NFCC's Guide Through the Seasons of Mental Wellness Nick Finnegan Counseling Center

Depending upon your own belief system, the word hardship can have lots of different meanings. For some, a hardship can be the loss of a job, facing financial setbacks, infidelity, divorce… the list goes on and on.
In this episode, we talk to a spiritual coach about whether or not it’s possible to be prepared for when those things happen and honestly, what the term 'healing', even means. Get your notepads out, there is a lot to take in!
About our GuestAlison Young is a Spiritual Coach with a diverse career path centered around helping others. She's served as the Director of Development at an exponentially growing nonprofit, a Pastor for rural, LGBTQ+, and inner city congregations, a Graduate Research Assistant for socio-political and educational research initiatives, and a Chaplain in the ICU and ER units of a Children’s hospital (and that's not all!)
Alison was ordained as an Elder in the United Methodist Church in 2012, graduated from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University with a Masters in Divinity in 2010, and graduated from Texas A&M University in 2003 with a B.S. in Political Science.
While her extensive career path is impressive, Alison's personal life helped inform the part of her journey where she walks alongside her clients, one-on-one as a Spiritual Coach and what that led her to our podcast.
If you want more from Alison (and we’re sure you will) connect with her by visiting her website: https://www.alisonyoung.co/
Meet our Host, Anna Crain, LMSWAnna Crain is a Licensed Master of Social Work and Nick Finnegan Counseling Center's, Outreach Counselor. Anna holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University (TCU) and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California (USC).
She has worked in a variety of settings spending majority of her time serving as a non-profit administrator, school administrator and school social worker. She has had the opportunity to help clients work through several challenges such as anxiety, grief and loss, ADHD, ASD, life-stressors and trauma both individually and through groups.
Anna currently works with children, families and some young adults, through one-on-one counseling and also speaks to groups throughout the Houston area, through outreach talks.
Thanks for listening!
If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help us reach more listeners, please:
• share it with someone you know
• post about it on social media
• and leave a rating or review
To see what’s coming next, follow us on Instagram and Facebook @NickFinnCounsel or visit our website at FinneganCounseling.org
Extra special thanks the people who made this project possible:
• Our wonderful Season 3 guest experts
• our production team at 3Wire Creative
• our editor, Jacel Dickson
• and the amazing leadership team and supporters at Nick Finnegan Counseling Center in Houston, TX.
Remember, new episodes drop each Friday! We can't wait for you to hear them all!
Until next time...

Season 3 is all about healing... In this episode, we discuss the very emotional journey of learning that you have cancer, and how to heal your heart and mind while your body is fighting for survival.
About our Guest
Clorena Myles is a wife, mom of three, teacher, Yogi and cancer survivor. After her breast cancer diagnosis, she decided to share her journey with the World. She remains extremely transparent about the ups and downs and the mental trauma of living with cancer.
Clorena has used the few years since her diagnosis to redefine the meaning of life; learning to be present and spending time making memories with her family.
Now her focus is on sharing the highs of life after cancer.
*Spoiler alert* she’s also an avid thrifter. Follow her on Instagram @mama_likes_adeal
Meet our Host, Anna Crain, LMSW
Anna Crain is a Licensed Master of Social Work and Nick Finnegan Counseling Center's, Outreach Counselor. Anna holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University (TCU) and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California (USC).
She has worked in a variety of settings spending majority of her time serving as a non-profit administrator, school administrator and school social worker. She has had the opportunity to help clients work through several challenges such as anxiety, grief and loss, ADHD, ASD, life-stressors and trauma both individually and through groups. 
Anna currently works with children, families and some young adults, through one-on-one counseling and also speaks to groups throughout the Houston area, through outreach talks. 

Thanks for listening!
If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help us reach more listeners, please:
• share it with someone you know
• post about it on social media
• and leave a rating or review
To see what’s coming next, follow us on Instagram and Facebook @NickFinnCounsel or
visit our website at FinneganCounseling.org

Extra special thanks the people who made this project possible:
• Our wonderful Season 3 guest experts
• our production team at 3Wire Creative
• our editor, Jacel Dickson
• and the amazing leadership team and supporters at Nick Finnegan Counseling Center in Houston, TX.
Remember, new episodes drop each Friday! We can't wait for you to hear them all!
Until next time...

Season 3 is all about healing... In this episode, we discuss the different ways we experience grief and loss; not just through death but in changes in our day to day routine. We also discuss healthy coping mechanisms that people can lean into as they grieve.
About our Guest 
Amy Gready is a Licensed Professional Counselor based in Houston, Texas where she was born and raised. Amy earned a master’s degree in Communications from Texas State University as well as a master’s degree in Education/Counseling from Our Lady of the Lake University. After working in education for 24 years; in more roles than I can count, Amy landed here at Nick Finnegan Counseling Center! 
Now as a full-time individual therapist, Amy has been focusing on assisting clients with stress-management, anxiety, relationship issues, LGBTQ+ and gender-questioning, grief, emotional and behavioral concerns, and discovering new or potential career paths. Amy utilizes cognitive – behavioral therapy (CBT) as the foundation to supporting her clients, combined with various counseling ideologies and tools beneficial to their success. 
 Meet our Host, Anna Crain, LMSW 
Anna Crain is a Licensed Master of Social Work and Nick Finnegan Counseling Center's, Outreach Counselor. Anna holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University (TCU) and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California (USC).  
She has worked in a variety of settings spending majority of her time serving as a non-profit administrator, school administrator and school social worker. She has had the opportunity to help clients work through several challenges such as anxiety, grief and loss, ADHD, ASD, life-stressors and trauma both individually and through groups.  
Anna currently works with children, families and some young adults, through one-on-one counseling and also speaks to groups throughout the Houston area, through outreach talks.  
Thanks for listening! 
If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help us reach more listeners, please: 
• share it with someone you know 
• post about it on social media 
• and leave a rating or review  
To see what’s coming next, follow us on Instagram and Facebook @NickFinnCounsel or visit our website at FinneganCounseling.org 
Extra special thanks the people who made this project possible:  
• Our wonderful Season 3 guest experts 
• our production team at 3Wire Creative 
• our editor, Jacel Dickson  
• and the amazing leadership team and supporters at Nick Finnegan Counseling Center in Houston, TX.  
Remember, new episodes drop each Friday! We can't wait for you to hear them all! 
Until next time... 

In honor of National Infertility Week, April 23-29, 2023, we decided to throw back to our first episode on infertility and loss from 2021. We hope you'll take a moment to listen to this episode and compare it to this season's episode with Morgan Welch, to see just how different but the same, these journeys can be. A journey that involves physical, emotional and financial stress, while straining relationships. In this episode, we discuss the mental toll, heartbreak, grief, and thankfully, hope - with FabFertility's very own, Blair Nelson.
About Blair Nelson: 
Blair Nelson is an infertility warrior who began her journey in 2018 after being told IVF was the only way to grow her family due to an inherited genetic factor her husband, Will, was born with. After their second embryo transfer from their first round of IVF treatment, Blair suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage that redefined her life. Ever since then, she has made it her mission to bring facts, tips, inspiration and most importantly a voice to the topic of infertility. She found refuge in her difficult times online among women who have had similar experiences, and she wants to return the favor. Her Instagram account, Fab Fertility, has grown into a brand, podcast and blog. She also co-founded Fertility Rally in 2020, an event and membership platform to support and educate anyone building their modern family. After five rounds of IVF, countless shots and procedures, Blair and Will welcomed a baby girl in May of 2021.
Related Resources: 
FabFertility
Fertility Rally
CoFertility
The National Infertility Association
A special thanks to our team:
Tracy Lehman, Host & Executive Producer
Os Galindo, Senior Producer & Engineer
Yue Nakayama, Audio Engineer
Jacel Dickson, Editor & Graphic Designer
Administrators: Mary Elizabeth Hand and Audrey Omenson
with music by Jim Roman
Thanks for listening!

Season 3 is all about healing... In this episode, we discuss the different kinds of emotional journeys to parenthood, through infertility.
About our Guest
Morgan Welch is an IVF warrior with a passion for helping others navigate the emotional, personal and practical realities of trying to conceive a child. Over the course of five years, Morgan endured over a dozen fertility treatments, suffered from three miscarriages and by the grace of God delivered twin boys on Christmas Day in 2021.  
She's tried everything under the sun to make her dreams of motherhood possible. From beet juice to acupuncture, holistic and functional medicine approaches to invasive and controversial IVF protocols. You name it, she probably tried.  
Now it's her mission to help others navigate the tumultuous road of infertility and pregnancy loss. She wants others to feel supported, seen and heard, and believes that by sharing her story, others might feel less alone during this isolating journey.
Meet our Host, Anna Crain, LMSW
Anna Crain is a Licensed Master of Social Work and Nick Finnegan Counseling Center's, Outreach Counselor. Anna holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University (TCU) and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California (USC).
She has worked in a variety of settings spending majority of her time serving as a non-profit administrator, school administrator and school social worker. She has had the opportunity to help clients work through several challenges such as anxiety, grief and loss, ADHD, ASD, life-stressors and trauma both individually and through groups. 
Anna currently works with children, families and some young adults, through one-on-one counseling and also speaks to groups throughout the Houston area, through outreach talks. 
Thanks for listening!
If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help us reach more listeners, please:
• share it with someone you know
• post about it on social media
• and leave a rating or review
To see what’s coming next, follow us on Instagram and Facebook @NickFinnCounsel or visit our website at FinneganCounseling.org
Extra special thanks the people who made this project possible:
• Our wonderful Season 3 guest experts
• our production team at 3Wire Creative
• our editor, Jacel Dickson
• and the amazing leadership team and supporters at Nick Finnegan Counseling Center in Houston, TX.
Remember, new episodes drop each Friday! We can't wait for you to hear them all!
Until next time...

Season 3 is all about healing... In this episode, we talk to parents about what happens after their child is assessed and receives a mental health diagnosis (at any age).
About our Guest
Amanda Armbruster is a Licensed Professional Counselor and the Founder of Take a Break Tots. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master’s of Education in Counseling from the University of Houston. For the last decade, Amanda has worked with young children and their families as a teacher, graduate student, LPC and now in her own home as a wife and mom of two.
Amanda started Take a Break Tots to bring information about child development, behavior, discipline, and social-emotional intervention from the clinical world to the average household and classroom.
Learn more about Take a Break Tots here.
Meet our Host, Anna Crain, LMSW
Anna Crain is a Licensed Master of Social Work and Nick Finnegan Counseling Center's, Outreach Counselor. Anna holds a bachelor’s degree from Texas Christian University (TCU) and a master’s degree in social work from the University of Southern California (USC).
She has worked in a variety of settings spending majority of her time serving as a non-profit administrator, school administrator and school social worker. She has had the opportunity to help clients work through several challenges such as anxiety, grief and loss, ADHD, ASD, life-stressors and trauma both individually and through groups. 
Anna currently works with children, families and some young adults, through one-on-one counseling and also speaks to groups throughout the Houston area, through outreach talks. 
Thanks for listening!

If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help us reach more listeners, please:
• share it with someone you know
• post about it on social media
• and leave a rating or review
To see what’s coming next, follow us on Instagram and Facebook @NickFinnCounsel or visit our website at FinneganCounseling.org

Extra special thanks the people who made this project possible:
• Our wonderful Season 3 guest experts
• Our production team at 3Wire Creative
• Our editor, Jacel Dickson
• and the amazing leadership team and supporters at Nick Finnegan Counseling Center in Houston, TX.
Remember, new episodes drop each Friday! We can't wait for you to hear them all!
Until next time...