A Therapist Takes Her Own Advice

In this episode, I tell a personal story that illustrates the DBT concept of the three states of mind, emotion mind, reasonable mind and wise mind.

Emotion mind is when you’re thinking and behaving emotionally, treating feelings as facts about the world and letting your emotions rule your behavior. Emotion mind decisions disregards reason and pragmatics. They are pressured and desperate, you feel as if you must do it now or your li...

This episode offers a paced breathing guided meditation to help reduce emotional pain quickly and allow you to get through a difficult moment without making the situation worse.

When emotional arousal is high the body goes into fight or flight mode. The adrenaline pumps and blood flows to the extremities to prepare the body to face danger. This process works well if you're in real danger, but it's uncomfortable and can lead...

For years I’ve told new meditators to allow themselves to begin again without judgement. When you realize the mind has drifted away just begin again. And, yet, until  now, I didn’t connect this powerful concept to the rest of life.  I didn’t really allow myself to fail without judgement.  In this episode, I will discuss beginning again and offer a guided meditation to practice the concept. 

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As we celebrate the New Year and a New Moon, I invite you to practice this guided meditation that asks you to go of what no longer serves you and make room for new intentions and new dreams for the year ahead.

Together lets examine the previous 12 months and decide what’s been working for us and what hasn’t. Then we can make the choice to say goodbye to the old and invite in the new. We can let go of old thoughts, behaviors, habits,...

Do you feel like your emotions control you? Like they come on quickly and intensely taking you by surprise? Or Have you ever felt stuck in an uncomfortable emotion? When our lizard brain senses pain or discomfort our natural instinct is to try and suppress it or avoid it. That impulse to suppress painful feelings is understandable but avoiding emotions is not effective. It’s like trying to sink a ping pong ball in water...no matter...

In this episode, I’m speaking with Maya Benattar, musician, vocalist and music therapist. She talks about how her parents inspired her to become a music therapist and how she uses music to help clients connect with their emotions and deepen their therapeutic experience. She invites clients to let loose, get messy and fully participate  and reclaim their rhythm.

Maya Benattar, MA, MT-BC, LCAT is a music therapist and psychotherapist...

In this episode, we practice the DBT Mindfulness Skill Observe. It’s one of the three What Skills David and I discussed a few weeks ago. As a reminder, Observe is noticing without pushing away or clinging to anything. We observe our external environment through our 5 senses: sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. We observe our internal world by noticing thoughts, emotions and sensations in the body. 

We will practice observing by ob...

With stress levels through the roof,  we could all benefit from a little mindfulness. This season of  A Therapist Takes Her Own Advice is all about making mindfulness understandable and accessible to everyone.

In this episode, David and I are talking about the DBT How Skills. These skills outline how to practice mindfulness. The How Skills are Nonjudgmentally, One-mindfully and Effectively.

Nonjudgmentally is noticing without adding ...

With stress levels through the roof, we could all benefit from mindfulness. This season of A Therapist Takes Her Own Advice is all about making mindfulness understandable and accessible to everyone.

In today's episode, David and I are talking about the DBT What Skills. These skills outline what to do to become more mindful. They are Observe, Describe and Participate.

Observe is noticing without pushing away or clinging to anythi...

Mindfulness is a word that you hear thrown around a lot these days, but is often misunderstood. It does everything from decrease depression to improve relationships to making pain more manageable… but how? This season of ATTHO, going is all about demystifying mindfulness, what is it? How is it helpful? And how exactly do you use it in your daily life? I’ll break it down into manageable steps and I’ll interview people with interesti...

In this week’s episode, I’m speaking with Lauren Selfridge, therapist, creative vision consultant and host of the podcast This is not what I ordered. She talks about everything from how Conan O’Brien and a rowing machine figure into her self-care routine to the silver lining of living with multiple sclerosis. Her version of full-hearted living means meeting herself where she is in each moment, allowing whatever feelings arise and e...

As we move into month 7 of the pandemic, with school starting, stress levels continue to rise, tempers are flaring and everyone seems to be at the end of their rope. We could all use some loving kindness. This powerful mindfulness is the perfect antidote for the anxiety and tension so prevalent in society, as it allows us to tap into our capacity for love, gratitude and compassion toward ourselves and others. 

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Money is a taboo word that can bring up so many uncomfortable feelings. And this discomfort effects our relationships, our livelihoods and our futures. 

My guest, Jelisha Gatling, is a couples therapist and money mindset coach. She tackled her own maladaptive believes about money and turned her finances and her life around with the help of money mindset guru, Tiffany McLain, Jen Sincero's book, You Are a Badass at Making Money a...

This episode features, Jessica Hulett. She and thousands like her are called COVID long-haulers. They continue to have debilitating symptoms months after initially contracting the virus. Doctors don’t yet have many answers leaving these patients in search of relief and support.   

Jessica Hulett is a freelance writer, editor, and marketing strategist in Ossining, NY. She moved to Westchester after more than 15 years in Manhattan an...

Right now, so many people are chronically stressed and this takes a huge toll on mental as well as physical health. As a result, the term self-care gets thrown around a lot. In this bonus episode, my producer/husband David Shackney and I demystify selfcare. We discuss what it is, why it’s important and how to practice it. 

Self-care is anything that we do to preserve health, well-being and increase happiness 

Self-care looks differ...

In this episode, Nicole Poole, shares her history of trauma and her journey to health and healing. She talks about how CPT Therapy, EMDR and meditation have allowed her to stop the negative tape playing in her mind and regain her sense of self. Now, during the pandemic she has found a way to spread joy throughout her community and beyond by chalking the sidewalks in her neighborhood. Find her creations at Wordsmiff405. Don't  m...

In this episode, I speak with Jessica Irons, founder and Artistic Director of Theater O, an independent theater school for kids in Ossining New York. She discusses the struggles of finding her purpose and then serving that purpose during a pandemic. She gives us the perspective of an artist and educator with the daunting task of trying to keep kids connected to their creative spirit while remaining safe.

Jessica, an Ossining reside...

Stress is pervasive in life today particularly as many people are preparing to head back to school amid the continuing corona crisis. This bonus episode offers a guided meditation called Paired Muscle Relaxation, a DBT Skill that can dramatically reduce stress with regular practice. Make yourself comfortable and get ready to relax.

Thanks so much for joining me today for A Therapist Takes Her Own Advice. If you connected with what ...

On this episode, Superintendent Sanchez, talks about the ups and downs on  the road to reopening schools this year. We get to know him better as he discussing his family and his journey from teacher to administrator. He even talks about his own self-care habits and offers suggestions for parents and student to manage during these stressful times. 

Raymond Sanchez serves as the superintendent for the Ossining Union Free School Distri...