Dani's Therapy Story: Getting comfortable with messiness

In part two of this two-part episode, Michael sits down with Steph Barron Hall once again, only this time a year into her therapy experience. Steph shares how she has learned self-compassion and how to allow time for herself in order to process her thoughts. She talks about how she has become a more healthy Enneagram 3 and can let down her walls and be more authentically herself. After listening to Part 1, we think you'll hear a whole different therapy story. 

This is the first part of a 2-part episode with Steph Barron Hall, an Enneagram 3 who had just begun going to therapy again when I interviewed her last year. In this episode, Steph talks about her experience with therapy and how she had finally gotten to a place in life where she could allow herself to feel emotions and acknowledge big changes. But, when we listened to this episode back almost a year later, Steph and Michael both noticed something really important: Steph still seemed extremely guarded. In next week's episode, you'll be able to compare Steph's demeanor, voice, tone, and level of vulnerability from the time this first episode was recorded, to the interview I do with her almost a year into therapy. We'll be the first to tell you - expect BIG changes. 

Jessica is a bold Enneagram 8 who speaks from a place of experience on so many topics. She started therapy at a young age after a scary and traumatic home break-in that would continue to affect her into her adult life. After years of deep personal work, Jessica is now an Enneagram Coach helping other people find liberation and claim the life they deserve!In this episode, Jessica walks us through what it’s like to process childhood trauma, racial trauma, and overcome extremely dark feelings. Despite everything she’s experienced, Jessica still approaches life with an incredible amount of joy. You can find her on Instagram at @Jessicaddicksoncoaching. 

If you ever need someone to stand up for you, or teach you how to stand up for yourself, Amanda is the perfect person to go to. She's a bold Enneagram 8 who admits she can turn on the charm, but has also confronted her therapist when she didn't think her therapist was being hard enough on her. In this episode, Amanda talks about the effects of childhood abuse, expectations related to religion and church, parenting, going to marriage counseling, and so much more. Find her at AmandaSteed.com to see what she's doing in her own therapy practice, now. 

Dani is a huge advocate for self-discovery. As an Enneagram 1, her go-to mode is to fit everything into boxes and check to-do items off a list. In this episode, Dani talks about how her experience in therapy has helped her break down walls, be vulnerable, and be comfortable when things get messy - even though that's the exact opposite of her natural tendencies. Because her journey has been so transformational to her own life and her relationships with her husband of 24-years and her three kids, Dani has turned self-discovery into a career. Now, she's a certified Enneagram coach and teacher who helps others find joy in their own journeys. 

Vanessa is an entrepreneur, a daughter of immigrants, a mom of four, and a fierce Enneagram 3 who has openly wrestled with discovering her own worth and value. In this episode, Vanessa talks about what it was like to search for a therapist who would genty guide her to figure out what she needed from herself, rather than give her a list of things she needed to fix. And, she discusses how she continues to grow and disrupt generational trauma for her own children. Now, Vanessa is helping other people discover their own worth and value through Enneagram Coaching. Her personal healing story paired with her heart to help other people find their own healing journeys is incredibly powerful. 

Jim is an open book, but he hasn’t always been that way. After years of hard work in therapy, he recently decided it was time to share his story. In this episode, you’ll follow Jim’s incredible journey from growing up as a young gay man in Texas, to grieving the loss of several people in his family, to going to a 28-day in-patient rehab center to work through an extremely traumatic experience. Through it all, Jim has learned what it means to be “open” with his therapist and with himself. As a result, he has incredible insights on going from low lows, to learning to fiercely accept and love yourself for who you are. To say his story is powerful is an understatement. 

If you saw Oliver, you’d see a big, bearded, force to be reckoned with. What you wouldn’t see is the soft-hearted father of girls who cried during “Disney on Ice.” In this episode, Oliver talks about growing up with fundamentalist expectations of “manliness,” his struggle to find a safe therapist in his adulthood, and his journey to healing from an extremely traumatic experience that stuck with him for years after it happened.Oliver dives into specifics about what methods worked for him in therapy, how he went from deep shame to gratefulness, and how his perception of himself has changed after years of work with his trusted therapist.