Honestly Mental, the podcast Erika Diaz

🎧 Episode #9: The Impact of Mental Health on Marriage & Family 🎧

Erika and her husband, Sergio, host this special episode to offer an honest look into their marriage and how mental health has shaped their lives and family.

They delve into how Erika’s suicidal thoughts and ideation have affected Sergio as a husband and father to their two boys, Jude, 11, and Oliver, 3.

Erika and Sergio emphasize the importance of having open, age-appropriate conversations about mental health with their children to foster a safe environment and break the stigmas surrounding mental health.

Reflecting on their 15 years together, they share stories of perseverance and courage in maintaining their relationship. They candidly discuss overcoming challenges, including a potential divorce following a trial separation and a cross-country move to save their marriage and keep their family intact.

Tune in to this episode for an authentic look at the real impacts mental health has had on their relationship and family.

Episode Highlights:
🫶🏽 Mental illness affects the whole family, especially the immediate family unit
👦🏽 Age appropriate conversations with children regarding mental health
✨ Marriage isn’t easy, adding in mental illness can complicate relationships
💞 Leveraging your support system is essential to mental wellness

Please subscribe, rate and review Honestly Mental. It helps the show grow. The more people we can reach, the more people we can help. That is our overall goal, to help as many people as we can. Thank you!

🎧 Episode #8: Betting On Yourself? 🎧

Therese Gopaul-Robinson and Erika Diaz engage in a profound exploration of personal and professional growth, touching on various themes such as vulnerability, imposter syndrome, self-belief, resilience, and authenticity. Therese shares her insights and experiences from her entrepreneurial journey, offering valuable lessons learned along the way.

They explore the significance of vulnerability as a catalyst for building genuine connections and fostering meaningful relationships, both in personal and professional spheres. Therese emphasizes the transformative power of vulnerability in creating spaces for authenticity and empathy to thrive.

The conversation also addresses imposter syndrome, a common challenge faced by many individuals, especially in competitive environments or when venturing into new endeavors. Therese and Erika discuss strategies for overcoming imposter syndrome, such as reframing negative self-talk and seeking support from mentors and communities.

Therese’s entrepreneurial journey serves as a backdrop for exploring themes of resilience and self-belief. She shares the challenges she encountered when starting her business and underscores the importance of perseverance and self-confidence in navigating obstacles and seizing opportunities for growth.

Throughout the dialogue, there is a recurring theme of embracing change and viewing life as a continuous journey of self-discovery and reinvention. Therese encourages listeners to approach life with a growth mindset, recognizing each chapter as an opportunity for personal and professional development.


Episode Highlights:
🫶🏽 Navigating the grief associated with being laid off
👊🏼 Strategies for overcoming self-doubt & embracing vulnerability
✨ Exploring the paradox of imposter syndrome
💞 Belief in oneself and the ability to overcome challenges is essential for personal growth

Please rate and review Honestly Mental. It helps the show grow. The more people we can reach, the more people we can help. That is our overall goal, to help as many people as we can. Thank you!

🎧 Episode# 7: Challenging the Status Quo: Mens Mental Health 🎧

I loved this conversation with Mickey Pelletier! It was rich and diverse, covering various aspects of emotions, resilience, and mental health. We shared personal anecdotes, including experiences of job loss and its emotional impact, highlighting the importance of acknowledging and processing such events.

We delved into the complexities of mental health, particularly focusing on destigmatization and the need for increased awareness, especially concerning men’s mental well-being. Empathy emerged as a central theme, with discussions on its role in providing support and fostering personal growth.

Overall, we explored how acknowledging and understanding our emotions can lead to greater resilience and well-being, underscoring the importance of building strong support networks and seeking professional help when needed.

Episode Highlights:
👤 Societal & generational pressures regarding men’s mental health
💪🏽 Seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness
🫶🏽 Navigating the grief associated with being laid off
👧🏼 Vulnerability in parenthood & wanting to be the best for our children

Please rate and review Honestly Mental. It helps the show grow. The more people we can reach, the more people we can help. That is our overall goal, to help as many people as we can. Thank you!

🎧 Episode# 6: Mental Wellness & the Importance of Body Movement 🎧
 
Tuning into internal cues and being present with oneself is crucial, especially in a world bombarded with external stimuli and societal pressures. Movement, whether it’s dance, yoga, or any form of exercise, can provide an opportunity to reconnect with our internal experiences and listen to what our bodies truly need. It’s about shifting focus from external expectations to internal well-being and authenticity.
 
In this insightful conversation, Erika and Shanna Beebe, a licensed mental health counselor, explore the benefits of movement and exercise, emphasizing the importance of individualized approaches. We discuss how movement can influence mental health, with playfulness being a key element in connecting with one’s inner child and exploring movement in a non-judgmental way. Shanna shares personal experiences and suggests playful activities like mimicking movements with toddlers as a way to reconnect with the joy of movement.
 
Additionally, we touch on the importance of finding the right therapist and the dynamics of therapy relationships. Shanna emphasizes the significance of being honest and open with therapists about any discomfort or feelings of misalignment in the therapeutic relationship. 
 
The conversation serves as a poignant reminder of the value of prioritizing mental health and seeking the guidance of supportive professionals. By fostering a culture of authenticity and self-compassion, individuals can embark on a journey of self-discovery and healing, guided by the wisdom of their own internal compass.
 
Episode Highlights:
🧘🏼‍♀️ Increase internal awareness & needs by prioritizing internal cues amid external pressures.
💃 Movement can have significant positive impact on one’s mental wellness.
🦸🏽‍♀️ Embracing playfulness fosters joy and reconnects with the spontaneity of childhood.
✨ Everyone is unique, an individualized approach to movement & therapy is discussed.
 
Please rate and review Honestly Mental. It helps the show grow. The more people we can reach, the more people we can help. That is our overall goal, to help as many people as we can. Thank you!

🎧 Episode# 5: Grief is More Than Loss of Life 🎧
“Grief is like the ocean, it comes in waves ebbing and flowing sometimes the water is calm and sometimes it is overwhelming all we can do is learn to swim.” - Vicki Harrison
Erika delves into the theme of navigating grief with her guest, Megan McCann.
Megan McCann, a distinguished leader in IT recruitment and technology services, is renowned for her expertise in building and guiding highly successful IT firms, as well as her commitment to promoting diversity and nurturing talent within the technology sector.
Beyond her role as CEO, Megan’s influence extends widely in the tech community. She is a co-founder of ARA, a national organization dedicated to empowering women in technology and leadership through mentorship, events, and various programs, showcasing her dedication to advancing women in the tech industry.
In this episode, they explore the various stages of grief, encompassing denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Megan candidly shares her personal experiences with grief, including the loss of her father and the ensuing challenges. She also reflects on how grief has shaped her leadership style and coping mechanisms.
At work, Megan embraces vulnerability with her team, setting an example for them to feel secure in doing the same. She emphasizes the importance of acknowledging that it’s okay not to always feel okay. Throughout the conversation, there is a recurring emphasis on the necessity of open dialogue and support for individuals grappling with grief and mental health challenges.
Episode Highlights:
✅ Introduction to the five stages of grief & the broader dimensions of grief beyond loss of life
🗣️ How COVID has been a catalyst for destigmatizing mental health
🌀 Acknowledgment that grief and loss are nonlinear and universal experiences
✨ Importance of seeking harmony in life by prioritizing personal mental wellness
💞 Affirmation that seeking help, such as therapy, signifies strength rather than weakness
Please rate and review Honestly Mental. It helps the show grow. The more people we can reach, the more people we can help. That is our overall goal, to help as many people as we can. Thank you!

🎧 Episode# 4: Workplace Emotion Literacy and Pitfalls of Not Letting in Emotions 🎧
Antonio Damasio hits the nail on the head, “We are not thinking machines that feel, we are feeling machines that think.”
We are “feeling machines” not just in our personal lives, but at work as well. We can’t just “turn off” our emotions and feelings because we are at work.
So how do we best approach it is the workplace?
Ashley Andersen, SVP ClearEdge Rising, and I tackle just that: workplace literacy and equipping managers with the tools to handle and talk about emotions.
With the world of work changing it’s approach to focus on mental wellness and wellbeing, you’ll learn about what emotional literacy is and how it ties into emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is a skill that helps you manage both your emotions and the emotions of others.
It’s said that most people can only identify 3 emotions in themselves when they are experiencing them, but more than 80 emotions and emotional experiences exist beyond the common ones: glad, mad, and sad.
Ashley and I will talk about how to get comfortable having conversations about emotions. We’ll discuss surfacing them, understanding the implications of how they show up, what they look like, and what they are there for. Most importantly, how to work with people going through those emotional experiences. As fellow human beings (not a therapist) we can empower people, leaders, and organizations to foster an environment with psychological safety.
Ashley challenges us to consider, “how we can enact our own internal courage to be able to stay in that discomfort, in service of being be able to better know what we need and to ask for what we need and help others to do the same.”
Simply put, our feelings just want to be felt, heard, and recognized. If we put in the work to build the skill to be present and show up with emotional literacy, our organizations can experience increased productivity, morale and overall satisfaction on the job. But leaders must put in the work - it has to be more than just the intention of doing so. Ashley will show you how.
Episode Highlights:
🗣 We tackle myths surrounding mental health and the workplace
🌟 Importance of recognizing your own emotions to get curious about others’
🦸 Psychological safety and how getting comfortable with the uncomfortable is everyone’s job, not just HR
💻 Pitfalls and implications of not letting in emotions in a professional environment
💞 Toolkit for fostering an environment to ensure employees are seen, heard and understood
Also, please rate and review Honestly Mental. It helps the show grow. The more people we can reach, the more people we can help. That is our overall goal, to help as many people as we can. Thank you!