Nervous System Care & Healing

Liz Zhou
  • 5.0 (4)
  • MENTAL HEALTH

A podcast about how to take care of our nervous systems while we navigate systems that were designed to keep us dysregulated. Hosted by Liz Zhou, a neurodivergent therapist of color. If you’re a highly sensitive or neurodivergent person — or have always felt different from others, like you belong nowhere — then I hope this podcast will feel like a “welcome home” for you. Here, we approach difference with curiosity, not judgment. We affirm that there is nothing “wrong” with you, that none of us are broken — but the systems around us are. If you’re curious about individual healing & collective liberation, this podcast is for you. Join us as we heal our nervous systems & take good care of ourselves and each other. You are welcome here.

  1. 3D AGO

    Caring for the Perinatal Nervous System: A Transpersonal Lens, w/ Paige DiChiara

    Let’s talk about the perinatal nervous system – what it is, how it differs from a non-perinatal nervous system, and how caring for mothers creates a ripple effect of healing across generations. In this conversation, Paige DiChiara & I explore the perinatal nervous system from a scientific, spiritual, & systemic lens.  We discuss: how to honor the perinatal transition as a rite of passage – instead of pathologizing the experience, as is often the case in Western medical modelswhy the health of mothers is directly linked to the health of society & the planet the somatic intelligence of the nervous system, and why the biological shifts that occur during the perinatal portal make sense from an evolutionary point of viewthe process of matrescence: a multi-layered metamorphosis into motherhood, impacting everything from identity to neurobiology to financeshow lack of systemic support for mothers creates more opportunity for rupture in the child-caregiver relationship, increasing the risk of adverse childhood experienceswhere systems fall short (like lack of paid maternity/paternity leave in the US), and what needs to change at the systemic level in order for humanity & the planet to have a chance to thrivethe benefits of matriarchy, and why matriarchy is not what most people think – it’s not about domination & control, like patriarchy; it’s about care & protection in community 🌿 About the Guest Paige DiChiara is trained as a therapist, doula, and advanced yoga teacher with a specialization in perinatal mental health & transpersonal experiences. She guides pregnant women through a physical & emotional transformation that eases anxiety & discomfort while activating an unshakable trust within themselves. Paige believes that the health of mothers is directly related to the health of society & the health of the planet. 🌿 Connect with Paige >> Join free 3-day journey for pregnancy peace: Calm Within Reach >> Instagram: www.instagram.com/seasonsofshakti_  >> Website: www.seasonsofshakti.co  🌿 About the Host Liz Zhou is a neurodivergent therapist of color, coach, & speaker based in Colorado (MA, LPC, she/her). She helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults & couples heal their nervous systems and connect with their authentic selves. Her specialties include: Brainspotting, EMDR, IFS, Psychedelic Integration, and Nervous System Intensives (deep-dive, accelerated therapy). 🌿 Connect with Liz >> Subscribe to Liz’s Neurodivergent Letters >> Instagram: www.instagram.com/liz.holistic.therapist >> Website: www.seasonsofgrowthcounseling.com

    39 min

  2. MAY 10

    The Brain on Psychedelic Medicines: Myths & Facts

    We’ve all heard the claim that psychedelic drugs will “fry your brain.” We’ve also heard the opposite story: that psychedelics (like psilocybin, MDMA, & ketamine) are a “magic pill” that’ll cure depression, anxiety, & PTSD — overnight! With such polarizing narratives, it can be hard to discern what’s myth & what’s truth.  Whether you’re curious about psychedelic therapy, or skeptical about all the hype, this episode is here to inform you. As a therapist specializing in psychedelic integration, I’ll discuss: the definition of psychedelic medicine (& why I’m intentionally using this term, instead of “drug”)why psychedelics are not a passive experience that we just consume; they’re a relationship that we actively participate inthe balance between enjoying the neuroplastic effects of psychedelic medicines vs. expecting the medicine to do all the healing work for usthe importance of thoughtful preparation & integration, and why the real work happens after the journeystudies that compare the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy vs. psychotherapy with a placebowhy concerns about safety are valid, and why it’s important to consider medical contraindications, as well as the social, emotional, & sensory context in which the experience unfoldshow War on Drugs propaganda impacts our public understanding of psychedelic medicines, and misrepresents the relative danger of “drugs” like cannabis & psilocybin (which are shown to be physiologically less dangerous & less addictive than alcohol) why any conversation on psychedelics must also acknowledge the War on Drugs as a vehicle of structural racism & oppressionthe different contexts of psychedelic healing, from ketamine-assisted psychotherapy to plant medicine ceremonies to microdosingthe nuanced truth: psychedelics can be helpful for some & unhelpful for othersthe importance of centering the voices of Indigenous communities that have stewarded these medicines for generations RESOURCES >> Download free guide: How to Prepare & Integrate Your Psychedelic Experience 🪷 >> See all research citations 🌿 About the Host Liz Zhou is a neurodivergent therapist of color, coach, & speaker based in Colorado (MA, LPC, she/her). She helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults & couples heal their nervous systems and connect with their authentic selves. Her specialties include: Brainspotting, EMDR, IFS, Psychedelic Integration, & Nervous System Intensives (deep-dive, accelerated therapy). Liz’s services are available online in CO & worldwide. 🌿 Connect with Liz >> Join my weekly newsletter: Liz’s Neurodivergent Letters >> Follow on IG: www.instagram.com/liz.holistic.therapist >> To work 1:1 with Liz: learn about psychedelic integration support here.

    45 min

  3. MAY 3

    Decolonial & Ancestral Healing through Psychedelic Medicines, w/ Mariya Javed-Payne

    Though psychedelic medicines are often presented as a “quick fix” or “magic pill” in mainstream Western culture, the truth is far more complex than that.  In this episode, Mariya Javed-Payne & I explore a decolonial approach to psychedelic medicines — an approach that divests from capitalism, honors Indigenous wisdom, and centers relationship & reciprocity. We explore why psychedelic medicines are not for everyone, but there ARE many different ways to heal, including through ancestral & spiritual practices that we can weave into the everyday. We talk about: 03:40 Mari’s journey from addiction recovery to becoming a psychedelic-assisted therapist 5:30 Honest thoughts on the psychedelic medicine field 12:57 Decolonizing psychedelic medicines & centering Indigenous wisdom 16:55 Why all trauma healing IS ancestral healing, & what ancestral & spiritual work can look like (even if you don’t know your ancestors) 23:54 Navigating psychedelic experiences w/ discernment & intention: ketamine, cannabis, psilocybin, ayahuasca, & plant allies 31:13 Envisioning our future as empire falls: community, care networks, & connection w/ land 🌿 About the Guest Mariya Javed-Payne (she/her) is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Alcohol & Drug Counselor, and International Brainspotting Trainer & Consultant. She is a somatic psychotherapist & the owner of Awaken Consulting Services, a private practice & consultancy where she utilizes Brainspotting therapy and offers training & consultation on treating trauma, somatic psychotherapies, psychedelic assisted therapy, and ancestral healing. The foundation of her work is decolonial and liberation-based. She is also the co-founder of Awakened Roots, a sanctuary & healing space where she offers breathwork, shamanic healing, & earth-based wisdom offerings. 🌿 Connect with Mari >> Brainspotting trainings: www.awakenconsultingservices.com  >> Breathwork workshops: www.awakened-roots.com >> Instagram: www.instagram.com/awakenconsultingservices  🌿 About the Host Liz Zhou is a neurodivergent therapist of color, coach, & speaker based in Colorado (MA, LPC, she/her). She helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults & couples heal their nervous systems and connect with their authentic selves. Her specialties include: Brainspotting, EMDR, IFS, Psychedelic Integration, and Nervous System Intensives (deep-dive, accelerated therapy). Liz’s services are available online in Colorado & worldwide. 🌿 Connect with Liz >> Subscribe to Liz’s Neurodivergent Letters >> Instagram: www.instagram.com/liz.holistic.therapist >> Website: www.seasonsofgrowthcounseling.com

    40 min

  4. APR 26

    3 Loving Reminders for When the World is Overwhelming

    When the world feels like it’s on fire, it’s natural to become overwhelmed, dysregulated, and overstimulated. (In fact, that’s a sign that our nervous systems are working as designed, alerting us to threats to safety).  But no one wants to feel STUCK in overwhelm.  In this short & sweet episode, I share 3 reminders to help you tend to your nervous system and navigate the state of the world with agency & awareness – without bypassing painful emotions or pretending that everything is okay (when it’s not).  We’ll cover these topics: 00:23 Acknowledging a world in polycrisis 02:14 Be compassionate with yourself 04:04 Allow space to feel & process 07:46 Explore aligned action, in community Quote: “Your nervous system reaction makes sense in the context of your whole life, in the context of the experiences that you’ve had, conscious and subconscious memories, as well as ancestral and intergenerational experiences that are held and remembered in the nervous system. Instead of blaming, shaming, criticizing, or judging ourselves for feeling flooded or frozen or for experiencing shutdowns or burnout or meltdowns, we can instead offer that grace, understanding, and kindness toward ourselves. And it can be as simple as saying: my experience makes sense.” If this episode resonates with you & you want to explore related topics, check out these episodes: >> Episode 1 | Nervous System Regulation: Why Self-Care & Collective Care Matter >> Episode 4 | Building Community: How We Disrupt Systems of Oppression >> Click here for episode transcripts & citations. 🌿 About the Host Liz Zhou is a neurodivergent therapist of color, coach, & speaker based in Colorado (MA, LPC, she/her). She helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults & couples heal their nervous systems and connect with their authentic selves. Her specialties include: Brainspotting, EMDR, IFS, Psychedelic Integration, and Nervous System Intensives (deep-dive, accelerated therapy). Liz’s services are available online in Colorado & worldwide. 🌿 Connect with Liz >> Subscribe to Liz’s Neurodivergent Letters. >> Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/liz.holistic.therapist >> Visit my website: www.seasonsofgrowthcounseling.com 🌿 Options to Work Together >> To work 1:1 with Liz (adults & couples): book an intro call here. >> To hire Liz for speaking & workshops: submit an inquiry form here.

    11 min

  5. APR 19

    Decentering the Medical Model: There's Nothing Wrong with You, w/ Halle Thomas

    If you hold marginalized identities (like being queer, BIPOC, or neurodivergent), you’re used to navigating spaces that weren’t built for you — including the medical system.  Unfortunately, the mental health field has a history of pathologizing folks... leading many to believe, “there’s something wrong with ME.” It’s time that we change this narrative. Join me in a poignant conversation with therapist Halle Thomas (she/they), where we talk about: what prompted her to divest from the medical model (which assumes that mental health = "absence of mental illness”), and why alternatives to the medical model are importanthow we can make therapy safer for everyone, by navigating conversations about diagnosis with care & consentwhy it’s important to talk about privilege, oppression, & identities (rather than pretend that these dynamics don’t exist)what it means to acknowledge ancestral responsibilities & engage in intergenerational healing — including when harm was perpetuated by your own ancestorshow Halle uses sensory breaks to take care of her nervous system 🌿 About the Guest Halle Monique Thomas, LPC is an anxiety therapist who also works with trauma. Through Brainspotting, parts work, & spiritually-informed practices, she supports anxious adults whose anxiety stems from trying to follow rules that were written FOR them, instead of by them. Halle’s work centers the lived experiences of BIPOC, queer, chronically ill, and neurodivergent folks.   🌿 Connect with Halle >> Download free guide to reduce anxiety >> Instagram: www.instagram.com/chicorycounseling >> Website: www.chicorycounseling.com   🌿 About the Host Liz Zhou is a neurodivergent therapist of color, coach, & speaker based in Colorado (MA, LPC, she/her). She helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults & couples heal their nervous systems and connect with their authentic selves. Her specialties include: Brainspotting, EMDR, IFS, Psychedelic Integration, and Nervous System Intensives (deep-dive, accelerated therapy). Liz’s services are available online in Colorado & worldwide. 🌿 Connect with Liz >> Subscribe to Liz’s Neurodivergent Letters >> Instagram: www.instagram.com/liz.holistic.therapist >> Website: www.seasonsofgrowthcounseling.com 02:04 The journey from pre-med to counseling 10:25 Navigating mental health in a multicultural household 15:11 De-centering the medical model 24:03 Conversations on privilege, power, & intersectionality in the therapy room 28:19 The role of the therapist as a bridge 30:54 Ancestral responsibility & healing across generations 37:36 How do you take care of your nervous system?

    46 min

  6. APR 12

    Let's Talk Self-Care: Brain Dumps, Inner Child, & Nature

    We’ve all heard how important self-care is — but actually building a self-care plan that works for your brain, your unique needs, and your life… is a whole other story. If the typical advice, like “take a bubble bath!” or “have you tried meditating?”, simply doesn’t work for you… I created this episode with your needs in mind.  When it comes to taking care of your nervous system, I want you to have options that feel accessible & authentic to you. I’ll share practical ideas of what self-care, self-regulation, & co-regulation can look like, covering topics like: 01:36 Brain dumps: what's your processing style? (cognitive, verbal, kinetic, visual, auditory) 07:51 What does your inner child need? 12:50 Which element of nature do you feel drawn to? (fire, water, earth, air) My hope is that you’ll leave this episode with 1-2 self-care ideas that you feel excited to explore (or revisit)… and the reminder that you are always deserving of care — in mind, in body, and in spirit. Quote: “Everyone’s body is different, everyone's brain works differently, and something that works for you on Monday might not work as well on Tuesday because there are also variables like mood or energy or shifting capacity.” “Scientific studies are affirming this age-old wisdom that so many cultures, so many communities have known for millennia, that being in connection with the earth, feeling it on our hands and feet, generates health and generates life.” >> Click here for episode transcripts & citations. 🌿 About the Host Liz Zhou is a neurodivergent therapist of color, coach, & speaker based in Colorado (MA, LPC, she/her). She helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults & couples heal their nervous systems and connect with their authentic selves. Her specialties include: Brainspotting, EMDR, IFS, Psychedelic Integration, and Nervous System Intensives (deep-dive, accelerated therapy). Liz’s services are available online in Colorado & worldwide. 🌿 Connect with Liz >> Subscribe to Liz’s Neurodivergent Letters. >> Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/liz.holistic.therapist >> Visit my website: www.seasonsofgrowthcounseling.com 🌿 Options to Work Together >> To work 1:1 with Liz (adults & couples): book an intro call here. >> To hire Liz for speaking & workshops: submit an inquiry form here.

    22 min

  7. APR 5

    You're Not Broken: An Ancestral View of Neurodiversity

    Neurodivergence is often stigmatized in Western mental health. Autism & ADHD are seen as pathologies in need of a “cure.” But what if we viewed neurodiversity through a curious & affirming lens, acknowledging both the challenges AND gifts? In this episode, I explore an alternative to the pathology-based approach: an affirming, ancestral lens that views the individual within the context of their environment & community. We’ll explore how neurodivergent traits (like stimming, repetitive behaviors, or “inability to focus”) are not “deficits” – they are adaptive behaviors that make sense within a collective context, in which each person has a role & gifts to offer to the community.  In other words: the traits that make us different, “weird,” or inconvenient for capitalism, may have allowed our ancestors to survive & thrive generations ago. This episode invites us to imagine a world where we embrace difference & live in relationship with each other, with nature, and with the wisdom of our nervous systems.  00:00 Intro 00:23 What if we viewed neurodiversity through a curious & non-pathologizing lens? 02:07 How is autism defined in Western mental health? 04:12 How is ADHD defined in Western mental health? 05:25 Neurodiversity-affirming & Indigenous perspectives on autism & ADHD 07:38  Medical vs. social models of disability 11:11 Indigenous perspectives on disability 14:10 The importance of a community-based, non-pathologizing approach 16:02 What do I mean by an ancestral lens on neurodiversity? 16:18 Autistic traits through an ancestral lens 19:33 ADHD traits through an ancestral lens 21:51 Navigating the diagnostic system 23:24 Mindfulness practice: vision of ancestral past & future Quote:  “We are not saying that neurodivergent & disabled people do not experience any challenges whatsoever. We are saying that it is not necessary to pathologize the people who experience these challenges.” >> Click here for episode transcripts & citations. 🌿 About the Host Liz Zhou is a neurodivergent therapist of color, coach, & speaker based in Colorado (MA, LPC, she/her). She helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults & couples heal their nervous systems and connect with their authentic selves. Her specialties include: Brainspotting, EMDR, IFS, Psychedelic Integration, and Nervous System Intensives (deep-dive, accelerated therapy). Liz’s services are available online in Colorado & worldwide. 🌿 Connect with Liz >> Subscribe to Liz’s Neurodivergent Letters. >> Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/liz.holistic.therapist >> Visit my website: www.seasonsofgrowthcounseling.com 🌿 Options to Work Together >> To work 1:1 with Liz (adults & couples): book an intro call here. >> To hire Liz for speaking & workshops: submit an inquiry form here.

    28 min

  8. MAR 29

    You're Not Lazy: Your Nervous System Needs Rest

    Endless productivity is not realistic for most humans, yet many of us carry the burden of feeling “lazy,” like we’re not doing enough. This episode explores why no one is “lazy” in a capitalistic world — but every one of us does need rest, support, and care. I’ll share 5 questions to help you explore your relationship to rest, work, and systemic & cultural expectations. You’re invited to journal on them, or listen & process in real time. 01:55 What is your relationship with rest? 04:18 How can you work with your cycles, energy, & wiring (not against them)? 07:26 What expectations are you carrying, and how do you feel about those expectations? 10:08 What would support or expand your capacity right now? 13:11 What would be an easy version of this task? We’ll explore what it means to: move at the speed of your nervous system, not at the speed of capitalismtreat rest as a universal right, not as a reward to be earnedlive in alignment with the cycles of the earth & the body, rather than expecting endless productivity This episode will leave you with:  practical ideas of supports & accommodations you might explore (ex: body-doubling, adjusting expectations, & delegating tasks if possible)affirming reminders: you are allowed to rest, you deserve care & support, and you are not “lazy”; you are human Quote: “It's natural for your energy to correlate with the seasons around you. Many of us feel more energized in the summer & spring, and more tired, more hibernation mode in the winter. To work with those cycles means that we don't have the same expectations of our energy every single day of the year.” 🌿 About the Host Liz Zhou is a neurodivergent therapist of color, coach, & speaker based in Colorado (MA, LPC, she/her). She helps highly sensitive, neurodivergent adults & couples heal their nervous systems and connect with their authentic selves. Her specialties include: Brainspotting, EMDR, IFS, Psychedelic Integration, and Nervous System Intensives (deep-dive, accelerated therapy). Liz’s services are available online in Colorado & worldwide. 🌿 Connect with Liz >> Subscribe to Liz’s Neurodivergent Letters. >> Follow on Instagram: www.instagram.com/liz.holistic.therapist >> Visit my website: www.seasonsofgrowthcounseling.com 🌿 Options to Work Together >> To work 1:1 with Liz (adults & couples): book an intro call here. >> To hire Liz for speaking & workshops: submit an inquiry form here.

    17 min
See All (15)

Trailer

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

A podcast about how to take care of our nervous systems while we navigate systems that were designed to keep us dysregulated. Hosted by Liz Zhou, a neurodivergent therapist of color. If you’re a highly sensitive or neurodivergent person — or have always felt different from others, like you belong nowhere — then I hope this podcast will feel like a “welcome home” for you. Here, we approach difference with curiosity, not judgment. We affirm that there is nothing “wrong” with you, that none of us are broken — but the systems around us are. If you’re curious about individual healing & collective liberation, this podcast is for you. Join us as we heal our nervous systems & take good care of ourselves and each other. You are welcome here.

Information

You Might Also Like