The Positive Mind

The feeling of home is as universal as it is personal. Home can be a place of safety and refuge, or chaos and instability. No matter which, home is the place you identify with in some way, it carries meaning, memories and shapes your identity. Homesickness is a powerful feeling that something just isn't right, coupled with a longing for things to be stable, predictable, familiar and safe. But, it is a fact of life that everybody has to leave home; how a person manages that stress can say a lot about their relationship with themselves and their ability to take a sense of "home" with them wherever they go. Kevin and Niseema talk about how homesickness can lead to depression, a sense of being lost, rootless and adrift. It's the mysterious and universal feeling of home that seems to root us in our very being, providing a shelter for those days and times when all seems lost. ------------------------------------ For more information or support contact Kevin or Niseema at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, Shadowfax Break Music: Original Composition by Geoff Brady End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Research and Production Associate: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

This week Kevin and Niseema talk about the Danish word "Hygge," which is a way of creating comfort and ease in your life. It is amazing how many ways we can create more comfort and ease in our daily rituals, from how we wake up in the morning, to how we live our day, to how we go to sleep. In the fall/winter season, there are so many ways to add pleasure to our lives, like wearing cozy wool socks, to making a cup of hot apple cider or hot chocolate. For the Danish, Hygge is a way of life, which explains why they are one of the happiest countries in the world. ______________________________ For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : "Another Country", Performed by: Shadowfax, Written and Produced by: Chuck Greenberg, Source:Windham Hill/Legacy Break Music: "Come Away With Me." Performed and Written by: Nora Jones, Produced by: Arif Mardin, Nora Jones, Jay Newland, Craig Street, Source: Blue Note Records End Music : "You Still Believe in Me." Performed by M.Ward, Written by: Brian Wilson and T Asher, Produced by: --, Source:Merge Records. The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

This week, Kevin and Niseema talk about the Vagus Nerve, a major nerve in the body that begins at the brain-stem and travels all the way through the vital organs to the sacrum. The Vagus Nerve helps control several muscles of the throat and voice, plays a major role in regulating the heart rate and keeps the gastrointestinal tract in working order. The Vagus Nerve has also been shown to have a very strong connection to how you manage stress. A weak Vagus Nerve is a major indicator that you have been suffering from prolonged and chronic stress. Niseema introduces a powerful tool for healing and balancing the Vagus Nerve called The Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP). The SSP delivers a passive stimulation of the Vagus Nerve to help increase its capacity to regulate the "fight or flight'' part of our nervous system which contributes to symptoms of anxiety and PTSD, and access feelings of safety and connection. ---------------------------------------- For more information or support contact Kevin or Niseema at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, Shadowfax Break Music: Original Composition by Geoff Brady End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Research and Production Associate: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

In our final show on Resilience, Kevin and Niseema talk about how "programming" in childhood can lead to inflexibility and a low level of resilience as an adult. Most often, children are programmed through negativity: "Don't do that. Don't touch that. Don't complain." This can force a child to create a "good child" persona that causes them to detach from a feeling self. They will carry this "good child" persona into adulthood, losing the capacity to be real to themselves, their friends or any future partner. Kevin and Niseema talk about ways to undo this terrible and destructive syndrome. ---------------------------------------------- For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : "Another Country", Performed by: Shadowfax, Written and Produced by: Chuck Greenberg, Source:Windham Hill/Legacy Break Music: "Trouble Man." Performed and Written and Produced by: Marvin Gaye, Source: Motown End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

In Part 3 of our series on Resilience, Kevin and Niseema talk about the difference between "strain" and "stress." Notice what happens when we change a familiar word like "stress" into a more accurate description like "strain." Are you "strained out?" One of the most universal sources of stress is strain. It can be a physical or psychological strain, and it can be caused by many different factors. For example, if you work long hours and don’t have time to spend with your family, that’s likely to cause some level of mental strain. Most of us have been dealing with a lot of strain since COVID began in addition to its aftermath, feeling our inner resources "strained" leading to "stress." Join Kevin and Niseema as they discuss strain, stress and how we can use those as tools to build resilience.

In Part 2 of our series on Resilience, Kevin and Niseema talk about defense mechanisms and an internal mechanism called "The Engineer" which wants to keep us from changing. "The Engineer" will work to sabotage any kind of alterations you want to make, even positive ones. This week's show is centered around learning how to have a dialogue with, and make friends with, "The Engineer" so you can make the changes you want to make. ---------------------------

We are kicking off a four-show series on resilience. In this time of COVID/post COVID stress and all that it entails, people's sense of resilience is very low. How are you doing with your resilience? Do you feel tapped out, that you cannot handle one more demand? Tune in as Kevin and Niseema talk about ways to refill your resilience tank to move forward with knowledge and purpose. ----------------------------- For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : "Another Country", Performed by: Shadowfax, Written and Produced by: Chuck Greenberg, Source:Windham Hill/Legacy Break Music: "Traction in the Rain." Performed, Written and Produced by: David Crosby, Source: Rhino Atlantic End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

This week Kevin and Niseema welcome Dr. Brenda Shoshanna, Ph.D, psychotherapist, Zen practitioner, speaker and author of the book, “Zen and the Art of Falling in Love.” Brenda shares with us her journey and understanding of how every person we meet can teach us how to love. In sharing this, she shows us ways that we can love without judgment, shame, or blame. _________________________________________________ For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : "Another Country", Performed by: Shadowfax, Written and Produced by: Chuck Greenberg, Source:Windham Hill/Legacy Break Music: "All You Need is Love." Performed by: The Beatles, Written by: John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Produced by: Giles Martin and George Martin, Source: UMC (Universal Music Catalog) End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

Falling out of love is a heartbreaking feeling. The expansiveness. warmth, and joy of being with your beloved is just gone. It may have happened suddenly or overtime, but there is no doubt that 'the loving feeling" is gone. This week Kevin and Niseema explore some of the reasons why what used be a "tuning in" to our partner, suddenly turns into a "tuning out." Expectations, lack of relationship skills, stress, personal history, our own body, etc., can turn that loving feeling into irritability and loneliness. If love is the antidote to loneliness, then what may be the antidote to the "loss" of love? -------------------- For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, Shadowfax Break Music: "Mean to Me", Performed by: Sarah Vaughan, Written by: Fred Ahert, Roy Turk,Produced by: J Isaacs, J. MCEWEN Source: Columbia/Legacy End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

This week Kevin and Niseema talk about the fear of letting people get close to you. How many people really know you? How many people do you feel close to? Closeness is often a trigger for most people. What happens to your body when people get too close? Kevin and Niseema explore the common fears that consciously or unconsciously keep relationships at an arm's length. The fear of being controlled, the fear of losing independence, the fear of vulnerability, all work to sabotage the desire for real closeness. This week's show talks about THE REWARD of letting go of those fears. For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : "Another Country", Performed by: Shadowfax, Written and Produced by: Chuck Greenberg, Source:Windham Hill/Legacy Break Music: "Nature Boy." Performed by: Nat King Cole, Written by: Eden Ahbez, Produced by: Lee Gillette, Source: Capitol Records End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

This week Kevin and Niseema talk about research into "memory" and how our adult brains impose a memory on to our childhood brain. Statistics consistently show that the adult brain often creates a faulty "memory" of incidents that happened in the past. It's as if the brain takes a photograph of a past event and then distorts or enhances the photograph. The brain will often create a faulty memory of what love looked like in our childhood, and then project this onto future loe relationships. It can be the cause of immense, and unnecessary, suffering. It is this faulty memory that we project onto our future love relationships. -------------------------- For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : "Another Country", Performed by: Shadowfax, Written and Produced by: Chuck Greenberg, Source:Windham Hill/Legacy Break Music: "Kodachrome." Performed, Written and Produced by: Paul Simon, Source: Legacy Recordings End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

Everything and everyone changes. What is revealed when the green leaves of summer turn so many varied colors? Each tree, each leaf, has specific traits to it. What if love's essence is an ability to see through the personality of our partner, to what is a completely unique constellation of traits that make them who they are. Kevin and Niseema explore the concept that it is this essence that delights us and makes us fall in love. Join us this week as we help you identify the traits of your partner that hint at their essence, and to also reflect on what they might see in you. ______________________________________ For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : "Another Country", Performed by: Shadowfax, Written and Produced by: Chuck Greenberg, Source:Windham Hill/Legacy Break Music: "This Nearly was Mine." Performed by: Frank Sinatra. Written by: Oscar Hammerstien II, Richard Rodgers. Source: FRANK SINATRA DIGITAL REPRISE End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

Love is a feeling, not a Hallmark card or a box of chocolates. It is deeper and harder than that. Love is not unconditional, it needs the right conditions to be present, to be felt. This week Kevin and Niseema talk about love and how it is the antidote to loneliness. In looking at the questions of the UCLA Loneliness Scale it becomes clear that a lack of love, or the feeling of love, is at the core of why loneliness is so ubiquitous. In looking at love and the ways it shapes our experience of living, we hope to inspire a thoughtful process about the meaning and feeling of love for you. -------------------------------- For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, Shadowfax Break Music: "As Time Goes By", Performed by: Dooley Wilson, Written by: Max Steiner, Source: WaterTower Music End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

In this final show on loneliness, Kevin and Niseema discuss the personality system called The Enneagram, and the nine different ways people hide their loneliness from themselves. What if all human beings could be understood as having one of nine personality styles? Knowing your own personality style might help you solve many problems in your life, including any loneliness you might have. In this show, Kevin and Niseema talk about six of the nine styles and how they lead to a sense of isolation and loneliness. They also talk about ways to end your style of loneliness. ________________________________ For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, Shadowfax Break Music: "Just the Way You Are" performed by, Billy Joel, written by Billy Joel, Produced by: Phil Ramone, Source: Columbia End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

This week, Kevin and Niseema talk about ways to recognize and cultivate “Companionship” and “Belonging,” the two themes of the Loneliness Scale questions, (see button below.) Did your parents have companions or feel a sense of belonging in their community or social circle? If not, you may have a high tolerance for isolation and loneliness yourself. Birth order is also a factor: first-born children are often the parent/caregiver's companions while last-born children are often the loneliest, especially in a large family. Hoarding and addictions can be seen as "companions" too: though in reality, both are very isolating, cutting us off from the sense of belonging we crave. It is a paradox! In the second half of the show Kevin and Niseema go through four steps that can help EASE your loneliness: Extend your boundaries, have Action plan, Select an activity, and Expect the best. By practicing these four simple steps anyone can move from a sense of isolation and loneliness to a place of companionship and a feeling of belonging. ----------------------- For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, Shadowfax Break Music:" Lonely Too Long." Performed by: The Young Rascals, Written By: Eddie Brigante, Felix Cavaliere, Source: Rhino Atlantic. End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

In Part 2 of our series on loneliness, Kevin and Niseema talk about the idea of having a "high" or "low" tolerance for loneliness based on your family heritage or genetic makeup. When you look at your own background can you see whether or not you have a high or low tolerance for loneliness? Does this make it easier for you to talk about loneliness in a non-judgemental, less shameful way? In the second part of the show, we talk about the physical effects of loneliness, and the wear and tear that it can take on both the heart and the immune system. John Caciopo in his book, "Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection," unveils his pioneering research on the startling effects of loneliness: a sense of isolation or social rejection disrupts not only your thinking abilities and willpower but also your immune system, and can be as damaging as obesity or smoking. His book demonstrates that, as individuals and as a society, we have everything to gain, and everything to lose, in how well or how poorly we manage our need for social bonds. Tune in next week when we talk about ways of minimizing and "easing" a sense of loneliness. Follow this link to take the UCLA Loneliness Scale ----------------------------------------- For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, Shadowfax Break Music: "In Dreams." Performed by Roy Orbison. Written By Roy Orbison,.Produced by Fred Foster. Source: Legacy Records End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

This week Kevin and Niseema talk about that other pandemic, Loneliness. In the 1970's only 11% of Americans reported feeling lonely. That number has more than tripled to 36% of all Americans, including 61% of young adults and 51% of mothers with young children. More and more people are expressing their feelings about loneliness yet we still can't seem to find the language to talk about it. How do you react when you hear someone say the words, "I am lonely?" Do you feel overwhelmed, burdened, that you must do something for the person? If you can learn to bear and sit with your own loneliness, you learn that you don't have to solve someone else's. In the second half of the show, Kevin and Niseema do an exercise that makes talking about loneliness as routine as talking about the weather. Ending your loneliness can be as easy as telling somebody about it. --------------------------------------- For more information or support contact hosts Kevin O'Donoghue LMHC or Niseema Dyan Diemer SEP at: info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter at www.tffpp.org. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, Shadowfax Break Music: "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" performed by, Elvis Presley, written by Lou Handman, Roy Turk, Source: RCA Legacy End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

Children learn to navigate their surroundings with little guidance except for the voices and actions of the adults who are responsible for them. These words, feelings, and behaviors shape who they become for better or worse. This Independence Day, join Kevin and Niseema as they explore steps outlined by Alice Miller, author of, "The Drama of the Gifted Child.” These steps help you discover your true nature, starting with your core "self" and working outwards. By identifying and learning to utilize these innermost traits, we give ourselves permission to be free! -------------------------------------------- For more information or support contact Kevin or Niseema at info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, Shadowfax Break Music: Original Composition by Geoff Brady End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer/ Research: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com

This week Kevin and Niseema invite Charley Wininger LP, LMHC, author of Listening to Ecstasy: The Transformative Power of MDMA, back for his third appearance on the show to discuss why he calls MDMA, "The Chemical of Connection." Charley reads pivotal passages that describe the physical and emotional responses that MDMA creates, as well as its bonding effects in both his relationship with his spouse and some courageous couples who are exploring MDMA as an option. Charley talks about a recent New York Times article that discusses FDA approval for the use of medical MDMA for treatments of PTSD, substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobias, eating disorders, depression, end-of-life anxiety and social anxiety in autistic adults. The FDA is currently in Phase 3 clinical trials that are expected to clear the way for legal use by 2023. ---------------------------------- Charley has compiled valuable resources for clinicians and explorers alike on his website http://www.charleywininger.com and through his You Tube channel Listening to Ecstasy. Here are a couple of videos that support and expand on what we talk about in the interview. MDMA IS a Gateway Drug: but to what? https://www.charleywininger.com/youtube-videos/2019/3/21/is-mdma-a-gateway-drug-and-could-that-be-a-good-thing Couples Sharing Good Chemistry: https://www.charleywininger.com/youtube-videos/2019/3/21/for-couples-sharing-good-chemistry Read The New York Times article on Phase 3 clinical Trials Charley cites: http://https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/03/health/mdma-approval.html -------------------------

Do you find yourself being pulled in two directions at once? Do you have many feelings about one aspect or one situation in your life? Sometimes, when we have a number of feelings running through us at one time, it becomes hard to find our ground and difficult to make decisions. What you might be feeling is called ambivalence, feeling two things at once (Ambi meaning two, and valence meaning feeling), which is not necessarily a bad thing. Culturally, we tend to admire the decisive, single-minded person who seems to know what they want and goes towards it. However, ambivalence awakens us to the complexity of being human, and the possibility for greater freedom and choice in our lives. Life is more than just pursuing goals; it is also about expanding ourselves by opening our senses to all the things we can feel. When feeling too much becomes too much!, a person can feel paralyzed and the single-minded goal pursuer can seem like a very attractive alternative. It does NOT have to be one or the other. Join Kevin O'Donoghue and Niseema Dyan Diemer as they explore how feelings of ambivalence play out in the context of relationships and current events. -------------------------------- For more information or support contact Kevin or Niseema at info@thepositivemindcenter.com, or call 212-757-4488. These are challenging times and we hope this episode served to validate and ease your anxiety about what you may be experiencing. Please feel free to also suggest show ideas to the above email. Thank you for listening, Kevin and Niseema www.tffpp.org https://www.kevinlmhc.com www.niseema.com www.thepositivemindcenter.com PRODUCTION CREDITS Opening Music : Another Country, Pure Shadowfax, Shadowfax Break Music: At Seventeen, Performed and Written by: Janis Ian, Source: Columbia/Legacy End Music : TFFPP Theme - Giullian Goiello for The Foundation for Positive Psychology The Positive Mind is produced with the help of: Engineering: Geoff Brady Producer/ Research: Connie Shannon Website Design and End Music: Giullian Gioello Marketing and PR: Jen Maguire, Maguire PR, jen@maguirepr.com