Unravel with Elaine Clark

Elaine Clark

Unravel, hosted by Elaine Clark, explores the intersection of mental health and physical health. Through expert interviews and insightful conversations, we uncover science-backed tools and practices for well-being and personal growth.Whether you’re seeking to cultivate resilience, challenge misconceptions, or reconnect with your innate wisdom, Unravel offers the insights and guidance to support your journey.Science meets embodiment. Let’s explore what it means to unravel the layers—together.

  1. 4d ago

    33- AI, Overthinking, and the Search for Human Connection with Dr. Romith Naug

    As artificial intelligence becomes part of how we seek advice, reassurance, and emotional support, what happens to our ability to tolerate uncertainty and trust ourselves? In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Romith Naug, a dually board-certified family physician in Canada and the United States who now practices psychotherapy. Dr. Naug completed a fellowship in Medical CBT with CBT Canada and has since expanded his work to incorporate a range of integrative therapeutic modalities. He has developed an individualized model that brings these approaches together within an adapted CBT framework. Alongside his outpatient psychotherapy practice in Kingston, Ontario, Dr. Naug serves as a senior CBT consultant and supervisor with CBT Canada. He is also an assistant professor at Queen’s University, where he supervises medical residents through the departments of Family Medicine and Psychiatry. We explore a thought-provoking conversation about artificial intelligence, human connection, and what it means to remain deeply human in an increasingly digital world. In this episode, we unravel: • Why understanding a pattern does not always change it • How overthinking can create a perceived sense of safety • Whether AI is strengthening or weakening our self-trust • Why reassurance is not the same as genuine human connection • How AI could begin to function as an attachment figure • The relationship between consciousness, spirituality, and technology • Why slowing down and returning to the body matter more than ever Stay Connected Follow the show: @elaineclark_ Email: info@elaineclark.ca Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio Explore more at www.elaineclark.ca

    33- AI, Overthinking, and the Search for Human Connection with Dr. Romith Naug
  2. Jun 24

    31- The Wound of Abandonment: Adoption, Attachment & Healing the Nervous System with Catherine Moore

    In this episode, I’m joined by registered clinical counsellor, author, and adoption advocate Catherine Moore for a tender and deeply insightful conversation about adoption, abandonment, belonging, and healing the nervous system. Catherine brings a unique perspective as an adoptee, adoptive mother, counsellor, and co-director of We Are Adopted. Together, we explore the emotional complexity of adoption, including the impact of early separation, the longing to know where we come from, and the hidden grief, shame, and anxiety that can live beneath the surface. Catherine shares her own story of reunion, the silence and secrecy that often surround closed adoption, and how these early experiences can shape attachment, identity, relationships, and the felt sense of safety in the body. We also talk about how somatic therapy, mindfulness, movement, breath, and compassionate presence can help soften old imprints and support healing. In this episode, we unravel: The emotional complexity of adoption and reunionHow early separation can shape attachment and belongingWhy abandonment wounds often live in the nervous systemHow shame, anxiety, and hypervigilance can show up in adopteesThe difference between who we are and the adaptations we developed to surviveHow somatic therapy can help heal preverbal traumaHow to support someone you love who is adoptedWhy being seen, heard, and understood can be profoundly healingStay Connected 🌿 Follow the show: @elaineclark_ 📩 Email: info@elaineclark.ca 🎧 Subscribe on Apple, Spotify & iHeartRadio 🌐 Explore more at www.elaineclark.ca

    31- The Wound of Abandonment: Adoption, Attachment & Healing the Nervous System with Catherine Moore
  3. Jun 9

    30- Early Signs of Burnout: Recovery Before Collapse

    Burnout does not always begin with collapse. It often begins quietly, while we are still functioning, still showing up, still getting things done, and still being praised for the very behaviours that are disconnecting us from ourselves. In this episode, I explore the early signs of burnout. I discuss how burnout can hide inside over-functioning, responsibility, productivity, and being the person everyone relies on. In this episode, you’ll learn: How burnout can begin long before collapseWhy burnout is different from ordinary tirednessHow over-functioning, productivity, and responsibility can mask depletionWhy rest does not always feel restorative when the body is deeply depleted How nutritional nourishment may support capacity and recoveryWhy burnout recovery may require both physiological support and deeper honestyReferenced Research & Resources World Health Organization. (2019, May 28). Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International Classification of Diseases. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases Freudenberger, H. J., & North, G. (1985). Women’s burnout: How to spot it, how to reverse it, and how to prevent it. Doubleday. National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. (2025, June 27). Vitamin D: Fact sheet for health professionals. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/ National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. (2025, July 2). Vitamin B12: Fact sheet for health professionals. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB12-HealthProfessional/ Whyte, D. (2001). Crossing the unknown sea: Work as a pilgrimage of identity. Riverhead Books. Stay Connected 🌿 Follow the show: @elaineclark_ 📩 Email: ⁠info@elaineclark.ca⁠ 🎧 Subscribe on Apple, Spotify & iHeartRadio 🌐 Explore more: ⁠www.elaineclark.ca

  4. Apr 21

    27- Why Nature Calms Your Nervous System with Elaine Clark

    Maybe your nervous system is not asking for more discipline right now. Maybe it is asking for a different relationship to life. In this episode, I explore the connection between the nervous system and nature, and why time in natural environments may support stress recovery, emotional regulation, and a greater sense of inner settling. Drawing from both personal reflection and research, I speak about rumination, restoration, awe, and the quiet ways the body can begin to soften when it feels less overexposed and more rooted. This is an episode about healing, environment, and remembering that regulation is not just psychological — it is physiological too.  In this episode, you’ll learn:  How nature may support the nervous system in shifting out of chronic activation  What research suggests about rumination, stress recovery, and time spent in natural settings  Why awe, slowness, and sensory contact with the natural world can feel regulating  How to begin noticing which environments help your body soften and settle  Why regulation is not laziness, and rest is not disengagement Referenced Research & Resources Antonelli, M., Barbieri, G., & Donelli, D. (2019). Effects of forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) on levels of cortisol as a stress biomarker: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Biometeorology, 63(8), 1117–1134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-019-01717-x Kobayashi, H., Song, C., Ikei, H., Park, B. J., Kagawa, T., & Miyazaki, Y. (2019). Combined effect of walking and forest environment on salivary cortisol concentration. Frontiers in Public Health, 7, 376. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2019.00376 Park, B. J., Tsunetsugu, Y., Kasetani, T., Kagawa, T., & Miyazaki, Y. (2010). The physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing): Evidence from field experiments in 24 forests across Japan. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 15(1), 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-009-0086-9 Bratman, G. N., Hamilton, J. P., Hahn, K. S., Daily, G. C., & Gross, J. J. (2015). Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(28), 8567–8572. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510459112 Ulrich, R. S., Simons, R. F., Losito, B. D., Fiorito, E., Miles, M. A., & Zelson, M. (1991). Stress recovery during exposure to natural and urban environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 11(3), 201–230. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(05)80184-7 Stay Connected 🌿 Follow the show: @elaineclark_ 📩 Email: info@elaineclark.ca 🎧 Subscribe on Apple, Spotify & iHeartRadio  🌐 Explore more: www.elaineclark.ca

About

Unravel, hosted by Elaine Clark, explores the intersection of mental health and physical health. Through expert interviews and insightful conversations, we uncover science-backed tools and practices for well-being and personal growth.Whether you’re seeking to cultivate resilience, challenge misconceptions, or reconnect with your innate wisdom, Unravel offers the insights and guidance to support your journey.Science meets embodiment. Let’s explore what it means to unravel the layers—together.