Life Survival Skills with Charlie Swenson and Nicole Helén - To Hell and Back: Recent Episodes
Charlie Swenson, MD & Nicole Helén
This podcast series, 'To Hell and Back' shines bright light on our darkest, most frightening, and painful human experiences. With unfiltered conversations, vivid role plays, focused teaching, and spacious curiosity, Charlie and Nicole use the lens of DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) to help those of us living in hell learn the skills we need to get ourselves the hell out.
Every episode is a fresh invitation to understand ourselves, our pain, and all that makes our life worth living. Each week, we're reminded that, no matter how bad things get, there are no dead ends in life; and that, however lonely we might feel, we are not ever alone.
Be your best by inspiring the best in others. Join Nicole and Charlie as they tap into Cem Eren’s two-decades of wisdom training elite NBA athletes, boxers, bodybuilders, beauty contestants, and ordinary humans of all ages. In examples that apply to therapy and coaching, Cem shares how he meets his clients every single day with freshness, compassion, dignity, and nonjudgmental presence, helping them connect with their strengths while building toward their goals.
In part 2 of the conversation with world class trainer Cem Eren, join Charlie and Nicole and enter The Lion’s Den, a practice environment thoughtfully constructed to support our training journey from the moment we step through the door until the moment we step out of it. As we tour the space, we hear how unconditional acceptance underlies Cem’s strategy for facilitating positive change, and how his intuitive application of dialectics translates to clients that consistently hit huge goals and make extraordinary transformations.
"In this episode, Nicole and Charlie tap into the wisdom that Cem Eren has gained from two decades of training elite NBA athletes, boxers, bodybuilders, beauty contestants, and ordinary humans of all ages. In examples that extend to therapy and coaching, Cem shares how he meets his clients every single day with freshness, compassion, dignity, and nonjudgmental presence, helping them connect with their strengths while building toward their goals.
What shapes the syntax of Self? How does context inform our inner lexicons? Are we more than the sum of all our actions?
In this episode Charlie and Nic explore the ways we find meaning through expressing identity, how we hold space for inner contradictions, and why self definition is a paradox, ripe for dialectical intervention.
In this second of our two-episode conversation with Natalia Garcia about her grieving process over the years since the death of her two-year-old son, we focus in on her altered relationship to time, rituals, and anniversaries; her remarkable use of DBT skills and dialectics to navigate the grieving process; the ways that she has made meaning out of her suffering; and a dinosaur, a gift from a fellow griever.
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Since Nicole joined Charlie as co-host, several long-time listeners have asked Charlie, Who IS that woman?! It’s actually a great question and the answer is far from simple. In this podcast, Charlie and Nicole explore their own self-narratives and expand into a larger conversation about how we all see ourselves, how we define ourselves, how we represent ourselves, how we are seen by others, and how that affects us.
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In 2018, Natalia Garcia spoke with me over three podcast episodes about how she was dealing with the catastrophic and traumatic death of her two year old son eight months earlier. He died in the middle of the night for unexplained reasons. In three podcasts she spoke at length of her life, of the death itself, and then the road to recovery. In this week’s podcast, we reprise selected excerpts from those podcasts, capturing her words and her wisdom that grew out of this terrible loss. She inspires.
In June of 2018, eight months following the death of her two-year-old son to the Syndrome of Unexplained Death of a Child (SUDC), Natalia Garcia joined this podcast for three episodes to describe the catastrophic loss and the ensuing grief process marked by her courage and skill in facing her vulnerabilities. Now, five years since the loss, she returns to the podcast to talk about the longer arc of the process of grieving her son and things that have happened since then. As before, this is a moving and inspiring story of courage that deals with a panoply of issues faced in any longer-term grief process.
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In this episode, Charlie reflects on 100 episodes spent exploring human suffering. He synthesizes wisdom from interviews including coping with natural disaster, loss of a child, suicide, and cancer, arriving at seven overarching guidelines for survival.
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In the final episode of our 4 part Series on coping with Suicide in the family, we hear from Teddy’s fiancé Mariya. Mariya’s developed a personal friendship with Ross and shares about that relationship and her experience grieving his suicide.
She also speaks about what it was like for her as someone outside the immediate family after Ross’ suicide: what it was like to be an outsider witnessing a family grapple with unspeakable loss, and how it felt to be a supportive partner to Teddy amidst her own grief.
The interview provides a window into the breadth of relationships impacted by suicide and gives perspective into the complexity of managing grief within and outside of a family system.
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In the 3rd of our 4 Part Series on coping with suicide in the family, we speak with Beth’s son, and Ross’ brother, Teddy. Teddy shares his perspective on growing up as an older sibling to a brother who struggled with painful emotions throughout his lifetime, on the close friendship they developed as they got older, and his inexhaustible capacity to access compassion and warmth.
Teddy talks about being the person to find Ross after he took his life, navigating the mind-numbing administrative tasks that were required of him whilst being overwhelmed with emotion, and his instinct to surround himself with friends from the beginning to help him cope with a loss so great that, at times, it still doesn’t feel real.
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In this episode, the third of four on how Andrea has coped with Cancer throughout 2022, her best friend Amy joins the conversation and they talk about what has happened in their friendship as a result of Cancer. How they have dealt with Cancer has enriched their friendship and their friendship has been key in helping Andrea to reduce her suffering and preserve her love of life. Totally sweet and inspiring! Check out the first two in the series, podcasts #87 and #93, where you get the detailed story of how Andrea has used DBT skills, dialectics, and mindfulness to navigate the myriad challenges that Cancer brings.
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In this episode (part 2), Charlie and Nicole speak with Beth about her son Ross who ended his life two years ago. We hear about Beth, the family, and Ross leading up to his death. In future episodes we learn how Beth and other family members have coped with the tragic loss.
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In this episode, Charlie and Nicole speak with Beth about her son Ross who ended his life two years ago. We hear about Beth, the family, and Ross leading up to his death. In future episodes we learn how Beth and other family members have coped with the tragic loss.
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In this podcast, Charlie returns to complete his discussion over several podcasts about using DBT’s core mindfulness skills for surviving hell and returning from it.