The Well Mind Podcast Ben Kohls, PhD

Welcome to the Well Mind Podcast! I'm excited to share my recent conversation with retired Major General Gregg Martin in this episode. He is a 36-year army combat veteran celebrated for his remarkable career commanding engineer units and holding prestigious roles such as president of the National Defense university and commander of Fort Leonard Wood. An accomplished author, his book Bipolar General: My Forever War with Mental Illness, candidly shares his journey. He is a graduate of West Point and he went on to earn advanced degrees from MIT, the Naval War College, and the Army War College. In our conversation, we walk through his storied military career and simultaneously unpack his private battle with bipolar disorder. As his story unfolds, I found it fascinating how for many years, the periods of elevated (hypomanic) mood that accompany bipolar disorder actually enhanced his ability to perform under intense conditions. However, as you will hear, this diminished over time as his mental health condition worsened to the point of personal crisis.Yet Gregg's indomitable spirit and the support of his loved ones helped him move out of crisis and into triumph. Gregg's story is truly one of hope, resilience, faith, and recovery. His new mission is to break down the stigma around mental illness and empower others through education and sharing his journey. 

Notes from Episode 39

Contact Information: https://www.generalgreggmartin.com/ or greggmartin79@gmail.com 

Bipolar General My Forever War with Mental Illness: https://www.amazon.com/Bipolar-General-Forever-Illness-Association/dp/1682473805 

The Well Mind Podcast email: thewellmind@blc.edu

The Well Mind is a space for meaningful conversations about a broad range of wellness related topics and this episode is a beautiful example of that mission. I’m your host Dr. Ben Kohls. I’ve been a practicing clinical mental health counselor for over 15 years and am currently a counselor educator and director for the CMHC graduate program at Bethany Lutheran College. My guest for this episode is Elizabeth DeBolt. She is a professor and researcher from Liberty University and has truly invested herself in the topic of maternal mental health for a number of years now. The knowledge and compassion that Elizabeth has for this topic is truly outstanding. She has presented on this topic multiple times at national conferences and I feel really blessed to share her with the Well Mind community. Pregnancy and birth are life altering experiences that bring change to roles, responsibilities, identity, and relationships. There is, what I perceive to be, a good amount of focus on mom and baby from a physical health basis and preparing for the arrival of the baby, but less attention is given to the shifts in identity and the impacts this experience has on emotional wellbeing. If you are thinking that maternal mental health is a ‘just for moms’ episode, I’m going to ask you to suspend that perspective and listen in, because this episode is for everyone. Moms, Dads, those planning for and hoping to be parents in the future, anyone that knows and cares about a mom or dad, and certainly all those in the church community that desire to support parents. Please join me in welcoming Elizabeth DeBolt in Episode 38: Maternal Mental Health.

Notes from Episode 38

Postpartum Support International- https://www.postpartum.net/

Postpartum Progress- https://postpartumprogress.com/   

The Blue Dot Project- https://www.thebluedotproject.org/

Mass. Gen Hospital for Women’s Mental Health- https://womensmentalhealth.org/

The Well Mind Podcast email: thewellmind@blc.edu

The Well Mind is a space for meaningful conversations about a broad range of wellness related topics, with a special emphasis on mental wellness. I’m your host Dr. Ben Kohls. I’ve been a practicing clinical mental health counselor for over 15 years and am currently a counselor educator and director for the CMHC graduate program at Bethany Lutheran College. I’ve got another special episode for you. I had the opportunity to hold a live podcast event here at Bethany Lutheran College. My colleagues from the clinical mental Health counseling program, Drs. Karina Clennon and Helena Stevens joined me for a live panel discussion one evening in February. This is also inline with my goal to provide tools for the well mind episodes in addition to the conversational interviews with guests. I’d say this is a hybrid of those two ideas. We definitely cover wellness concepts from a variety of perspectives, but we also get into some specific tools and practices that can support your wellness journey. It was a super fun evening with my colleagues and the students and I hope that you find the discussion helpful and useful in your own life.

Notes from Episode 37

Indivisible Self Handout

The Well Mind Podcast email: thewellmind@blc.edu

Welcome to episode 36! The Well Mind is a space for meaningful conversations about a broad range of wellness related topics, with a special emphasis on mental wellness. I’m your host Dr. Ben Kohls. I’ve been a practicing clinical mental health counselor for over 15 years and am currently a counselor educator and director for the CMHC graduate program at Bethany Lutheran College. If you’ve been a member of the Well Mind community, you already know Jenna, but if you haven’t listened to her previous episodes, then you are in for a treat! She is an amazing person in every way and I am grateful to call her my friend. True to form, themes of self-care, wellness, habit formation, system setting, values, and relationship health and so much more permeate our chat. She also shares the details about a very special project she worked on. This project is resulting in the creation of a wellness platform for educators. So much is asked of our teachers and Jenna speaks about how this educator wellness platform removes barriers that typically hold people back from engaging in wellness efforts. In the intro, I also share some important updates about the podcast and good things coming in 2023.

Show Notes:

Educator Wellness Platform: https://www.mneducatorwellness.com Password: EducateMN (coming soon...)

The Well Mind Podcast email: thewellmind@blc.edu

Welcome to the Well Mind podcast, I’m your host Dr. Ben Kohls, I am a professional mental health counselor, counselor educator, and currently the director of the clinical mental health graduate program at Bethany Lutheran College. This is a special episode of the podcast, where I have not one, not two, but THREE guests on the show. Paul Tenhaken, in addition to being the mayor of Sioux Falls, SD, was one of 12 individuals that helped create and execute The 437 Project. I am also joined by two other members of this incredible team of people, Greg Koch and Kelly Marshall. In our conversation, I speak with Kelly, Paul, and Greg about the mental health crisis and their efforts to promote awareness, raise funds, and instill hope in communities across the state of South Dakota. Every community is being impacted by suicide and mental health struggles and it is my hope that sharing this story about the 437 Project will inspire you to step forward and take action to support the mental health needs in your community. You probably don’t have to run 437 miles, but maybe this group of 12 runners is on to something. I had a wonderful time speaking with Kelly, Paul, and Greg and I’m humbled to able to share their story with you in episode 35 of the Well Mind Podcast; The 437 Project.

Notes from Episode 35

The 437 Project: https://the437project.org/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The437Project/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/437_the

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the437project/

Call 988 for Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Help 24/7

SAMHSA: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/988 

The Well Mind Podcast email: thewellmind@blc.edu

The Well Mind is a space for meaningful conversations about a broad range of wellness related topics, with a special emphasis on mental wellness. I’m your host Dr. Ben Kohls. I’ve been a practicing clinical mental health counselor for over 15 years and am currently a counselor educator and director for the CMHC graduate program at Bethany Lutheran College. This conversation is a real treat to share with you. My guest is Dr. Josh Knabb. He is a board-certified clinical psychologist, licensed in California to practice psychology. As an administrator, educator, trainer, speaker, writer, researcher, and clinician, he is passionate about helping Christians to confidently draw upon the rich psychological and spiritual resources within their own faith tradition in order to grow closer to God and others and develop a deeper, more enduring contentment in Him in the midst of suffering. We explore themes and topics related to Christian mindfulness, contemplation, worldview; the integration of the Christian faith and evidence-based psychotherapy practices; strengthening the legitimacy of faith-informed psychological interventions; understanding and relating to our suffering differently; and examining the rich traditions of the Christian faith for practices that strengthen our endurance and deepen our reliance on God’s faithfulness.

Notes from Episode 34

Dr. Josh Knabb: www.joshuaknabb.com

The Christian Psychologist: Mental Health for 21st Century Christ Followers: https://the-christian-psychologist-mental-health-for-21st-century-c.simplecast.com/episodes

Faith-Based ACT for Christian Clients: An Integrative Treatment Approach (Second Edition): https://g.co/kgs/FgRVL9

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Christian Clients-A Faith-based Workbook: https://g.co/kgs/GQiFBf

Healing Conversations on Race: https://www.ivpress.com/healing-conversations-on-race

The Well Mind Podcast email: thewellmind@blc.edu