the tara bixby podcast

Tracey Higgins joins us on the show today to share how she healed from schizophrenia after losing 19 years of her life to a condition that affects millions of people worldwide. At the age of nine, she was taken from her home where she became a ward of the state. Over the next 19 years, she moved around from hospitals, group homes, a juvenile center, and the streets. In her late twenties, Tracey found the courage to leave her schizophrenic world to help a child who was being sexually abused by her father; she discovered at the same time she too had been sexually abused as a child. That triggered off the healing process from her own dark world that robbed her of her dignity and basic human rights. When describing schizophrenia, Tracey calls it a waking nightmare. Coming out of it is a true awakening of oneself—becoming weller than well, a new version of self. It has been said that schizophrenia is an incurable brain disease, but is it? Tracey says no. She believes it's a survival mechanism brought on by disturbing or traumatic circumstances. Today Tracey is here to tell you that schizophrenia doesn't have to be a life sentence. While some mental health professionals called her hopeless, she went to college, worked in Government, and owned and operated a popular restaurant. We chat about... Where Tracey's mental health journey began What her symptoms looked like Why she calls her symptoms "reactions" What life looked like living with paranoid schizophrenia How she suffered from trauma amnesia What it was like to have the memories of abuse flood back How she navigated living with schizophrenia without medications What it was like to be a ward of the state Tracey's thoughts on what is wrong with our current mental health system Why Tracey's against the brain disease theory What she believes treatment should look like for people who live with schizophrenia Tracey's thoughts on what she believes leads to schizophrenia What she feels would have helped her back in the day Tracey's struggle with suicidal ideations What her mental health looks like today ____________________________ Click here to leave The Courageously.u Podcast a written review and rating. ____________________________ COURAGEOUSLY.U SHOW NOTES: https://courageouslyu.com/tracey-higgins/ COURAGEOUSLY.U INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/courageously.u/ COURAGEOUSLY.U FACEBOOK COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1416219115169393

Dr. Margaret Paul is a bestselling author, popular MindBodyGreen writer, and co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding® self-healing process, and the related SelfQuest® self-healing online program. She has appeared on numerous radio and television shows (including Oprah). Her book titles include Do I Have to Give Up Me to Be Loved By You, Healing Your Aloneness and Inner Bonding, and the recently published, Diet For Divine Connection and The Inner Bonding Workbook. Margaret holds a Ph.D. in psychology, is a relationship expert, public speaker, consultant, and artist. She has successfully worked with thousands and taught classes and seminars for over 50 years. Today we're chatting about... What the Inner Bonding process looks like How Margaret defines the inner child and the inner adult The two intentions of Inner Bonding How to know when you're in a loving adult state What happens when your adult becomes disconnected from your inner child The four major ways you abandon yourself How self-abandonment leads to the presentation of mental health symptoms What Margaret believes is the cause of our suffering How abandonment in childhood plays out in relationships Why it's never too late to use the inner bonding process How caretaking and niceness could be your wounded self attempting to control Tips to help kiddos learn inner bonding How to respond to someone who has a wounded soul ____________________________ Click here to download your anxiety freebie today! ____________________________ COURAGEOUSLY.U SHOW NOTES: https://courageouslyu.com/margaret-paul/ COURAGEOUSLY.U FACEBOOK COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1416219115169393 COURAGEOUSLY.U INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/courageously.u/

Before you can succeed at parenting, you must first succeed as a couple. Today's episode is for all the new parents, soon-to-be parents, or wanna-be future parents like myself. Today is an exciting day because I have not one but two guests joining me on the show. Kara Hoppe and Dr. Stan Tatkin join us on the show to discuss their new book Baby Bomb: A relationship survival guide for new parents. Baby Bomb is the resource you need when a new baby turns your life—and your romantic relationship—upside down. Today we're chatting about... How you and your partner can co-parent and co-partner as a solid and supportive team— while also cultivating mad love for each other Why Stan and Kara wrote Baby Bomb How a secure-functioning relationship is essential for raising happy, healthy kids Why it's important to put the relationship before baby What couples can do when a new baby turns their life upside down Why babies don't save marriages The importance of letting your partner know they are a priority Why it's a benefit to step back as a new mom and receive care How to communicate your needs better to your partner What to do when you're jealous of your own baby How to keep intimacy alive after baby The importance of meeting your own individual needs Grieving your pre-baby life Why it's important your relationship is in good shape before baby ____________________________ >>> CLICK HERE IF YOU'RE TIRED OF ANXIETY RUINING YOUR LIFE ____________________________ COURAGEOUSLY.U SHOW NOTES: https://courageouslyu.com/baby/ COURAGEOUSLY.U FACEBOOK COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1416219115169393 COURAGEOUSLY.U INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/courageously.u/

Katinka Blackford Newman is an award-winning documentary film director, journalist, and author. While going through a divorce, Katinka took an antidepressant. Not unusual – except that things didn't turn out quite as she expected. She went into a four-day toxic psychosis with violent hallucinations, imagining she had killed her children, and in fact attacking herself with a knife. Caught up in a real-life nightmare when doctors didn't realize she was suffering side effects of more pills, she went into a year-long decline. Soon she was wandering around in an old dressing gown, unable to care for herself, and dribbling. She nearly lost everything, but luck stepped in; treated at another hospital, she was taken off all the medication and made a miraculous recovery within weeks. Since then, Katinka has researched the side effects of antidepressants and interviewed some of the world's leading experts. Her best-selling book The Pill that Steals Lives has been featured on Radio 5 Live, BBC London, Good Morning Britain, the Victoria Derbyshire Show, and in The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Mail, and The British Journal of Psychiatry. In 2017 her research was made into a BBC Panorama program A Prescription for Murder which investigated whether an antidepressant could be the cause of one of the worst mass killings of this century. She is also the co-founder of a not-for-profit organization called Antidepressant Risks. Today we chat about... How Katinka lost a year of her life after taking Lexapro Katinka lacerating her arm with a knife The different medications Katinka was put on to try and treat the adverse effects of Lexapro How antidepressants are no more effective than a placebo The role drug companies play in the chemical imbalance theory How Katinka lost the ability to love, feel, care for herself, and show up for her children What mental health looks like in the UK The importance of recognizing red flags to adverse effects to medications What shocked Katinka most when doing her research How Katinka lost the will to live and her constant thought of "I want to kill myself" The realization Katinka had when she reflected on her father's suicide Why for-profit mental health services can be a dangerous situation ____________________________ >>> Click here if you're tired of living with anxiety and want a FREEBIE to help you heal it ____________________________ COURAGEOUSLY.U SHOW NOTES: https://courageouslyu.com/katinka-blackford-newman/ COURAGEOUSLY.U FACEBOOK COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1416219115169393 COURAGEOUSLY.U INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/courageously.u/

Nancy Colier joins us on the show to teach you how to let go of anxiety and free yourself from obsessive rumination. Nancy is a psychotherapist, interfaith minister, author, public speaker, mindfulness teacher, and relationship coach. She's a longtime student of Eastern spirituality and mindfulness practices form the ground of her work. She is the author of the recent, Can't Stop Thinking, The Power of Off: The Mindful Way to Stay Sane in a Virtual World, Inviting a Monkey to Tea: Befriending Your Mind and Discovering Lasting Contentment, and other books. Nancy is a national speaker on wellbeing and mindfulness, and technology-related topics including parenting, addiction, and work-life balance. She is also a regular blogger for Psychology Today and Huffington Post. Today we chat about... How Nancy's history of chronic rumination inspired her to write Can't Stop Thinking What it looks like to become addicted to your thoughts How Nancy categorizes addictive thinking What Nancy thinks we are really afraid of What calms down our compulsive need to think The importance of watching your thoughts and stepping away How to find freedom and peace from your thoughts What keeps us hooked to our thoughts Nancy's thoughts on toxic positivity and what you should do instead What rumination looks like and how to break free from your ruminating thoughts My struggle with rehearsing hard conversations in my head and the impact it had on my mood What to do when you're caught in what-if statements How to tackle worrisome thoughts that pop up at night The ability to choose whether you think about a thought ____________________________ Stop letting anxiety hold you back from living your best life! If you're ready to break free from paralyzing anxiety, I want to be your coach! I'm excited to announce that I'm now taking clients for 1:1 anxiety coaching. To learn more and sign up, visit courageouslyu.com/coaching or send an email to hello@courageouslyu.com to join my client waitlist today! ____________________________ COURAGEOUSLY.U SHOW NOTES: https://courageouslyu.com/nancy-colier/ COURAGEOUSLY.U FACEBOOK COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1416219115169393 COURAGEOUSLY.U INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/courageously.u/

Join me inside today's bonus closet conversation episode where I'm talking all things Fight-Flight-Freeze. P.S. Do you ever feel like your anxiety will always be a part of your life or you can't do anything without overthinking? If you're ready for personalized support, daily action, and a holistic approach to healing your anxiety and being free from overactive and intrusive thoughts, I'm here to help. While anxiety can be unpredictable, it's been my experience that it is NOT uncontrollable. I take a solution-focused approach to healing anxiety that allows you to take your power back, get out of your head and return to the present moment to finally enjoy your life again, without always feeling like you're suffocating. For more information, visit courageouslyu.com/coaching or send an email to hello@courageouslyu.com to join my client waitlist!

David Cohen is a professor of social welfare at UCLA. His research looks at psychoactive drugs (prescribed, licit, and illicit) and their desirable and undesirable effects as socio-cultural phenomena "constructed" through language, policy, attitudes, and social interactions. Today we chat about... What piqued David's interest in mental health Where he thinks the mental health model is going wrong What makes someone psychotic as opposed to not psychotic How drugs fail to stabilize people David's thoughts on the chemical imbalance theory When you're at most risk to commit suicide What the mental health system aims for The two different pathways to involuntary commitment The dark heart of involuntary commitment David's thoughts on medicating and diagnosing children Why psychiatric medication is not like insulin ____________________________ Stop letting anxiety hold you back from living your best life! If you're ready to break free from paralyzing anxiety, I want to be your coach! I'm excited to announce that I'm now taking clients for 1:1 anxiety coaching. To learn more and sign up, visit courageouslyu.com/coaching or send an email to hello@courageouslyu.com to join my client waitlist today! ____________________________ COURAGEOUSLY.U SHOW NOTES: https://courageouslyu.com/david-cohen/ COURAGEOUSLY.U FACEBOOK COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1416219115169393 COURAGEOUSLY.U INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/courageously.u/

Darcey Sergers joins us inside Episode 71 of The Courageously.u Podcast to chat about the time she lived with bipolar. Darcey lived with depression and anxiety on and off again beginning in her adolescent years. In 2016, after experiencing multiple stressors, she had a breakdown which led her to access psychiatric medications for the first time. A year-and-a-half after starting her medications, her symptoms began to worsen, and she knew she had to begin the slow taper off her medications. As she tapered off her medications, her trauma story began to unfold and she finally began the process of true healing. Now off all psychiatric medications, Darcey is advocating for everyone to get curious about the root cause of their symptoms, be open-minded to different forms of treatment, and to explore what mental health means to you. Today we are chatting about... The toughest thing for Darcey after she was diagnosed with bipolar Where Darcey's mental health journey began What her breakdown looked like Darcey's thoughts on taking control of your healing Why it's important to find a therapist that's a good fit for you The tole trauma played in the presentation of Darcey's mental health symptoms Darcey's soul-sucking journey with mental health medications What it looked like for Darcey to taper off psychiatric medications The importance of bodywork when healing mental health symptoms Why Darcey was not born with bipolar, depression, or anxiety ____________________________ Stop letting anxiety hold you back from living your best life! If you're ready to break free from paralyzing anxiety, I want to be your coach! I'm excited to announce that I'm now taking clients for 1:1 anxiety coaching. To learn more and sign up, visit courageouslyu.com/coaching or send an email to hello@courageouslyu.com to join my client waitlist today! ____________________________ COURAGEOUSLY.U SHOW NOTES: https://courageouslyu.com/darcey-segers/ COURAGEOUSLY.U FACEBOOK COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1416219115169393 COURAGEOUSLY.U INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/courageously.u/

Stop making excuses, friend! If there is something on your heart, do it. If you hate your job, leave it. If you want to build the life of your dreams, go for it. Whatever you do, stop making excuses for why you aren't doing the thing. In today's closet conversation, I'm hanging out with you with the hopes of delivering a dose of empowerment and inspiration. I'm sharing my fears, excuses, how I overcame them, and more. Oh yeah, one last thing, did you know I offer 1:1 anxiety coaching? Yup, I do! I look at the whole picture (trauma, lifestyle, diet, ACEs, thoughts, stress, etc). and help you heal the root of your anxiety. If you're ready to heal your anxiety, Click here to learn more.

Dr. Anna Lembke is a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. A clinician scholar, she has published more than a hundred peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and commentaries. She sits on the board of several state and national addiction-focused organizations, has testified before various committees in the United States House of Representatives and Senate, and maintains a thriving clinical practice. In 2016, she published Drug Dealer, MD – How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It's So Hard to Stop, which was highlighted in the New York Times as one of the top five books to read to understand the opioid epidemic. Dr. Lembke recently appeared on the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, an unvarnished look at the impact of social media on our lives. Her latest book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence explores how to moderate overconsumption in a dopamine-overloaded world. Today we are chatting about... What inspired Anna to write Dopamine Nation Anna's definition of addiction The 3 C's of diagnosing addiction The neuroscience of addiction Whether or not we all have a drug of choice How the mere anticipation of our drug of choice gives us a dopamine hit What drives cravings The role substances play in the presentation of mental health symptoms Whether or not there is such a thing as an addictive personality The problem of overprescribing psychotropic medications How to reset your dopamine threshold The number one risk factor for addiction How drugs are becoming a substitute for self-care The opioid epidemic and the rise of benzodiazepine prescribing What the addictive potential for drugs is Why there's power in sharing your shame The addictive potential of different drugs What abstinence violation syndrome is The impact substances have on a growing fetus's brain My struggle with sugar as my drug ____________________________ ALL THE GOODIES FROM THIS EPISODE: I'm excited to announce that I'm now taking clients for 1:1 anxiety coaching. To learn more and sign up, Click here or send an email to hello@courageouslyu.com to join my client waitlist today! ____________________________ COURAGEOUSLY.U SHOW NOTES: https://courageouslyu.com/anna-lembke/ COURAGEOUSLY.U FACEBOOK COMMUNITY: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1416219115169393 COURAGEOUSLY.U INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/courageously.u/