Mental Health: Our Untold Stories: Recent Episodes
Daniel
Our mental health impacts every aspect of our lives every single day. Yet we typically see mental health only as a diagnosis or this foreign thing that only impacts people who have really tough stories. This podcast seeks to explore the vast reaches of our mental health through the stories of everyday people, conversations about tough subjects, and exploration of ideas for wellness. Podcast host, Dan Eck MS, LCPC, draws on his education, work, and life experiences to bring these discussions to you in a genuine and authentic way. Dan's passion for mental health, corky humor, and empathy will hopefully make some difficult and fun topics around mental health resonate with the audience. Dan's hope is this podcast will help to reduce the stigma around mental health and encourage individuals to see their own mental health from the lens of wellness. We hope you enjoy the show!
We use labels every day without even thinking about the implications of labeling things. Language itself is a but a collection of labels so that we may communicate or express our experience to others. The problem is that labels inherently confine things or people to limits. In this episode, Dan talks about how the labels we use for ourselves, and others lead to problems in the way we see ourselves, others, the future, and the world around us. Let’s explore ways to remove the limits we place on ourselves so we can experience a sense of peace, harmony, and balance in our lives.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people 10-14 and the third leading cause of death for people 10-24. In this episode, Dan looks at some of the developmental dynamics at play that influence youth and teens. Dan discusses some tell signs youth and teens may be struggling and how we can offer support. This episode also discusses when and how to safety plan.
If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal help is available at 988!
In this episode, Dan gives some insight into what the risk factors and warning signs of suicide look like. Knowing what the risk factors and warning signs look like helps us better understand when someone might be trying to communicate or indicate they are feeling suicidal.
If you or someone you know is feeling suicidal, please reach out to 988 for help. Suicide is a preventable cause of death. Help is available!
Suicide is a difficult topic to talk about and often makes people uncomfortable. In this episode, Dan talks about ways to acknowledge your own discomfort with the topic, and ways to move past the discomfort to ask someone when we are concerned for them. Dan also discusses helpful ways to talk with someone experiencing suicidal ideation.
If you know someone or are worried about someone who may be experiencing suicidal thoughts please encourage them to call 988 to speak with someone at the Crisis Hotline
The pressures of day-to-day life often don’t allow us to experience the lighter side of life and overinflating the importance of things that really aren’t that important. Life is full of expectations, things to be done, people to take care of, and places to be. In this episode, Dan walks through the value of finding ways to be silly. We know the value of laughter and humor but being silly has its own unique benefits.
With all the challenges we are facing today compassion and empathy are long overdue. As human beings it is normal that we get sucked into our own subjective experiences; however, stopping to use the power of compassion and empathy can not only improve our lives but the lives of those we cross paths with. In this episode, Dan explores why compassion and empathy are so important to helping us heal from our stress, mend our relationships, and even address societal challenges. Dan talks about ways we can begin to incorporate these gifts daily.
It can be hard to tell the difference between stress and anxiety, they often look and feel similar. They even share many physiological and neurological similarities. The reality is that they are not the same experience, and while nuanced distinguishing the difference can be key to feeling better. In this episode, Dan explores the subtle differences, how to recognize what you might be experiencing, and ways to combat both stress and anxiety.
Feeling loved is a vital piece to our physical and emotional wellness. In this episode, Dan breaks down why love is so important and beneficial to our overall wellness.
Depression and depressive symptoms can be very invasive in our lives. It wants to high jack motivation, hope, and zap energy. Depression wants to distort our thoughts and invade our relationships. In this episode, Dan talks about ways to recognize the signs of depression and some practical ways to evict depression from our lives. Dan also seeks to destigmatize depression, so we can better support those who might be struggling.
Mental Health diagnoses are better off assessed by a Mental Health professional. In this episode, Dan talks about the nuances of mental health treatment and explores the key differences between the medical modality and the mental health modality. We also examine the importance of how we talk about mental health illness and the treatment of mental health disorders.
While Mental Health is a topic that is increasingly talk about, there is still a stigma associated with it. We still look at Mental Health through the lens of illness and miss the wellness piece. We forget that mental health applies to every human on the planet. In this episode, Dan discusses ways to destigmatize mental health by exploring some facts we would be better served to embrace and some language we could benefit from examining.
Life seems to come at us at a fast pace and from all different angles. It is human of us to get caught up in the storm of a given day. We forget how helpful it can be to transition ourselves from where we have been to where we are presently. In this episode, Dan talks about a simple practice that we can all use to be more connected and present in our daily experiences.
In this episode Dan talks about the importance of acknowledging the feelings we experience and work to welcome them. We tend to ignore our feelings, which leads to us carrying them from one experience to another. Through externalizing our feeling experience we can begin to see them as less scary or overwhelming and may even begin to understand them a bit more. This practice helps us to cultivate a relationship with our feelings rather than pretending they aren't there.
Welcome back to Season 2 with a bit of a shift in format and content. Season 2 will incorporate more practical ways to help individuals navigate this crazy thing called life. In recognition of the difficulties that some are having finding mental health care, I wanted to bring some tools, skills, and discussion that might help others better navigate some of the challenges the last several years have thrown our way.
In this first episode, we look at ways to improve emotional well-being. It is common for people to feel as though they are engaged in self-care, but not finding the same benefits as they once did. I take a look at some ways to take care of our emotional or feeling self to hopefully enhance the value of the self-care you are already engaged in.
If you struggle to show yourself kindness, understanding, and/or compassion this episode is for you. In this episode Dan shares some ways to practice self-compassion through seeing yourself as having potential rather than the labels and judgements of self-criticism. Dan opens up about some personal experiences of self-compassion and how we can look at our success and lack of success to better see our potential.
Please provide feedback on what you would like to hear or ways to improve to mindspatherapyllc@gmail.com.
This episode features Brandy who shares her story of navigating the pandemic with two school age children with her husband deployed for military duty. Brandy shares her own mental health story, her ongoing mental health wellness journey, and how she did her best to manage all things pandemic and deployment. The bravery, vulnerability, resilience Brandy shares in this episode really paints a great picture of the importance of working every day at our mental health. Brandy shares how being mindful and accepting of her experience and her emotions helps her find a way through an understandably challenging year and so much more. Huge thank you Brandy for your courage in sharing your story!
In this episode, Dan talks about ways for us to support others when they are struggling. Dan calls us to confront the notion that we can help others with their struggles and instead encourages us to create a helping environment. Dan talks about the power of empathy and validation as ways to truly connect with others and how it leads others to feel empowered to find the solutions that they need. This episode seek to challenge us to look at human struggle from a different paradigm.
In this episode Dan talks about the importance of taking a different view of anxiety. Dan challenges the notion that anxiety is something to avoid or control, but rather an experience to better understand. Dan discusses some ways to offer yourself and others empathy and acceptance about our anxious experiences. This episode explores the neuroscience of anxiety, how to acknowledge our feelings that underlie our anxious experience, and the importance of not allowing anxiety to define us.
In this episode Dan talks with retired Brigadier General Chris Lawson about his years of service from and enlisted soldier to being a General working in the Pentagon. In this episode guest Chris Lawson talks about his life serving in the military and the things that stuck out to him leading to a great dialogue about the role of mental health in leadership. The episode dives into the importance of investing in others, seeing and believing in the potential of others, and how to create an environment where success can grow.
In this episode we talk about the importance of taking care of yourself so you can be a more present and available parent. This episode features Jon Eck, a parent educator, who shares his professional and personal experiences to help take a look at what makes managing emotions and parenting so hard a times. Jon and I talk about some practical tips and tools that will hopefully get your mind thinking about some ways to take better care of you to improve your experience of parenting. We hope you enjoy!
In this episode Dan talks about the mental and physical health benefits of kindness. Dan also explores some other ways to think about kindness and how we can incorporate it into our lives.
In this introductory episode Dan talks about the goals of this podcast and what it will look like. Dan discusses the importance of seeing mental health wellness as a priority. This episode seeks to set the tone of the podcast and give some insight to the listener about what to expect from this series.