What is NeuroMeditation? When looking at mental wellness what does modern neuroscience reveal about the effectiveness of these ancient practices?

MEET Stephanie Best

Stephanie Best is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Certified NeuroMeditation Trainer, and two-time entrepreneur. She is passionate about helping high-achieving, anxious women discover their brilliance by connecting with their purpose, prioritizing their wellness, and living a courageously values-driven life. Backed by exceptional training and 20 years of clinical experience, Dr. Best uses an evidence-based mind-body approach to empower clients to create change that is both meaningful and long-lasting. She graduated with Highest Honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry. After earning a master’s degree in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Duke University, she opened her first private practice – BeWellNC – which she owned and operated for 10 years. During that time, she also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and was a contracting provider at the UNC WakeBrook Crisis and Assessment Service in Raleigh. In 2020, Dr. Best was invited to become a Program Lead for the cutting-edge startup Modern Minds, a novel mental health and wellness clinic affiliated with the Medical University of South Carolina. She moved to Charleston, where she also served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in MUSC's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. After ensuring that Modern Minds was on stable footing, Dr. Best returned to her entrepreneurial roots and opened her second private practice, Dr. Stephanie Best LLC. An expert practitioner of mindfulness- and acceptance-based interventions – including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) – Dr. Best has advanced training in mindfulness and completed an intensive course in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) at Duke Integrative Medicine. She is among the most highly certified trainers affiliated with the NeuroMeditation Institute in Eugene, Oregon and enjoys teaching others about the use of neuroscience-based principles and strategies to individualize the practice of meditation for optimal health and wellness. Dr. Best has maintained regular yoga and meditation practices of her own for over two decades, sustained by her direct personal experience of their empirically supported mental, emotional, and physical health benefits. She is dually licensed in both North and South Carolina and is a long-time member of the North Carolina Psychological Association, for whom she is proud to serve as the Federal Advocacy Coordinator. Outside of work, Dr. Best's heart lights up when she is scuba diving (or communing with Mother Ocean in any form), listening to live music, taking nature walks, playing piano, rooting for her beloved Tar Heels, and spending quality time with family and friends.

Find out more at Dr. Stephanie Best and connect with Stephanie on LinkedIn

Healthy Minds Program App

IN THIS PODCAST:

• Who is NeuroMeditation? 4:48
• What are the 4 styles of NeuroMeditation? 10:10
• What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy? 23:50
• What are the benefits of NeuroMeditation? 32:10

• How is NeuroMeditation different from other meditation practices?
• How does NeuroMeditation affect the...

What is poetry therapy, and how does it differ from traditional forms of therapy? How can poetry in therapy help your clients on their healing journey?

MEET Ashley Steineger

Ashley Steineger is a holistic psychologist and poetry therapist who has a passion for using holistic and creative healing modalities. She is the author of ‘The Poetry Therapy Workbook’ and runs workshops on how poetry can be used to help with anxiety, depression, and grief. Ashley works in a variety of settings including private practice. She has a special interest in working with Empaths, Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs), and anyone who has been told they are “too emotional” or “too sensitive.” Ashley is trained in Reiki and mindfulness instruction and loves collaborating with other holistic healing professionals.

Find out more at The Poetry Therapist and connect with Ashley on Instagram

The Poetry Therapy Workbook by Ashley Steineger

IN THIS PODCAST:

• Who is poetry therapy for? 6:35
• What are the benefits of poetry therapy? 8:32
• Poetry prompts for integrating into sessions 18:49

• Using poetry as a tool for evoking emotion
• The importance of finding what works for each client
• How to guide your clients through the process

• Finding beauty and healing in your pain
• How to promote empathy
• How to share your emotions in a safe way
• How to start incorporating poetry into your sessions
• Which clients resonate best with poetry therapy?

• What is “The Poetry Therapy Workbook?”
• Using song lyrics instead of poetry
• What is the “Power of the Mind?”
• How to be trauma-informed when using poetry in a session
• What are some challenges when using poetry in therapy?

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Self-Care for the Counselor: A Companion Workbook: An Easy to

How can we begin to normalize conversations about menstruation and menopause? How can we break the stigma around these topics?

MEET Heather Hendrie

Heather Hendrie is a Whistler nature-based therapist and writer originally from Guelph, Ontario who has lived in Cusco, Costa Rica, California, Colorado, and the Canadian Rockies before calling British Columbia home.

Heather holds a Bachelor of Kinesiology degree in Outdoor Pursuits from the University of Calgary, and a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counselling with a concentration in Transpersonal Wilderness Therapy from Naropa University.

Heather is also an author, and her intimate writing style draws on her varied life experiences and works as a clinical counselor to remind us all that in our tough or embarrassing moments, we are not alone. Heather’s first best-selling anthology, awfully hilarious: stories we never tell, won the Canadian Book Club Awards for Best Anthology in 2023. The second anthology in the series, period pieces, tells truths in an attempt to end shame around menstruation and menopause.

Heather considers herself to be an expert in play and JOY, and her inner child is obsessed with wearing all of her favorite patterned clothes at once.

Find out more at Heather Hendrie and connect with Heather on Instagram, and Facebook

awfully hilarious Instagram

awfully hilarious: period pieces by Heather Hendrie

awfully hilarious: stories we never tell by Heather Hendrie

IN THIS PODCAST:

• Why are these topics so difficult to discuss in our society? 5:08
• Self-publishing as a holistic Practitioner 15:03

• How is ignoring these topics harmful?
• Why is menstruation so deeply stigmatized?
• How is our mental health affected by not discussing menstruation and menopause?
• The importance of asking questions about these issues as a practitioner

• How can publishing a book help your practice?
• How to market your book as a therapist
• Finding the time to work on different projects
• The importance of finding your passion
• Resources for promoting your book

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How can mastering mindful breathwork techniques help you achieve overall well-being? What is mindful breathing and how is it different from regular breathing?

MEET Kelsey Rudzinsky

Kelsey Rudzinsky is a Registered Nurse and Certified Breathwork Facilitator with a deep passion for helping people connect more deeply with themselves and with nature. After a decade of working in Western Medicine Kelsey stepped away from nursing to travel the world and feed a hunger for a more meaningful life. Along this journey, Kelsey experienced the transformative power of breathwork and has never looked back. She is dedicated to giving as many people the opportunity to experience this incredible self-healing modality as possible. Outside of work she enjoys yoga, exploring new places, training for American Ninja Warrior, and spending time in Nature.

Find out more at Boston BreathWork and connect with Kelsey on Instagram

IN THIS PODCAST:

• What is breathwork? 8:05
• Who is breathwork for? 11:22
• What are the benefits of breathwork? 22:06

• What is a breathing pattern?
• Finding what works for you as an individual
• What is the difference between breathwork and meditation?

• How often should you practice breathwork?
• What is Coherent Breathing?
• Examples of different types of breathwork
• The importance of setting an intention

• Breathwork for creativity
• Finding your true voice
• Connecting to your spirit
• Breathwork and spirituality
• Being trauma-informed when it comes to breathwork with clients
• Are there any risks with practicing breathwork?

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Self-Care for the Counselor: A Companion Workbook: An Easy to Use Workbook to Support you on Your Holistic Healing and Counselor Self-Care Journey ... A Holistic Guide for Helping Professionals)

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What are some practical strategies for unlocking your intuition and spiritual gifts? How can we begin to trust our intuition and let it help us guide us as clinicians?

MEET Janee Paige

Janee is a Spiritual Advisor who specializes in Mediumship, Intuition Development, and Energy Healing.

Find out more at Goddess Of RJHS and connect with Janee on Instagram

EPISODE 161 BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN SPIRITUALITY & MENTAL HEALTH: INTERVIEW WITH JANEE PAIGE

IN THIS PODCAST:

• What is intuition? 2:58
• What blocks you from your intuition? 8:22
• Tips on developing your intuition 15:52
• Sit in on a reading with Chris McDonald 36:37

• Learning to listen to our inner voice
• Why does connecting with your inner self matter?
• What’s the difference between intuition and anxiety?
• What are some misconceptions about intuition?
• What is the difference between intuition and spirituality?

• Understanding what you need to work through as an individual
• What is Shadow Work?
• Interpreting and developing your intuition
• Why is intention so important when tapping into your intuition?

• The importance of meditation and self-care
• Breathwork and the importance of breathing properly
• How do you practice listening to your intuition
• What is energy work?
• Journaling and intuition
• How to incorporate movement into developing your intuition

• Asking for consent
• How to close out a reading

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Self-Care for the Counselor: A Companion Workbook: An Easy to Use Workbook to Support you on Your Holistic Healing and Counselor Self-Care Journey ... A Holistic Guide for Helping Professionals)

How can you break free from the restraints and judgments of a religious upbringing and begin to embrace your spiritual and intuitive gifts? How can you find your own healing path through spirituality?

MEET Samantha Bell-Walker

Samantha is an Intuitive, Healer, Psychotherapist, and Coach. She is a bright, bubbly person who loves to help heal others but has to walk through the shadows a time or two. She comes from a Southern Baptist upbringing where her gifts were dulled at an early age because she was “imagining things.” Suffering through generational and other traumas to find her voice took years, but she finally embraced her true self. The years of struggle, sacrifice, grit, and darkness that I endured led her to heal herself. This path of healing came after the death of her father. Helping him transition in those last days, made her realize her strength and selflessness. But the real test came within those next years, her dark knight of the soul era when the healer needed healing. Samantha’s personal therapy journey led her to holistic methods which led her to reiki and the rest was history. Her gifts resurfaced and magnified and her spirit pushed her out of her comfort zone to use them within her practice. Her sessions focus on creating a sacred space for individuals to be themselves holistically, spiritually, and mentally. She invites spirit into sessions for clients to be able to release things that no longer serve them. Her approach is collaborative and results in healing on a subconscious and conscious level. Samantha combines educational tools from the world of psychology such as Mindfulness, CBT, Somatic Therapy, and Family Systems with holistic and spiritual methods like Reiki and Energy Healing, Chakra clearing, EFT Tapping, Hypnotherapy, Herbalism, Sound Healing, and Oracle Readings. Her passions are trauma, generational trauma, ancestral healing, reading Akashic records and past lives, past life regression, hypnotherapy, shadow work, mirror work, cord cutting, and boundaries.

Find out more at The Attuned Clinician, A Ray Of Sunshine, Just Right Reiki, and connect with Samantha on Instagram

IN THIS PODCAST:

• How to recognize and embrace your intuitive gifts? 6:45
• Overcoming judgment when embracing your intuitive gifts 25:10

• The importance of finding a supportive community
• Incorporating holistic modalities into your healing journey
• Working through your core beliefs and embrace your intuitive gifts
• Spirituality vs. religion
• Accepting all parts of yourself as a healer
• What is your purpose?

• The power of acceptance
• Learning to grieve relationships that don’t work within your spiritual journey
• Combining religion and spirituality
• Using your intuitive gifts as a clinician

Instagram @holisticcounselingpodcast

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What are holistic therapy intensives, and how do they differ from traditional therapy sessions? How do holistic therapy intensives address the interconnectedness of mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being?

MEET Leah Barnes

Leah Barnes, LCMHCS, is the owner of Ridgeline Counseling and Supervision, PLLC where she provides online therapy to adults in North and South Carolina. She focuses on working with late-diagnosed or suspected Autistic and ADHD adults to get rid of internalized shame and ableism surrounding their neurotype, and learn ways to work with their brain, not against it. In addition to traditional weekly therapy, she offers therapy intensives to help clients dig deep into healing over the course of 1 to 3 days. She uses a variety of approaches during intensives, such as brain spotting, polyvagal techniques, therapeutic yoga, parts work, and more.

Find out more at Ridgeline Counseling, and connect with Leah on Instagram and Facebook

IN THIS PODCAST:

• What are therapy intensives? 2:58
• What are the benefits of therapy intensives? 9:19
• What therapy modalities can be used in therapy intensives? 15:45
• What are the challenges that come with this type of therapy? 25:09

• What is the difference between intensive and traditional therapy?
• Can you do therapy intensives virtually?
• How to schedule therapy intensives
• The importance of flexibility for intensives
• Why use therapy intensives?

• How can therapy intensives allow you to go deeper with clients?
• What type of clients would benefit from intensives?
• Who would not benefit from therapy intensives?

• The importance of having training in the modalities that you use
• How to schedule your intensive sessions
• The importance of utilizing an intake form beforehand
• What should your session's timeblocks look like?
• How to follow up after intensive sessions

• Managing your time and energy as a therapist
• How to integrate multiple modalities into a session
• Creating another revenue stream with therapy intensives

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How can you begin to incorporate unique self-care techniques into your practice? How can you begin to expand your self-care toolkit and elevate your overall well-being?

IN THIS PODCAST:

• In today’s episode, we dive back into some lesser-known self-care practices. We will look at 7 more self-care strategies that you can incorporate into your practice today!

Episode 173 Self-Care Practices You Might Not Have Heard Of Part 1

Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less

Outdoor Labyrinth behind Millbrook Baptist Church, 1519 E. Millbrook Road, Raleigh, NC 2760

The Horse Shoe Farm

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Rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

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Self-Care for the Counselor: A Companion Workbook: An Easy to Use Workbook to Support you on Your Holistic Healing and Counselor Self-Care Journey ... A Holistic Guide for Helping Professionals)

Claim your 30-Day Aura Guest Pass from Chris McDonald