T is for Trauma David O'Connor

In this episode, David sits down with Bri Liu, a Licensed Professional Counsellor offering mental health services through the YWCA and her own private practice, with a focus on immigrant trauma, and somatic healing. They discuss Bri's early struggles with her racial identity as a Chinese immigrant in small town Texas, what drew her to become a mental health professional, what she learned working with the unhoused communities in Austin, trauma conscious yoga, practicing unconditional positive regard, and much more! Bri brings wonderful energy and insights to this episode, and its one you won't want to miss!
Bri is a Licensed Professional Counselor who is passionate about social justice, providing accessible trauma informed care, and offering people a different lens than the dominant culture to make sense of their experiences. Bri has experience working with folks of all ages and backgrounds, in a variety of settings.She is currently one of the lead therapists at YWCA Greater Austin and also owns a small private practice. Prior to becoming fully licensed, she worked in community mental health, providing services to unhoused individuals with complex physical and mental health needs. She also has experience with working with college students and providing school based counseling services to grade school children and teens.
As a daughter of Chinese immigrants herself, Bri is particularly drawn to working with other children of FirstGeneration immigrants and those who identify as BIPOC. She is passionate about working with people who have been most impacted by oppressive systems in the US, examining how individual and collective well-being impact one another, and exploring what liberation for all can look like, all while acknowledging that ancient wisdom and teachings often has the answers we are seeking. Bri has training in various trauma processing and somatic modalities, including Somatic Experiencing, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Body Mind Psychotherapy, and the Trauma Conscious Yoga Method. The heart of her work is people centered, connection focused, and influenced by Relational Cultural Theory and Liberation Psychologies. She is also a Trauma Informed and Inclusive Registered Yoga Teacher and loves to incorporate play, movement, and the body into her work, when possible.
 https://www.briliulpc.com/

In this episode, David sits down with Kari Kinkead, a sex and intimacy coach, based in Austin, TX .A student of embodiment (breath sound and movement), sexual yoga, kink, and ontological coaching, she also brings her devotion to and scientific knowledge of the physical body and levels of consciousness, from having spent 18+ years as a nurse and anesthesia provider. Kari works with clients on being in the body in day to day life, navigating relationship challenges, harnessing the power of desire, and unshaming and healing sexual struggles, in order to unlock and create more passion and freedom in the bedroom that then ripples out to more passion and freedom in all areas of their life. This episode contains strong language and adult themes throughout. Website: https://www.karikinkead.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kckinkead/

In this episode, David sits downs with Kelly Thomas, a transformational coach specializing in addiction recovery, psycho-spiritual integration and entheogen treatment preparation.
Kelly talks about how the patterns of her early childhood shaped her to be fiercely codependent, the struggles she faced in her abusive first marriage, discovering how her second husband had PTSD and TBI from his time in the military, what she learned from the recovery community during her daughter's time in rehab, and how her husband Devin's work with psychedelics therapies through the Mission Within took her on her own psychedelic journey, which led to some startling discoveries!

In this episode, David sits down with author, poet and activist Dr John A King and his wife Melissa at their home in Grapevine, Texas. John talks about the stunning realization at age 45 that he had repressed more than a decade of sexual abuse and sex trafficking during his childhood, and the heartbreaking years that followed, which would cost him his health, his family and his career. John would eventually find healing in writing, publishing 2 books about his experiences, and appearing in several documentaries about sex trafficking. John and Melissa now run the Give Them A Voice Foundation, which was launched in 2015 to provide advocacy, support, resources and rescue for those who have been sexually abused or trafficked.
 
Website - https://drjohnaking.com/
Give Them A Voice Foundation - https://drjohnaking.com/give-them-a-voice/
Deal With It (book) - https://drjohnaking.com/shop/dealwithit-ebook-download/
No Working Title (poetry) - https://drjohnaking.com/shop/no-working-title-hardcover-poetry-book/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/drjaking/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/drjohnaking/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/DrJohnAKing
IMDB - https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8400508
 
 

In this solo episode, David talks about his experiences with being on sabbatical for most of 2022, what are some of the important questions and considerations before taking a sabbatical, and goal setting for how you will spend your career break.

In this episode, David sits down with Olivia Miller-Guerra, the youngest sister of two previous guests, Becca DeRoeck and Hannah Albrecht, to discuss how early childhood experiences affected Olivia in a substantially different way to her sisters. For as long as she can remember, Olivia has struggled with severe anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, and intrusive thoughts, which led her to acting out in increasingly self destructive ways, through her teens and twenties. Olivia also talks about her frustrating experiences with therapy in her mid teens, and how restrictive hospital policies jeopardized her health, after she developed complications during her second pregnancy.