a podcast at the intersection of Christianity & mental health.

Episodes

Posts in Main Episodes
112 - Staying Emotionally Healthy During Election Season

Yikes! In the United States, it's currently the last few weeks of the 2020 Presidential Election (along with various down ballot elections). This is an understandably hard time for lots of us, so Robert and Holly got together to talk about some tips & ideas for how to try and stay healthy over the next few weeks. Or next few months. Or next few years. I dunno, it seems like it's always election time now.

Read More
110 - Coping Skills for Kids (feat. Janine Halloren)

This week, we talk with Janine Halloren about kids! Their emotions, being flexible, helping them learn coping skills, and things we can remember as adults. Janine is a counselor who's worked with kids and families for over 20 years, the author of multiple books, the founder of CopingSkillsForKids.com, and a mother of two kids herself.

Read More
109 - Teens, Stress, & Mindfulness (feat. Gina Biegel)

This week we're joined by Gina Biegel, LMFT, an expert in working with teens related to stress. We talk about the challenges today's teens are facing (preCOVID and now), why she recommends mindfulness, some practical ways for teens to cope with stress, and how we can best support them. Gina is the founder of StressedTeens.com, author of various books about teens & stress, and the developer of mindfulness-based stress reduction for teens (MBSR-T).

Read More
108 - Balanced Working Moms (feat. Dr. Amber Thornton)

We're kicking off Season 5 with Dr. Amber Thornton, founder of Balanced Working Mama. We talk with Dr. Thornton about a the challenges workings moms face (both pre-COVID and now), why those persist despite changing views, and ways to keep a holistic view of health in mind for yourself or the working moms you know.

Read More
107 - Why Small Changes Are the Key to Changing Your Brain (feat. Dr. Alex Korb)

It’s our last interview of Season 4! We’re glad to be joined by Dr. Alex Korb, a neuroscientist and author of The Upward Spiral: Using Neuroscience to Reverse the Course of Depression, One Small Change at a Time. We talk about what motivates us, why small changes are the way to changing your brain, and what’s wrong with the common idea that depression or anxiety is simply “something wrong with our brains.”

Read More
106 - Rumi, Personal Healing, & Fighting Injustice with Love (feat. Melody Moezzi)

This week we’re joined by Melody Moezzi, author of the new book The Rumi Prescription: How an Ancient Mystic Poet Changed My Modern Manic Life. She talks with us about Rumi, her experiences with a bipolar diagnosis, the challenges between faith & mental healthcare, and how to fight injustice with love instead of anger. In the intro, Robert & Holly talk about end-of-the-school year traditions.

Read More
104 - Being Present to Ourselves & Our Stories (feat. K.J. Ramsey)

How do we give up on ‘hiding in hurry,’ opting instead to be present to our bodies and our stories? Therapist and author K.J. Ramsey joins us to talk about her new book This Too Shall Last, her own story, and how we can shift from thinking pain is a problem to be solved to seeing it as a story to tell. In the intro, Robert & Holly offer some words for those graduating.

Read More
103 - How We Move Through Suffering (feat. Dr. Daryl Van Tongeren & Sara Showalter Van Tongeren)

What do we do when faced with suffering (either our own or someone else’s)? Dr. Daryl Van Tongeren and Sara Showalter Van Tongeren (authors of the new book The Courage to Suffer) join us to talk about existential questions, facing the darkness, and coming out on the other side. They walk us through the steps of Sunset, Dusk, Midnight, Dawn, and Daylight, explaining the importance of meaning-making and how we can help each other.

Read More
102 - Communication as Relationship-Building (feat. Dr. Heather Thompson Day)

How do we communicate well? Do the same principles apply to settings like one-on-one, preaching, writing, or posting online? We talk with communication expert Dr. Heather Thompson Day about all of that and more! (Communication is really about listening! Why should we tell stories? What about ‘platform building’?)

Read More
101 - Building a Sound Relationship (feat. Dr. Rod Hetzel & Dr. Susan Matlock-Hetzel)

This week, we’re joined by relationship experts Dr. Rod Hetzel & Dr. Susan Matlock-Hetzel who talk us through the Sound Relationship House Theory. They explain how to build trust and commitment in your marriage or partnership, using ideas like building love maps, sharing fondness and admiration, turning towards instead of away, keeping a positive perspective, managing conflict, making life dreams come true, and creating shared meaning. If that list seemed like a lot, it’s because we cover a ton of ground in this episode! In the intro, Holly gets surprised by a guest!

Read More
100 - Balancing Working from Home with Intentional Family Time (feat. Dr. Karen Melton & Dr. Sara Perry)

For many of us, we’re trying to figure out working from home while balancing family needs for the same time. To help talk us through some practical tips and ideas, we brought on two guests: Dr. Karen Melton (an expert on family leisure time) and Dr. Sara Perry (an expert on working remotely). They help us talk through the challenges, potential ideas, and helpful reminders for making this time work as well as we can.

Read More
99 - Mindful Practices for Rekindling Your Faith (feat. Steve Wiens)

This week, we’re joined by Steve Wiens to talk about his new book Shining like the Sun: Seven Mindful Practices for Rekindling Your Faith. He talks about using practices like attentiveness, simplicity, and rhythm to find the Divine, as well as talking some about picking up poop. It’s a good one, we promise.

Read More
98 - Thinking About Sick Systems, Caring for Sick People (feat. David Finnegan-Hosey)

Today we talk with David Finnegan-Hosey, a college chaplain who’s written about his experience with inpatient treatment for Bipolar Disorder. We hear about that experience and then take a deep dive into his latest book, Grace Is A Pre-Existing Condition: Faith, Systems, and Mental Healthcare. We talk about seeing sick systems instead of sick people, ‘thoughts and prayers’, and how faith communities can care for those with mental health concerns while helping to change harmful systemic problems.

Read More
Checking In: How Are We Doing?

This episode is different from anything we’ve done on CXMH before: it’s an episode just checking in with Robert & Holly to see how we’re doing amidst the chaos of the current moment. This conversation is less as professionals and more as just human beings who are also navigating the uncertainty and changes that the COVID-19 pandemic have brought.

Read More
95 - 3 Shapes of Pain & What Divine Love Has to Say (feat. Seth Haines)

We’re joined this week by Seth Haines, author of the new book The Book of Waking Up: Experiencing the Divine Love That Reorders a Life. He tells us his story of realizing he had a drinking problem and finding sobriety that inspired his first book, Coming Clean. Then we talk about his new book, 3 common shapes of pain, how divine love responds, our unhealthy addictions/attachments, and more. In the intro, Robert & Holly celebrate Holly getting tenure.

Read More