The healyourbraintoolbox's Podcast

How To Manage Conflict

Life is full of conflicts, some small and readily resolved and some complex and more difficult to resolve.  Having the necessary tools to understand your own process and experience and openly explore other individuals' experiences with compassion is a step toward resolution.  Each of us carries forth our perceptions that influence how we relate to one another and the situation when conflict occurs.  Learning to remain calm, address the situation objectively, and manage and regulate powerful emotions, is an important step toward conflict resolution.  Explore each scenario as an opportunity for growth and development, and learn more about yourself and others by becoming more comfortable with conflict and choose not to avoid it and escalate your anxiety surrounding conflict when it occurs. 

Integrative-Sustainability For Life

Clare E Steffen, Ed.D. shares her model of integrative sustainability that can be utilized as a philosophy for living. This model is based on the core belief, "I Am Able," and is a radial systemic view to integrating that belief in a holistic perspective toward all aspects of your life to sustain life balance,  functional homeostasis, and to protect your resilience in an integrative and sustainable approach toward your relationship with self and others. 

Finding Life Purpose and Meaning

There is a difference between purpose and meaning, yet these two concepts are interconnected.   Defining our purpose and meaning can lead to having a happier life, and engaging in acts of altruism can increase our sense of purpose.   Our definition of self, and our purpose changes over life, and we require resilience in order to sustain a meaningful life. Creating life balance is a crucial skill in pursuit of the definition of life purpose, and self-meaning.  Finding our purpose and meaning is a life-long pursuit, and having a clear definition of self is key to creating and maintaining health and wellness. Ask yourself, "What is my contribution to the world?" Heal Your Brain Toolbox Podcast, hosted by Clare E Steffen, Ed.D., CADC-II, NC, CNHP, CMH, NCC, BCC, CBHC

Finding Harmony: Music Therapy and Improving Mental Health

Music is a powerful tool to access our emotions, but it can also be used to manage and reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and other mental health condition.  Music can be therapeutic and can be used either as a stand-alone therapy or adjunct to other forms of therapy addressing physical, social & emotional, and mental health conditions.   Music helps us access memories and can evoke a wide array of feelings and emotions.  Music brings about healing. 

Why We Engage in Social Media

Social media has a strong influence on our behavior, choices, and decisions.  It also has a strong impact on our youth.  There are advantages and disadvantages to social media, and the question becomes do you use it to your best advantage?  Consider how it is affecting your overall health.  People have more ways to communicate, but is this necessarily resulting in better communication or more fulfilled relationships?  Clare Steffen, Ed.D., psychologist.

The Big Five of Healthy Relationships:Are my Relationships Healthy?

Clare E. Steffen, Ed.D, ND, CADC-II, CBHC has been a psychologist for over thirty years and has been working with individuals, couples, and families to improve communication and the health of their relationships.  She designed The Big Five of Healthy Relationships model that identifies five major traits to look for to assess the health of your relationships.  Each of these five traits has three sub-traits that support the major traits that can be explored in relationships.

Discouragement--What is it, Why is it Happening, and What to Do About it!

We can become discouraged when we feel dissatisfied with our past, distaste for the present, and distrust of the future.  Discouragement is the state of losing courage, and as a result, we can experience a loss of confidence.  This brief podcast talked about the impact of feeling discouraged, and the importance of identifying sources of discouragement so that you can effectively manage it and prevent it from increasing and causing a depressive episode.   

Seven Teachings: Animal Spirit and Energy Healing

In this episode, Clare Steffen, Ed.D., ND talks about the Seven Teaching and the power of the Animal Spirits to provide "good counsel."  The energies of the animals are diverse and can be called upon to bring guidance, self-knowledge, and understanding.  Clare also reveals the energy of some animals that are available to us to bring us healing.