“We survived!”
After a hiatus for vacation and a Covid Curve Ball it was time to say hi:
Alchemy IN Motion!
Part 2 with Ryan Phillips:
Ryan Phillips has led a packed life full of lessons in many arenas. The first was ice hockey, his passion and dream growing. Everything seemed to be on track until he left home at 16. A string a major injuries and other set backs didn’t allow him to reach his full potential even though he played in the pro ranks for a time. Concussions and addiction became the theme while it was clear he missed his window to the NHL.
Some poor choices led him into the lucrative Marijuana industry at the age of 20, being one of the early pioneers before legalization. Shipping large shipments of the plant across the border into the USA. That lasted until he he was incarcerated in the year 2000 for over 500 days in a maximum federal prison on a conspiracy to import charge. When he got out things didn’t change right away, and that story is depicted on National Geographic’s hit show (Locked Up Abroad.)
After many close calls and threats on his life, he escaped that business and made some serious changes and dedicated his life to service. A global advocate and speaker on the work he’s done around the world on Mental Health, and Child Sex Slavery, led to two Tedx talks, riding across many countries on a bicycle to raise awareness for these important global crisis’s. Now with Mental Health being at the forefront of humanity, he has partnered up with Charles Mattocks an award winning film producer.
The nephew of the late Bob Marley, Charles and Ryan both believe in REDEMPTION! This summer they start the journey of filming the T.V series (True Redemption) that will focus on personalities in North America to start, intertwining Ryan’s life story and the need for humanity to bind together, connect and find action based solutions. It’s both their intention to stamp out the stigmas surrounding mental health and normalize a once taboo topic. Ryan is open and honest about his adversity’s, and never backs down from an opportunity to help make this world a better place.
Are you ready to seek help?
In this myth busting informative discussion Dr. Denise invites Dr. Joyce Spurgeon back for a deep dive show on where to start when you are ready to seek mental health treatment.
The roadmap of the who, what, when and where to start is right here:
Tips:
~Don’t wait to seek help.
~Consult your primary care doctor or your spiritual leader for referrals and guidance.
~Bridge plans are available if there is a waitlist (discussed in this show)
~Interview your therapist, doctor or coach to make sure they are a neurostyle match for you.
~Finding providers that have solutions that include prevention (exercise/ meditation/sleep/practice of gratitude) and patient empowerment are crucial.
~What to do before your first appointment includes the right mindset and being open and prepared for an authentic relationship.
~Ask yourself “Are you ready to be your own best friend?”
Thank you Dr. Joyce for the suggestion to get together again to do this show!
Joyce A Spurgeon, MD completed medical school at the University of Louisville and went on to do her residency in adult psychiatry there. When she finished her residency, she stayed at University of Louisville as the associate training director for the psychiatric residency. She progressed up and associate professor and became the training director and her clinical work was specializing in the treatment of mental illness in the peripartum period. Following her time at UofL, she changed the directions in her career. She was hired as the only psychiatrist at a Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, Indiana where she has worked for the past 7 years. She is proud to work closely with the primary care providers to help treat mental illness in a vastly underserved community.
Psychiatrist Joyce Spurgeon joins US with sacred remembrance of her best friend that she lost to suicide:
Joyce A Spurgeon, MD completed medical school at the University of Louisville and went on to do her residency in adult psychiatry there. When she finished her residency, she stayed at University of Louisville as the associate training director for the psychiatric residency. She progressed up and associate professor and became the training director and her clinical work was specializing in the treatment of mental illness in the peripartum period. Following her time at UofL, she changed the directions in her career. She was hired as the only psychiatrist at a Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, Indiana where she has worked for the past 7 years. She is proud to work closely with the primary care providers to help treat mental illness in a vastly underserved community.
Sacred Remembrance of Jeannie
Two little girls kneel over the mud pile- they are making their specialty- mud pies are so much fun to create. They are covered in mud, their sweaty hair sticky to their heads, but huge smiles wreath their faces. They join hands and pledge to be best friends forever. Those hands age over the years but they always find their way back to each other. In middle and high school, their lives divide but when things get really tough, the call in the middle of the night always goes to the other. Their adult lives move them into different locations, yet when they talk, it is as if no time has passed. Something happened in those early years over the mud piles, wild sledding snow days, church camp, and bike riding…..they became each other’s anchor. They each wanted to find ways to help other people. One became a nurse, the other a doctor. Yet, when they talked, they were just two little girls in adult bodies.
When mental illness hit my friend, I , as a psychiatrist, felt scared. I knew what was happening. I could see all the warning signs, and I could not control the progression. I tried to prepare her parents for what might happen and what I hoped to never witness. I got her into treatment. I asked for many favors for people to try to help her because I could only be her friend. It was not enough. My worst fears were realized…..my tow headed best buddy from the age of 4 was gone…..she hung herself because we had told all of the local gun stores to not sell her a gun. We thought we had protected her. It is only in a small town that you can get away with this type of protection. Yet, she believed that the only way that she could be free was to stand before Jesus and ask for forgiveness, so she decided to go and do that. Yet what she left behind….well, she left us journals that tried to explain her reasoning but only revealed her illness. For, in truth, none of us are better because she is gone.
Jeannie died by suicide on May 17th. That day is a day that changed the course of my life. I lost one of my anchors, one of the people who knew me as no one else will ever know me in my life. When she died, I promised myself that I would not let the way she died define who she was. She has and will always be my best buddy from my childhood, the keeper of my dreams and hopes. And, I will continue to carry her with me for the rest of my life. She still walks with her hand in mine- I just can’t feel it in real life anymore, but I know it is there. So, I talk about how she died because I feel like she was taken too soon from us all because of her mental illness, yet I want you to know that her life was so much more to me. I never thought that this is how the story of those two little girls would end. I will miss you forever, my friend.
Suicide Prevention Lifeline 800 273-8255
What an honor to have this vulnerable interview with Ryan Phillips.
His deep dive childhood mental health history reveals his experiences of trauma, neglect and bullying that predated his entry into the professional hockey arena.
It was so riveting and packed with insight that it evolved into a two-part show.
Here is part 1:
Ryan Phillips has led a packed life full of lessons in many arenas. The first was ice hockey, his passion and dream growing. Everything seemed to be on track until he left home at 16. A string a major injuries and other set backs didn’t allow him to reach his full potential even though he played in the pro ranks for a time. Concussions and addiction became the theme while it was clear he missed his window to the NHL.
Some poor choices led him into the lucrative Marijuana industry at the age of 20, being one of the early pioneers before legalization. Shipping large shipments of the plant across the border into the USA. That lasted until he he was incarcerated in the year 2000 for over 500 days in a maximum federal prison on a conspiracy to import charge. When he got out things didn’t change right away, and that story is depicted on National Geographic’s hit show (Locked Up Abroad.)
After many close calls and threats on his life, he escaped that business and made some serious changes and dedicated his life to service. A global advocate and speaker on the work he’s done around the world on Mental Health, and Child Sex Slavery, led to two Tedx talks, riding across many countries on a bicycle to raise awareness for these important global crisis’s. Now with Mental Health being at the forefront of humanity, he has partnered up with Charles Mattocks an award winning film producer.
The nephew of the late Bob Marley, Charles and Ryan both believe in REDEMPTION! This summer they start the journey of filming the T.V series (True Redemption) that will focus on personalities in North America to start, intertwining Ryan’s life story and the need for humanity to bind together, connect and find action based solutions. It’s both their intention to stamp out the stigmas surrounding mental health and normalize a once taboo topic. Ryan is open and honest about his adversity’s, and never backs down from an opportunity to help make this world a better place.
A Father’s Military Service: Layers of Trauma & Familial Healing:
“Let’s do a show tonight Mom!”
Never a dull moment at our house. This surprise Saturday night request ended up being a “processing” of how my son felt about his school being closed for the rest of the school year due to a graffiti gun violence threat.
The Slurpee Solution:
Disclaimer: My son and I need to process tough stuff in our unique way and I did not want to overly traumatize him about revisiting the Uvalde Victims to trigger fear in him after his school got shut down for gun threats on Thursday for the rest of the year.
I intentionally lightly addressed it and shifted attention to the positive. Please listen to the thoughtful show Jake Myers and I did this week that is geared towards adults only.
Sending love to all of you.
xoxo
The Mindful Pivot: Prayers for the Uvalde Victims and One Humanity
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