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Safe Space Radio

The show about subjects we'd struggle with less if we could talk about them more.

  • Mental Health
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healing

Navigating Grief with Poetry with Catharine Murray

October 24, 2016 by ssradmin

Poet Catharine Murray describes how writing helped her heal from unspeakable loss—the death of her 6 year old son. She shares three poems that illustrate the evolution of her grief and her ongoing healing.

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: creativity, death, death of a child, grief, healing, poetry, writing

Recovering and Surviving with Meosha Thomas

June 13, 2016 by ssradmin

Navy veteran Meosha Thomas talks about the injuries she suffered in Iraq when her convoy hit an IED, and how she lost and regained her desire to live in the long recovery period that followed. She also talks more about the concept of moral injury, and how she wrestles with guilt over the choices she …read more »

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Filed Under: Conflict, Mental Health Tagged With: healing, military, military trauma, survivor guilt, survivors, Trauma, veterans

Prisoners Providing Hospice Care (Part 2) with Bobby Payzant

January 13, 2014 by ssradmin

Bobby Payzant is a hospice volunteer and inmate at the Maine State Prison. In this interview, Bobby talks more about the deep remorse he feels for the man he assaulted, and how he has had to face himself during the many years he has spent in prison.  He describes the decision he made to stop …read more »

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Filed Under: Conflict, Mental Health, Social Justice Tagged With: community, conflict mediation, conversation, criminal justice system, death and dying, healing, Hospice, Incarceration, Maine State Prison, Prison, Restorative Justice

Prisoners Providing Hospice Care (Part 1) with Kandyce Powell and Bobby Payzant

January 6, 2014 by ssradmin

This episode features two conversations with people involved in the hospice program within the state prison in Warren, Maine. First we speak with the program’s founder, Kandyce Powell, executive director of the Maine Hospice Council, who talks about the genesis of the prison’s hospice program, her motivation for starting it, and the difference it has …read more »

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Filed Under: Conflict, Mental Health, Social Justice Tagged With: community, Criminal Justice, death and dying, healing, Hospice, Incarceration, justice system, Maine State Prison, prison system

Recovery Through Music with Michael Skinner

May 20, 2013 by ssradmin

Songwriter Michael Skinner used music as a way to heal from the abuse he suffered as a child. Michael talks about his adult experiences with PTSD, his often-frustrating encounters with the mental health system, and his efforts to resist the stigmatizing label of “mental illness.” He also explores songwriting as an important healing tool in …read more »

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: art, childhood trauma, healing, mental health, mental illness, music, PTSD, surviving trauma, survivors, Trauma

Beyond Survival with Rachel Grant

May 13, 2013 by ssradmin

In this episode of Safe Space Radio, Rachel Grant talks about the sexual abuse she suffered as a ten-year-old and the work she has done to counteract its lasting impact on her life. Rachel became a coach because she wanted to be able to use her own story as a way to help others.

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Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: Child Abuse, childhood abuse, coaching, healing, Recovery, resiliency, Sexual Abuse, sexual trauma, survivors, Trauma

Restorative Yoga for Mental Health with bo Forbes

January 30, 2013 by ssradmin

This episode of Safe Space Radio features psychologist, yoga teacher and author bo Forbes talking about how restorative yoga and breathing exercises can restore balance to the nervous system. Coming to yoga from a solid background in clinical psychology, and work as a talk therapist, bo describes the way that moving away from verbal processing …read more »

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: body work, clincial psychology, healing, meditation, pranayama, Therapy, Yoga, yoga for depression

Yoga for Survivors with Deirdre Fay

January 2, 2013 by ssradmin

Yoga teacher and therapist Deirdre Fay talks about her experience of discovering her own trauma history through yoga, which softened her defenses to the point that her body began to relive previously forgotten memories of trauma. She narrates the journey of using yoga to navigate PTSD and how she advocates for and supports survivors now.

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: advocacy, body memory, childhood trauma, healing, internal family systems, meditation, PTSD, survivors, Trauma, Yoga, yoga for depression, yoga for PTSD, yoga for sexual abuse, Yoga therapy

Parenting Life-Threatening Depression with Rachel

October 31, 2012 by ssradmin

This episode of Safe Space Radio features Rachel talking about her son’s severe depression and multiple suicide attempts. Rachel names the sense of ambiguous loss she feels now that her son lives in a state mental hospital, and how her daily visits to him can bring their own sense of shame and self-doubt. She offers …read more »

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Filed Under: Emotions, Family and Lifecycle, Mental Health Tagged With: ambiguous loss, depression, healing, mental hospitals, mental illness, mothering, NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Parenting, psychiatric care, psychiatric institution, Shame, son, Suicide, Trauma

Secrets, Confiding, and Health with Jamie Pennebaker

September 28, 2011 by ssradmin

This episode features an interview with author and social psychologist Jamie Pennebaker about his research into the benefits of confiding painful experiences. Jamie suggests that one of the reasons that childhood sexual abuse may be so destructive is because it is so often kept secret. He describes experiments where people are invited to write for …read more »

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: childhood trauma, communication, confession, difficult conversations, healing, Secrets, Sexual Abuse, Trauma, writing

Healing on the Blank Page with Diane Morrow

September 14, 2011 by ssradmin

Dr. Diane Morrow describes the ways that writing helped her cope with her mother’s severe depression, and how writing can be healing as a process or ritual in itself. For Diane, writing fiction can be create enough distance from pain to allow the listener to resonate with it.

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Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: art, art for healing, coping techniques, depression, family dynamics, healing, mental illness, mothers, Parents, writing

Trauma, Fear and Denial with Jessica Stern

February 16, 2011 by ssradmin

Research professor Jessica Stern is an expert in the connection between trauma and terrorism. In this interview she talks about her experience following a rape at age 15, and how her story was not believed by the police—resulting in more than 40 other children being targeted. Jessica describes living with PTSD, and experiencing a confusing …read more »

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: Anxiety & Fear, childhood trauma, healing, Loneliness, mental illness, police, PTSD, Rape, Rape Culture, Sexual assault, sexual violence, survivors, teenagers, terrorism, Therapy, Trauma, triggering, triggers, Violence

Tantra and Sexual Healing with Betta de Boer van der Kolk

February 9, 2011 by ssradmin

This interview features body psychotherapist Betta de Boer van der Kolk about Tantra as a way to heal from sexual abuse. Betta describes Tantra as an exchange of energy that brings presence, connection, safety and play into sexuality.  She leads the listener in a technique for couples to harmonize their breathing in order to give …read more »

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Filed Under: Emotions, Sexuality Tagged With: body memory, body work, ejaculation, healing, internal family systems, massage, orgasm, Recovery, Sexual Abuse, sexual violence, survivors, tantra, tantric sex, Therapy, Trauma

Aftermath of Sexual Violence with Susan Brison

February 2, 2011 by ssradmin

Philosophy professor Susan Brison survived a sexual assault and attempted murder. She describes the transition from needing to tell the story, to finding the story increasingly boring as she healed—and how group therapy, self-defense classes, and jazz singing all helped her recovery.

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Filed Under: Mental Health, Sexuality, Social Justice Tagged With: assault, healing, Rape, Rape Culture, Recovery, self defense, Sexual assault, sexual violence, storytelling, survivors, Therapy, Trauma

Sexual Healing after Sexual Abuse with Wendy Maltz

January 5, 2011 by ssradmin

This interview is with couples therapist and certified sex therapist Wendy Maltz about the impact of sexual abuse on sexuality, and ways to reclaim pleasure, safety and intimacy. She reports that taking a vacation from sex is sometimes necessary, because when sex feels like an obligation, it can often trigger difficulties from the abuse. She …read more »

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Filed Under: Family and Lifecycle, Sexuality Tagged With: Couples, healing, intimacy, partnership, pleasure, relationships, sex, sex therapy, Sexual Abuse, sexual violence, survivors, Trauma, triggers

Trauma and the Brain with Bessel van der Kolk

December 22, 2010 by ssradmin

An interview with psychiatrist and trauma researcher Bessel van der Kolk about the impact of trauma on the brain. Bessel outlines the way in which traumatic experience in children shapes the development of the brain, and how our brains can get hijacked by triggers that make us feel we are in a life and death …read more »

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Filed Under: Mental Health Tagged With: brain, childhood trauma, developmental trauma, EMDR, healing, internal family systems, neurofeedback, neuroscience, research, Therapy, Trauma, trauma in the body, trauma response, traumatic repetition

Trauma and the Body with Pat Ogden

December 15, 2010 by ssradmin

An interview with Dr. Pat Ogden about working with the body in healing from trauma. Pat uses several clinical examples to describe how she works with the body to help people re-engage the physical defenses that got overwhelmed and shut down during trauma. She describes the process of allowing people to move and tremble and …read more »

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: body memory, body work, clinical research, healing, PTSD, Therapy, Trauma, trauma in the body, trauma response

Trauma, Attachment and The Body with Deirdre Fay

December 8, 2010 by ssradmin

An interview with psychotherapist Deirdre Fay about the deep relational disruption that is a hallmark of trauma. Deirdre recounts how, as an adult she only became aware of her own trauma in the context of safe relationship.  She describes the use of meditation techniques to help a person become aware of traumatic memories, to stay …read more »

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: body memory, coping techniques, healing, meditation, relational disruption, relationships, Trauma, trauma in the body, triggers

Trauma and EMDR Therapy with Celia Grand

November 17, 2010 by ssradmin

Therapist Celia Grand is an EMDR facilitator and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy trainer with trauma survivors and their partners. Celia blends her expertise in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR) with her extensive experience working with the body in trauma.  She describes three phases of trauma recovery and how EMDR in particular can change the way …read more »

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: EMDR therapy, healing, identity, internal family systems, patient experience, psychotherapy, Recovery, relationships, Therapy, Trauma, trauma in the body

The Ingredients of Recovery with Mary Auslander

November 10, 2010 by ssradmin

This episode of Safe Space Radio features therapist, advocate and trauma survivor, Mary Auslander. She discusses the nature of trauma, the ingredients of recovery and what a person can realistically hope for as they heal from trauma. Mary describes giving up her child to adoption after a history of childhood sexual abuse, and the painful …read more »

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: advocacy, Child Abuse, childhood trauma, healing, healthcare system, psychiatric care, psychiatric system, psychiatric trauma, Recovery, Sexual Abuse, survivors, Trauma, trauma in the body

The Inner Feelings of Bulimia with Julia Jarvis

September 29, 2010 by ssradmin

Julia Jarvis talks about her struggle with bulimia and her recovery. Julia describes her profound experience with feeling she was bad, and keeping a journal of her daily sins. She credits her recovery with the loosening of a rigid and punitive theology, prozac, and the community she found in Adult Children of Alcoholics.

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: adult children of alcoholics, body image, bulemia, bulimia, community, diet culture, Eating Disorders, food, healing, medication, mental illness, Recovery, Shame, theology, Therapy

Suicide, Depression, and Zen Meditation with Cheri Huber

May 26, 2010 by ssradmin

Zen teacher Cheri Huber became a student of Zen after her suicide attempt. She describes how Zen led her to awareness of her own self-destructive patterns and allowed her to break from the ruthless voice of self-criticism inside her head.

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: death and dying, depression, healing, mental illness, Recovery, suicidality, Suicide, suicide attempt, zen meditation

Working with Sex Offenders with Deb Dana

November 18, 2009 by ssradmin

Deb Dana is a social worker who works with sex offenders. She talks about what factors contribute to multiple offenses and offers tremendous hope for families where sexual abuse has taken place.

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Filed Under: Mental Health, Sexuality Tagged With: healing, internal family systems, sex, sex offenders, Sexual Abuse, Sexual assault, sexual health, sexual violence, social work

The Limits of Therapy with Jeanne Safer

October 14, 2009 by ssradmin

Psychotherapist Dr. Jeanne Safer about her experience struggling with her own wounds that did not heal in therapy. She discusses the impact this had on her sense of self as a therapist.

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Filed Under: Emotions, Mental Health Tagged With: difficult conversations, doubt, feelings of failure, healing, identity, psychotherapy, Therapy, Trauma

Divorce with Richard Schwartz

September 30, 2009 by ssradmin

Richard Schwartz is the developer of Internal Family Systems Therapy. He talks about his decision to get divorced and the process of healing that followed.

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Filed Under: Emotions, Family and Lifecycle Tagged With: breakups, Divorce, family dynamics, feelings of failure, healing, internal family systems, internal family systems therapy, intimacy, marriage

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Generously supported by:

  • The Annie E. Casey Foundation
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  • The Lerner Foundation
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  • The Rines Thompson Fund
  • The Sam L. Cohen Foundation

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Safe Space Radio
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Portland, ME 04101

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info@safespaceradio.com

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