And Still We Rise
The "And Still We Rise" Podcast (formally known as The Ego Project), is hosted by mental health therapist and group practice owner, Cristine Seidell. It is a space where look deeper into our limiting beliefs or behavioral patterns, seek to understand our authentic self and find new and exciting ways to celebrate the radiance we are meant to bring into the word. Through unscripted and unedited conversations with thought-leaders, therapists, spiritualists, and creatives, And Still We Rise explores how childhood wounding and intentional healing impacts our lives.
Episodes
A last-minute request to speak on local news should’ve been easy for me. I’ve spent decades studying childhood development, attachment, parenting, and teen mental health. Instead, my body slammed the brakes: panic, tight chest, throat closing, tears. That moment opened a door I couldn’t ignore, not into credentials or confidence, but into the deeper question of why being seen can still feel unsafe.
I unpack...
The anxious avoidant trap can feel like love at first because it’s intense, familiar, and weirdly predictable. Then you blink and you’re stuck in the same loop: one person reaches for closeness, the other pulls away, and both walk away feeling unseen. We sit down with associate professional counselor Mariana Bohn to unpack why that push pull dynamic happens and what it’s really protecting underneath.
We get...
Your child’s “just playing” is doing something huge: building a safer nervous system, a stronger attachment bond, and better emotional regulation. We sit down with senior clinical therapist Lauren Buice to translate play therapy concepts into real-life parenting you can actually use at home. We talk about play as a child’s first language and why child-led play is so different from typical games where adults correct,...
What if your nervous system learned that love required self-abandonment? We unpack emotionally immature parents with therapists Cristine Seidell and Taylor Strong, tracing how limited capacity, stress, and intergenerational patterns shape attachment—and how those early adaptations like fawning and freeze follow us into adult relationships.
We start by defining emotional immaturity as a chronic struggle to r...
We unpack the invisible child: how being the “easy kid” can mask unmet emotional needs, shape adult attachment, and erode self-trust. We share practical tools—somatic check-ins, values work, boundaries, and self-compassion—to rebuild identity and receive care.
• defining the invisible child and common family contexts
• how praise for responsibility becomes a survival role
• signs in adulthood: peopl...
We unpack how shame forms in childhood and why it feels different from guilt, then offer concrete ways to protect learning, autonomy, and connection at home, in school, and in relationships. Scripts, strategies, and mindset shifts help replace criticism with compassionate feedback.
• defining shame as a belief about worth, not behavior
• guilt as a teacher that guides change
• how tone and reactions...
Your nervous system learned about love long before you had words. In this conversation, we follow that thread from early implicit memory to the patterns many of us feel in adult relationships—chasing, shutting down, or spinning between the two—and we unpack a kinder way forward. We explore the spectrum of attachment styles with clarity and nuance, showing how secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized patterns actu...
What happens when we step outside our comfortable social bubbles? Licensed Professional Counselor Lauren Buice joins Cristine Seidell to explore how intentionally building diverse friendships transforms not just our communities, but our mental health.
The conversation begins with a crucial reframing – diversity extends far beyond race and gender to include age differences, socioeconomic backgrounds, religio...
Allison Robinson returns to continue our conversation on conscious dating, focusing on how to intentionally navigate the process of meeting potential partners and establishing authentic connections.
• Approaching dating with a mindset of worthiness and confidence rather than scarcity
• Focusing on learning from each connection rather than making every relationship work
• The importance of authentici...
Conscious dating means intentionally seeking a partner who aligns with your values, goals, and life vision while you continue to grow as a whole person outside the relationship.
• Dating yourself first and building a strong foundation of self-love before seeking a relationship
• Creating your "ice cream sundae" of life with a relationship as just the sprinkles on top
• Ensuring financial i...
We explore how emotionally immature parents shape our sense of self, nervous system, and ability to experience joy and connection, examining the patterns that indicate this upbringing and the path toward healing.
• Parents who operate from a self-focused place with emotional unpredictability, inability to see your world, or who relied on you for their comfort
• Children develop their sense of self throu...
What if the places where you feel most stuck contain your greatest wisdom? This guided meditation invites you on a gentle journey inward to discover the profound insights hidden within your emotional barriers.
Through intentional breathing and somatic awareness, we'll help you locate where stuckness resides in your physical body—whether as heaviness in your chest, a knot in your belly, or tightness in ...
We've forgotten how to simply enjoy activities without turning them into a side hustle or productivity metric. In this heartfelt conversation with licensed therapist and "resident crafter" Kaylee Finley, we explore how creative hobbies provide essential nourishment for our mental health and authentic self-expression.
Kaylee shares a profound perspective on why creative pursuits matter beyond ...
Psychologist turned health coach Kristen Heck explores the concept of reinvention, revealing it's not just changing jobs or appearance but a fundamental shift in how we see ourselves and live our lives.
• Reinvention can happen at any age, not just during midlife
• True transformation begins with awareness of our automatic thought patterns
• Fear of failure and disappointing others often keeps ...
Feeling stuck is actually a message from your nervous system that doesn't feel safe to change or move forward. This episode explores how our inner child influences our adult patterns and how honoring those early needs can lead to authentic transformation.
• Stuckness is not laziness or self-sabotage but a survival pattern from childhood
• The inner child is a living emotional memory that carries ou...
Validation might be the missing piece in your most challenging relationships. In this illuminating conversation with therapist Sara Kassam, we dive deep into why so many of our interactions break down and how one powerful communication skill can transform them.
The revelation at the heart of our discussion? Validation doesn't require agreement. This distinction liberates us to acknowledge others' ...
What if everything you thought you knew about grief was oversimplified? Therapist Taylor Strong challenges the notion that grief follows a neat, linear path through five stages, revealing instead the complex and deeply personal nature of loss.
"Grief is this really unique human experience that's specific to who we are and our relationship with the person," Taylor explains. Rather than a strai...
And Still We Rise is a Podcast hosted by Cristine Seidell, a licensed psychotherapist, group practice owner and mental health advocate. This podcast is a place for all to come and learn about past patterns, be inspired to new ways of navigating life and becoming their most authentic selves!
Thank you for tuning into And Still WE Rise! If you would like to learn more about me or the work our practice is doing, feel fr...
What happens when your entire sense of self becomes tied to what you achieve rather than who you are? And Still We Rise invites therapist, Madison Reed, to explore the hidden dangers of performance-based identity – a phenomenon affecting people of all ages and backgrounds, not just high-achievers.
Madison reveals how this identity crisis manifests when we derive our worth primarily from external validation,...
Healing has become such a buzzword in our conscious, awakening world—but what actually is it? In this deeply reflective exploration, we unpack the true nature of healing as an ongoing process rather than a destination.
The healing journey follows a distinct cycle that begins with awareness—that moment when our bodies alert us something isn't right, whether through relationship patterns, self-destructi...
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