In this week’s episode, Ruth Fearnow, LMHC and founder of The Happiness Project, talks about her work healing trauma with emotional mindfulness and EMDR. She shares some of the history of therapy and how her style of emotional mindfulness goes beyond more well-known mindfulness practices.
I was inspired to have Ruth on our show after reading a blog post she wrote called Emotional Mindfulness: A New Way to Heal. Her approach to mindfulness takes the practice a step beyond much of the literature on the subject today, going into the importance of sitting with your emotions and learning from them. She talks about the incredible power of EMDR to rapidly heal psychological trauma, and explains what exactly EMDR is.
We go deep in this episode. Over the course of our interview, I share some of my own mental health journey. I feel like it’s really important to normalize the struggles that so many of us face. If you are struggling with your mental health, we at Women Are: Fort Wayne support you. If you are in mental health crisis, one resource is Parkview Behavioral Health HelpLine. Call (260) 373-7500 or (800) 284-8439.
To find a therapist that specializes in EMDR, visit Psychology Today, or visit Lutheran Social Services of Indiana.
To follow Ruth and The Happiness Project, visit www.calmtohappy.com or find her on Facebook.
Our musician this week is Alicia Pyle of APQ-Harmonic, a 12 piece rock orchestra that was born from the four-piece jazz-fusion group, the APQ. The track is called “Luke’s Theme” off their 2014 album, “Ground Level.” The piece was commissioned for the opening of a conference with an emphasis on anti human-trafficking, and their band donates 20% of the album’s proceeds to Destiny Rescue, an organization that rescues women & children from the sex-trafficking trade. They prioritize performing & investing in local community, and regularly feature other local musicians in their concerts, events, and on their bandstand. You can find them weekly at the Clyde Club Room on Wednesday’s from 8-10, and find more performance dates on their website and all social media platforms.
Special thanks to our sponsors, Steve Tyler and Radiance of Silverbirch Studios for giving us a space to record and helping us sound amazing. Thank you also to Rosalind & the Way for our intro music, to Traci Henning-Kolberg for editing out our mistakes and making us sound fantastic.