PeakConnection

Why It Takes a Village to Support Maternal Mental Health

October 14, 2021 05:00 - 44 minutes - 30.3 MB

It's no secret that there is a global maternal mental health crisis. One of the most challenging aspects of motherhood (maybe in addition to mothering during a global pandemic) is finding time for yourself. While this podcast focuses a lot on the importance of human connection with others, perhaps the biggest piece of that human connection puzzle is the ability to connect with ourselves. But what happens when that piece gets lost in the shuffle of pick-ups and drop-offs, coordinating play d...

Loving Our Bodies When We Don’t Like Them—Chronic Illness and Mental Health

September 30, 2021 04:00 - 1 hour - 47.3 MB

Living with chronic illness is not just battling physical pain daily, it's also managing the mental load that comes with fighting a mind-body connection constantly on the fritz. On this episode, we talk with the hosts of The Chronic Sisters Siân Gannon and Jess Swanson about navigating life with multiple chronic illnesses, coping with the disappointment of our bodies habitually letting us down, and learning how to love something despite the pain and grief it causes because of the joy it brin...

Snapchat Dysmorphia Part II—My Selfies Make Me Feel Bad

August 19, 2021 04:00 - 47 minutes - 32.4 MB

The smart phone era has ushered in an age where everyone carries a camera in our pockets. So why aren't we happy with the pictures we take? On part two of this two-part discussion, we talk with psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker Heather Monroe on the impact selfies and social media have on our overall mental health--especially in teens. Hear why anxiety and depression is on the rise and what habits we can change to help prevent it. "So [teens] are no longer comparing thems...

Snapchat Dysmorphia Part I--Why Don't I Look Like My Selfies?

August 02, 2021 04:00 - 56 minutes - 39 MB

The smart phone era has ushered in an age where everyone carries a camera in our pockets. So why aren't we happy with the pictures we take? On part one of this two part discussion, we talk with photographer Blaise Douros and plastic surgeon Scott McCusker on the ways camera lenses filter our perceptions of reality and consequently the rise in plastic surgery. Blaise Douros: "We have embraced a device that inherently distorts our images, the images that we see of ourselves every day... Ther...

Covid Weight Gain Doesn't Matter--Mental Health Does

July 15, 2021 04:00 - 45 minutes - 31.5 MB

Like many things during Covid, maintaining regular diet and exercise became increasingly difficult and most of us picked up a sourdough-making habit along the way--consequently we gained a few pounds. And while we survived a global pandemic, working from home (sometimes while simultaneously running Zoom school), we've forgotten all of the hard things we overcame and have instead decided to focus in on "The Covid-15." On this episode, Justine Underhill, Chief Program Officer for Edgewood Cent...

Making Your Child Happy is Not Always Your Job

June 28, 2021 04:00 - 49 minutes - 34.1 MB

One of the most common parenting traps parents fall victim to is trying to “make” their kids happy. But happiness is only one feeling on a spectrum of colorful and complex emotions, which together make up the human experience. On this episode, Rachel Duffy, entrepreneur, author, and Certified Conscious Parenting Coach, discusses why parents should stop focusing on making their kids happy and instead be present, while allowing their kids to experience everything. “Nobody wants their child t...

When Positivity Turns Toxic—The Problem with Self-Optimization

June 10, 2021 04:00 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MB

Self-optimization has quickly become a new fad diet we're rapidly consuming--one that is more harmful than helpful to our mental health. On this episode, writer, educator, influencer, and Toronto-based therapist Jake Ernst discusses the problem with the constant pursuit for perfectionism, the business of positivity and its impact on our self-worth, and the critical role social media plays in prioritizing self-optimization over self-love, self-compassion, and collective care. "...self-optim...

The Covid-Crazies: How Isolation Affects Our Ability to Process and Regulate Emotions

May 27, 2021 04:00 - 52 minutes - 36.2 MB

As a social species, we're wired to process our emotions collectively. Arguably, human connection is our greatest resource for processing and tolerating difficult emotions. So, what happens when a social primate is subjected to long periods of social isolation? On this episode, Dr. Maggie Stagg discusses the role human connection specifically plays in our ability to cope when life gets hard, the impact the social isolation of Covid-19 has had, and how we as a species can choose to move forwa...

Combating Teacher Burnout During Covid-19 and Beyond

May 11, 2021 05:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MB

There's been a lot of buzz in the media about the mental and emotional impact school shutdowns have had on parents and students, but very little attention paid to the impact on educators. Prior to Covid-19, the educational community has been struggling to retain teachers and attract new ones. Now, more than ever, classrooms are in crisis. On this episode, Cristina Buss, a principal at a continuation high school in Davis, California, discusses the mental, emotional, and financial load teacher...

Navigating Your Child’s Return to In-Person Learning

April 20, 2021 09:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MB

Children in particular have proven their resiliency time and time again throughout the past 13 months. However, as the world slowly turns back towards normal and schools reopen, they're finding themselves relearning how to maneuver social interactions with peers and educators, and consequently a new series of mental and emotional stressors. On this episode, Dr. Christine Garcia of the Edgewood Center in San Francisco discusses how to navigate the return to in-person instruction, social anxie...

Why We Dance—Processing Emotions Through Movement

April 08, 2021 04:00 - 38 minutes - 26.3 MB

Therapy is always a good foundation for overcoming any emotional or mental roadblock. But sometimes it's not enough. We find ourselves still holding onto tension, frustration, anger, and anxiety in our bodies, which can leave us feeling more fatigued than ever before. As a trained dancer and the founding member of ROWDY, a unique new online dance fitness platform, JR Jones discusses the importance dance in particular plays in establishing a mind-body connection and allowing us to finally rel...

Tools for Deepening Connections and Prompting Meaningful Conversation

March 29, 2021 04:00 - 36 minutes - 25.1 MB

As humans, we're creatures of habit. We're also social beings with a deep need to be connected to one another. So, what happens when habitual social creatures fall into ruts? Often, conversations become superficial and leave us feeling that our relationships are lacking in substance and sustainability. It's an issue that's only been further compounded by technology--specifically social media. Entrepreneur, creator, and the co-founder and CEO of the award-winning company BestSelf Cathryn ...

Poor Connection: Technology Can't Simulate Empathy

March 18, 2021 04:00 - 43 minutes - 30.2 MB

We live in a world driven by technology. We've created a host of smart machines and apps that purport to better connect us to each other. In reality we've built digital walls--screens ultimately block us from building deeper more empathetic relationships. On this episode of PeakConnection, author, speaker, and MIT professor Dr. Sherry Turkle discusses why Zoom and text will always be performative and never add up to authentic human connection, how technology is assaulting empathy on a globa...

Single in Lockdown and Finding Love in New York City

March 11, 2021 05:00 - 44 minutes - 30.3 MB

Navigating the sometimes tumultuous New York City dating scene can be challenging, even in the best of times--now let's add a global pandemic. An actor, producer, and host of the podcast Hashtag Single, Jeanette Bonner shares her struggles and triumphs over the past year. She discusses why she continues making connections, despite the limitations of quarantine and Covid-19, how dating apps are more harmful than helpful in making a perfect match, and the resiliency to continue pursing passion...

Teen Suicide Risk: Signs, Solutions, and Starting a Conversation

March 04, 2021 05:00 - 40 minutes - 27.6 MB

Adolescents have fundamental developmental needs for companionship. It's the desire to build relationships outside their familial unit that eventually leads to adulthood. However, in an effort to keep themselves and others safe during COVID-19, many teens have been prevented from engaging in normal developmental activities. Parents, educators, and researchers are seeing a steady increase in depression and anxiety, which may be contributing to a rise in teen suicide. Dr. David Frankel, a res...

Breaking Stigmas and Rebuilding Empathy Surrounding Homelessness

February 25, 2021 05:00 - 47 minutes - 32.9 MB

As a culture, we've grown into a mindset of every person for themselves. And while we've been busy focusing on ourselves, there are millions of people every day suffering right in front of us, yet we largely choose to ignore them. In this episode, clinical psychologist, writer, and producer Dr. Leslie Silver shares about her documentary film, No Home Here, which focuses on the growing homeless crisis in California and the myths surrounding it. As a culture we've been conditioned to ignore h...

The Impact of Intensive Mothering on Maternal Mental Health

February 04, 2021 05:00 - 45 minutes - 31.2 MB

We all have ideals which shape us into the friends, partners, workers, and parents we aspire to be. However, what happens when our expectations for the person we want to become are set so high they're impossible to reach? Especially when those impossible standards are further perpetuated by our society and a global pandemic? On this second part of our two-part conversation with Dr. Margaret Lamar and Dr. Lisa Forbes, they discuss their research around how the highly individual and usually un...

The Second Pandemic—Rising Substance Abuse and Mental Illness Among Parents

January 28, 2021 11:00 - 37 minutes - 25.9 MB

It goes without saying that parenting is one of the most difficult jobs a person will ever have. The pandemic has taken away many of the healthy coping mechanisms parents once relied on in order to survive. The stability and security of having a daily set of routine activities and interactions with caretakers, friends, and family has stopped and parents everywhere are feeling overwhelmed with little help in sight. Sadly, without access to their normal coping mechanisms, many parents are tur...

Deprograming Diet Culture and Rebuilding Trust in Ourselves

January 23, 2021 04:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MB

It's a New Year and with that comes New Year's Resolutions. But what happens when our best intentions to become healthier versions of ourselves turn toxic? On this episode of PeakConnection, Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and founder of Best Feeling Forever Kailey Mann discusses the toxicity of diet culture and the importance of maintaining a healthy relationship with ourselves both mentally and physically. "What helped me overcome my own personal issues with food within my e...

How to Break a Diet of Chronic Stress

January 16, 2021 11:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MB

People are very aware of what foods are good and nourishing for a body. However, while we're preoccupied with reading labels, what most of us are not thinking about is the diet of our minds. All of us have seen or felt the effects of chronic stress. And when we take in an unhealthy diet mentally, it affects us physically. On this episode of PeakConnection, Certified Nutrition and Digestive Health Coach Katie Duda discusses the importance of taking care of ourselves mentally first, if we want...

A Sobering Conversation--How Our Stories of Struggle Empower Others

January 07, 2021 11:00 - 30 minutes - 21.1 MB

On this episode of PeakConnection writer, blogger, and sober mom of three Jessica Guerrieri is back. This time she discusses the importance of vulnerability as a means to emotionally connect during a time of isolation, especially as it pertains to addiction and maintaining sobriety. Ultimately our stories of struggle and grit empower others to continue with their resolve, even when it becomes uncomfortable. "Whether or not you struggle with addiction, you are also sitting in these deeply u...

Healing From Grief Through Intentional Joy

December 29, 2020 11:00 - 37 minutes - 25.7 MB

Grief is a lonely journey. It's easy to become stuck. Unable to move forward. Unable to continue living fully. Incapable of finding joy. In 2012, Lisa Herrington experienced an unimaginable loss. Eight years later, she's channeled her experiences with living through profound grief into her new book, Your Amazing Itty Bitty Grief Book. On this episode of PeakConnection, Lisa discusses how she eventually was able to intentionally create joy in the midst of her grief, helping guide her back to ...

When Life Feels Uncertain—The Science Behind Assessing Risk

December 23, 2020 11:00 - 42 minutes - 29.1 MB

The human mind does not assess risk very accurately. Our emotions and preconceptions often color our ability to understand the most relevant factors. On this episode of PeakConnection, Dr. Toni Brayer, one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most respected physicians, discusses what we should consider when assessing risk of Covid-19 infection, when it comes to family, friends, colleagues or employers, and how to maintain our physical and mental health in the process. "...if there's anything th...

The Real Pandemic--How the U.S. Failed Mothers

December 17, 2020 11:00 - 23 minutes - 16.1 MB

Covid-19 has made the work-home-life balance more disproportionate than ever before. What has arguably been one of the most difficult periods to navigate has been downright impossible for some--mainly mothers. For decades, women have fought for equality--equal pay, equal rights, an equal seat at the table. However, within a few short months, and with school and childcare closures, many women find themselves utterly exhausted and burned out from trying to achieve the impossible task set befor...

Redefining Success Through Community-Driven Business

December 10, 2020 11:00 - 47 minutes - 32.6 MB

We live in a success-obsessed world. The perception of success often requires the pursuit of more traditionally stable career paths, leaving behind our dreams. But for MNT Pilates Studio founder and CEO Elaine Hayes, she's spent the past decade devoting herself to building a business out of her passion, centered around community. On this episode of PeakConnection, Elaine discusses the importance in creating a community-driven business, the success she's experienced because of it, and her rel...

Sticks and Stones—Solving Bullying Through Resilience Education

December 03, 2020 20:00 - 27 minutes - 18.7 MB

Feelings can be hurt and emotions triggered no matter what age. So, how do we teach our children to weather bullying, when we're struggling to do the same? On this episode of PeakConnection, renowned resilience educator, author, and sociologist Dr. Brooks Gibbs discusses the importance of regulating emotional responses to intentionally aggressive behavior and building a kinder more resilient future together. "So resilience education is the solution for bullying on campus or online, or an...

Navigating Complex Relationships During Complex Holidays

November 25, 2020 13:00 - 38 minutes - 26.2 MB

The holiday season presents us with its own set of challenges to navigate in any normal year. However, 2020 is not a normal year. Families everywhere are feeling the pinch of a growing political divide and Covid-19. So, regardless if its over Zoom or in person, how do we navigate already complex relationships with the added stressors of the past year? Clinical social worker and therapist Stephanie Bagley discusses the importance of maintaining and setting healthy boundaries for ourselves and...

Connecting Through Chronic Illness: A Story of Mentorship and Friendship

November 18, 2020 11:00 - 44 minutes - 30.9 MB

Clinical Psychologist Maggie Stagg shares her journey with her unexpected Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, and the equally unexpected opportunities for creating connections with others who share it. More specifically, PeakConnection host Lindsey Douros, who was recently diagnosed with the same chronic illness. In this episode, Stagg and Douros talk about how choosing to embrace their shared MS diagnosis has led to a more meaningful connection with each other, and makes the heavy load a little e...

Rethinking the Modern Childhood

November 12, 2020 11:00 - 34 minutes - 23.4 MB

Prominent author, speaker, and human behavior researcher Alfie Kohn is known for challenging widely-held beliefs about parenting and education. On this episode, Kohn discusses the importance of working with children to understand their perspective, rather than trying to buy their obedience with bribery or punishment, whether at home or inside the classroom. He shares radical steps for creating collaborative approaches to both education and parenting, where adults talk less and listen more. ...

Cultivating Resilient Children Through Resilient Parenting

November 05, 2020 12:00 - 29 minutes - 20.4 MB

In a world filled with division and uncertainty, parents and caretakers are feeling especially overwhelmed and hopeless as to what the future may hold, not just for themselves but for the next generation they're raising. Nationally renowned psychologist, author, and speaker Dr. Robert Brooks discusses coping mechanisms and strategies to help adults maintain hope and resiliency, while also encouraging the children in their care to do the same. "I view resilience as really the capacity to co...

Managing mental health through list making

October 18, 2020 11:00 - 41 minutes - 28.8 MB

Seattle-based best-selling author, designer, and online curator Moorea Seal discusses how she uses list-making as a powerful tool to manage mental health. She’s shared her habitual practice with others through her 52 Lists Project, in which she encourages everyone to harness their inner wisdom, strength, and self love through making lists. We talk about the inspiration behind her most recent book 52 Lists for Bravery, and how you, too, can be resilient and brave in the midst of life’s uncert...

Making Love Intentionally

October 03, 2020 11:00 - 1 hour - 43.2 MB

In the pressure cooker of daily life, we're often quick to prioritize our hobbies before our love lives. And when we're left grasping at the frayed edges of what was once a passionate love affair, we wonder how we arrived here. On this episode, renowned sex therapist, psychologist, author, and speaker Dr. Cheryl Fraser uses frank humor to address the importance of making love intentional, whatever your relationship status. “Don't take love for granted. Life is short. Things happen and we g...

Working mothers and Covid burnout—how to fill empty cups with self-compassion

August 13, 2020 11:00 - 36 minutes - 25 MB

During Covid-19, many parents are feeling overloaded and run down, but mothers and working mothers in particular are being asked to carry impossible loads. In this direct follow-up to episode 008, Dr. Lindsay Ulrey shares the importance for mothers and especially working mothers, in establishing "wellness rituals," but most importantly a strong sense of self-compassion. Dr. Ulrey addresses when and how to ask for help, as well as the benefits of working through hard things instead of turnin...

Weathering quarantine as a sober parent in an alcohol-obsessed culture

August 05, 2020 10:00 - 31 minutes - 21.4 MB

Quarantine has become a potential breeding ground for addiction. Mothers already struggle to navigate a culture that’s normalized drinking as an appropriate coping mechanism, and the habits we form in the secrecy of isolation can go unnoticed by friends and family. During a global pandemic, who’s going to question eating cookies at midnight or a second or third glass of wine? Writer, blogger, and sober mom of three Jessica Guerrieri talks about the pitfalls sober parents face during Covid-19...

The impact of adult ADHD on romantic relationships and maintaining connections

July 30, 2020 11:00 - 33 minutes - 23.2 MB

Maintaining a healthy romantic relationship is never simple. But it can be even more complicated when one of the partners experiences adult ADHD. Dr. Sam Jinich and Alexine Thompson FSP, LMFT, EFT discuss the importance of recognizing the effects of adult ADHD and hypersensitivity on romantic relationships, and how partners can be empathetic and compassionate towards one another. Learn coping mechanisms and how to address and work together to find solutions rather than focus on the negative....

A catalyst for kindness; investing in people

July 24, 2020 11:00 - 25 minutes - 17.5 MB

What would happen if you started investing in people first and business second? Actively pursued developing deeper connections over handing out business cards? In an egocentric world, what if we stopped for a moment and shifted the focus from ourselves to others? In this episode, Alex Rosenblatt sits down with “Chief Day Maker” and CEO of Client Giant Jay O’Brien to talk about how he ultimately turned his passion for helping others into an uplifting and successful business. While “paying it ...

Building Intentional Connections for Deeper Professional and Personal Relationships

July 07, 2020 10:00 - 35 minutes - 24.1 MB

Investing in intentional human interactions is rare in today’s tech-fueled world. We distract ourselves with artificial connections--alcohol, drugs, casual sex, work, and even social media. During these days of isolation and quarantine, our distractions are few and our need for kinship is great. In this episode, Alex Rosenblatt and New York Times Best Selling Author and TEDx speaker, Joe Sweeney discuss the importance of being vulnerable enough to look outside ourselves and give to others, e...