Learn From People Who Lived it

Get Unstuck through Movement Therapy with LCPC Erica Hornthal

Get Unstuck through Movement Therapy with LCPC Erica Hornthal
In this episode, you'll hear:
How dance and movement therapy connects us to the present and disconnects us from the worry
The different types of movement therapy and how Erica helps people overcome insecurities
Why Erica created the 52 Movement Therapy Cards 
Practical ways to tune with your body today and A.C.E. your mental health 
Erica Hornthal is known as "The Therapist Who Moves You." She is a board-certified dance and movement therapist, a licensed clinical professional counselor, and the founder and CEO of Chicago Dance Therapy in Chicago, Illinois. Erica grew up in New Jersey and is an only child who has been independent and wise beyond her years. She was also a rather anxious child who fell in love with dance at a young age. That love of dance taught her how to be in her body rather than ruminate in her thoughts. 
On July 4, 2022, a mass shooter targeted a parade in downtown Highland Park, Illinois, killing seven people and physically wounding 48 others. During this time when Erica was offering crisis counseling services to survivors and those impacted by the tragedy, she found the devastation, terror, and utter disbelief on people’s faces were surpassed only by the rigidity, constriction, and tension present in their bodies. It became clear to her that people seeking emotional support, as well as the volunteers, had one thing in common that nobody was addressing—their nervous systems were in utter distress. They needed to relearn how to feel safe in the moment and safe in their bodies. This realization led her to create her 52 Movement Therapy cards, which can be incorporated into a daily somatic ritual or pulled as needed in times of stress, worry, or dissociation. Movement precedes thought patterns and therefore can help us create new thought patterns. It can teach us how to stop overthinking and start deeply feeling, allowing us to move through those feelings. If you are stuck, metaphorically or literally, the only way to get unstuck is to move. 
In this episode, Mathew and Erica discuss the story of the body and why the way we move has such an impact on how we feel and how we act. Erica tells us what movement therapy looks like in her practice, how she helps people overcome their insecurities, and how becoming more aware of your body empowers you to develop a better understanding of your feelings. Erica explains movement therapy is for anyone who feels like they have reached a plateau in traditional forms of psychotherapy, don't know how to find the words to express how they are feeling, or do not have access to formal language. 
 “If you want to change the way you think, you have to change the way you move.”
Follow the podcast: 
Listen on Apple Podcasts (link: https://apple.co/3s1YH7h) 
Listen on iHeart (link: https://ihr.fm/3MEY7FM) 
Listen on Spotify (Link: https://spoti.fi/3yMmQCE) 
 
Resources:
EricaHornthal.com 
ChicagoDanceTherapy.com 
Body Aware book
The Movement Therapy Deck
 
Connect with Mathew Blades: 
Twitter - twitter.com/MathewBlades
Instagram - instagram.com/MathewBladesmedia/ 
Facebook - facebook.com/mathewbladesmedia/ 
Website - learnfrompeoplewholivedit.com/
 
Additional Credits:
LFPWLI is managed by Sam Robertson

Get a vision that is bigger than your story with Carey Conley and Jill McMahon

Get a vision that is bigger than your story with Carey Conley and Jill McMahon
In this episode, Mathew, Jill, and Carey discuss why we are moving away from the phrase “committed suicide” and towards “died by suicide,"  harmful myths around suicide, and how the surviving family members are impacted. Carey lost her husband, Ross, in 2014 and just three years later lost her son, Cole, at age 26 - both to suicide. She tells us about her feelings towards them then and now, the time leading up to their passings, and the similarities and differences in her husband's and son's struggles. Mathew and Carey also talk about how their lost loved ones still show up to them, how loss changes purpose over time, and practical tips to feel and then cycle through tough emotions. 
After the conversation with Carey, Mathew and Jill talk about her upcoming book, Bulletproof: Healing After Gun Violence and Trauma. When Jill was 6 years old, she was a victim of gun violence when she and her mother were carjacked. This experience, as well as her work with other trauma victims, has led her to compile this guide to what works for healing, how to survive it, and how great life can be on the other side. Jills also talks about the political, societal, and physiological factors that make gun violence trauma so unique, the solutions for healing that she puts forward in the book, and how to start healing.
Jill McMahon is a licensed professional counselor focusing on grief, trauma, and loss due to suicide. She had been working with families and survivors of suicide for 20 years. Jill owns a private practice in Scottsdale, Arizona, and spends her time providing suicide prevention presentations and training around the community, as well as speaking about survivors of suicide and complicated grief, both nationally and internationally.
Carey Conley is a vision expert who has taught her exercises to thousands of people. Alongside her daughter, Laurel, Carey is focused on helping people find vision and purpose through their books, Vision is Victory and Keep Looking Up, and her podcast, Mental Health Breakthroughs For Young Adults & Families.
“Time doesn’t heal. Making meaning does.”
In this episode, you'll hear:
How and why are we changing the language we use when discussing suicide?
How suicidal ideations and actions typically ramp up in struggling people 
The power of talking about loved ones who have died by suicide 
The importance of having clear yet flexible visions for your life 
Practical ways to get unstuck and grow after grief 
Later in this episode, you'll also hear:
Jill's personal experience with gun violence
The unique trauma gun violence survivors and their families experience 
Practical tools and tips for caregivers and survivors 
Follow the podcast: 
Listen on Apple Podcasts (link: https://apple.co/3s1YH7h) 
Listen on iHeart (link: https://ihr.fm/3MEY7FM) 
Listen on Spotify (Link: https://spoti.fi/3yMmQCE) 
Resources:
CareyConley.com 
Jill McMahon Counseling 
Vision is Victory
Connect with Mathew Blades: 
Twitter - twitter.com/MathewBlades
Instagram - instagram.com/MathewBladesmedia/ 
Facebook - facebook.com/mathewbladesmedia/ 
Website - learnfrompeoplewholivedit.com/
Additional Credits:
LFPWLI is managed by Sam Robertson

What Does YOUR Body Need? Dietary Changes to Find Healing with Kim Shapira

What Does YOUR Body Need? Dietary Changes to Find Healing with Kim Shapira
In this episode, you'll learn:
The connection between trauma and weight struggles 
Identifying and overcoming emotional triggers
The power of learning how to sit in discomfort
The science behind how our diets impact our minds
Six Simple Rules to Transform Your Relationship with Food to Become Your Healthiest Self
Kim Shapira is a celebrity dietitian, nutritional therapist, and author. As a child, she was very sick, and later in life, she heard from a mentor that “food can make you sick or healthy." So from that moment on, she dove into her passion for helping people get healthy through their diet and never looked back. Through her work, she soon began to recognize that dietary habits are often symptoms of larger emotional or psychological issues. Now, she is able to help her clients identify their emotional triggers, understand how those triggers impact their dietary habits, and figure out ways they can achieve their goals healthily and sustainably, but getting back to the baseline understanding that food is fuel and nothing more or less. 
In this episode, Mathew, Dr. Dave, and Kim discuss how feeling unsafe impacts our dietary behaviors in unexpected ways, how to identify and overcome emotional triggers, and how learning to sit in discomfort can empower us to overcome all addictions. Kim also outlines her Six Simple Rules to Transform Your Relationship with Food to Become Your Healthiest Self, tells us what most people are really hungry for, and gives us tips on how we can satisfy that hunger. 
“We really can survive in discomfort; we just have to remember that we’re safe.”
Follow the podcast: 
Listen on Apple Podcasts (link: https://apple.co/3s1YH7h) 
Listen on iHeart (link: https://ihr.fm/3MEY7FM) 
Listen on Spotify (Link: https://spoti.fi/3yMmQCE) 
 
Resources:
Dr. David Leicken, MD
KimShapiraMethod.com
 
 
Connect with Mathew Blades: 
Twitter - twitter.com/MathewBlades
Instagram - instagram.com/MathewBladesmedia/ 
Facebook - facebook.com/mathewbladesmedia/ 
Website - learnfrompeoplewholivedit.com/
 
Additional Credits:
LFPWLI is managed by Sam Robertson

After seeing the movie It Ends with Us

Yesterday, my wife and I watched the new movie It Ends with Us. It's based on the book of the same name. If you've read the book or seen the movie, I invite you to check out this episode of my podcast. BTW, my new book, "How to Talk to people you don't like talking to," is out now; download your copy here. BOOK LINK
 
Thanks for checking out our podcast. 
Mathew