This is part 3 of of 6 on our Neurodivergent side quest, how ADHD affects boys and men. While women get “lost in the diagnostic shuffle”, boys tend to get diagnosed early on because with testosterone they tend to be more likely to have the hallmark Hyperactivity and Impulsivity. They’re more likely to be the kids that just can’t sit still in class and blurt out answers, but while they’re more easily diagnosed, they tend to bear so much more shame over the years.    So often when men come to counseling dealing with ADHD in adulthood they’ll lament “I just don’t think I’m where I shoul ..read more

Amanda is joined by Rachel Cunningham-two women with ADHD talking about how ADHD affects women specifically. It’s not uncommon for girls and women to be misdiagnosed as ADHD presents differently for girls than boys, so many women find out later in life they their lifelong struggles are actually ADHD related. Amanda and Rachel share some of their own life experiences with time blindness, co-occurring anxiety, and increase rejection sensitivity. Learn common ADHD struggles as women progress through life into adulthood and motherhood and the role of shame in their lives and how Rachel and Amanda ..read more

Join Amanda as she embarks on a neurodivergent side quest with her neurodivergent bestie and fellow RCCA counselor Rachel Cunningham. Neurodivergence is a term that typically refers to people who have ADHD and/or autism and have a neurodivergent rather than neurotypical brain.  This particular neurodivergent side quest focuses on ADHD-and mirrors an ADHDers hyper focus special interest topic, where we with ADHD go down a rabbit hole on a novel favorite topic! Learn specifically what is ADHD, how dopamine affects the brain and the ADHD brain in particular, and begin to understand how neuro ..read more

Happy Holidays from us at Soul Healing Love! Amanda is joined by Rachel Cunningham, a fellow therapist at Rodgers Christian Counseling with a helpful list of Do’s and Don’ts for the Holiday season. Often times we enter the Holidays with unrealistic expectations and hopes for change that aren’t based in reality. What you can expect of Uncle Joe is that he will mostly do what he’s always done. Listen in for tips about how to have realistic expectations, topics to avoid and others to focus on, and ways to decide what are the healthiest boundaries for you to set with friends and family during the ..read more

This is our Final Episode in the Personal Perspective series, one in which counselors from our practice Rodgers Christian Counseling have discussed how they teach and use various exercises from the Soul Healing Love Method. In this episode Erin Sweitzer, MA, LMFT, joins us to talk through the GIFT Exercise to help dig down into the primary emotion around your anger. Erin helps us understand that some things we get angry about just aren't worth our energy: if it's something small, like how to squeeze the toothpaste, follow her advice and just get 2 toothpastes. But, when it is something worth o ..read more

From the Archive…Listen to Amanda share thoughts on facing Grief. First, the grief that we all have faced in the years since Covid and all we lost living through a global pandemic. And then more recently as a nation we have faced mass shootings and natural disasters. In life, we are constantly faced with hardships and loss.   Amanda walks through the famous stages of grief as defined by the work of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and shares how to walk through each stage of grief.   Grieving is facing the emotions-the Energy in Motion-in our minds and bodies as we heal by feeling. We have to f ..read more

TRIGGER WARNING: there is discussion of suicide, suicidal thoughts and other issues around the topic of suicide. Join Amanda as she talks with two amazing guests. She’s joined by two great minds behind For Students, an organization dedicated to equipping students with tools for lifelong emotional health and suicide prevention.  Whitney D’Allaird is a wife, mother first and also Executive Director of this amazing organization. And Ed Williams is a former teacher and student leader turned Programming Director with For Students. Whitney and Ed share about the vision behind For Students and ..read more

We all have conscious and unconscious stories, reels, automatic reactions that are pasty of a bigger story we tell ourself. Brene brown describes a cu flight she had with her husband and from that fight forward they always say “the story I’m telling myself right now is…” So what stories are you telling yourself? That are actually part of a current neural network that you can change. Dr. Bev recounts some of the soul wound stories she heard spoken over her and how she began to rewrite her brain. And Dr. Tom shares wisdom he read of years ago that said “we view life through the presence or absen ..read more

Drs. Tom and Bev discuss principles behind Neuroplasticity, which is the ability to change and reshape your brain. Brain formation that  was once thought to be set and unchangeable in childhood - which kept Amanda from any heavy metal head banging - we now know is possible to change well into our lives. Neurogenesis, building new brain connections, is something that happens all the time. They also discuss neuroscience work from Dr. Caroline Leaf and Dr. Joe Dispenza that helps us to understand that our thoughts are powerful. Our thoughts dictate our emotions, and both thoughts and emotion ..read more

Current data trends indicate we as a culture are getting diagnosed more and more with mental health struggles. Be it Depression, Anxiety, ADHD, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Addiction, or anything else—so many more people are struggling today.  In this episode we share what it’s like sitting in the therapist’s chair helping clients face today’s dilemmas. Dr. Tom shares a fascinating question from a client, “What makes you happy?” that he, Amanda, and Dr. Bev discuss. Dr. Bev addresses how the stigma around mental health has seemed to lessen, as she has seen people previously resistant to ..read more