Beyond Well With Sheila Hamilton

Leslie Barber’s husband died of cancer in June of 2015. And as Leslie points out, nothing she’d done in her life prepared her for the shock, trauma, and loneliness of her husband’s death. Leslie was struck by how unprepared her friends and even her family were in dealing with her grief. Our culture is incredibly good at celebrating life. We need to learn to get better at acknowledging and coping with grief, the other end of the human cycle. Leslie’s support group at www.AGriefWarrior.com  is a place to begin healing.

Shame is the most painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. But, as Dr. Goff and Dr. LeJeune discuss, shame roots at the very being of what we care about most. With an increase in public shaming, the potential of depression, isolation, and self-harm increases. The point, as Dr. LeJeune says, is to always offer a fellow human the path to retribution.

C. Lamar Frizzell is the CEO of Cedar Hills Hospital and an expert in both mental health and divinity. At a time when so many people are asking the question, "Why is there so much suffering?" Sheila and Lamar talk about how we can view this crisis through the lens of spirituality.  This is the first interview Beyond Well is conducting by Zoom due to quarantine. Please be patient as we work to improve our sound!

Dr. Brian Goff and Dr. Angela Izmirian provide guidance for how to talk to your kids about the seriousness of Covid-19, tips for calming your anxiety and panic, and the basics of bouncing forward or becoming a more resilient, compassionate person despite the chaos around us.  

The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung once said: “People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.” Perhaps that is why therapy is often seen as a last stitch effort to reclaim something people feel that they’ve lost—their health, their happiness, or their relationships. In this interview, Dr. Jenna LeJeune and Dr. Brian Goff discuss the reasons behind therapy, and their ardent belief that most people wait far too long (or until they are in crisis), to face their souls, their problems, and their habituated patterns in life.

Coronavirus is scary. How we respond to it can be even scarier. According to the Economist, more than two thirds of American report being very concerned about the U.S. pandemic. How do we calmly prepare for disruptions to our lives without panicking? What are some of the evidence-based techniques for helping people with anxiety and panic disorders? How do we cope with the likelihood of temporary financial and social stress? This episode is for anyone who wants a centered, calm approach to getting through the Coronavirus pandemic.

Episode two. Dr. Brian Pilecki combs the findings of science with compassion and curiosity. He is research the efficacy of psychedelics and studying harm reduction for people who want to use psychedelics to help with trauma, ptsd, anxiety disorders, and depression. In recent years, psychedelics have drawn interest for their unique ability to create a mind shift and lasting relief for clients who have otherwise battled intractable suffering.

Episode One. Dr. Brian Pilecki combs the findings of science with compassion and curiosity. He is research the efficacy of psychedelics and studying harm reduction for people who want to use psychedelics to help with trauma, ptsd, anxiety disorders, and depression. In recent years, psychedelics have drawn interest for their unique ability to create a mind shift and lasting relief for clients who have otherwise battled intractable suffering. 

Mitchell Jackson is an American author. His critically acclaimed book, Survival Math earned its title as Mitchell recalled calculating what it would take to survive the poverty stricken neighborhood of North Portland and the friends and family members who had become thugs, murderers, and drug dealers. Mitchell’s ascent from drug runner to prison inmate to a literary phenom is a reflection of his deep study and thinking on topics ranging from black history to Kobe’s lasting legacy on young black men in America.   We invite Mitchell to @BeyondWell to regularly discuss race, rage, and how to stay sane in some of the craziest times in American history.

Scott the Painter (Scott Erickson) is one of Beyond Well’s favorite guests, both for his refreshing candor regarding his personal suffering but also because his visual art, stories and his performance art resonate with tens of thousands of young people who are tired of staring at their phones and want to find deeper connection. In this episode, we talk with Scott about loneliness versus spending time alone, connecting during the darkest days of winter, and Scott’s personal wellness routine.

We talk with three employees about the experience of being gay, trans, and queer in the workplace. For many people who are considered “different,” the question of whether they are being passed over for Lunch invitations and promotions is the biggest mystery of all. “Is it because I’m gay? Or because I’m fat? Because it’s not because I’m not a good worker.” This is a painful, illuminating, and wonderful reaffirming interview with three people who have found their voices and plan to continue to hold businesses accountable until diversity and inclusion is not just a goal—it’s a value.

Dr. Brian Goff and Dr. Angela Izmirian (sitting in for Dr. Jenna LeJeune), talk about what it  takes to make a great relationship. If you want to give something sexy to your partner but  cringe at the idea of a hallmark cards or flowers, share this episode. It will spur the kind of communication that even Cupid would approve of.

Lindy West is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman (2016, Hachette Books) as well as the brand new essay collection The Witches are Coming (2019, Hachette Books). In 2018 she wrote and executive produced Shrill as a half-hour comedy for Hulu, which just wrapped its second season. With frequent collaborators Ahamefule J. Oluo and Charles Mudede, she wrote and executive produced Thin Skin, an independent feature film, currently in post-production, and she and Oluo are writing a script for Shonda Rhimes’s upcoming Netflix anthology series Notes on Love.

We are starting 2020 by taking a look back at a few of our favorite shows from 2019. This show was originally released in November of 2019. It features special guest Israel Nebeker. He is the founder of Blind Pilot and a singer/songwriter whose music now reaches millions of fans. In this episode, Israel talks about confronting one of the darkest periods of his life by wandering into the Black Forest in Germany—with no path to follow and not sure if he would ever find his way out. It was only by confronting his loneliness, his fear, and his belief that he was powerless to change the dynamic that he experienced a significant awakening.  This interview was voted one of our favorites by the Beyond Well Team because of how open, authentic and vulnerable  Israel and his music is. Don’t miss it.

There is a reported increase in the number of people seeing psychologists and psychiatrists for politically based fear, anxiety, and depression. In this episode, Dr. Goff and Dr. LeJeune discuss ways to stay healthy, engaged and positive during times of political stress. One of the hallmarks of politically induced anxiety is hyper-vigilance. Learn how to recognize it, calm your nervous system, and get busy applying your energy to something positive.

We are starting 2020 by taking a look back at a few of our favorite shows from 2019. This show was originally released in June of 2019.  Storm Large: musician, actor, playwright, author, awesome. She shot to national prominence in 2006 as a finalist on the CBS show Rock Star: Supernova, where despite having been eliminated in the week before the finale, Storm built a fan base that follows her around the world to this day. Storm joins us to talk about growing up with a severely mentally disturbed mother and the message she received from her mother's doctor, "Oh yeah, you will absolutely end up like your Mother. It's hereditary." But, this conversation is not about Storm's efforts to outrun a diagnosis, it's an artist's journey back to herself. Storm's autobiographical musical memoir, Crazy Enough, played to packed houses in 2009 during its unprecedented 21-week sold-out run in Portland. She's back for the ten-year reunion stronger, wiser, and larger in spirit than ever before. (Don't miss the after the show co

In October of 2019 we spoke to pop Superstar Lauv. He was on top of the world with the kickoff of his How I’m Feeling Tour, and using his global platform to promote mental health. In every show, Lauv takes a few minutes to describe his descent into depression and severe OCD, and why he credits therapy and medication with allowing him to regain his creativity and confidence.  Lauv has partnered with Microsoft to create a worldwide mental health platform that connects people all over the globe. “No Matter where people are in the world, they can see that someone else is experiencing something really similar.”    Check out MyBlueThoughts.World and our blog of the concert at TheAnthem in D.C.@BeyondWellWithSheilaHamilton.com

This show was originally released in March of 2019. We're thrilled to Re-visit Lidia Yuknavitch. The author of nine books, including The Chronology of Water, The Small Backs of Children, The book of Joan, and the Misfits Manifesto. Lidia's Ted Talk, The Beauty of Being a Misfit has been viewed 2,862,000 times. We think she has something to share about how telling and retelling your story can help re-frame traumatic experience.

Dave Dahl speaks openly about his ongoing management of depression and bipolar disorder and the excruciating climb back from a manic episode that nearly ended his life. Dahl’s entrepreneurial journey began in prison. In 1987, Dave was addicted to drugs and incarcerated for home burglary. Dave returned to his family bakery in the mid 2000’s and quickly developed a marketing juggernaut, Dave’s Killer Bread. In 2015, the Dahl family sold the business for $275 million dollars. In this interview, Dave talks with Sheila about the crucial necessity of management of his mental health symptoms.

We are starting 2020 by taking a look back at a few of our favorite shows from 2019. This show was originally released in March of 2019. It features special guest Cheryl Strayed. The message of Cheryl Strayed's memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Trail has helped millions of people process grief in a new and profound way. In this episode of Beyond Well, Sheila Hamilton and Dr's Brian Goff and Jenna LeJeune talk about the potential of bouncing forward after loss, and of grieving from a place of honesty and self-compassion.