The Innovative Therapist Dr. Shawn Hondorp, PhD, ABPP

Episode 117. In today's solo episode, I'm going to share some of my healing journey and a bit of an update about where I'm a today. This will include reflecting back on what really helped me heal from binge eating disorder and the chronic dieting cycle, as well as what continues to help me build trust with myself today as I work to build a life that's aligned, joyful, and helps me avoid feelings of regret (as much as possible, since regret is a valuable teacher!).







I'll cover how Internal Family Systems has factored into this for me over the past 2 years, and how this model really helps me understand healing on a whole other level, even before I learned it.







I've gotten a few questions lately basically asking me, "Given our culture, what's truly possible when it comes to trusting myself with eating decisions?"







I also have been reflecting on how overall I feel more self trust than I ever have in various decisions, so I'd like to walk through some of the steps that helped me get there, with examples of how I shifted my relationship to food in the past and how I'm now learning to apply it to my podcast and other aspects of my business.







Without further ado, let's dive in!







But First, Words of Wisdom







“I’ve learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.”







- Maya Angelou







3 Truths That Shifted Everything When It Comes to Binge Eating & Self Trust









* Truly Understanding What Restriction is and How to Stop It. I've been reflecting lately on what helped me heal from binge eating disorder. For the part of me that restricted (and for those who don't know my story it wasn't extreme restriction in any way, basically I was just following advice I'd get from plans like WW), it really took around 13 years of trying before that part finally realized it's well-intentioned efforts were not working at all. Things to note: I had a lot of factors that made this healing journey easier for me, and still do to this day, most notably size privilege among many others.







* Continuing Until You Get to the Root Cause. I actually didn't really do this, well not until many years later when becoming a mom pushed me to do more healing. It's so common to exchange one protective part for another. No longer restricting or binge eating, but maybe occasionally using food to cope (without guilt, but still avoiding the underlying feeling), or overworking, or finding ways to avoid triggers (e.g., sometimes people will develop parts of them that really just compartmentalize, and bring all of their emotions and shame to therapy, which is great, but they are still disconnecting from the pain outside of the one hour a week which doesn't feel great to them).



















* Knowing that Deeper Healing and Releasing Beliefs is Actually Possible (Even Though the World Ain't Changing Anytime Soon). This is the part that IFS really helped with for me. I think for so many of us, we just deeply believe that we will always have parts of us that hold shame and beliefs like "I'm not enough" that get triggered by various things, anything from glancing in a mirror to making a mistake in a meeting. It's important to note here, that there are many different ways to heal parts of ourselves outside of therapy too. Sometimes being in certain social groups, participating in certain group or solo activities, or other environments can heal parts of us in ways we don't even know we needed or maybe even understand at the time. For example, maybe finding a great therapist is your next step in pursing healing, but maybe it's finding an amazing local community of artists and taking up painting,

Episode 116. Today’s episode was a super interesting conversation with Sharon Depcinski, LMSW. Sharon is a Certified Sex Therapist and wonderful human being (that I actually got to meet in person a few hours after our conversation at a local therapist meetup!).







Sharon reached out to me to share a newer therapy modality she was learning called TRIP, Trauma Regulation and Integration Processing which is a modality developed by Monique Hoving-Smeets.







From there, we chatted about the fact that she's a certified sex therapist and the important of this topic (which we have never discussed on the podcast yet!), and her personal and professional interest in exploring neurodivergence and how crucial this can be for people to experience true healing.







To be honest, I'm still processing all the information in this conversation and I believe it's incredibly important in many, many ways.







What to Expect in this Episode









* Sharon shares her journey to doing the work she does today, which includes taking a human sexuality class at Central Michigan University but soon realizing that West Michigan wasn't quite ready for her to do sex therapy in those early years...







* What is sex therapy? Why should we care about it? (and everyone should!)







* What is desire differential in couples and is it normal?







* Her winding path as an LMSW for 25 years, and how only in recent 1-2 years has she discovered that both she and her partner are neurodivergent







* Sharon's diagnosis with ADHD at age 49 and how that's impacted her as a therapist and otherwise







* Sharon's partner's diagnosis of autism, and how she felt shame that she "should have known" and why she chooses to share their story







* The role of neurodivergence and Sharon's hunch about how common it is







* The role of understanding perimenopause and menopause in understanding our physical and psychological symptoms







* Why swearing makes Sharon a better therapist and the sign she has about swearing in her office (that I totally want now!)







* Why Sharon pursued Trauma Regulation and Integration Process (TRIP) training and her experience with beginning to learn this modality







* And so much more!









Seriously, y'all. If this conversation doesn't get you thinking differently about a few things, I don't know what will.







Can't wait for you to check it out!







Resources Mentioned









* Trauma Regulation and Integration Process (TRIP) training: https://relationshipworx.newzenler.com/professional-home







* Neurodivergent Conversations podcast: https://www.divergentpod.com/







* Emily Nagoski's website









Join the Innovative Therapist Book Club Today!







Want to learn about the Top 4 books I wish I had read many years ago that have shifted my view of healing and human relationships?







Download the free guide today to find out – I bet some of them will surprise you! You can grab it at DrHondorp.com/Books















Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only.

Episode 115. Today's episode was another "this sounds like a fun idea" that quickly came to fruition. I logged into the YouTube TV app on my phone and saw that the Oprah Special on the weight loss GLP-1 meds was being recorded.







The show was titled: An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution







I watched a little bit of it, but then decided to come back and watch the recording the next day. I quickly sent a Voxer text to Dr. Kim Daniels to ask if she was watching and if so, if she wanted to record a podcast episode about it.







Mainly, I noticed quickly in the part that I watched that very little focus was put on the potential root causes of the food noise. I thought, "this would be fun to review with Kim" and so here we are.







What to Expect in this Episode









* Kim and I have a conversation about our general impressions of the TV special including some of the many things we believe they failed to address







* In the episode we try to be as un-biased as possible, but we recognize we have major biases and a lot of privilege that impacts how we approach this situation







* We talk about some of the aspects we wish were discussed and how we had hoped for a more balanced conversation







* We talk about the concept of obesity as a disease and also the statements like "release the shame" and our thoughts on these nuanced topics







* We also talk about how Internal Family Systems theory can help us understand the many strong opinions as it relates to these topics, and how an IFS approach could really be useful as we are trying to truly examine root causes







* We talk a bit about the concept of food noise and early relationships with food and how they might contribute to symptoms as an adult







* My hope and belief is that this conversation is not pro or anti medication, but simply an expansion on the aspects of weight loss and these controversial medications coming from two psychologists









Join the Innovative Therapist Book Club Today!







Want to learn about the Top 4 books I wish I had read many years ago that have shifted my view of healing and human relationships?







Download the free guide today to find out - I bet some of them will surprise you! You can grab it at DrHondorp.com/Books















Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Episode 114. This week's episode is special. I was on the Mastermind Parenting podcast with Randi Rubenstein, my beloved parent coach recently. And the convo was so good, that we are replaying it here.







So if you want to learn a little more about my story and how I got here, and hear me chat about it with one of the people who have been most influential in getting me here, this episode is for you!







What to Expect in this Episode







What to Expect in this episode:









* Some of my training and background and what I thought I was going to do for a career







* When I learned about IFS and what continues to keep me aligned and pursuing training in it







* How Randi has used it and is still using it, and a discussion about our understanding of it







* How our relationship is very "power with" dynamic and how parenting, and therapy can often be a "power over" model and how that can be less helpful and even harmful at times







* How watching Randi coach has shifted my view of how healing happens and my role as a therapist







* A story about shifting my relationship with one of my protector parts recently (I got teary sharing this one!)







* And more!









Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Episode 113. This week's episode is all about my first 4 days of my Internal Family Systems Level 1 training! So if you're curious about what this IFS thing is, what the training is like, if it's worth the wait and the money, and what I'm learning, this episode is for you!







What to Expect in this episode:









* My process with finding IFS and the long process of finally getting into a Level 1 training!







* The roller coaster that took me and on how I felt when I got it, versus how I feel now







* What the schedule of the training looked like







* The overall impact for me so far







* Main takeaways and lessons







* An example of one of my protector parts and how a 10 minute exercise with a new therapist learning IFS shifted things dramatically for me







* How you can begin to explore IFS and my recommendations after exploring it for almost 2 years







* And more!









Other Mentors & Resources Mentioned









* Internal Family Systems (IFS) Institute Online Learning Options







* My very candid conversation called "What your therapist really thinks..." with Randi Rubenstein on the Mastermind Parenting podcast









“I know I shouldn’t focus on weight loss, but…” (Polarized Parts Alert!)















Are you feeling unsure how to guide a client who wants to improve their relationship with food, but also wants to lose weight?







We offer this super cool transformational exercise that can help your clients work to understand their polarized parts, build self-trust and listen to their intuition!







This free PDF gives step-by-step instructions for doing one of my all-time favorite exercises (based on Internal Family Systems theory) to explore polarized parts. It will help clients get to know the parts of themselves without judgment, understand their intention, and create empowerment and harmony in their bodies.







This is hands-down one of the best ways I’ve found to help support client autonomy and build self-trust at the same time. I can’t wait to share it with you!







Sign up today to use this innovative tool!







Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider-patient relationship.

Episode 112. It's official. It is here. This week's episode is all about the new podcast, The Innovative Therapist Podcast. This name and shifting of the podcast reflects my internal shifts, and who I am becoming and permission for all of us to think more creatively with regards to how we think about healing. In this episode, I will tell you what to expect in the new podcast. What will be different and what will be the same. I will also share how I am different, and some of the experiences and people that led to those shifts.







I cannot wait to share it with you!







What to Expect in this episode:









* My reason for changing the name of the podcast to The Innovative Therapist Podcast







* Who it is geared towards (FYI: it isn't just for therapists, but for anyone interested in thinking deeply and creatively about innovative approaches to healing)







* Why I am probably not going to be recording in the same space anymore, and why







* How the shifts you see in this podcast and other aspects of my business reflect internal shifts happening in me, and me learning to listen to and trust my body more and more (aka "walking the walk," if you will)







* What to expect in the future (e.g., more interviews with therapists who have paved their way and began doing meaningful work outside of the traditional 1 on 1 client work, among other creative guests and solo topics), more interviews with therapists and other professionals willing to challenge the status quo and question our traditional way of doing things (e.g., like my conversation with Dr. Adia Gooden a long time ago where we talked about sharing about ourselves as psychologists and how it's so different than what we learned to do in training)







* The book I'm reading right now, Decolonizing Therapy by Dr. Jennifer Mullan, and what I'm learning from it so far and how it's helping me think creatively about our role as helping professionals and some of the reasons the traditional therapy model never felt quite right to me (and how this book is adding to the learning I got from reading Decolonizing Wellness by Dalia Kinsey, Check out my conversation with Dalia Kinsey to explore this)







* How and why I'll be continuing to explore evidence-based approaches as well as other "alternative" healing modalities (with less official research backing, but equally as important explore with an open mind)







* What I'm thinking in terms of the motivation questions at the end, and the music for the podcast, and how I'm letting a lot of this evolve naturally (and how incredibly different that is from my prior approaches)







* Things coming up in my world that I'm excited about! The Innovative Therapist Retreat Oct 7-10th in Norton Shores, Michigan, Local Outdoor Therapist Meetups in West Michigan, sign up for updates here! DrHondorp.com/Meetups, and other community building online offerings coming soon!









Other Mentors & Resources Mentioned









* Natalie Miller and The Mind Witchery podcast







* Randi Rubenstein and Mastermind Parenting









What is The Innovative Therapist Podcast All About?









* The Innovative Therapist podcast is for you if you want honest conversations ...