbeing.
David Bedrick's website here
David Bedrick's Facebook page here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Making choices can feel overwhelming. Diane Tegmeyer, professional travel and food writer and new resident of Santa Fe, has been through a lot of changes in the last few years.
She and Melanie get personal as they talk about what it means to leave one life for another, making choices, taking risks, and choosing new beginnings.
In her professional life as a travel writer, Diane was constantly faced with making choices. And in her personal life, she was living in New York City during the pandemic year, facing challenging medical issues on her own.
And she's now living in a brand-new city, navigating a multitude of decisions every day (not to mention moving to Santa Fe from New York City, and before that from Aspen to New York City).
The truth is that, in the larger collective conversation, each of us is now being called to adapt, to innovate, to make better choices. It's part of the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the tremendous changes we're facing, whether or not we want to.
It is what we're facing as we hurtle into ramifications of the climate crisis.
Each of us has the choice to step into healthy adaptive solutions, whether that's on a very personal level as Diane talks about or on the larger systemic levels of family, community, culture, even humanity.
When the yucky stuff hits the fan, there's always a choice: to either step forward, toward growth, or backward, where it only feels safe.
These are not times to sit on the couch watching TV. In this era of accelerating demands for innovative adaptation, we must pay a new sort-of attention to the choices we're making. For growth, adaptation, and transformation begin with one person at a time, moving outward to collective tipping points and game-changing social movements.
We can ride this wave together if we choose to do so. You ready? Let's go!
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
"Big T trauma" and "little t trauma" are two phrases often used to describe different psychological/emotional trauma levels. Big T can result from either one specific experience or recurring sexual or physical abuse.
Little t, on the other end of the trauma spectrum, can result from a series of smaller yet still challenging events.
We can be traumatized by a single event like being involved in a bad accident or experiencing an act of violence such as assault or recurring abuse. That's a Big T trauma -- a big event or a series of significant repetitive events.
We can also be traumatized by a series of smaller, not-so-big things like being bullied (as a child or an adult), family conflict, infidelity, divorce, a sudden geographical move, or medical issues.
Big T traumas are generally considered more dramatic than those of little t.
How individuals respond to the event, though, is what matters. One person may be deeply traumatized by something to which another person barely reacts.
And those emotional/behavioral reactions are what psychotherapists such as Paige Pierson are trained to work with.
Paige is a psychotherapist, licensed both in Texas and New Mexico. She's a credentialed supervisor for LMHC’s.
Based in Los Alamos, Paige has previously worked in corrections, behavioral health hospitals, private practice, and community agencies.
In this episode, Melanie and Paige offer a fascinating insider glimpse into the world of trauma-sensitive therapy.
Paige is also a working artist, sharing insights about how her creative life nurtures her life as a psychotherapist.
Last but not least, Paige is the author of a YA dystopian fiction novel set in 2088. She wrote it for young people who are struggling with bullying, anxiety, self-esteem, and resilience.
Her commitment to living a rich life, no matter what we've experienced, can be a model for all of us.
Paige Pierson's psychotherapy website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
The psychology of self-esteem and style is the focus of this show. Stylist Kitty Ault, photographer Gabriella Marks, and hair and make-up artist Jess Evans -- the KA Style team -- all share ideas about the importance of how we present ourselves to the world.
This is a lively show with a terrific team of women who work well together. And Melanie discovered academic research on the psychology of fashion, sharing it with listeners and asking for feedback from the KA Style team.
In doing research for this show, Melanie found the following from psychologist Carolyn Mair, Ph.D.:
" ... it's stressful for us if we don't feel comfortable in what we're wearing. If we're really worrying that it's appropriate or it's suitable or we don't feel confident in what we're wearing, it stresses us and this means that we don't have the cognitive capacity to deal with the problem at hand. This is why lots of very successful people tend to wear a work uniform ... [people] who wear the same items every day to allow this freeing up of cognitive capacity for more important issues." [https://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/fashion]
How we show up in the world can have a significant impact on our psychological/mental/emotional health. Because how we show up in the world can be both a reflection of how we're feeling or how we want to feel, as well as signaling to others how we expect to be treated.
"Your fashion style can determine if you ace that interview and get that dream job. Once you are on the job, your wardrobe can determine if you get more responsibility and get promoted. Your clothing choices can make or break your career, your ability to make friends, and develop the romantic relationships that you seek.
"Just as dress radiates outward to your surroundings, it also moves inward. How you dress affects your mood. Your wardrobe choices have a psychological impact. Karen Pine demonstrates in her book Mind What You Wear that there is a science behind fashion and that psychology and fashion are indeed linked.
"The next time you choose what to wear, think about why you chose that outfit. Allow more understanding for others when considering why they dress the way they do. And most of all, use the opportunity to have fun and bring pleasure into your life. Self-care is an important aspect of mental health. Looking and feeling good is not just an advertising slogan, it is a viable aspect to your wellbeing." [https://psychcentral.com/lib/the-psychology-of-fashion#4]
Dressing "up," meaning dressing for how you want to feel and how you want to be seen by others -- with healthy self-confidence and strong self-esteem -- is a simple technique to change your cognition and emotions.
Cool, no?
KA Style website here
Gabriella Marks photographer website here
Jess Evans, The Beauty Bar website here
Dr. Melanie Harth website here
The holy space of singing on stage is just one of the very cool things Melanie and Susanne Mentzer talk about in this episode.
Susanne is a mezzo-soprano who’s performed all over the world, singing in operatic productions, as well as concerts, chamber music performances, and recitals. She's been a guest artist at the Metropolitan Opera since 1989, and made many recordings. She's a Full-time Professor of Voice at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and Official Voice Teacher at the San Francisco Opera.
Finally, Susanne is singing this summer at the Santa Fe Opera.
This episode is full of light-hearted energy, lots of laughter, some personal revelations of overcoming hardships ... lots of life.
Susanne talks about the ways in which being on stage for her is therapeutic, perhaps even sacred at times.
Being passionate about her work in the world, which has now spanned several decades, continues to bring much meaning for Susanne.
Not incidentally, feeling a sense of meaning and purpose in our lives is one of the major contributors to our overall health, wellbeing, and happiness.
As an article in Scientific American says, "A wealth of research in positive psychology suggests that happiness and meaning are, in fact, essential elements of well-being. Happiness and meaning are strongly correlated with each other, and often feed off each other. The more meaning we find in life, the more happy we typically feel, and the more happy we feel, the more we often feel encouraged to pursue even greater meaning and purpose."
Another major key to wellbeing is having healthy social connections, which Susanne talks about. That same Scientific American article says " ... feeling connected to others, feeling productive, and not being alone or bored contributed to both happiness and meaning. However, they also found some important differences ... ." [https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-differences-between-happiness-and-meaning-in-life/]*
Her life has taken some unexpected turns, she's lived some tragedy and experienced great triumphs, and is incredibly transparent in sharing insights, and hope, and inspiration.
Susanne Mentzer's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Happiness and meaning and purpose can quickly become a very nuanced conversation, at least according to some research findings. This statement may help shed a bit more light on it: "It seems that happiness has more to do with having your needs satisfied, getting what you want, and feeling good, whereas meaning is more related to uniquely human activities such as developing a personal identity, expressing the self, and consciously integrating one’s past, present, and future experiences."* [https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-differences-between-happiness-and-meaning-in-life/]
Dr. Michelle Schwab is a clinical psychologist based in Portland, Maine. She specializes in health psychology and working with high-achieving professionals who are struggling with burnout.
And these days, who isn't feeling at least a little burned out?!
Michelle shares some of the red flags for burnout, which includes cynicism and a lack of empathy.
From the APA (American Psychological Association) comes this:
"Burnout is more than just feeling worn out. According to psychologist Christina Maslach, PhD—a pioneering burnout researcher who developed what has become the gold standard for measuring burnout—the condition has three components: overwhelming exhaustion, cynicism and detachment, and a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment (Maslach Burnout Inventory Manual, fourth edition, 2016).
"People kind of switch to doing the bare minimum instead of doing their very best," says Maslach, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, and co-editor-in-chief of the journal Burnout Research." https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/02/ce-corner
For health care workers and all caregivers, it's important to remember that burnout is associated with compassion fatigue or secondary trauma, which can contribute to even more burnout.
The good news is that there are things that can be helpful to prevent or lessen burnout, including making self-care a priority.
Having a trusted social support network, even if that's one other person, can make a big difference.
Mindfulness is another practice that's proven to be helpful. In order to deal with what's happening, we need to be aware of how we're feeling, right?
In the 2nd half of this episode, Michelle shares a lovely personal story of her work with a cancer patient 30 years ago, and how that helped her cope with 2020's pandemic year.
This show is rich with personal insights, and current research data about burnout, stress, and anxiety as we all continue to learn how to navigate the uncharted waters of this era.
Dr. Michelle Schwab's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Women and power and style are part of this show with Kitty Ault.
Kitty's back in the studio talking about how we present ourselves to the world. 'Cause, the truth is, clothes and hair and make-up all enhance or hide our identities.
It's always fascinating to dive deep into something that's often misunderstood, trivialized, and/or exploited.
And Kitty's an expert. She's a stylist with a degree in Art History/ Fine Arts. She worked in New York in public relations, design, marketing, event management, and fashion for innovative companies such as Perrier, L’Oreal, Cacharel, The Hearst Corporation, and financial institutions. She then ventured into the world of modeling, magazine location/styling, and photoshoots. She had the opportunity to work with top photographers, Conde Nast, Hearst publications, Time Inc., and associated magazines.
In 2005, Kitty and her family moved to Santa Fe, NM.
She shares thoughts on how the pandemic changed the ways we see ourselves, and how we choose to show up in the world.
How we’re shifting identities, roles, and priorities.
The ways in which it’s a re-set for women in the workplace.
Kitty and Melanie also get into women and power (yep, she's an expert), and women and vulnerability (yes, there's a connection).
Psychological studies show the impact of clothing in the workplace. Including, no surprise, that women can be judged harshly for their attire. Especially if their position is "higher status."
In one study, "we found that the clothing did matter. People rated the [female] senior manager less favourably when her dress style was more ‘provocative’, and more favourably when dressed more conservatively (longer skirt, buttoned-up blouse). I reiterate that the clothing in the ‘provocative’ condition was still very conservative in style and look—it was not a short skirt and a revealing blouse, but a skirt slightly above the knee and one button on the blouse undone.
"The rating of the receptionist role was not affected by these clothing manipulations, suggesting that there may be more leeway for some jobs than others.
"So even subtle changes to clothing style can contribute toward negative impressions of the competence of women who hold higher status positions." https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/do-something-different/201304/what-your-clothes-might-be-saying-about-you
In that same article, the author writes "it is important to choose our dress style carefully because people will make all sorts of assumptions and decisions about us without proper evidence. We are unlikely to know what these assessments are, so it is quite possible that our clothes reveal more than we thought.
"Sartorial laziness is an easy habit to slip into. We may think that fashion is just profligate indulgence and our sunny personality will eclipse our dull attire or detract from the soup stains on our anorak. Untrue. What we wear speaks volumes in just a few seconds. Dressing to impress really is worthwhile and could even be key to success."
Kitty Ault's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth, the Santa Fe Therapist, website here
Stuart Ashman, CEO of the International Folk Art Market, one of the largest social entrepreneurship organizations in the world, shares insights and updates in this episode.
Stuart has a long and impressive background as a cultural ambassador. He was the Executive Director & Chief Curator of CCA in Santa Fe; President and CEO of the Museum of Latin American Art; Director of the New Mexico Museum of Art; Executive Director of the Museum of Spanish Colonial Art; and was the Cabinet Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs. He's also served as Expert Consultant for the United States Peace Corps and serves as Vice-Chair of the Richardson Center for Global Engagement.
Stuart and Melanie talk about the innovative adaptations and creative solutions that had to be instituted at the Market in this pandemic era.
The truth is that, for many of the artists, the Market is their only source of income for the year. And many of the artists support their communities through their art.
As the website states, “artist earnings have exceeded $34 million and impacted more than one million lives in the communities they represent.”
Further, “each of our artists has a story to tell about craft tradition, and a family, village and culture to support.”
Stuart Ashman's response to the importance of art and beauty for a life of happiness and wellbeing may surprise you ... be sure and listen for this in the second half.
The artists of the International Folk Art Market have long held a special place in Melanie's heart. Their enduring dedication to their respective cultures' traditional arts and crafts, the pervasive sense of community support, and the sheer beauty and joy of the myriad offerings shared with the world year after year continue to be a wellspring of inspiration and hope for a better world.
the International Folk Art Market website here
Dr. Melanie Harth, the Santa Fe Therapist, website here
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion was an international bestseller when it was first published 25 years ago.
Dr. Robert Cialdini, social psychologist, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, president of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, and the recipient of a number of scientific research awards, has updated and revised the book and just published a brand-new edition.
Bob is a charming guest and the definitive expert on the psychology of persuasion and why it behooves us to understand how the mind works.
Turns out that it's terribly easy to mislead people who don't know how to pay attention to it.
In this episode, Bob shares his insights on the seven principles of the psychology of persuasion, which are:
- reciprocity
- liking
- social proof
- authority
- scarcity
- commitment and consistency
- unity
He also talks about the cost of mental shortcuts. Bob writes, "I have become impressed by evidence indicating that the form and pace of modern life is not allowing us to make fully thoughtful decisions, even on many personally relevant topics. Sometimes the issues may be so complicated, the time so tight, the distractions so intrusive, the emotional arousal so strong, or the mental fatigue so deep that we are in no cognitive condition to operate mindfully. Important topic or not, we have to take the shortcut."
Bob also uses this quote from Mother Teresa to describe one of his principles: "If we have no peace, it’s because we have forgotten that we belong to one another."
The good news about our minds is that we can learn to manage them, as it were. To think with more conscious awareness, to feel with more empathy and compassion, and to act with more self-confidence.
It's a powerful message that's more timely than ever in these chronically fraught times.
Dr. Robert Cialdini's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
download Part 1 here
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion has been an international hit since it was first published 25 years ago. So much so that Dr. Robert Cialdini, social psychologist, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University, president of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology, and the recipient of a number of scientific research awards, had to update and revise the book and publish a brand-new edition.
Bob provides a glimpse behind the scenes of our minds, helping us better understand cognitive biases and automatic behavior patterns.
As he puts it, "[not understanding our automatic patterns] makes us terribly vulnerable to anyone who does know how they work."
The psychology of getting people to say yes impacts every area of our lives, from how we spend and what we buy, to how we vote.
Bob shares fascinating research data about the power of psychological persuasion including that voting in a church sways Republican, and voting in a school sways Democratic … such a simple research finding that has profound implications.
Some other topics include:
- the human brain/mind, for all the unbelievable complexity and mystery, can also be somewhat simple in that it thinks it needs to decide things quickly and efficiently, in a sort-of black-and-white way;
- how to persuade the public to take science seriously regarding Covid-19 vaccinations.
The more we understand our own minds and how to manage the feedback loop of our thoughts, emotions, and actions, the better able we are to live consciously, making intentional choices for ourselves and our community.
We also become more adept at increasing our influence on those things that most matter to us.
This fascinating conversation takes place over two podcasts; be sure and download the 2nd show, as well.
Dr. Robert Cialdini's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
How to be happy when the world seems to be falling apart? What's wellbeing? This episode shines a light on all things positive and good and hope-full.
These days it feels as though our well-being is assaulted from every direction. And it could be easy to argue that happiness doesn’t have much of a place in the world as it is these days.
There’s so much that’s breaking our hearts, both collectively, and individually … it can seem just too self-absorbed and narcissistically privileged to even bring up the topic of wellbeing.
Who has time to deal with wellbeing and happiness when the world is falling apart?!
There are millions of people in this country who are desperate to feel something positive and hopeful, something good, to be engaged in focusing their attention on living well, even in the midst of heartbreak and uncertainty.
It's more important than ever before to develop a practice of wellbeing. Yes, many things are falling apart. And yes, much is transforming.
What more effective tool do we have than to seed our future using the 12 keys of wellbeing?
Melanie discusses each of the 12 building blocks of individual and community wellbeing, from the researchers and experts at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center. Those building blocks, in alphabetical order, are:
- altruism
- awe
- bridging differences
- compassion
- diversity
- empathy
- forgiveness
- gratitude
- happiness
- mindfulness
- purpose
- social connection
Dr. Melanie Harth, the Santa Fe Therapist, website here
In this episode, Melanie explores the connection between shame, anxiety, and depression, as well as the difference between guilt and shame.
Shame can wreak havoc with our mental health. And it's pretty sneaky, in that we often don't understand what shame feels like, and so it gets confused with guilt.
But it's a powerful emotional response that can become a lifelong companion living just underneath the surface of our awareness.
It's an important topic to unpack if you're feeling creatively blocked, unable to achieve reasonable goals, or can't quite put your finger on why you're stuck.
Chronic shame can be one of the major psychological blocks to achieving goals, realizing dreams, and manifesting intentions.
Melanie quotes Dr. Brene Brown, who says shame is an "unspoken epidemic," and mentions her incredibly popular TED Talks.
Research data have proven that guilt and shame are strongly correlated with depression, as well as with anxiety disorders including social anxiety and generalized anxiety disorder.
Negative health consequences of anxiety and depression include digestive disorders, heart disease, obesity, chronic pain diagnoses such as migraines, arthritis, and fibromyalgia; sleep disruption — which is another pathway to all sorts of medical issues.
In fact, researchers now know that chronic physical pain shares some biological mechanisms with anxiety and depression.
The reality is that the world we’re living in isn’t becoming a more peaceful place. We’re not heading into a future, at the moment, that projects a less anxiety-ridden world.
It’s becoming the norm to be anxious and depressed, even for people who aren’t genetically or environmentally prone to those two emotional and physiological states.
This information-packed episode is an important one to listen to and learn from.
Dr. Melanie Harth, the Santa Fe Therapist, website here
How to be better with money is something almost everyone wants to know more about. And Doug Lynam is the guy to talk to about your money, your budget, finances, your blocks about money ... like that.
Doug is an industry thought leader in ethical and sustainable investing, founder of the non-profit ESG Fiduciary™ Institute, a partner at LongView Asset Management, LLC, in Santa Fe, and he's devoted his life to service.
He's also the author of the popular book From Monk to Money Manager and has been a guest on this show many times.
In this episode, Doug and Melanie talk about why money is such a tender spot for so many people, as well as money trauma, money wounds, and healing our money wounds.
Doug explains the basics of attachment theory from psychology, and how that's pertinent to our relationship with money. And he discusses the meaning of this quote: “the quality of [our] financial life has a bigger impact on [our] perceived wellbeing than the combined benefits of fitness, job satisfaction, and my overall relationship stability.”
Yep, there's a strong relationship between how we feel about money and our happiness.
Doug Lynam's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Mental health during Covid 19 is a thing. And it's going to be an issue for a while.
We're all struggling with ongoing Covid-19 trauma. No matter how well we're doing, we're all feeling it.
In this episode, Melanie shares research data and coping suggestions from Dr. Diane E. Meier, the longtime director of the Center to Advance Palliative Care at New York City’s Mount Sinai Hospital. Dr. Meier is also a 2008 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “genius” fellowship.
About the Covid pandemic, Dr. Meier says, “The fear and anxiety is completely different. It’s not that getting a diagnosis of dementia or cancer or kidney failure is not frightening. It is, but it’s somewhat normalized. You know people it’s happened to. Whereas the Covid pandemic — there was so much interesting coverage marking the 500,000th death about how invisible all the grieving is and how the whole country is in a state of numbness and denial because it is all too much to take in. It is too much to process." https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/03/22/magazine/diane-e-meier-interview.html
As a result, Dr. Meier says, "people are trying desperately to make room for one's inner life."
We’ve got two feet in the Before Times. And one foot in the not-yet-here world. We’re betwixt and between. It’s a liminal time.
And that can make us feel unmoored, ungrounded.
The good news is that there is an almost infinite number of ways to make room for our inner lives. Natalie Goldberg, the writer, recently did two shows with Melanie in which she talks of haiku as a way, a path, a spiritual discipline.
Techniques for exploring beyond the bounds of performative “work” are as varied as there are people.
The reasons for doing exploring our inner lives are compelling, indeed.
For the truth is that we aren’t gonna take whatever money we’ve earned or jewelry we love or cars or houses with us when we die.
But we’re here now, breathing. Feeling. In community with others, whether we’re in person or not.
We’re still here. Might that be enough meaning and purpose?
Here’s a poem from the Spanish poet Antonio Machado, titled Caminante, No Hay Camino, Traveler, There is no Road/There is no Way.
Traveler, your footprints
are the only road, nothing else.
Traveler, there is no road;
you make your own path as you walk.
As you walk, you make your own road,
and when you look back
you see the path
you will never travel again.
Traveler, there is no road;
only a ship's wake on the sea.
Finally, this, from e.e. cummings, entitled 53
may my heart always be open to little
birds who are the secrets of living
whatever they sing is better than to know …
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Can astrology help us ease fear and anxiety and learn how to be happy? Can Psychoastrology help us understand the subconscious patterns that hold us hostage? What is a "core wound"?
These questions, and many more, are answered in this engaging conversation with Lisa Tahir, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) for over 20 years, an inventor with a US patent, EMDR Level I, and Reiki Level II practitioner, and Certified Thought Coach.
Lisa's also the founder of Psychoastrology®and author of The Chiron Effect: Healing Our Core Wounds through Astrology, Empathy, and Self-Forgiveness, which has been endorsed by His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama.
Lisa talks about her own fears of publically sharing herself, as well as the challenges she faced in finding and articulating her own voice.
As she writes, "oftentimes, the greatest things we have to contribute to this world will only manifest if we are willing to live outside the box of what we think is possible.”
The book's dedication reads, in part:
" ... to those of you who are learning the value of being happy over being right, and those who view missteps and challenges as opportunities to become a more evolved and happier version of themselves, and those who have chosen to rise from the dark nights of their souls with a beautifully scarred yet open heart … ."
This is a fast-paced episode, rich with thought-provoking ideas for you to ponder.
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” -Carl Jung
“The root causes of your wounding can become the source of your greatest healing and empowerment.” -Lisa Tahir
Lisa Tahir's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Everything mindfulness is the topic of this episode. The beloved mindful meditation / mindful working / mindful loving / mindful living teacher, Michelle DuVal, is in the virtual studio.
Michelle is the director of The Mindful Center in Albuquerque, the leading provider of mindfulness training in the Southwest.
She offers ongoing training in MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), has online courses and meditations, and facilitates retreats at Ghost Ranch, in Abiquiu, NM.
In this episode, Michelle and Melanie talk about the hunger for mindful awareness, how to meet what's happening with awareness, and much more.
Michelle shares her wisdom and experience in this fun, contemplative, light-hearted show.
"Stress is a form of holding on, peace is a form of letting go." Michelle DuVal
more information about Michelle's 3-day Silent Meditation at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu here
The Mindful Center and Michelle DuVal website is here
more about Dr. Melanie Harth's Conscious Transformation program here
Cynthia Jurs is a remarkable woman. She's a Buddhist teacher, trained by the beloved Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. A practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism. A Lama, initiated in Nepal, in recognition of her many years of dharma practice and dedication to the work of global healing through the Earth Treasure Vases.
She founded Alliance for the Earth and is the Executive Director of the Earth Treasure Vase Global Healing Project.
Finally, Cynthia is the guiding teacher at the Gaia Mandala Sangha in Santa Fe, where she's been leading meditation groups, retreats, and pilgrimages offering a unique blend of engaged Buddhism and sacred activism.
In this episode, Cynthia shares insights about the goddess Tara, Gaia -- Mother Earth -- and how to recognize a sacred calling.
She also shares details about her upcoming Tara Gaia online retreat; here's the retreat link.
Here's the Earth Treasure Vase Facebook link.
Dr. Melanie Harth's website is here.
In the stunning New York Times bestselling book Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times, Katharine May writes that wintering is "the active acceptance of sadness. It is the practice of allowing ourselves to feel it as a need. It is the courage to stare down the worst parts of our experience and to commit to healing them the best we can.”
In her acknowledgment of sadness and unhappiness, Katharine opens the door to the possibility of healing from those inevitable dark times when we don't think we can bear more suffering.
Yes, suffering is part of being alive. Yes, there is hope. And choice about how we respond to those inevitable times.
Part of what helps us get better at navigating metaphorical winter includes doing the "deeply unfashionable things [of] — slowing down, letting your spare time expand, getting enough sleep, resting — [it's] a radical act now, but it is essential."
Melanie was thrilled to find out that not only is Katharine May a great writer, she's also a fantastic guest!
There's lots of laughter, lots of transparency, and lots of deep, well-lived experience in this episode.
Katherine May's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
We're beginning to wake up, to emerge from the darkness of the literal winter, as well as the “wintering” we’ve had to endure as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Not quite ready, though. nature needs us to be mindful and intentional about how quickly we emerge.
Just this morning, I saw another reminder on Facebook about not clearing out old leaves and dead-looking plant stems from our gardens until the temperature is consistently over 50 degrees. ‘Cause, who knew? butterflies and bees and other pollinators overwinter in those places.
If I clear out the dead-looking stuff in the garden too soon, some very important members of our ecosystem get lost in the process.
The same with beginning to re-emerge from the past pandemic hell year. A small percentage of folks have gotten fully vaccinated; many more have received their first shot. And millions have yet to get any.
Those who've received vaccinations must hold onto their impatience for freedom, and continue wearing good masks and socially distancing so that the rest of the human ecosystem can catch up.
As the literal winter is ending in the northern hemisphere, so too the metaphorical wintering caused by pandemic lockdowns. This metaphorical wintering is an energetic, emotional, and psychological wintering.
The idea comes from a beautiful book written by Katherine May, called Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times.
Here’s how she describes it:
"Wintering is a season in the cold. It is a fallow period in life when you’re cut off from the world, feeling rejected, side-lined, blocked from progress, or cast into the role of an outsider. Perhaps it results from an illness or a life event such as a bereavement or the birth of a child; perhaps it comes from a humiliation or failure. Perhaps you’re in a period of transition and have temporarily fallen between two worlds. … . However it arrives, wintering is usually involuntary, lonely, and deeply painful."
Don’t you think it’s true that we’ve all been wintering? And that, while some of us may be emerging, many others are not.
We haven’t really begun to tally our losses, or to grieve what’s been lost — a statement that may be true for both our lives, as well as this pandemic year.
One of the things that helps me so much is being reminded of the beauty that’s everywhere. It’s something that Katherine’s book is rich with, both in her writing, as well as the things she writes about, such as a sleeping dormouse.
If you can, please read or listen to her book.
In the meantime, you can listen to Part 1 of the interview we did together (Part 2 airs next week).
We are in the midst of a collective transformation that affects each one of us. As Katherine writes:
“Transformation is the business of winter. In Gaelic mythology, the hag deity known as the Cailleach takes human form at Samhain to run the winter months, bring with her winds and wild weather. … . The Cailleach is thought to be the mother of the gods, the gruff, cold originator of all things. … . … The Cilleach offers us a cyclical metaphor for life, one in which the energies of spring arrive again and again, nurtured by the deep retreat of winter. We are no longer accustomed to thinking in this way. Instead we are in the habit of imagining our lives to be linear, a long march from birth to death in which we mass our powers, only to surrender them again, all the while slowly losing our youthful beauty. This is a brutal untruth.”
We can honor the cyclical nature of life — leave the garden looking scraggly until the hibernating pollinators are awake and getting on with it, wear a mask and social distance until everyone has gotten vaccines, and breathe into and be with our personal winterings.
In doing so, we're alive to the great wonder of being human.
Katherine May's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
sadness, depression, illness, happiness, nature, mindfulness
We know that grief, fear, and hardship are hitting millions of people, both at home and around the world. We know it’s not going to magically get better all of a sudden. No one has a cosmic magic wand with which to sprinkle glistening fairy dust over our crown chakras and clear the dark, heavy energy of all that’s accumulated as a species since humans have been walking upright.
So then … how do we deal? How do we get through the day?
Melanie takes a look at the evidence-based solutions for surviving a crisis through the lens of disaster and trauma psychology.
From a recent Scientific American article, "Megan Hosey, a rehabilitation psychologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine, says that 'most of us … "will be able to adapt and recover." To do so, however, we will need to be flexible, open and honest with ourselves and learn how to take things one day at a time.'"*
It turns out that there are five top psychological needs common to everyone in a crisis. William Garmoe, a neuropsychologist, has researched important psychological needs people have in the midst of a disaster. Those “top five are to feel safe, calm, self-efficacious, socially connected and hopeful. When people engage in activities that benefit others, they may be able to check off three of those needs — feeling more useful, [being more] connected and hopeful about the future.”*
Listen in as Melanie shares research findings and how-to-cope ideas when dealing with a disaster such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
*Scientific American article, Coping With Pandemic Stress, by Melinda Wenner Moyer, March 2021 here
Melanie Harth's website here
"Please don’t imagine that my decade of writing practice and Zen meditation have silenced or fully pacified the angry self-critics in my head. That’s not how things work. I’m just much better at managing those voices.” Natalie Goldbert, Three Simple Lines
Beloved New Mexico author, teacher, and Zen Buddhist practitioner Natalie Goldberg is back for the second of two episodes.
Natalie wrote the internationally renowned Writing Down the Bones, published in 1986, and has since published memoirs, essays, poetry, more writing books, a novel, and a notebook.
Her brand-new book, Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku, is the focus.
Natalie and Melanie riff on such things as beauty, staying calm in chaotic times, mindfulness, meditation, writing practice, life and death, spiritual connection ... and yes, so much more.
If you missed the first show with Natalie Goldberg, please download it from Melanie's site here.
This haiku was composed by Natalie:
full moon
behind clouds
your lips on mine
Natalie Goldberg's website here
Upaya Zen Center workshop schedule here
Dr. Melanie Harth's new book here
"Haiku is a refuge when the world seems chaotic, when you are lost, frightened, tangled, and nothing is clear." Natalie Goldberg, Three Simple Lines
Natalie Goldberg is an author, teacher, and Zen Buddhist practitioner. She wrote the internationally renowned Writing Down the Bones, published in 1986, and has since published memoirs, essays, poetry, more writing books, a novel, and a notebook.
This is the first of two parts, talking with Natalie about her brand-new book, called Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku.
Natalie is such a wonderful teacher that Melanie signed up for the Haiku writing virtual workshop through Upaya Zen Center as a result of this interview.
Natalie Goldberg's website here
Upaya Zen Center workshop schedule here
Dr. Melanie Harth's new book here
Melanie shares reflections from a variety of experts, including Winnie the Pooh. “Well,” said Pooh, "what I like best," and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn't know what it was called.”
Fantasy travel trips, the psychology of hope, neuroscience, Blue Zones -- all of this, plus Winnie the Pooh! Come listen.
Dr. Melanie Harth's new book is here
"Millions of people have been traumatized by the political climate of the last few years.
"Millions of people have been traumatized by brutal bureaucracies created to perpetuate systemic poverty, racism, misogyny, ableism, and so much more.
"Millions have been traumatized as children in the families, schools, and/or cultures in which we've lived.
"Millions have been traumatized by the out-of-control Covid-19 pandemic." - Dr. Melanie Harth
Let's acknowledge the truth of the trauma. And then, let's learn to harness our minds to help regulate our emotions, which helps us feel safe.
Which helps us think more clearly, and move into solutions and possibilities.
As National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman recited/performed during the Presidential Inauguration, “ … there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Watch Amanda Gorman's recitation of "The Hill We Climb" here
Dr. Peter Levine interview on trauma and somatic experiencing here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
"I’m asking you, my friends, if there’s a part of you that’s ready to stop participating in the insanity that’s become what we in this country believe is important. What is true for you at this point in your life? What matters to you? Who are you helping? Who’s helping you?" - Dr. Melanie Harth
Melanie presents a potpourri of ideas from Jungian depth psychologists to political scientists, and from Geneen Roth to Melanie's thoughts on what a mess we're in, and how we can begin cleaning it up.
Yep, it's a big show. Yep, it works.
Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy info here
Jerome Bernstein, Diplomate in Analytical Psychology, C.G. Jung Institute of New York, more info here
Dr. Donald Kalsched's website here
Geneen Roth's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Jamie Lerner has a master’s degree in social work from Loyola University, has been in private practice as a psychotherapist for many years, and is a passionate amateur equestrian rider on the AA horse show circuit.
Also a world traveler, Jamie has explored a wide variety of spiritual healing modalities.
And she's the co-author of the book “The Ever-Loving Essence of You”.
Melanie and Jamie take a deep dive down into wellbeing, happiness, inner guidance, and re-creating the greatest relationship of all -- the one we have with ourselves.
Jamie's thoughtful, measured wisdom helps shed light on the inner resources each of us has to live a rich, full life.
Jamie Lerner's website is here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website is here
“The most important thing to understand is that you have choice: your choice to soar, or your choice to spend the remainder of your life arguing for your limitations.” from The Ever-Loving Essence of You
The artist, Stanford prof, and thought leader Jenny Odell's provocative book, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy is the focus of this episode.
Odell's book is a provocative take on taking ourselves back.
How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy, was named one of the best books of the year by Time, The New Yorker, NPR, Vulture, Fortune, Boing Boing, and was one of President Obama’s Favorite Books of 2019.
Melanie shares writings from the book, along with her own observations and thoughts and personal stories.
When we can wield our attention in a more intentional way, we have agency over our choices, our fears, our subconscious biases, and outmoded beliefs about how the world works. If this pandemic has done nothing else, it’s demonstrating just how out of control we are about how the world is supposed to work.
Which gives us the space, the incentive even, to begin forging better pathways forward.
As Odell writes: “Simple awareness is the seed of responsibility.”
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
transcript of Jenny Odell's talk, which became the book
Melanie focuses on thoughts and writings from such luminaries as Paula Allen Gunn, Simon Ortiz, Joy Harjo, and Barry Lopez in this episode.
Some of the "bad" words touched on are considered unimportant and light-weight and New-Agey, and even worse, often used to minimize, criticize, and shame those who dare to align themselves with such ridiculous concepts as living a slow, contemplative life, or consciously choosing love as a touchstone for decision-making.
This episode is really about reclaiming the power of language to catalyze transformation.
Ready?
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
the U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo's website here
Katy Butler is an award-winning journalist, public speaker, and bestselling author. She’s a thought leader about end-of-life care in the national movement for medical reform.
Her first book was Knocking on Heaven’s Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death and was named one of the 100 Most Notable Books of 2013 by the New York Times.
It may seem a bit macabre to be talking about death, and yet … paradoxically, the more we learn about the softer technologies of the human heart, a phrase from Ms. Butler’s piece, the more we enhance our happiness and wellbeing.
The second half of this episode features the writings of Robin Wall Kimmerer, scientist, professor, enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and author of the rightly celebrated book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants.
In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer says:
“Joanna Macy writes that until we can grieve for our planet we cannot love it—grieving is a sign of spiritual health. But it is not enough to weep for our lost landscapes; we have to put our hands in the earth to make ourselves whole again. Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair.”
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Katy Butler's website here
Robin Wall Kimmerer's website here
It seems ridiculous to celebrate anything these days. And yet, we know from all the neuroscience research that celebrating is quite important for our brains. Which means it’s important for our lives.
Melanie's inspiration for this episode was a big-little thing that recently happened to her.
Lots of good neuroscience, beautiful blessings from beloved Mirabai Starr, deep writings from The New York Times bestseller Learning to Walk in the Dark, by Barbara Brown Taylor.
Plus! Poems from David Whyte and John O'Donohue and Maya Angelou and Dr. Martin Luther King, and some of Melanie's book proposal writing on collective trauma.
It's a packed show, folks. Listen in, won't you?
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Mirabai Starr's website here
Barbara Brown Taylor's website here
David Whyte's website here
Melanie shares ideas, thoughts, and how-tos for easing up on ourselves.
The conflict between way too much to do and the desperate desire for rest that so many of us are struggling with makes for a toxic soup of stress and anxiety.
She dives into a chapter from the book Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing as We Age written by the psychotherapist, anthropologist, and author Mary Pipher. The chapter is "Building A Good Day". (The advice, of course, applies no matter our gender or age.)
"To be happy we need to learn how to structure a day that is rich in meaning and joy-producing activities. How we spend our time defines who we are. There is no magical future. Today is our future. Our lives are events that unfurl in real time, minute by minute. Right up there with the need for oxygen, food, and sleep is the need to have a reason to get out of bed every morning."
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Mary Pipher's website here
The Happiness in Dark Times series this week focuses on some of the ideas from Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear.
Curiosity, creativity, joy, lightness, ease, and strength (as in internal fortitude) are all covered in this episode.
Melanie includes thoughts from the Jungian psychoanalyst, author, storyteller and curandera Clarissa Pinkola Estes, as well.
Elizabeth Gilbert's Facebook page here
More about Melanie Harth's transformation psychology services here
Continuing her solo Happiness During Dark Times series, Melanie presents a deep, thoughtful show based on writing by the visionary thought leader Charles Eisenstein.
Here's a little bit of part of this episode:
"A ceremony, then, is a special kind of ritual. It is a ritual done in the knowledge that one is in the presence of the sacred, that holy beings are watching you, or that God is your witness.
Those whose worldview has no place for the sacred, or holy beings, or God will see ceremony as superstitious nonsense or, at best, a psychological trick, useful maybe to calm the mind and focus the attention.
Now hold on ...
... as for the rest, you'll have to download the episode.
Charles Eisenstein website with the complete article here
Charles Eisenstein TED Talk here
Melanie Harth's newsletter signup here
Did you know that mindfulness, mindful awareness, and/or contemplative practices don't have to be formal, stick-in-the-mud things?
In fact, the more we can bring mindfulness into our everyday lives, the happier, more content, satisfied, and peaceful we are.
Listen in as Melanie shares a chapter of her book, called Happiness and Mindfulness: a Light-Hearted Guide.
The chapter? "Mindfulness, Dorothy, and That Yellow-Brick Road."
Here's a hint:
"I first learned how to cultivate a sitting meditation practice during a time in my personal and professional lives when I was in serious doubt that I’d be able to make it through another day of grinding misery.
Mindlessly having made decisions based on what others wanted me to do, I was left holding the bag. And it was a big bag of nasty stuff, can I just tell you?"
This is the 2nd episode of Melanie's Happiness in Dark Times solo series.
Melanie Harth's website is here
This is a quiet and intimate show, the first in a series of quiet, contemplative shows with Melanie. She shares some of her own writing, along with insights from thought leaders such as neuropsychologist Dr. Rick Hanson; Vaclav Havel, the great Czechoslovakian playwright turned dissident activist who became president of his country; and poetry selections.
All the readings were chosen to help soothe your soul.
There are lots of resources and creative ideas about finding happiness, no matter what's going on out there.
Here's a morsel for you to enjoy:
I will not die an unloved life.
I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire.
I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me,
to make me less afraid, more accessible;
to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing,
a torch, a promise.
I choose to risk my significance,
to live so that which came to me as seed
goes to the next as blossom,
and that which came to me as blossom,
goes on as fruit.
~ Dawna Markova
free University of Pennsylvania's Happiness questionnaires here
the Gallup Polls' StrengthsFinder assessment here
Melanie Harth's website here
Wowzer. This is a fasten-your-seatbelt show. Vince Kadlubek, the visionary co-founder of the internationally renowned interactive, experiential performance art space Meow Wolf, joins Melanie.
He's stepped away from Meow Wolf's day-to-day operations into the role of Executive Advisor.
Vince dives deep, talking about the role of imagination in starting from a sort-of starving artist local collective to running a multi-million dollar business with the backing of George R. R. Martin, no less.
How to curate an experience and contribute to the collective are part of this fascinating conversation.
Vince Kadlubek is also the founder of the consulting agency Spatial Activations. Here's the Facebook description:
Where space meets imagination to create mind-blowing experiences. Physical: Monumental sculpture, murals, pop-ups, interactive installations, events, parties, art. Digital: AR/VR, spatial computing, audio/visual, mobile platform, projection mapping. Spatial Activation's Facebook page here Meow Wolf's website here Melanie Harth's website here
Linda Durham -- provocateur, a major force in the Santa Fe art gallery scene, world traveler, seeker, and author -- continues her in-depth conversation with Melanie in this episode.
Creative thinking, a positive mindset, trust and faith, and the other side of fear are touched on as Linda continues to share just a few of her astonishing life experiences.
"There is something comforting about the passage of time, about aging, about entering a phase of life known by various names that I’m learning to embrace." ~Still Moving, by Linda Durham
Linda Durham's Facebook page here
Melanie Harth's website here
Linda Durham has been one of the most influential people in the Santa Fe art scene over the last three decades. And she's just published her first book, a memoir called Still Moving.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Linda and Melanie talk about courage in the face of challenges, leading an artful life, creativity writ large, and living large no matter one's age.
This episode is the first of two parts.
"If my beloved business hadn’t failed, and if I hadn’t thrown all caution to the proverbial wind and used creatively raised funds to embark on a trip around the world, this book would not exist."~ Still Moving, by Linda Durham
Linda Durham's Facebook page here
Melanie Harth's website here
Today's guests really are women who care! Jody Feagan and Katie Rountree are both smart, fun, and quiet community activists.
Jody is the founder and former director of the San Miguel Writers Conference and Literary Festival in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she lived for ten years and raised her three children. In 2015, she moved full-time to Santa Fe and is currently the marketing director for Malouf on the Plaza.
Katie is a former radio and TV personality. Currently, she does voice-over recordings for companies all over the country, and is the Director of Audience Services and Corporate Relations for Performance Santa Fe.
This energetic conversation focuses on the powerful impact that small, community-oriented, grassroots organizations can have in times of crisis.
100 Women Who Care Santa Fe has made it possible to donate almost $450,000 to non-profits in northern New Mexico since 2012.
Listen in, hear how these two old friends are having a massive positive community impact.
100 Women Who Care Santa Fe website here
Melanie Harth website here
JoAnne Tucker, Ph.D., and Regina Ress join Melanie, one from Santa Fe and the other all the way from Costa Rica!
JoAnne was a dance major at Juilliard School, earned her Ph.D. in Theatre from the University of Wisconsin. She was the Artistic Director and Choreographer of the Avodah Dance Ensemble, a New York City-based modern dance company. Currently, she's the president of Healing Voices, and co-director of the new film Out of the Shadows: Shining Light on Domestic Violence.
Regina is a storyteller, founding board member of Ahvodah, an actor, educator, and assistant director of the same film.
JoAnne, Regina, and Melanie talk about domestic violence, creativity, healing from trauma, and dance as a powerful medium of expression.
It's shocking that in the United States right now, one woman is killed every 16 hours by an intimate partner. Between 2001-2012, 6,500 US troops were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. During that same time period, 11,700 women were murdered by intimate partners in the US.
It's a tough topic, but the conversation is enlightening and uplighting. Promise.
Healing Voices website here
Melanie Harth website here
Listeners haven't heard from Katelyn Hilburn in a while. In this episode, we find out what's been going on with this popular guest.
When we first met Katelyn back in 2016, she was the director of community initiatives for Creative SantaFe. One of her projects was as a team member working to secure a $300,000 NEA grant for artists' and creatives' affordable housing. Remarkably, that collaborative project was a big success, and ground was broken a few weeks ago.
Katelyn moved on, completing an intensive business training program for entrepreneurs, founded her own company, called Madre Foods, and unexpectedly had a baby.
All big successes.
By the fall of 2019, things had changed once again, and Katelyn needed to meet the demands of both a growing single-owner business and her personal life.
This episode gives a glimpse into how she's navigated some rough waters, offering all of us hope and inspiration for the journey of being human.
Dr. Melanie Harth is a psychologist-trained transformational counselor and coach. She’s a licensed psychotherapist, with advanced training in trauma, post-traumatic growth, mindfulness, and innovative adaptation.
She loves sharing provocative ideas with thought leaders and community visionaries about the art and science of happiness as a profound path to living a good life.
Melanie Harth's website here
We hear the word "gratitude" everywhere. Tossed around by all sorts of folks, in all sorts of casual ways.
Today's guest, Heather Monroe, helps us understand how and why gratitude is actually a powerful force for healing and transformation.
In this deep conversation, Heather and Melanie touch on resiliency, purpose in tragedy, relational trauma, and toxic positivity, among many other intriguing ideas.
Heather Monroe is a licensed clinical social worker and an integrative psychotherapist who specializes in relational trauma. She's the Senior Clinician at Newport Academy and Newport Institute and founder of Monroe Wellness. Her mission is to help people free themselves from the bonds of their past in order to become the creators of their future.
Heather is a sought-after keynote speaker, including at the recent US Journal virtual conference in Santa Fe.
Heather Monroe's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth is a psychologist-trained transformational coach and mentor. She’s a licensed psychotherapist, with advanced training in trauma, mindfulness, and innovative adaptation.
She loves sharing provocative ideas with thought leaders and community visionaries about the art and science of happiness as a profound path to living a good life.
Melanie Harth's website here
This show was recorded on the 75th anniversary of the U.S. dropping the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. GK Hunter shares a touching story detailing why he wanted to make a documentary about the meeting between Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb and American survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack (Sakura and Pearls: Healing from World War 2).
This episode expands on last week's show. It includes George describing his own healing in the making of the documentary.
As George has written, there's a strong connection between cross-cultural healing and happiness. "In order to heal the past, we need to build meaningful bridges where people from all backgrounds can find relief, healing, and reconciliation. This leads to a collective happiness in society, rather than just the rare few being happy."
After 15 years of working as an intuitive healer with Jewish Holocaust Survivors, Native Americans, the homeless, veterans, physicians, and community leaders, GK Hunter developed a step-by-step process to unburdening the heavy history that we inherit from our ancestors.
Based on those years of research and experiences, he created a model of healing which he wrote about in his book, Healing Our Bloodlines: The 8 Realizations of Generational Liberation.
Hunter was the director of Sakura & Pearls: Healing from World War 2, a documentary about Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb meeting the American survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack.
He's made presentations at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Cornell University, and been a guest on NPR’s All Things Considered.
GK Hunter's website here
GK Hunter on Instagram here
Dr. Melanie Harth is a counselor and coach who specializes in trauma-sensitive psychological safety, emotional mastery, and taking smart action steps even when you're terrified.
Melanie Harth website and free guided meditation here
Melanie Harth on Facebook here
George Kamana Hunter (GK Hunter) has a rich ancestral lineage, including Irish, northern European, and Mohawk. In this episode, George and Melanie talk a lot about ancestral or inherited trauma and how to begin healing.
In the Forward to George's book, Healing Our Bloodlines: The 8 Realizations of Generational Liberation, Dr. Eduardo Duran writes “I have found that most, if not all of the symptoms that we treat in many of our healthcare settings have their genesis in trauma, also know as “Injury where blood doesn’t flow” by indigenous ways of knowing. The injury where blood doesn’t flow becomes part of the bloodlines that carry the injury into subsequent generations.”
This episode covers a lot of intriguing ground.
After 15 years of working as an intuitive healer with Jewish Holocaust Survivors, Native Americans, the homeless, veterans, physicians, and community leaders, GK Hunter developed a step-by-step process to unburdening the heavy history that we inherit from our ancestors.
Based on those years of research and experiences, he created a model of healing which he wrote about in his book, Healing Our Bloodlines: The 8 Realizations of Generational Liberation.
Hunter was the director of Sakura & Pearls: Healing from World War 2, a documentary about Japanese survivors of the atomic bomb meeting the American survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack.
He's made presentations at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, Cornell University, and been a guest on NPR’s All Things Considered.
GK Hunter's website here
GK Hunter on Instagram here
Dr. Melanie Harth is a counselor and coach who specializes in trauma-sensitive psychological safety, emotional mastery, and taking smart action steps even when you're terrified.
Melanie Harth website and free guided meditation here
Melanie Harth on Facebook here
Dr. Brian Luke Seaward returns for another fun, fast-paced, captivating show, all about the consequences of our too-stressful lives and ideas about how to manage it all.
Forgiveness and spontaneous remission, the fourth pillar of spirituality, and "cosmic bread crumbs" ... curious? Listen in.
Luke is full of wonderful stories to help us understand how critically important it is to manage stress. It's a don't-miss-it conversation.
Dr. Brian Luke Seaward works with the alchemy of humanity and divinity, and is an expert in stress management and mind/body/spirit healing. A pioneer in the field of health psychology, he's developed wellness programs for several Fortune 500 companies.
Luke taught meditation at the White House from 1990-94; and has taught stress management to heads of states, Olympic athletes, and Broadway actors. He's written 16 books. Currently, he's the Executive Director of the Paramount Wellness Institute in Boulder, CO.
Dr. Brian Luke Seaward website here
Dr. Melanie Harth's guided meditation for anxiety reduction here
"Stress management is the open door to walk through." So says Dr. Brian Luke Seaward, an international teacher, speaker, corporate trainer, and author of tons of books on the topic.
Luke is not only educated, articulate, and wise, but he's also (very) entertaining. There are clearly many reasons he's been a sought-after corporate and conference presenter for so many years.
Talk ranges from the connection between stress and spirituality to his mentor Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, and from the seasons of the soul to victim/victors stories.
In the 2nd half, Luke shares one of the best descriptions of anger Melanie's ever heard.
What a pleasure it was to sit with this master teacher!
Heads-up ... Luke does another show next week.
Dr. Brian Luke Seaward works with the alchemy of humanity and divinity and is an expert in stress management and mind/body/spirit healing. A pioneer in the field of health psychology, he's developed wellness programs for several Fortune 500 companies.
He taught meditation at the White House from 1990-94; and has taught stress management to heads of states, Olympic athletes, and Broadway actors. He's written 16 books. Currently, he's the Executive Director of the Paramount Wellness Institute in Boulder, CO.
Dr. Brian Luke Seaward website here
Dr. Melanie Harth website here
Political activist, climate activist, and Santa Fe young poet laureate Artemisio Romero y Carver returns for another fast-paced show.
In this episode, Arte shares facts and feelings about racial justice. It's a wide-ranging convo, including collective trauma, white guilt, and why it's necessary to challenge the status quo.
Toward the end of the 2nd half, Arte gives one of the most heartfelt and heart-full descriptions of happiness in chaotic times that Melanie's ever heard.
Walk the Talk Santa Fe Facebook page here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Dr. Melanie Harth / The Happiness Doc / Facebook page here
Today's episode continues last week's conversation with Dr. Anita Johnston, eating psychology pioneer, storyteller, co-founder of the Anorexia & Bulimia Center of Hawaii, developer of Hawaii’s first in-patient eating disorders treatment program at Kahi Mohala Hospital, supervisor for the International Association of Eating Professionals …
… and the author of Eating in the Light of the Moon: How Women Can Transform Their Relationship With Food Through Myths, Metaphors, and Storytelling.
She shares a wonderful story from Kenya in this episode. It’s lovely, but no spoilers.
Anita also talks about how the answers reside in “your true self,” and what that means.
Finally, she talks about cracking the code of the metaphorical meanings of some food tastes. You can download that for free here.
Dr. Anita Johnston's website is here
The Happiness Doc, Dr. Melanie Harth's website is here
Melanie's Facebook page, Dr. Melanie Harth / The Happiness Doc is here
Dr. Anita Johnston is a keynote speaker and workshop presenter at the upcoming US Journal Santa Fe virtual conference.
31st Santa Fe Conference: Integrating Spirituality, Compassion, and Mindfulness in Mental Health and Addiction
Conference Dates: August 3-5, 2020 - Virtual Conference!
Dr. Anita Johnston is an eating psychology pioneer, storyteller, the co-founder of the Anorexia & Bulimia Center of Hawaii, developer of Hawaii's first in-patient eating disorders treatment program at Kahi Mohala Hospital, supervisor for the International Association of Eating Professionals ...
... and the author of Eating in the Light of the Moon: How Women Can Transform Their Relationship With Food Through Myths, Metaphors, and Storytelling.
She's a powerful champion of women struggling with disordered eating. The conversation ranges from imbalances in our psyches, to what disordered eating is trying to say to us.
What it means to live in a "fat-phobic culture" is part of this episode, as well as how recovery is really a process of transformation.
This was such a rich conversation that Anita and Melanie ended up recording another show ... look for it to drop next week.
Dr. Anita Johnston's website is here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website is here
Dr. Anita Johnston is a keynote speaker at the upcoming US Journal Santa Fe virtual conference.
31st Santa Fe Conference: Integrating Spirituality, Compassion, and Mindfulness in Mental Health and Addiction
Conference Dates: August 3-5, 2020 - Virtual Conference!
Psychologist, happiness and wellbeing expert, author, and international speaker Jonah Paquette returns for another fascinating show.
His first two books, Real Happiness, and The Happiness Toolbox focus on positive psychology and strategies for enhancing well-being.
In this episode, Jonah and Melanie talk about his brand-new book Awestruck: How Embracing Wonder Can Make You Happier, Healthier, and More Connected. Awe with a capital "A"; how feeling safe in the presence of something bigger than ourselves is a universal human experience; a personal story from Jonah about Moorea, French Polynesia; feeling small, and feeling safe at the same time ... all of this is featured!
If you missed the first show with him, please download that podcast, as well. It includes a lively discussion about what happiness is, what wellbeing means, and why these things even matter.
'Cause Jonah really is a happiness expert, with a Psy.D. from Stanford University to back it up.
watch the video of the show on Facebook here
Jonah Paquette website here
Melanie Harth website here
Dr. Jonah Paquette is a keynote speaker at the upcoming US Journal Santa Fe virtual conference
31st Santa Fe Conference: Integrating Spirituality, Compassion, and Mindfulness in Mental Health and Addiction
Conference Dates: August 3-5, 2020 - Virtual Conference!
Jonah Paquette is a psychologist, happiness and wellbeing expert, an author, and an international speaker. His first two books, Real Happiness, and The Happiness Toolbox focus on positive psychology and strategies for enhancing well-being.
He really is a happiness expert, with a Psy.D. from Stanford University to back it up. This episode features a lively discussion about what happiness is, what well-being means, and why these things even matter.
Jonah and Melanie also talk about the place of happiness and well-being in these charged times.
And if you want even more about happiness, listen in to next week's episode, which is all about awe.
Jonah Paquette website here
Melanie Harth website here
Dr. Jonah Paquette is a keynote speaker at the upcoming US Journal virtual conference in Santa Fe.
31st Santa Fe Conference: Integrating Spirituality, Compassion, and Mindfulness in Mental Health and Addiction
Conference Dates: August 3-5, 2020 - Virtual Conference!
Slowing down for happiness, even in hard times, is the focus. Melanie shares thoughts on happiness and mindfulness from the renowned Buddhist psychologist Jack Kornfield. Published on UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center website, she discusses an enlightening interview with Kornfield.
As Kornfield says, "falling into despair is not a response that helps anyone." Melanie shares his ideas about happiness and suffering and compassion and caring.
Gratitude and appreciation are deep dimensions of happiness. Joy is a moral force. And paying attention is what helps us feel the emotions of gratitude and joy.
Melanie shares UC Berkeley's ten keys to individual and community well-being, which are:
- altruism
- awe
- bridging differences
- compassion
- diversity
- empathy
- forgiveness
- gratitude
- happiness
- mindfulness
Today's episode is a quieter one, with Melanie sharing her thoughts, as well as those of Jack Kornfield.
UC Berkeley's 10 keys to wellbeing, with free quizzes for each, here
https://jackkornfield.com/
Melanie Harth website here
Dr. Wendy Johnson is the guest in this fasten-your-seat-belt episode. She's an M.D., with a Master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins. She's worked on health projects in Mozambique, Vietnam, the Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Haiti, and several South American countries.
Currently, Wendy Johnson is the medical director for La Familia Medical Center in Santa Fe.
Wendy's story helps illustrate the beauties and challenges of change at the public health level. Did you know that the community health center movement grew out of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, emerging out of South Africa? Melanie didn't. But Wendy does.
She and Melanie talk about the social determinants of health, that people can't be healthy when ecosystems aren't well, and what sort of mindset change is needed to shift our thinking.
The place of happiness in such times as these is also discussed, along with the power of creative exploration and creative processing.
Wendy's got a big mind, with an incredible richness of international experience in public and community health. It's a rich show, as a result.
La Familia Medical Center website here
Melanie Harth website here
Popular guest Doug Lynam continues to offer terrific ideas and creative solutions about dealing with our money in challenging times.
Doug is an investment advisor, financial expert, and author of the book From Monk to Money Manager. He and Melanie talked about a recent New York Times article about financial anxiety.
Other topics include catastrophic thinking, personal financial opportunities in the pandemic, connections between money and happiness, and the "Holy Trinity of Financing".
As always when Doug's the guest, it's a fun, fast-paced, and informative episode.
Doug Lynam website here
Melanie Harth website here
New York Times article on financial anxiety here
Dr. Jose Luis Stevens has been teaching shamanism for many years. He holds a doctorate in counseling psychology, is a licensed clinical social worker, and the author of several books.
Jose shares teachings from indigenous traditions that can be helpful in challenging times. Ancient ideas about controlling one's minds and thoughts, and the importance of balance and creativity and flow are just part of this episode.
Earlier episodes with Jose can be downloaded from the podcast list.
Jose Stevens' website here
The Power Path Facebook page here
Melanie Harth website here
Melanie's Facebook page here
Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney is back, this time with Dominic Cappello, co-directors of the Anna Age Eight Institute. Both guests are long-time advocates for childhood safety and health, working within the system. They’re very much about data-driven solutions for such things as childhood trauma, adverse childhood experiences, and building strong resilient communities.
Katherine and Dominic have co-authored two books, Anna Age Eight, and 100% Community: Ensuring 10 Vital Services for Surviving and Thriving. 100 Community is more than a book, however. It’s a book, a course, an initiative, and a movement. Issues discussed include: ~~ What are the “surviving services”?
medical care, behavioral health care, safe housing, secure food and transport to vital services
~~ What about the “thriving services”?
parent supports, early childhood learning programs, community schools, youth mentors and job training
Recorded early in the Covid-19 pandemic, in this episode we also talk about vulnerability and hope, and the ways in which we might use this time as a collective re-set button.
What are our priorities? What matters the most? Who matters? the Anna Age Eight Institute website here Melanie Harth website here
Dr. JoAnne Dodgson returns for another thoughtful discussion ranging from the need for safe spaces and safe people, to what happens when we hold onto all of our emotions.
JoAnne earned a doctorate in Counseling Psychology and Holistic Health. She's also a published author, college instructor, community activist, and an initiate into the Eastern Andes shamanic lineage of Ka-Ta-See.
The shamanic lineage of Ka-Ta-See has much for us to learn, including our interconnectedness, and remembering the beauty of who we really are.
This episode builds on previous ones with JoAnne, which can be found in the Podcast listings.
watch the video of the show here
JoAnne Dodgson's website is here
Melanie Harth's website is here
The wonderful JoAnne Dodgson is today's guest. JoAnne earned a doctorate in Counseling Psychology and Holistic Health, and is a published author, college instructor, community activist, and an initiate into the Eastern Andes shamanic lineage of Ka-Ta-See.
In this episode, JoAnne and Melanie talk about:
- the Ka-Ta-See shamanic lineage and,
- how it might help us cope as the world turns upside down;
- the gifts of eldering;
- the sacred act of letting go;
- what might be opening up for us as humanity faces this transformative moment.
JoAnne Dodgson website here
Melanie Harth website here
How to ...
- make basic financial decisions,
- keep your head above water,
- invest in a highly unstable stock market, and
- understand PTSD triggers in a pandemic,
- collective and individual trauma, the psychology and spirituality of surviving a crazy world ...
... yep, we cover a lot of ground.
Doug Lynam, financial advisor, national media financial expert, and author of From Monk to Money Manager: A Former Monk's Financial Guide to Becoming a Little Bit Wealthy -- and Why That's Okay, turns the table on Melanie and asks her some questions in this episode.
How to deal when the world has turned upside down? Good question. Check out all the episodes in this series for some answers. And listen for the monthly updates from Doug on Living From Happiness, No Matter What!
Doug Lynam website here
Doug Lynam Facebook page here
Melanie Harth website / free guided meditation here
Melanie Harth Facebook page here
Money guy, Doug Lynam, returns for this thought-provoking series created to address a few of the unprecedented financial, psychological and spiritual issues that are showing up because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Doug, author of From Monk to Money Manager: A Former Monk's Financial Guide to Becoming a Little Bit Wealthy -- and Why That's Okay, riffs on how to survive a dark night of the soul.
Melanie offers her take on how to stop "fighting the facts" as one tool to use in coping with those inevitable dark times that most people experience ... especially when the world has turned upside down.
Doug Lynam website here
Doug Lynam Facebook page here
Melanie Harth website / free guided meditation here
Melanie Harth Facebook page here
This exciting new four-part series is devoted to understanding some of the psychological, spiritual and financial aspects of living in a global pandemic.
Doug is a money manager, former Benedictine monk, national media financial expert, and author of From Monk to Money Manager: A Former Monk’s Financial Guide to Becoming a Little Bit Wealthy — and Why That’s Ok.
The second episode starts with Melanie sharing some of her personal issues with asking for help, how a contemplative spiritual practice can help us get through a dark night of the soul, and so much.
Watch the video of the show here, on Doug's Facebook page.
Doug Lynam's website here
Melanie Harth's website here
Doug Lynam and Melanie go deep in this four-part series devoted to understanding some of the psychological, spiritual and financial aspects of living in a global pandemic.
Doug is a money manager, former Benedictine monk, national media financial expert, and author of From Monk to Money Manager: A Former Monk’s Financial Guide to Becoming a Little Bit Wealthy — and Why That’s Okay.
Melanie and Doug riff on the physiology and psychology of trauma, with some surprising, and very personal sharing from both of them. And much (much) more.
note: please excuse the at-times funky audio as we figure out how to stay safe and keep the show's coming to you
Watch the video of the show here, on Doug's Facebook page.
Doug Lynam's website here
Melanie Harth's website here
In part 2 of this special interview, recorded on-site with Cynthia Jurs, hear more about the "little clay pots" that are, in fact, sacred Earth Treasure Vases, Buddhist deities such as Tibetan Tara, and Cynthia's Gaia Mandala work.
Cynthia is a Buddhist teacher, trained by the beloved international Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
She's also a practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism, and was initiated as a Lama in Nepal, in recognition of her many years of dharma practice and dedication to the work of global healing through the Earth Treasure Vases.
Cynthia is the founder of Alliance for the Earth, and is the Executive Director of the Earth Treasure Vase Global Healing Project. And she's the guiding teacher at the Open Way Sangha in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Please, come along with us as Cynthia shares some of her personal experiences as a lifelong spiritual seeker, teacher, and hear about her fascinating work creating the sacred Earth Treasure Vases.
This is Part 1 of 2.
Cynthia Jurs website here
Melanie Harth website here
This is a special show, recorded on-site with Cynthia Jurs. Cynthia is a Buddhist teacher, trained by the beloved international Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh.
She's also a practitioner of Vajrayana Buddhism, and was initiated as a Lama in Nepal, in recognition of her many years of dharma practice and dedication to the work of global healing through the Earth Treasure Vases.
Cynthia is the founder of Alliance for the Earth, and is the Executive Director of the Earth Treasure Vase Global Healing Project. And she's the guiding teacher at the Open Way Sangha in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Come along with us as Cynthia shares some of her personal experiences as a lifelong spiritual seeker, teacher, and hear about her fascinating work creating the sacred Earth Treasure Vases.
This is Part 1 of 2.
Cynthia Jurs website here
Melanie Harth website here
Pasha Hogan continues last week's convo. Extraordinary Reiki Master Teacher and practitioner, yoga and meditation coach, author and three-time cancer survivor, Pasha has been walking the walk for a long time.
She helps listeners understand what it means when we transform our relationship with the unknown into a deeply intimate relationship with all of life. And how "laying down the ideas, beliefs, and stories that no longer serve you can transform your life in ways you never could have imagined."
Pasha Hogan website here
more information about, and a guided meditation from Melanie Harth here
Pasha Hogan, author, yoga and meditation teacher, and renowned Reiki Master teacher and practitioner, shares her thoughts on how often we settle for the crumbs and miss out on the joy.
Pasha and Melanie talk about Pasha's Irish roots, and healing, and how to navigate the waters of these chaotic times by staying open to "the magic of the vast, wild and alive landscape of our minds, hearts and souls."
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Howard Thurman
Pasha Hogan website here
Melanie Harth website here
Yes, it's light-hearted. Yes, there's plenty of laughter. And yes, whip-smart, artist-trained personal stylist Kitty Ault and Melanie have a rousing time together.
Social group identity, ageism, why it's important to show up in the world on our own terms, breaking the rules, going grey vs. coloring our hair -- all sorts of cool, fun, and helpful things.
Kitty Ault's website is KAStyleSantafe.com.
Kitty Ault on Instagram: @kastylesantafe
Kitty Ault on Facebook: KAStyle Santa Fe
Melanie's free guided meditation is here.
Death and dying and happiness? Yes, please. Rev. Hollis Walker, an ordained minister who's "passionate about death," and Celia Owens, activist, artist and volunteer coordinator at Casa Cielo in Santa Fe, are in the studio with Melanie.
It sounds heavy, no? It isn't really, not when you're talking with folks who understand the sacred nature of dying a good death.
We talk about:
- the mystery and the joy that can be part of death and dying;
- what a "good death" means;
- our culture's denial about dying;
- the "magnificent uncertainty" that's a part of the process;
- the ways in which our entire life can be a preparation for death.
When Death Comes
When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse
to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measle-pox;
when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,
I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?
And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,
and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,
and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,
and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.
When it’s over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world. Mary Oliver
information about Casa Cielo here
more about Dr. Melanie Harth here
Yay, Arte (Artemisio) Romero y Carver is back for one more show before he heads off to the wilds of a semester in Napa Valley, Cali.
Melanie loves the fast-paced, youth-oriented, artistic, and activist points of view that Arte shares so eloquently.
Talking points include:
- what art brings to the table;
- how artists are critically important to social change movements;
- the national climate activist group, the Sunrise Movement and the Democrats;
- why adults aren't stepping up about the climate crisis.
Cree Indian Prophecy
Only when the last tree has been cut down, the last fish been caught, and the last stream poisoned, will we realize we cannot eat money.
powerhouse book recommendation from Melanie: The Overstory, by Richard Powers
YUCCA (YouthUnited4ClimateCrisisAction) website here
the national Sunrise Movement here
more about Dr. Melanie Harth here
Executive producer of the PBS Ageless Living Series, George Cappannelli, returns for another in-depth conversation.
Some of the questions?
We spend billions of dollars in this country every year trying to pretend we're not getting older or ever going to die .. what do we lose in the total denial of aging and eldering?
How do self-responsibility and self-empowerment fit into aging?
What's the real truth about aging?
Why is it important that ageism continues to be challenged?
Are we, as a collective, prepared for what we're facing?
As usual, it's provocative, fast-paced, informative.
more information about the PBS Ageless Living Series here
more information about Dr. Melanie Harth here
This episode starts with laughter, and then dives deep into what it means to live agelessly, to be an elder, and how to prepare as a collective for what we're currently facing.
The incredible husband-and-wife team, Sedena and George Cappannelli, share their wisdom and talk about the powerful new PBS television series, Ageless Living, they've co-produced/directed.
Find more about the PBS Ageless Living series here.
Beloved Zen Buddhist teacher and author Henry Shukman shares more about his book, One Blade of Grass: Finding the Old Road of the Heart.
Topics range from how Zen Buddhism can help us navigate these chaotic times to the importance of becoming ordinary.
As always when Henry Shukman is the guest, you'll think a bit deeper, and perhaps expand your point of view ... just a wee bit.
Celia Owens, world traveler, activist, organizer, and artist, and Sue Faerman, university professor emeritus in management and leadership for non-profits and NGO's, have a lively discussion with Melanie.
How volunteering is the new dating, maintaining optimism in a chaotic world, the service experience and so much more are highlighted in this episode.
Part II of Trauma & the Climate Crisis continues with Renee Elsen, a survivor of the devastating 2018 Paradise, CA fire and subsequent climate refugee.
Trained as a social worker and school counselor, Renee brings a sophisticated point of view to the trauma she experienced as a result of the fire.
She's transparent, articulate, and passionate about helping folks understand how a collective trauma such as the climate crisis can intersect with individual trauma.
Renee Elsen, survivor of the devastating 2018 Paradise, CA fire and subsequent climate refugee, shares her very personal account of that morning.
Trained as a social worker and school counselor, Renee brings a sophisticated point of view to the trauma she experienced as a result of the fire.
She's transparent, articulate, and passionate about helping folks understand how a collective trauma such as the climate crisis can intersect with individual trauma.
This is Part I of a two-part show.
The 17-year-old political activist, passionate climate protector, Sunrise Movement and YUCCA member, spoken word poet, artist, and fabulously articulate Artemisio Romero y Carver is back in the studio.
Art as an element of self-expression, the connection of art and activism, social reform, and all sorts of other big ideas are discussed in this fast-paced show.
Remarkable musician, educator, and all-around super cool guy, Jamey Tate, shares his thoughts on all things music. Including that, from his perspective, the arts are our connection to humanity.
Recorded somewhere in French Polynesia, sailing to Moorea.
What happens when we say "Yes!" to something, and it ends up being a terrific experience? Listen in to how Melanie met Andrea Heckman.
Andrea is a filmmaker, photographer, author and lecturer. She earned a doctorate in anthropology and art history, and has researched indigenous traditions, festivals and rituals for over 35 years.
In 1996, she was Fulbright scholar in Peru. A longtime world traveler, Andrea shares stories of her many adventures.
Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney, co-founder of the Anna, Age Eight Institute, continues the discussion regarding the national epidemic of adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, and childhood trauma.
Topics include the effects of scarcity mentality, the systemic flaws across a myriad of child welfare agencies and how to begin fixing them, and the 100% Solutions Spot.
Dr. Courtney suggests the focus should be on three areas:
- prevention
- collaboration
- data-driven changes.
Anna, Age Eight Institute here
Melanie Harth website here
ACEs, the Adverse Childhood Experience study, has changed how we understand childhood trauma. New Mexico ranks as one of the most dangerous states for children in the country.
Dr. Katherine Ortega Courtney, co-founder of the Anna, Age Eight Institute, helps us understand how adverse childhood experiences often lead to trauma, and how the repercussions can be felt community-wide.
She and Melanie talk about solutions, as well, in this first of two parts.
Anna, Age Eight Institute here
Melanie Harth's website here
The fierce, fiery, passionate and articulate social justice champion, Anita Otilia Rodriguez, returns for another thought-provoking show.
Anita is a painter, storyteller, award-winning author of Coyota in the Kitchen, social activist, and co-founder of the Taos Healing and Reconciliation Institute and Project.
She riffs on being a "half-breed," a ninth-generation Taoseno, historical and collective trauma, the paradox of healing, and yes ... even more!
Taos Healing and Reconciliation Institute here
Melanie Harth's website here
Melissa Spamer -- licensed psychotherapist, advanced yoga trainer and teacher, licensed massage therapist AND Ayurvedic practitioner -- shares some of her in-depth wisdom and knowledge.
The sacredness of the body, healing her own trauma, compassion and women's empowerment are some of things she and Melanie touch upon.
Melissa Spamer's website here
Melanie Harth's website here
He describes himself as just a "regular old guy who paints." But ERic Luplow is much more than that.
He's a spokesman for art and music and learning to live with infant TBI (traumatic brain injury) and creativity.
Plus, he's just plain ole' a lot of fun.
Come along with Melanie and ERic in this thoughtful, deep episode.
ERic Luplow's website here
ERic Luplow's Facebook page here
Melanie Harth's website here
Diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's, guest Susan Balkman shares stories and insights from her own journey.
National dementia expert and author Dr. Jytte Lokvig is also in the studio for another thoughtful, and yes, fun! episode.
Santa Fe Alzheimer's Cafe, founded by Dr. Jytte Lokvig here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
Inspired by, and in collaboration with young Swedish climate activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Greta Thunberg, the Sunrise Movement is an American youth-led political movement that advocates political action on climate change.
Today's guest is Artemisio Romero y Carver, artist, spoken word poet, member of YUCCA (Youth United for Climate Crisis in Action) and the Sunrise Movement Santa Fe. He's impassioned and uber-articulate about the challenging issues facing upcoming generations.
Sunrise Movement Santa Fe Facebook page here
Dr. Melanie Harth website here
Allegra Love, immigration attorney and CEO of Santa Fe Dreamers, talks immigration law, the weaponizing of the legal system, and the politics of racism and xenophobia.
It's big, bold, deep -- a don't-miss episode.
Santa Fe Dreamers Project website here
Santa Fe Dreamers Project Facebook page here
Melanie's free meditation to help you reduce stress, anxiety and overwhelm here