The Finding My Psych Podcast

"The most important moment is now!" Grounding Exercises For Anxiety A listener reached out inquiring about managing moments of acute anxiety and feeling overwhelmed at work. Today, we discuss the power of "Grounding," an approach that interrupts the mental and physiological response to anxiety. We provide five powerful techniques that are easy to remember, approaches that are also good for managing the life-long symptoms associated with trauma. Episode Outline Welcome to Episode 54:...

"Your emotional life should not be your anvil." Professional and Personal Growth Insights In today's episode, I walk through a series of insights on professional and personal growth as part of my Autumn period of self-reflection. I challenge the idea that our work and home life should be considered separate. I also consider the importance of being comfortable with who you are and your accomplishments as a part of emotional wellbeing. Episode Outline Welcome to Episode 53: Professional and...

""Perfection is not attainable, but oddly, we keep trying." Perfectionism Is Destructive In a previous article on Finding My Psych, we explored the application of the Triple Column Technique on addressing perfectionism. Today, in this solo episode, I addressed my own experience with perfectionism and provide some suggestions for containment. I find myself trapped in perfectionism at work as a healthcare professional. While this approach is often viewed as an asset, it's not sustainable....

"Resist indulging in negative self-worth." - Rich Roll Promoting Hope I review recent thoughts on the pervasive hopelessness invading our culture. After stumbling onto a recent reflection by Rich Roll, I couldn't help but be impacted by his persistent hope promoting approach found in his work as a content creator, athlete, and human being. The reflection caused me to examine negative perceptions of my past and the murky vision of the future that I have insidiously slipped into. From a Health...

"Alcohol is subtractive by its very nature" My Relationship With Alcohol In this solo episode today, I talk about the influence alcohol has had on my life. I am quick to state that I am not an alcoholic. I have no tragic story about how alcohol has destroyed my family or caused cancer. However, I do have a story about my relationship with alcohol and how it is easily the most subtractive activity that I participate in. If you are considering making changes to your alcohol use, we suggest two...

"At the end of life, we all want to talk about it, but don't know where to start." Interview with Amy Robertson - Rest and Dying We are honoured to have, Amy Robertson, MSc. OT, on the Finding My Psych Podcast today. Amy and I discuss her most recent decision to move back to the East Coast to be closer to family. We spend time talking about the power of hitting the reset button in life and excitement/anxiety that come along with taking strategic leaps. Finally, we acknowledge that radical...

"I'm embarrassed sometimes, seriously!" Vegan Living Episode The evidence is clear - A plant-based vegan diet is protective against emerging disease and in some cases can reverse symptoms associated with heart disease, diabetes, etc. The Finding My Psych team is dedicated to promoting emotional wellness, preventative dietary habits, and physical fitness; A well planned plant-based vegan lifestyle checks all these critical boxes. Sometimes our health focused mission in the media gets...

"Some view their history as opportunity." Definition and Application of Post-Traumatic Growth We are all familiar with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This potentially debilitating presentation is found in individuals that have suffered traumatic experiences, typically from external forces with significant power over the individual. PTSD is often the result of war, childhood physical and/or sexual trauma, etc. Recent research reveals another group of individuals with lived trauma...

"Motivation emerges on our path, not before it." Health Psychology: Building Our Framework In today's episode, we return to basics and provide a detailed framework for positive health outcomes through the lens of Health Psychology and Behavioural Medicine. In the past, we have barely touched on the important contribution that behaviour has on physical and emotional wellbeing. With an understanding that approximately 50% of mortality from leading causes of death is related to behaviour, it is...

"Journal to gain insight about your most used thinking fallacies" Expanding Cognitive Distortions In today's episode, we expand on work by Dr. David Burns as we explore common thinking fallacies we all, at one time or another, find ourselves using. In our previous three-part series on cognitive behavioural therapy skill building, we define frequently used distortions in every day thinking. Since, the addition of five thinking errors, or fallacies, has become popular amongst the therapeutic...

"When you are in your 20s, your body has not yet learned how to let you know that you are doing too much!" Injuries in Older Runners In today's episode, I reflect on the pitfalls of running that become more probable as we age. As we move through our 40s, new problems appear. While our cardiovascular fitness remains strong with each decade, our body's ability to maintain the speed of our 20s quickly slips by. Our muscles, joints, and tendons also change, leading to, '40+' injuries that...

"It's okay to feel like there is nothing left to give." Recovering from a Fitness Setback In today's episode, I reflect on my own physical and emotional fitness setback. The COVID19 experience has whittled away at everyones health. While we find ourselves trying to survive each horrific news cycle describing the race to vaccinate before variants shove us back towards a hopeless scenario of having no vaccine at all, emotionally and physically, we have given up. I reveal my own physical and...

"Best advice? Just do it!" Behavioural Activation in Action In today's episode, I bring us back to basics in a review of how behaviour impacts wellness. I share my personal experience several years ago when I went through a depressive episode - I realize now that activating adaptive behaviour would have helped in treating difficult to manage symptoms. Behavioural Activation techniques also apply to the field of health. I share my difficulty on the weekend with, 'getting moving' in the...

"Spirituality is not necessarily religiosity." An Important Follow-Up In our previous episode, "Review of Netflix Series Surviving Death - Spirituality in Psychology," on the Finding My Psych Podcast, we believe that we missed an opportunity. In our excitement, it is clear that we glossed over the impact of spirituality on wellness. In today's follow-up, I spend some time discussing my own perspective on spiritual practice and health. I also review three peer-reviewed articles examining the...

"There were moments of credibility...but..." Discussion on, "Surviving Death" We get together to discuss the recent release, "Surviving Death" on Netflix. The show caused significant reaction for both of us, and sparked conversation about our own beliefs about the after-life and spirituality. In our review, we weight both the believable aspects of the series, and the places where the show fell apart. Both physician interviews found in the first and fifth episodes added credibility. All three...

"See you later, worst year ever!" Johnny Returns for New Year's Eve 2021 Wow, this past year has been one hell of an experience. While we are not out of the woods yet in our international response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a lot of room for celebration. Over the next several months, vaccines will be readily available to the world population. People will return to the office, and we might even get to shop without a mediatory mask mandate (I mean, masks are okay...but yah...) Johnny...

"Diet is king, up to the standard energy compensation rate." Weight Loss and Minutes of Exercise In today's episode, we review a recent study published from the College of Sports Medicine in Sports and Exercise, in an effort to understand the connection between exercise minutes and weight loss. In other words, how much exercise is required to lose significant weight for those starting their first exercise program? The article, "Exercise for Weight Loss: Further Evaluating Energy Compensation...

"You already have everything you need..." Why Digital Minimalism? In today's episode, I reflect on the attention dominating and anxiety provoking nature of modern tech on our day-to-day lives. After briefly discussion to leaders in the digital minimalism space (Cal Newport and Matt D'Avella), I review my own maximalist ways. This is followed by a review of how I am addressing each primary area (physical tech, apps on my phone, and the tools we use at Finding My Psych). Two Critical Questions...

"Body fat percent is more important than weight." Critical Metrics and Health Monitoring In today's episode, we provide a basis for monitoring health related outcomes using metrics supported in the peer reviewed literature. It is suggested that weight, body fat %, nutrition counting, movement throughout the day, and alcohol consumption are the most basic and critical measures for monitoring wellness. We go on to provide an advanced set of metrics available in the Garmin Connect and Apple...

"Your are the best thing that has happened to me." Today's Show - Our Questions For Couples Johnny Killick, chief editor at Finding My Psych, joins his husband Jerod on the show today to discuss togetherness. Jerod and Johnny review twenty curated questions for couples, revealing that, in the end, loving each other is tied to fostering mutual curiosity and commitment, especially in difficult times. Episode Outline Welcome to 035 - 20 Questions For Couples What We Do:Behavioral Medicine and...