Polyamory: A Clinical Toolkit for Therapists (and Their Clients) with Martha Kauppi

Host Anna Lindberg Cedar MPA LCSW LICSW leads you through a tour of Therapy For Real Life Podcast's greatest hits. Anna started the Therapy For Real Life Podcast in 2019 to expand access to burnout prevention concepts by adapting them into self-care skills for everyday use. Listen in as Anna shares favorite clips from past episodes, including relaxation exercises, self-care tips, and interviews with guest experts. The full library of Therapy For Real Life Podcast episodes is available on the TherapyForRealLife.com > Podcast tab. Listen to favorite past episodes anytime you like to support your ongoing self-care. Today’s episode includes an important show announcement. This is not therapy. This is real life. Therapy For Real Life. Learn more: WorkshopsForRealLife.com and TherapyForRealLife.com .

Burnout was not a new concept for most helping professionals even before the start of the global pandemic. Now, the pressures facing helping professionals can better be described as burnout on top of burnout on top of burnout. Host Anna Lindberg Cedar, MPA, LCSW talks with guest expert Elizabeth Horevitz, PhD, LCSW about the unique challenges that healthcare professionals face working with limited resources and amidst overwhelming need. Dr. Horevitz has experience working in safety net systems of care and specializes in burnout prevention among helping professionals. Together, they discuss the overall concept of burnout as well as many of its interlocking parts, such as: compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and moral injury. Learn about the psychological theories and practical concepts that guide these experts in their work in burnout prevention, both for themselves and others. This is not therapy. This is real life. Therapy For Real Life. Learn more: TherapyForRealLife.com and WorkshopsForRealLife.com .

Host Anna Lindberg Cedar, MPA, LCSW interviews Jennifer Heisz, PhD to discuss the healing power of exercise. Dr. Heisz is a neuroscientist, the Director of the NeuroFit Lab at McMaster University, and author of the book, Move The Body, Heal The Mind: Overcome Anxiety, Depression, and Dementia and Improve Focus, Creativity and Sleep . Dr. Heisz describes the many powerful benefits of exercise throughout her book and even offers step by step suggestions on how to use exercise to shape desirable functioning in the brain and mood. Listen in to learn some surprising facts about the neuroscience of exercise. This is not therapy. This is real life. Therapy For Real Life. Learn more: TherapyForRealLife.com and WorkshopsForRealLife.com

Coping with uncertainty is profoundly challenging. Host Anna Lindberg Cedar MPA LCSW shared simple self-care strategies two years ago as the global pandemic was just beginning. Now, we revisit that episode as an opportunity to refresh our ability to cope with uncertainty. As we know, uncertainty is a stressful trigger for human beings at any time, but the prolonged uncertainty of a global pandemic requires endurance and more consistent self-care. Learn what you can do to manage difficult feelings, such as anxiety, overwhelm, and despair, during times of crisis or uncertainty. Learn about self-care and relationship skills that you can use to boost a sense of security, even when you are facing legitimate fear or danger. This is not therapy. This is real life. Therapy For Real Life. Learn more: TherapyForRealLife.com and WorkshopsForRealLife.com [This episode was originally published in March of 2020.]

Martha Kauppi is a marriage and family therapist, educator, supervisor, and certified sex therapist who specializes in working at the intersection of sex and relational issues. She recently published the book Polyamory: A Clinical Toolkit for Therapists (and Their Clients). Kauppi joins Host Anna Lindberg Cedar, MPA, LCSW on the show today to discuss important terms for understanding consensual non-monogamy and alternative relationship structures. Together, they discuss specific therapy skills that can help individuals navigate consent in their romantic relationships, explore tensions in therapist self-disclosure, and describe how members of a marginalized community can find a better client-therapist match. This is not therapy. This is real life. Therapy For Real Life. Learn more: TherapyForRealLife.com and WorkshopsForRealLife.com

Therapy For Real Life Podcast Host Anna Lindberg Cedar, MPA, LCSW interviews Dr. Nate Zinsser about his experience as the Director of the Performance Psychology Program at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Dr. Zinsser has trained U.S. Military Academy’s cadets and world-class athletes, including a Super Bowl MVP, numerous Olympic medalists, professional ballerinas, NHL All-Stars, and college All-Americans, to help them perform at their maximum potential in high stress situations. Dr. Zinsser has been a consultant for the FBI Academy, U.S. Army Recruiting Command, and the Fire Department of New York. He earned his Ph.D. in sport psychology from the University of Virginia and has his senior black belt in karate. Dr. Zinsser’s book, The Confident Mind: A Battle-Tested Guide to Unshakable Performance, will be released this week. This is not therapy. This is real life. Therapy For Real Life. Learn more: TherapyForRealLife.com and WorkshopsForRealLife.com . 

What roles do you play throughout your life? Which of these roles are voluntary vs. involuntary? How do the roles that you play impact your level of burnout? Tune in to this episode of the Therapy For Real Life Podcast to learn about the difference between role strain, role conflict, and role loss to better understand your own burnout prevention needs. Think about ways that you can support the roles you play, while also protecting the roles that matter most to you. This is not therapy. This is Real Life. Learn more: TherapyForRealLife.com and WorkshopsForRealLife.com . [This episode was originally broadcast in October of 2019).

Host Anna Lindberg Cedar, MPA, LCSW is joined by two guest experts in today's episode to discuss research-backed communication strategies to help children build motivation and make healthy choices. William Stixrud, Ph.D. and Ned Johnson are the best-selling authors of the Self-Driven Child and have more than 60 years of combined experience mastering the art of effective and respectful dialogue with kids. They discuss their newest book in today's episode, What Do You Say? How To Talk with Kids to Build Motivation, Stress Tolerance, and a Happy Home. Johnson and Stixrud share effective strategies for parents and coaches to improve conflict resolution with kids without resorting to manipulative, old-school "Because I said so..." techniques. Instead, Johnson and Stixrud draw from decades of scientific literature and motivational enhancement strategies that show that children must learn how to make choices that create a sustainable and healthy lifestyle of their own making. This is not therapy. This is Real Life. Therapy For Real Life. Learn more: TherapyForRealLife.com and WorkshopsForRealLife.com . 

Today's episode is an opportunity to learn about the specific role of psychiatry in mental health care as Dr. Adam Stern talks with Host Anna Lindberg Cedar, MPA, LCSW about his new memoir, Committed: Dispatches from a Psychiatrist in Training. Dr. Stern shares lessons from the field of psychiatry and the intersection of physical and mental health. Cedar interviews Dr. Stern about how he learned to balance his own mental health while overcoming imposter syndrome as a resident in Harvard's prestigious psychiatry training program. Dr. Stern explains why even experts find it challenging to balance work and home life for sustainable burnout prevention. Together, Cedar and Dr. Stern brainstorm how both individuals and systems must respond to burnout culture to preserve a sense of mental health during challenging times. This is not therapy. This is Real Life. Therapy For Real Life. Learn more: TherapyForRealLife.com and WorkshopsForRealLife.com . 

How do you recognize depression when our society rarely talks about what that means? Depression negatively impacts your mood, self-esteem, habits, and physical wellbeing, and yet — each experience of depression is unique. A lot of people don’t recognize the signs of depression because they don’t know how different it can present in person to person, culture to culture. Most folks with depression would agree... “I just don’t feel like myself anymore.” Host Anna Lindberg Cedar MPA LCSW helps us understand how therapists assess for clinical signs of depression. Cedar also invites you to think about what depression looks like in your own life since each individual experience of depression is so personal. As always, the Therapy For Real Life podcast will leave you with self-care suggestions adapted for real life. Learn what therapists often recommend for accessible initial self-care steps that anyone can use to cope with the difficulties of depression. For those in crisis: Visit crisistextline.org or call emergency services near you (911 in US). Learn about the different research-backed therapy styles for depression and counseling options available throughout California by visiting TherapyForRealLife.com . Schedule a workplace training to boost mental health awareness and equip your team with valuable self-care strategies through interactive practice on the job: WorkshopsForRealLife.com . This is not therapy. This is Real Life. Therapy For Real Life.