Beyond Your Past Radio

We're talking to an essential employee, and offering support, encouragement, and validation to everyone who is on the front lines in hospitals, doctor's offices, animal hospitals, grocery and food store workers, and so many others who are dealing with a seemingly unending amount of stress and uncertainty. 

We share insight, tips, and strategies to help everyone who has to be away from home, away from family, friends, pets, and their usual routine. The long hours, lack of sleep, lack of personal time, and feeling like there's no end in sight can be debilitating and take its toll on not only our physical health but our mental health. 

Joanne and Matt talk about ways essential workers can cope and reach out for support. 

Mindful Breathing, Planned Worry Time, Exercise, Focusing on What You Can Control, Understanding and Embracing that this is a Season, Telling Your Family What You Need, Doing Everything Mindfully and Intentionally, and more!

If you have a question, suggestion, or comment, please reach out anytime at BeyondYourPastRadio.com - we'd love to hear from you. 

The next episode will focus on helping loved ones and those who are at home holding down the fort while their partners are away. 

The long-awaited and wildly anticipated (more or less) return of the Mental Health Megacast is here! Season 3, Ep. 2 I believe is where we are, although truth be told it's hard to say for sure what episode it is. If you're a regular listener of these podcast episodes with Wes, Mike, and Myself, you know that episode numbers and times are a running joke with us.

Anyways, on to the topic of What We've Learned About Ourselves Through Therapy. We discuss, in a round table format coming from 3 guys who are mental health advocates and recovering from our own struggles, not only what we've learned but also the struggle of overcoming the shame and stigma that therapy can bring.

It's a candid chat where we talk openly about our own lessons and struggles and ways we've found to overcome some aspects of our past and of course still continue to figure out much of it as we go.

Healing from physical pain, disease, or trauma is not an exact science; there is no "one size fits all" approach to healing. Each of us is different and experiences the feelings and emotions that come from healing in different ways, and of course on our own timeline. 

We talk often on the podcast about different ways that survivors of trauma, chronic pain, or illness, have found to embrace healing. The ways they have taken what's happened to them in life and figure out a way to turn it into a learning experience and being able to help others. Our guest on this episode, Amy Oestreicher, using art and creative expression in her journey, and she talks about that with us in an inspiring chat that is sure to leave you encouraged. 

Amy is many things, but first and foremost, she is a storyteller...she is an artist, writer, and influential speaker whose work is rooted in inspiration and built to be eclectic. From the visual arts to music to writing to education, click on any of the pictures above to explore her work and services offered. These include offerings such as a variety of hailed workshops and outreach programs, the sale of her visual art and fashion line, her original multimedia solo-musical PASSAGEWAYS, and her newly released book available below!

During our chat, Amy talks more about how she uses creative expression to heal and navigate PTSD:

• Amy talks about the 29 surgeries she's had throughout her life and a backstory of how she first ended up in the hospital with a condition that nearly killed her.
• How does she cope with emotional and physical healing; the sexual abuse she experienced and the physical trauma. How is emotional recovery different than physical recovery. 
• The four hardcore skills to resilience that have helped her. 
• How creativity can be anything you want it to be, and the importance of being ok with making mistakes. In addition, how the approach to writing and creative expression in similar to the approach she takes in all of her life. 
• Why she wrote her book, My Beautiful Detour, and the message she wants to share with everyone.