Untying Knots: Minds and Souls Untethered
A knot is a focus point in a rope. Multiple knots can shorten the length of rope. A knot can disrupt how a rope coils or uncoils. A knot can also be a place to provide a grip for climbing and holding something in place. Our lives can be full of knots that can be either helpful or unhelpful. The Untying Knots podcast is here to stimulate listeners by untying knots that hamper our understanding around mental health issues, and helping to find the knots that are there to help one climb or stop their fall. We focus on sharing information, education about mental health, psychotherapy and the practice of it from a Black-Indigenous-Person-of-Color lens. We interview people who work in the field of mental health. We discuss myths and realities about the field, and we talk with creatives on how mental health impacts the challenges they face, how they overcome these challenges, and how it helps them live an authentic empowered life.
Episodes
This week, I sit down with Steve and Keri Swayer to do discuss Trauma Center Sensitive Yoga and the DTTI (Developmental Trauma Training Institute).
Keri Sawyer is an advanced yoga facilitator, seasoned speaker, and trainer with over a decade of experience in trauma-sensitive practices. She is the Founder of Openview Yoga and Co-Founder and Somatic Director at the Developmental Trauma Training Institute
(DTTI). Keri also serves as...
This rebroadcast is in memory of Jubi Arriola-Headley, who passed on October 17, 2025. He will be very greatly missed.
Black History/Pride/ Celebration Returning guest Jubi Arriola-Headley and I chat about their new book of Poetry Bound. We discuss the work and motivation/stories behind this collection of poems. We read several of them, and I hope you share them. Links https://www.justjubi.com https://www.instagram.com/jubijustjubi...
This week, I sit down with Candace "Coach Felyne" Liger to discuss TINK (Trauma-Informed Consensual Kink).
Originally from Mississippi, Candace is a NASM-certified fitness coach, BDSM/KINK
coach, consent and harm reduction educator, and founder of the Center for Body
Autonomy. With over 20 years of experience in kink and BDSM communities, and a
background rooted in social justice and wellness, their work centers pleasure, inclusio...
On this episode, I sit down with Dr. Linnea Swanson, Psy.D, M.A., and LMFT. We talk about Brainspotting, training as a consultant, and her work in South Korea.
Linnea Swanson, Psy.D., M.A., LMFT (she/her/hers) is a Brainspotting Trainer and
owner of Twinflower Psychological Services, LLC, located on the ancestral land of the
Dakhóta people, now known as Minneapolis, MN. Dr. Swanson has been a therapist for
over 20 years having wo...
I sit down with Agatha Peters, author and psychotherapist. We talk about narcissm, recognizing and understanding it, and then how to go about healing from it.
A Nigerian-American psychotherapist, Agatha Peters is the founder of Beautiful Sunshine Therapy and the author of Trapped in Their Script: Reclaim Your Life from Narcissistic Parents & Cultural Expectations. She is dedicated to helping adult children of narcissistic parents, ...
This rebroadcast is in memory of Jubi Arriola-Headley, who passed on October 17, 2025. He will be very greatly missed.
On this episode, I chat with JUBI ARRIOLA-HEADLEY, a Blacqueer poet, storyteller, and author of the poetry collection Original Kink. We discuss their poetry, creating, how they work is part of their mental health, and life as. Black Gay Men. Jubi share the opportunity they found, and the reality of publishing Poe...
This week, I sit down with Aja Evans, author of Feel Good Finance. We talk about how finances can tie into feelings of self-worth, therapy and talking about finances, and changing our perspectives around our money and how we deal with it.
Aja Evans is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, speaker, and author specializing in Financial Therapy. With over a decade of experience, Aja is determined to help more people break the taboo of...
This week, I sit down with hiphop artist Ken$on to talk about masculinity and Hip Hop. We discuss the definition and history of Hip hop, toxic masculinity, and Ken$on's approach to music.
Oakland born and Berkeley raised lyricist and activist Emmanuel "Ken$on" Williams blends authentic, skillful lyricism with street-level social commentary to tackle the root causes of systemic inequities. By tracing the dubious links between the...
On this episode, Mercedes Samudio joins me to talk about the limited-run Marvel series Eyes of Wakanda.
Mercedes Samudio works with parents around the world in developing a healthy parental identity with her revolutionary Parental Identity Development Model and incorporating her Shame-Proof Parenting philosophy to help reduce the shame parents experience as they raise healthy children. Mercedes is also trained in trauma-informed mo...
Mercedes Samudio and I sit down to discuss the new Marvel film The Fantastic Four.
Mercedes Samudio works with parents around the world in developing a healthy parental identity with her revolutionary Parental Identity Development Model and incorporating her Shame-Proof Parenting philosophy to help reduce the shame parents experience as they raise healthy children. Mercedes is also trained in tr...
This week, Mercedes Samudio and I discuss the latest Superman film.
Mercedes works with parents around the world in developing a healthy parental identity with her revolutionary Parental Identity Development Model and incorporating her Shame-Proof Parenting philosophy to help reduce the shame parents experience as they raise healthy children. Mercedes is also trained in trauma-informed modalities which she uses in her work with p...
This week I sit down again with Mercedes Samudio to discuss the Marvel show Ironheart.
Mercedes works with parents around the world in developing a healthy parental identity with her revolutionary Parental Identity Development Model and incorporating her Shame-Proof Parenting philosophy to help reduce the shame parents experience as they raise healthy children. Mercedes is also trained in trauma-informed modalities which she uses...
This week, I sit down with Ritchie Nkana. We talk about his professional journey, finding alignment with where we want to be in our lives and our values, minimizing regret, and his book Body and Band Connection.
Ritchie Nkana is the award-winning author of Body and Bank Connection, founder of The Operator's Edge™, and a high-demand speaker known for bridging peak performance with sustainable success. A former Chartered Accountant w...
On this episode, I talk with Stephen Wall of Delapore Media. We discuss grief, his work in the TTRPG space, and Kult: Divinity Lost.
Stephen Wall holds a Ph.D. in Folklore from Memorial University of
Newfoundland. He is a contributing author to the forthcoming publications Broken Reflections and The Illusion and the Borderlands for Kult: Divinity Lost as well as the author of the Miskatonic Repository scenario "Somebody Think o...
Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride Month. As we wrap up Pride month, I chat with Queer Cartoonist, Educator, and Scholar, Justin Hall. Justin and I discuss the history of comics, Queer comics, and their work in creating True Travel Tales, Hard to Swallow, and Theater of Terror: Revenge of the Queers, as well as their work chronicling some of the Queer history of San Francisco. We also discuss the education of future Comic Creators, and the M...
I chat with Rupert Kinnard (he/him), who is a BIPOC & LGBTQ identified Cartoonist and Creator of Cathartic Comics. His collective work has been gathered together and is being release by StackDeck Press as OOOPs, I just Catharted! 40 years of Cathartic Comics. Please listen, check it out, and support this part of our BIPOC & LGBTQ History.
Links: OOOPs, I just Catharted! 40 years of Cathartic Comics Kickstarter: https://www.kickstar...
Today I chat with Cassie Walker (they/them) of the Woke Mental Wellness podcast. We talk about their journey to becoming a mental health professional and to becoming a tabletop games player and streamer.
Lamia (Cassie) is a Black Queer Social Worker, Trauma Therapist, Streamer, Storyteller, Death Doula, Consultant, Activist and generally your mysterious neighborhood mental health cryptid. They enjoy podcasting and playing games ...
I am once again joined by Mercedes Samudio as we discuss the recent Marvel movie Thunderbolts.
Mercedes works with parents around the world in developing a healthy parental identity with her revolutionary Parental Identity Development Model and incorporating her Shame-Proof Parenting philosophy to help reduce the shame parents experience as they raise healthy children. Mercedes is also trained in trauma-informed modalities which...
Today I chat with game designer Sylvan Lawrence. We talk about how they got into game designing, their new game Before the Flood, Gravemire and the concept of "play to grow", as well as the other games, including solo journaling games, they've worked on.
Sylvan Lawrence (they/them) is a librarian and the director of Clawhammer Games. They are the co-author and creator of Before the Flood, and the creator of Gravemire, bestselling...
Today, I chat with Liam Stevens. Liam is a Maori game designer and consultant descended from the Ngāti Kahungunu ki Te Wairoa iwi. His works are always framed through a cultural lens and his credits include Tomb Raider: Shadows of Truth, Death Match Island, Monster of the Week, and Hull Breach. He has provided cultural consultation on many projects, including Candela Obscura and Ironsworn's Sundered Isles. We talk about KiwiRPG, pr...
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