Charlie Swenson, MD and Nicoleta Helén - To Hell and Back: Life Survival Skills

In this episode, Charlie and Nicole speak with Beth about her son Ross who ended his life two years ago. We hear about Beth, the family, and Ross leading up to his death. In future episodes we learn how Beth and other family members have coped with the tragic loss. View video version of this podcast View Gallery

Be your best by inspiring the best in others. Join Nicole and Charlie as they tap into Cem Eren’s two-decades of wisdom training elite NBA athletes, boxers, bodybuilders, beauty contestants, and ordinary humans of all ages. In examples that apply to therapy and coaching, Cem shares how he meets his clients every single day with freshness, compassion, dignity, and nonjudgmental presence, helping them connect with their strengths while building toward their goals. Learn how to be your best by inspiring the best in others as Nicole and Charlie tap into Cem Eren’s two-decades of wisdom training elite NBA athletes, boxers, bodybuilders, beauty contestants, and ordinary humans of all ages. In examples that apply to therapy and coaching, Cem shares how he meets his clients every single day with freshness, compassion, dignity, and nonjudgmental presence, helping them connect with their strengths while building toward their goals.

Learn how to be your best by inspiring the best in others as Nicole and Charlie tap into Cem Eren's two-decades of wisdom training elite NBA athletes, boxers, bodybuilders, beauty contestants, and ordinary humans of all ages. In examples that apply to therapy and coaching, Cem shares how he meets his clients every single day with freshness, compassion, dignity, and nonjudgmental presence, helping them connect with their strengths while building toward their goals. In part one of a two-part conversation, Charlie and Nicole seek to discover the secret to world class trainer, Cem Eren's two decade career where he inspires greatness in everyone from first time gym goers, to elite NBA athletes, with tireless consistency and contagious joy. Sharing anecdotes about work with his clients, Cem gives insight into his own embodied mindset, providing a template for accessible and generous excellence that extends far beyond the weight rack and boxing ring.

What shapes the syntax of Self? How does context inform our inner lexicons? Are we more than the sum of all our actions? In this episode Charlie and Nic explore the ways we find meaning through expressing identity, how we hold space for inner contradictions, and why self definition is a paradox, ripe for dialectical intervention.

In this second of our two-episode conversation with Natalia Garcia about her grieving process over the years since the death of her two-year-old son, we focus in on her altered relationship to time, rituals, and anniversaries; her remarkable use of DBT skills and dialectics to navigate the grieving process; the ways that she has made meaning out of her suffering; and a dinosaur, a gift from a fellow griever. View video version of this podcast Gallery

Since Nicole joined Charlie as co-host, several long-time listeners have asked Charlie, Who IS that woman?! It’s actually a great question and the answer is far from simple. In this podcast, Charlie and Nicole explore their own self-narratives and expand into a larger conversation about how we all see ourselves, how we define ourselves, how we represent ourselves, how we are seen by others, and how that affects us. View video version of this podcast

In 2018, Natalia Garcia spoke with me over three podcast episodes about how she was dealing with the catastrophic and traumatic death of her two year old son eight months earlier. He died in the middle of the night for unexplained reasons. In three podcasts she spoke at length of her life, of the death itself, and then the road to recovery. In this week’s podcast, we reprise selected excerpts from those podcasts, capturing her words and her wisdom that grew out of this terrible loss. She inspires.

In June of 2018, eight months following the death of her two-year-old son to the Syndrome of Unexplained Death of a Child (SUDC), Natalia Garcia joined this podcast for three episodes to describe the catastrophic loss and the ensuing grief process marked by her courage and skill in facing her vulnerabilities. Now, five years since the loss, she returns to the podcast to talk about the longer arc of the process of grieving her son and things that have happened since then. As before, this is a moving and inspiring story of courage that deals with a panoply of issues faced in any longer-term grief process. View video version of this podcast

In this episode, Charlie reflects on 100 episodes spent exploring human suffering. He synthesizes wisdom from interviews including coping with natural disaster, loss of a child, suicide, and cancer, arriving at seven overarching guidelines for survival. View video version of this podcast

In the final episode of our 4 part Series on coping with Suicide in the family, we hear from Teddy’s fiancé Mariya. Mariya’s developed a personal friendship with Ross and shares about that relationship and her experience grieving his suicide. She also speaks about what it was like for her as someone outside the immediate family after Ross’ suicide: what it was like to be an outsider witnessing a family grapple with unspeakable loss, and how it felt to be a supportive partner to Teddy amidst her own grief. The interview provides a window into the breadth of relationships impacted by suicide and gives perspective into the complexity of managing grief within and outside of a family system. View video version of this podcast

In the 3rd of our 4 Part Series on coping with suicide in the family, we speak with Beth’s son, and Ross’ brother, Teddy. Teddy shares his perspective on growing up as an older sibling to a brother who struggled with painful emotions throughout his lifetime, on the close friendship they developed as they got older, and his inexhaustible capacity to access compassion and warmth. Teddy talks about being the person to find Ross after he took his life, navigating the mind-numbing administrative tasks that were required of him whilst being overwhelmed with emotion, and his instinct to surround himself with friends from the beginning to help him cope with a loss so great that, at times, it still doesn’t feel real. View video version of this podcast

In this episode, the third of four on how Andrea has coped with Cancer throughout 2022, her best friend Amy joins the conversation and they talk about what has happened in their friendship as a result of Cancer. How they have dealt with Cancer has enriched their friendship and their friendship has been key in helping Andrea to reduce her suffering and preserve her love of life. Totally sweet and inspiring! Check out the first two in the series, podcasts #87 and #93, where you get the detailed story of how Andrea has used DBT skills, dialectics, and mindfulness to navigate the myriad challenges that Cancer brings. View video version of this podcast

In this episode (part 2), Charlie and Nicole speak with Beth about her son Ross who ended his life two years ago. We hear about Beth, the family, and Ross leading up to his death. In future episodes we learn how Beth and other family members have coped with the tragic loss. View video version of this podcast View Gallery

Exploring the nuances of Narcissism