Re-Creation Podcast

Nicole M. Roccas and Eleni Opperwall
  • 5.0 (9)
  • CHRISTIANITY
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

A podcast about becoming human in a wounded world. We explore what it means to heal from trauma and live fully human, drawing on the connections between faith, wellness practices, and ancient Christian tradition. recreationpodcast.substack.com

  1. 2D AGO

    S2E6 // More Humanity, Not Less: Ecology, Anxiety, and the Healing of Creation (Dr. Elizabeth Theokritoff)

    Unseasonable weather patterns, natural disasters, and accelerating climate shifts are increasingly common. Alongside these changes, more people are experiencing environmental anxiety and even ecological trauma. Contemporary environmental discourses can sometimes frame human beings as little more than a parasite on the planet. One notorious bumper even put it bluntly: “Care for the earth—commit suicide!” But what if the way forward requires more humanity rather than less? What if healing our fragmented relationship with the natural world begins with reclaiming what it truly means to be human creatures living in communion with God and His creation? In this episode, we explore the fragmented relationship between humanity and the environment with Dr. Elizabeth Theokritoff, a theological writer and translator whose work sits at the intersection of Orthodox theology, liturgy, and ecology. Re-Creation is a podcast about trauma, faith, and mental health from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Hosts Nicole Roccas, a trauma-informed coach and author, and Eleni Opperwall, a registered therapist, explore what it means to be human after trauma through honest and hopeful conversations. Drawing on Orthodox tradition, professional insights, and personal stories, they share reflections to support healing, wholeness, and spiritual growth. Listen on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or RSS wherever you get podcasts. In this episode, we talk about: * Eden as eschatology—what it was like in the beginning according to various patristic views * What we can learn from monastic communities about creation care and stewardship * Different threads of ancient Christian tradition regarding human connection with home and creation—indigeneity (dwelling in the same place as your ancestors lived) vs. the asceticism of exile * Ecological trauma, environmental anxiety, and Christian anthropology * Why does a theological approach to ecology matter to us as Christians More about Dr. Elizabeth Theokritoff’s work: * Website: https://saltalas.com/members/dr-elizabeth-theokritoff/ * Living in God’s Creation: Orthodox Perspectives on Ecology (SVS, 2009) * Article: Elizabeth Theokritoff, “Keeping This Place: Contemplative Vision and Ecological Living as Christian Witness: An Orthodox View,” Mission Studies 41 (2024), 388–411. * “Keeping This Place: An Interview with Dr. Elizabeth Theokritoff,” Holy Myrrhbearers Monastery’s Essays & Notes 22-2 (Fall 2025), 7-11. Other resources and links mentioned: * John Zizioulas, Remembering the Future: Toward an Eschatological Ontology (Sebastian Press, 2023) * Olivier Clement, On Human Being: A Spiritual Anthropology (New City Press, 2002) * Chrysopigi (Golden Font) Convent (Chania, Crete) * Monastery of Timios Prodromos (Anatoli of Larissa, Greece) * Gerard Manley Hopkins, “As Kingfishers Catch Fire” * All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes Let’s Connect: Find Nicole at www.nicoleroccas.com Find Eleni at www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com Subscribe to our Substack for show notes + behind-the-scenes reflections: Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care. Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 13m
  2. S2E5 // Finding Our Nous (Scott Cairns)

    MAR 24

    S2E5 // Finding Our Nous (Scott Cairns)

    In this episode, Eleni takes us on a late winter’s journey through one of her favourite poems, “Nous,” by Scott Cairns ( Scott Cairns) and the post-traumatic experience. What is a nous? How is learning to re-inhabit our ensouled body holy work? Why does it matter? Re-Creation is a podcast about trauma, faith, and mental health from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Hosts Nicole Roccas, a trauma-informed coach and author, and Eleni Opperwall, a registered therapist, explore what it means to be human after trauma through honest and hopeful conversations. Drawing on Orthodox tradition, professional insights, and personal stories, they share reflections to support healing, wholeness, and spiritual growth. Listen on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or RSS wherever you get podcasts. Resources and links mentioned: * “Nous,” by Scott Cairns * This poem comes from the book-length collection Lacunae: New Poems, by Scott Cairns (Iron Pen, 2023). * All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes Let’s Connect: * Find Nicole at Nicole M. Roccas and www.nicoleroccas.com * Find Eleni at Eleni Opperwall and www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com * Subscribe to our Substack for show notes + behind-the-scenes reflections: https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/ Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care. Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

    16 min

  3. MAR 10

    S2E4 // More than Brains: Neuroscience, Inner Fragmentation, and Ancient Christian Visions of Personhood (Guest: Dr. Vladimir Miskovic)

    In this episode, we’re joined by Dr. Vladimir Miskovic—neuroscientist, Orthodox Christian thinker, and co-author of Dreaming Reality—for a wide-ranging conversation on the nature of the human person. Together we explore how contemporary neuroscience and ancient Christian tradition converge in their understanding of consciousness, attention, and the layered or “nested” self, and what this might reveal about fragmentation, harmony, and healing. From St. Paul’s inner and outer self to the provocative “filter theory” of consciousness, this discussion challenges reductive materialism and invites us into a more spacious, mystical vision of what it means to be human. Listen on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or RSS wherever you get podcasts. In this episode, we talk about: * What understandings of human personhood modern neuroscience and ancient Christian anthropology share in common * St. Paul’s language of the “inner” and “outer” self * The model of “nested selves” and layered consciousness * Attention, perception, and how they shape who we become * Intrapersonal harmony as an icon of Trinitarian life Resources and links: * Book: Dreaming Reality: How Neuroscience and Mysticism Can Unlock the Secrets of Consciousness, by Vladimir Miskovic and Steven Jay Lynn (Harvard University Press, 2025) * “Behind the Book” with Vladimir Miskovic * Eleni’s article about forgiveness (here) * Dick Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems (IFS) model * The synergistic anthropology of Russian theologian Sergey Horujy (1941–2020) * “Poetry” by Neruda * All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes Let’s Connect: * More about Nicole: https://www.nicoleroccas.com/ * More about Eleni: https://www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com/ * Subscribe to our Substack for show notes + behind-the-scenes reflections: Re-Creation is a podcast about trauma, faith, and mental health from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Hosts Nicole Roccas, a trauma-informed coach and author, and Eleni Opperwall, a registered therapist, explore what it means to be human after trauma through honest and hopeful conversations. Drawing on Orthodox tradition, professional insights, and personal stories, they share reflections to support healing, wholeness, and spiritual growth. Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care. Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

    1 hr

  4. FEB 24

    S2E3 // Knowing God beyond our Shame (Guest: Fr. Stephen Freeman)

    In this episode, we sit down with Fr. Stephen Freeman to explore the complex and often misunderstood emotion of shame, drawing from his book Face to Face. Together we examine the crucial distinction between toxic and healthy shame, its relationship to humility and communion, and why the capacity to “bear a little shame” may be essential to becoming fully human. From the Genesis story to the Cross, from personal and pastoral experiences to contemporary therapeutic insight, this conversation asks what shame reveals about God’s intentions for us—and how it can move from rigid armor and isolation toward healing and love. Listen on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or RSS wherever you get podcasts. In this episode, we talk about: * Is there a such thing as helpful shame? * Shame in the life of the Christian * How shame relates to humility and repentance * Boundaries and the nature of God Resources and links mentioned: * Fr. Stephen’s book, Face to Face: Knowing God Beyond Our Shame (Ancient Faith, 2023) * Fr. Stephen’s blog: https://glory2godforallthings.com/ * All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes Let’s Connect: * Subscribe to our Substack for show notes + behind-the-scenes reflections: Re-Creation is a podcast about trauma, faith, and mental health from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Hosts Nicole Roccas, a trauma-informed coach and author, and Eleni Opperwall, a registered therapist, explore what it means to be human after trauma through honest and hopeful conversations. Drawing on Orthodox tradition, professional insights, and personal stories, they share reflections to support healing, wholeness, and spiritual growth. Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care. Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 16m

  5. FEB 10

    S2E2 // How to be a Sinner after Trauma (Guest: Dr. Peter Bouteneff)

    After deeply wounding experiences, the language of sin and repentance can feel fraught—or even harmful. How can we relate to our “sinner status” in a way that’s freeing rather than self-destructive? What does humility look like when it supports wholeness instead of self-erasure, and how do we discern what we are truly responsible for versus what belongs to others? In this episode, we explore these questions and more with Dr. Peter Bouteneff, Professor of Systematic Theology at St. Vladimir’s Seminary, author of How to Be a Sinner: Finding Yourself in the Language of Repentance, and host of the podcast Luminous: Conversations on the Sacred Arts. Listen on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or RSS wherever you get podcasts. Resources and links mentioned: * Website: Dr. Peter Boutneff https://www.peterbouteneff.com/home/ * Book: How to be a Sinner * Podcast: Luminous: Conversations on the Sacred Arts * All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes Let’s Connect: * Connect with Nicole: www.nicoleroccas.com * Connect with Eleni: https://www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com/ * Subscribe to our Substack for show notes + behind-the-scenes reflections: Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care. Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 8m

  6. JAN 27

    S2E1 // What We Read and Re-Created over the Holidays

    In this first episode of season 2, we reconnect after some restorative recreational time to talk about what we have been up to during our break and what we have in store for Season 2. Each of us share our favorite memories from this past Christmas season, and a couple good books that stuck with us. We also name some of our upcoming guests on the podcast, and together we look ahead to some edifying and illuminating conversations coming up in this new season of Re-Creation. Listen on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or RSS wherever you get podcasts. Resources and links mentioned: * Books Eleni mentioned: * Sunlilies: Eastern Orthodoxy as a Radical Counterculture, by Graham Pardun * Frida Kahlo and My Left Leg, by Emily Rapp Black * Books Nicole mentioned: * Nearly Departed: Adventures in Loss, Cancer, and Other Inconveniences, by Gila Pfeffer * Still Writing: The Perils and Pleasures of a Creative Life, by Dani Shapiro * All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes Let’s Connect: * Connect with Nicole: www.nicoleroccas.com * Connect with Eleni: https://www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com/ Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care. Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

    54 min
  7. S1E15 // Ask us Anything! Season 1 Finale

    12/23/2025

    S1E15 // Ask us Anything! Season 1 Finale

    Welcome to our extra special “Ask Us Anything” Season 1 Finale episode! We received so many questions that we were unable to answer them in one episode, so we hope to feature a more regular “listener question” segment in future episodes to answer them all—and any others you may have in the meantime! Thank you to everyone who shared their questions and who have supported us in our first season of The Re-Creation Podcast. Have a merry Christmas and see you back here in mid to late January 2026! Please also check out our follow up resource to the last question in this episode: “Beyond Trauma as Social Currency: A Guide to Talking about Trauma for Survivors and Helping Professionals.” Listen on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or RSS wherever you get podcasts. Question topics we respond to in this episode: * How inter-generational trauma relates to the ongoing work of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and histories * Saints we look to as a source of comfort in our personal experiences and professional work surrounding trauma * Approaching questions around donor-conceived IVF sensitively and with grief in mind, while also trying to understand the human-centered concerns behind the Church’s stance it on this issue * How to approach vicarious trauma/secondary traumatic stress as parents and spouses, including birth trauma, in a life-giving way * How useful is the concept of trauma when it’s frequently generalized—or even exploited—as social currency? Resources and links mentioned: * Fr. Michael Oleksa, Orthodox Alaska: A Theology of Mission (2002) * Nicole’s posts on saints: https://nicoleroccas.substack.com/t/saints * Mary Undoer of Knots - Byzantine Catholic Akathist and Catholic Novena * Gayle E. Woloschak, “In Vitro Fertilization and the Beginning of Human Life” (The Wheel, 2017) * You Look Like Me podcast series, a journalist explores the issues surrounding donor conceived people while trying to find the man who, presumably, looks like her * Nicole’s Winter 2026 weekly writer meetups start January 8 (learn more here) * Book rec from Nicole: Trauma Stewardship: An Everyday Guide to Caring for Self While Caring for Others, by Laura van Dernoot Lipsky * Our follow up resource to the last question in this episode: “Beyond Trauma as Social Currency: A Guide to Talking about Trauma for Survivors and Helping Professionals.” * All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes Let’s Connect: More about Nicole: https://www.nicoleroccas.com More about Eleni: https://www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com/ Subscribe to our Substack for show notes + behind-the-scenes reflections: Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care. Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

    1h 36m

  8. 12/16/2025

    S1E14 // "In The Beginning" - Man vs. Nature and Man vs. God

    **(12/16/2025) ETA: Audio file corrected at 8:15AM ET** Wrapping up our miniseries on Genesis 1-3 and the origins of trauma! When humanity fell, it sent ripples of fragmentation through the world. What was once whole and interconnected became fractured, scarce, and out of tune. In this episode, we continue tracing the lines of fragmentation that flow from the Fall by taking a closer look at the breakdown of man’s relationship to nature and to God. Listen on Substack, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or RSS wherever you get podcasts. In this episode, we talk about: * St. Jerome’s difficult personality * More on four-fold fragmentation following the Fall (alliteration unintentional) * Man vs. Nature: fragmentation between humanity and creation * Nature thoughts with Werner Herzog * Creation and its involvement in the Fall * Man vs. God: fragmentation between humanity and God Resources and links mentioned: * Christopher A. Hall, Reading Scripture with the Church Fathers (IVP Academic, 1998) * Christos Yannaras, “Man,” In: Elements of Faith (T&T Clark: Edinburgh, 1991), pp. 53-88. * Elizabeth Theokritoff, Living in God’s Creation: Orthodox Perspectives on Ecology (SVS Press, 2009) * Katherine Compitus, “The Mental Health Crisis Engulfing Veterinarians,” PsychologyToday.com (November 17, 2023) * Constantine Tsirpanlis, Introduction to Eastern Patristic Thought and Orthodox Theology (Michael Glazier, 1990), p. 50 * All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes Let’s Connect: More about Nicole: https://www.nicoleroccas.com More about Eleni: https://www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com/ Subscribe to our Substack for show notes + behind-the-scenes reflections: Disclaimer:This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care. Re-Creation is a podcast about trauma, faith, and mental health from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Hosts Nicole Roccas, a trauma-informed coach and author, and Eleni Opperwall, a registered therapist, explore what it means to be human after trauma through honest and hopeful conversations. Drawing on Orthodox tradition, professional insights, and personal stories, they share reflections to support healing, wholeness, and spiritual growth. Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe

    49 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
9 Ratings

About

A podcast about becoming human in a wounded world. We explore what it means to heal from trauma and live fully human, drawing on the connections between faith, wellness practices, and ancient Christian tradition. recreationpodcast.substack.com

Information

  • Creator
    Nicole M. Roccas and Eleni Opperwall
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    24
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Nicole M. Roccas
  • Show Website
    Re-Creation Podcast

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