We explore how two opposing beliefs—“I have to do everything" and "I can't do anything"—grow from different nervous system states and how peace begins by shifting our state toward safety and connection. Using Polyvagal Theory, we offer practical steps to move from survival into grounded presence and how that approach can ripple out to create a more peaceful world.

• mapping sympathetic overdrive and dorsal shutdown to everyday thoughts
• why state drives story and limits choice
• using the nervous system ladder to find ventral safety
• gentle ways to slow down when doing feels safer
• small actions to lift energy when shutdown hits
• building connection with people, pets, nature, and self
• noticing and naming as daily regulation practice
• creating inner peace as a path to meaningful outer change

If today's episode resonated with you, please subscribe so you can be notified when each weekly episode gets released. I encourage you to leave a review and please share this podcast with anyone who you think may be interested or who may get something from what I have shared

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The holidays can feel bright for some and unbearably heavy for others. I open up about a Christmas that nearly ended my marriage and trace how those memories slowly softened—not by accident, but because the brain can change and grow when it feels safer. This is a story that starts with depression and disconnection, then moves to the science of hope: moving beyond survival mode, neural pruning, and memory reconsolidation. It’s also a map for finding one supported step when the season overwhelms you.

I talk through the shift from scanning for danger to making room for joy, and how therapy—especially Imago relationship work—gave us tools to repair when words misfired and patterns felt unbreakable. You’ll hear about the tree I decorated late, a child’s wonder at a star, and a mason jar full of Xs and Os that didn’t land the way I hoped. Those moments didn’t vanish; they were rewritten by new experiences of safety and small daily choices that rewrote a story of connection over time.

If you’re carrying grief, holiday blues, or chronic stress, consider this your gentle invitation to take one step today. Slow down instead of speeding up. Ask for help. Set one clear boundary. Reach for safe-enough connection. Your nervous system can learn a different holiday rhythm, and your brain can compress what no longer serves while expanding what sustains. Press play for a grounded blend of story and neuroscience, and leave with practical ways to start your new chapter. If it resonates, subscribe, share with a friend who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find support here.

If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

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Holidays have a way of pulling old feelings to the surface. This time, two truths came up at once: the enduring ache of losing my dad five years ago, and a quieter grief I call “ADHD grief”—the gap between the cozy, orderly home I imagine and the real limits of my brain and nervous system. I share the moments that stopped me mid-task, what changed when I paused to feel instead of fix, and how gratitude began to stand beside grief without erasing it.

You’ll hear how an unexpected gathering on my dad’s anniversary became a gift of connection rather than a ritual of loss, and why that mattered more than any plan I could have made. We talk about the pressure to perform “holiday perfection,” the comparison traps that heighten shame, and the kinder, capacity-based choices that bring the season back to what counts. From ordering cards early to hearing my daughter say the tree makes every morning feel like Christmas, I show how small, doable wins can carry real magic—even when the closets are messy and the to-do list is imperfect.

If you live with ADHD or another form of neurodivergence, or if you’re navigating fresh or longstanding grief, you’ll find practical compassion here: naming what you can’t control, choosing what you can, and taking one step—toward action, rest, connection, or care. We won’t force gratitude as a cure, and we won’t rush grief. Instead, we make space for both and let them guide better decisions, gentler self-talk, and traditions that fit our actual lives. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs it, and leave a review—then tell me: what one step will you take today?

If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.

We explore how ketamine-assisted psychotherapy can quiet an overactive alarm system, reopen access to rest, and create a window where new habits take hold through integration. We share the science in plain language and the personal practices that helped changes last.

• stigma and misconceptions around ketamine and psychedelic-assisted therapies
• how amygdala quieting and parasympathetic activation support safety
• interoception and reconnecting with the body
• neuroplasticity and loosening rigid thought loops
• integration practices that make insights stick
• shifting from collapse to restorative rest
• cultivating durable self-compassion
• two core takeaways on nervous system healing and choice

“Please subscribe so you can be notified when each weekly episode gets released. I encourage you to leave a review and reach out to me on social media. Also, please share this podcast with anyone who you think may be interested.”

If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.

Healing doesn’t always arrive as a lightning bolt. Sometimes it looks like a short, supported window where defenses soften and your nervous system finally has space to reorganize. That’s the potential of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy: not a shortcut, but a different door into change.

We take you from ketamine’s legal role as an anesthetic to its misunderstood 90s reputation, then into the research era where clinicians began seeing fast-acting benefits for people labeled “treatment-resistant.” We talk plainly about why that label can feel shaming, how trauma and chronic stress reshape the brain and body, and why words alone can’t always reach the places that hurt. Along the way, we draw clear lines between ketamine and classic psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD, and touch on MDMA’s empathogenic profile—each alters consciousness, but the experiences and mechanisms differ in meaningful ways.

The heart of our conversation is integration. Infusions without therapy can produce a lift, but integration is where insights stick. We share how guided preparation, a safe dosing container, and post-session processing turn inner imagery and softened defenses into practical shifts—sleep, boundaries, relationships, and daily habits that support mood. We also outline safety basics: licensed prescribers, trained therapists and healers, ethical settings, and trusting your own readiness rather than pushing through fear. This isn’t a sales pitch for psychedelics; it’s an invitation to learn, ask questions, and consider whether KAP belongs in your healing toolkit.

If this conversation sparks curiosity, follow the show, leave a review, and share it with someone who might need a new path forward. Your feedback shapes future episodes—join us and keep the dialogue going.

If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.

The hardest part of a taxing day likely isn’t a thing on the to-do list— our nervous system state that influences how we perceive what needs to be done and if we have on "depression googles," we can expect that even the lightest load may feel like seriously heavy lifting. When depletion hits and dorsal shutdown pulls you under, forcing productivity can deepen the spiral. I share how I recognized my capacity, swapped a plan that I didn't feel connected to in the moment for one that felt more aligned, and used small, body-first moves to steer back toward safety. From literal sunlight on my skin to honest words with my daughter, each tiny choice was designed to do one thing: not make it worse, so something better could emerge.

We get practical about self-regulation: noticing state before strategy, choosing “comfy cues” that quietly lower threat, and practicing compassionate self-talk that interrupts the urge to self-criticize. I also break down why rehashing conflict can flood your system and how to ask for support in ways that soothe rather than spike. Inner child attunement shows up as a guide, helping meet adult responsibilities and younger needs so decisions can feel holistically beneficial. The throughline is capacity—matching the day’s demands to the body’s actual fuel, not the fantasy of what you “should” be able to do.

The heart of this conversation is a bed-side moment with my 14-year-old. Advice didn’t help; my nervous system did. I shifted from fixing to co-regulation, lay down, and practiced coherent breathing until the room felt safer. No lecture, no push—just presence. That silence sent a signal he could trust and opened the door to one small, self-chosen step up the ladder. If you’ve ever tried to talk someone out of collapse, you’ll hear why safety often travels faster through breath, tone, posture, and proximity than through the smartest words.

If this resonates, subscribe for weekly episodes, share it with someone who needs a gentler path, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your step today can be tiny—one breath, one boundary, one text to a supportive friend. Take it.

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If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.

What if real rest isn’t zoning out, but learning to feel safely still in your own body? Trish takes you inside her year-long journey with ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, sharing what KAP actually looks like—from medical screening and at-home setup to music-guided sessions, dosing with lozenges, and why a simple request for lip balm became a breakthrough in receiving care.

We walk step by step through the first session nerves, blood pressure protocols, eye mask and playlist prep, and the gentle inner experience that led to two anchoring insights: "the most beautiful place in the world is inside of me" and "I can breathe here". You’ll hear how integration sessions transformed fleeting moments into durable change, pairing neuroplastic windows with practical rituals so self-compassion moved from concept to felt sense. Along the way, Trish unpacks the difference between therapeutic and recreational use, clarifies common misconceptions about ketamine, and frames the work through a polyvagal lens—contrasting shutdown with true slowdown and naming the blended state of safety and stillness that makes rest restorative.

This is an honest, grounded account designed for the KAP-curious, the clinically minded, and anyone navigating depression who wonders whether healing can stick. We talk best practices, chaperones, virtual care, dosing methods, and the very real variability in risk across different ketamine models. Most of all, we focus on what lasts: trust, integration, and nervous system learning that helps you choose rest without shame and return to center more easily.

If this resonated, subscribe for weekly releases, share it with someone who might need hope today, and leave a review to help others find the show. What question about KAP would you like us to explore next?

If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.

Growth doesn’t wait for a finish line. This episode leans into the messy middle—where self-care becomes more consistent, mirrors from friends provide a much needed self-reflection, and you realize you’ve been practicing a new identity long before you felt “ready.” I talk about the milestones that surprised me, like releasing 40 podcast episodes, and the realization that our self-growth can be inhibited when we (unconsciously) keep ourselves stuck in old identities. I begin to wonder about what can shift when you embrace growing into your new identities now and celebrate who you are today instead of waiting until you fully "arrive".

I open up about living with depression and choosing a different lens—one that holds the weight of despair while insisting on hope, possibility, and choice. That’s not sugarcoating; it’s strategy. By tending to the nervous system, slowing down conflict, and inviting co-regulation, new options appear in relationships and daily life. Along the way, feedback becomes a powerful relational growth tool. When listeners and colleagues reflected back “I learned something from listening” or “I see light in you,” it was a mirror that helped me acknowledge and integrate lost parts of myself. Community is more than support; it can be a catalyst for identity change.

You’ll hear why celebrating progress as it happens matters, how visibility can become safe, and why small steps—taken today—beat perfect plans tomorrow. If you’re navigating mental health, relationship stress, or the long arc of healing, this is a grounded invitation to claim more of your true self, not someday, but now. Join our community, share your reflections, and let’s keep building spaces where authenticity and hope can breathe.

Want to connect? Subscribe to be a part of my community here.

If you and your partner are ready to co-create the roadmap to the relationship of your dreams, join us for the next in-person "Getting the Love You Want" Weekend Couples Retreat!

For support in how to have deeper connections and better communication in the relationships that matter most in your life, follow the host, Trish Sanders on Instagram , Bluesky or LinkedIn.