Living From Happiness KSFR

Yes, it’s possible to live well while holding our grief and sorrow for what’s been lost, and knowing that we are simply mortal beings.
 
And Martha Crawford is the perfect guest to share some big ideas and deeply personal experiences in this episode of Living From Happiness. 
 
Martha earned a master’s degree in social work, followed by an advanced certificate in clinical social work from NYU. After working for 25 years in New York City, she relocated to Santa Fe just in time to hunker down when the pandemic took over the world.
 
In 2016, she was diagnosed with a unique, unstageable, unprognosable cancer that transformed and reshaped her vocational goals, capacities and priorities.
 
Martha now works as a mentor, teacher, writer, coach, psycho-spiritual director and as a group and workshop facilitator.
 
This fascinating conversation ranges from archetypal and depth psychologies (curious about the Mad King and Dangerous Buffoon?) to the collective stressors we’re all facing these days.
 
“Privilege is eroding.” “We’re living in the crack between worlds.” “Our problems are collective.” These are just a few of the provocative ideas from Martha Crawford.
 
It’s a big-brain conversation you don’t want to miss.
 
Martha Crawford’s website here: https://www.whatashrinkthinks.com/
 
Dr. Melanie Harth is a licensed psychotherapist in Santa Fe NM working with people who’ve lost their way. Her website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/

Kelsey Blackwell is a cultural somatics practitioner and author dedicated to supporting women of color to trust and follow the guidance of the body.
She’s a facilitator, coach, and speaker who's brought abolitionist embodied practices to such diverse groups as riders on Bay Area Rapid Transit trains to students at Stanford University to the offices of LinkedIn.
She has a new book called "Decolonizing the Body: Healing, Body-Centered Practices for Women of Color to Reclaim Confidence, Dignity, and Self-Worth".
Finally, Kelsey believes that working towards personal and collective liberation must also bring joy.
She’s one of the most thoughtful, engaging guests Melanie’s had the pleasure of talking with.
This is a gentle conversation about what is too often conflictual and difficult with an important young voice in the worlds of happiness and healing.
Kelsey Blackwell website here: https://www.kelseyblackwell.com/
Dr. Melanie Harth website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/.

Cheryl Alters Jamison is the Queen of New Mexico food (at least, that’s what Melanie calls her)! Cheryl is a 4-time James Beard award winning cookbook author. She’s published 22 cookbooks, and sold over 2 million copies.
 
Not one to rest for very long, she’s also been voted Edible New Mexico’s Local Heroes Best Food Writer award twice, is the founder of the online Excited About Foods community, a Contributing Culinary Editor for New Mexico Magazine, culinary tourism consultant, and a radio host at Hutton Broadcasting, where she has a show about food called Heating It Up.
 
Finally, in her spare time she leads foodie tours to Europe and exotic places like Morocco.
 
Some of the convo topics include
food and travel and happiness,
the ways in which cultures and foods are connected,
the political and social power of food,
how to keep going when we’ve lost a loved one, and yep …
 … chickens.
 
This show is full of stories, and laughter, and a lot of living that Cheryl shares with y’all.
 
Finally, you’ve got to listen to the 2nd half, when she shares a few names of in-the-news northern New Mexico places to eat (not all of them restaurants).
 
Cheryl Alters Jamison website, Excited About Food, here: https://excitedaboutfood.com/
 
Dr. Melanie Harth, the Santa Fe Therapist website, here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/

Really! Melanie and guest Jon Baskin have a lot of fun talking about psychoanalysis in this episode.
 
Things like what it is, why there are so many negative biases against it (at least on Melanie’s part), and what motivated Jon to become a candidate psychoanalyst-in-training at the Chicago Psychoanalytic Institute.
 
Jon Baskin is already a seasoned psychotherapist. He’s a licensed clinical social worker, completing his bachelor’s degree in philosophy at UCLA along with a master’s degree in social welfare, also at UCLA.
 
Over the course of his career, he’s worked with children with neurodevelopmental disabilities; military service members, veterans, and their families; first responders; education and mental health professionals; teenagers and young adults; and those experiencing crises related to severe psychological distress.
 
Jon’s a warm, compassionate, engaging guest who’s articulate about a sometimes confusing psychotherapeutic modality.
 
The prominent psychoanalytic therapist, Jonathan Shedler, shares this sort-of description about how it works:
 
"Our patients recreate their problematic relationship patterns with us in the therapy relationship. Our unavoidable participation in these patterns provides a crucial window into their inner worlds.
 
“Our unexpected participation in our patients’ problematic relational patterns necessarily stirs up difficult feelings for us. It is not a question of if we experience difficult feelings but of whether or not we can use them constructively, as a source of understanding.”
 
Come along with Melanie as she learns more about psychoanalysis in this light-hearted (honest!) episode.
 
Jon Baskin’s website here: https://www.baskinpsychotherapy.com
 
Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com
 
 
The Santa Fe Therapist
 
I’m Melanie, and I love helping people who are ready to work with a trauma therapist. 
 
In balancing the science of therapy with the art of healing, I’ll create an innovative program for you that sets you on a path of success from the very first session.
 
My compassionate, creative approach weaves together my ability to hear below the surface of the words, advanced degrees, years of specialized training, professional experience, and my own healing around trauma.
 
I use the latest neuroscience findings as I combine Western systems, Eastern wisdom, Earth-based practices, as well as creative, innovative ideas to help you process, heal and begin building your future.
 
My hope for you is that you’ll feel safe every step of the way as you transform “I don’t feel safe” into “Yes, I’m safe and well and happy.”
 
If you’d like a free, 15-minute phone consult, just send me an email: melanie@melanieharth.com.

This episode takes a deep dive into healing the shame of childhood sexual abuse.
 
National expert Beverly Engel is Melanie’s guest as the two of them explore some of the many unhealthy consequences of shame. An acclaimed advocate for victims of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, Beverly’s a psychologist and best-selling author who’s published 22 books, including four bestsellers on emotional abuse.
 
Her most recent book is Freedom at Last: Healing the Shame of Childhood Sexual Abuse.
 
Even though the subject matter may feel dark and heavy, the reality is that millions of people, both men and women, suffer deeply from the shame of having been sexually abused as children.
 
And that shame can become an insidious self-saboteur, holding you hostage, never allowing you to live a full, rich life.
 
There are many, often hidden, negative health consequences of having experienced childhood sexual abuse (CSA). As Beverly writes:
 
“CSA survivors have a significantly higher risk of medical, psychological, behavioral, interpersonal, and social difficulties. Systemic reviews have also specifically established that CSA is a risk factor for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociative patterns, sexual problems, relationship problems, sexual exploitation, intimate partner violence, suicidality, substance abuse, eating disorders, and educational difficulties. But all those effects and risk factors pale in comparison to one particular consequence of child sexual abuse—shame.”
 
The very good news is that there is so much hope and healing possible, which is what the focus of the show is really all about.
 
Bad things happen to very good people. When you understand how much can be done to heal the shame of those early childhood wounds, your life will change for the better, in ways you may not even be able to imagine at this point.
 
As Beverly wrote in Freedom at Last, “being reminded of your own abuse is not necessarily a negative thing. This is because many former victims are in so much denial that being reminded of what happened to them can help them get out of denial, a major problem for many former victims. The more you can face the truth about what happened to you, the healthier you can become.”
 
This episode takes a fearless look at the truth about what happened, and offers lots of ideas, suggestions, and evidence-based strategies to help folks begin the transformational journey of healing themselves into wholeness.
 
Finally, please don’t expect this to be a horrible downer of a show. These two women offer wide-open, heartfelt personal experiences and professional guidance into a taboo subject that must be openly talked about. For that is where the healing lives.
 
Beverly Engel’s website here: http://healmyshame.com/
 
Dr. Melanie Harth’s website here: https://thesantafetherapist.com/about-santa-fe-therapist/
 
You don’t have to suffer alone anymore. If you’re struggling with the shame of childhood sexual abuse, CPTSD, or any other traumatic experience, please reach out to Melanie for a free 15-minute phone consult: melanie@melanieharth.com.

Who's the most fascinating French scientist-turned-baker in Santa Fe? It's Marcel Remillieux, of course!
This is a warm, gentle, delightful conversation about all things French and food (especially the sourdough bread) and families and growing up on the island of Corsica.
Marcel shares lots of stories about his family's legacy of baking, along with how he ended up as a scientist at Los Alamos National Lab for eight years.
He also gets up close and personal as he shares the story of why he chose to leave the Lab and take the huge risk of opening up a cafe and creperie, first in Los Alamos, and now in Santa Fe.
Marcel and Melanie have a lovely time together talking about:
happiness emotional health and wellbeing French cultural traditions psychological resilience how to define success for oneself yep, sourdough bread and French baguettes Merry Happy Holidays to everyone!
Mille, a French cafe and creperie in Santa Fe, website here
Mille's Facebook page here
Dr. Melanie Harth's website here
*the phrase Joyeux Noel is the one Melanie forgot to ask Marcel to pronounce, just in case you're still wondering what it was