healthcare - How Corona Virus Saved My Life: A Mental Health Podcast

mental health, podcast

episode 37, part one: the gift (How Spirituality Plays a Positive Role in Mental Health Recovery with Dr. Jack Perkins)

November 23, 2022November 22, 2022 Christine Zethraus, PMHNP

Dr. Jack Perkins, Founder of Psuche Education, Counseling & Coaching Services in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma

Summary

What is YOUR definition of Spirituality?

In this episode (part one), Dr. Jack Perkins and I talk about the power of Spirituality. The power of finding meaning in our childhood suffering.

Dr. Perkins tells his personal story of suffering first. His story of childhood suffering touched me deeply. I know it will touch you deeply as well.

My guest today is Dr. Jack Perkins. Jack is the founder of Psuche Education, Counseling & Coaching Services in Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. Jack is an ordained minister, conference speaker, licensed counselor, certified life coach, and sexual addiction counselor.

Spirituality has been a huge part of my inner & outer healing.

Spirituality has been a huge part of my Long-COVID healing. Spirituality has deepened my connection with my friends and family, and my connection with clients. Spirituality led me to discover my inner worthiness and love for myself I was never taught in childhood.

Evidence-based research shows integrating spirituality decreases anxiety and depression symptoms. Neuroscientific research shows the practice of mindfulness, the brain’s cortex literally grows, with an increase in grey matter and more gyrification (Spencer, 2012).

https://howcoronavirussavedmylife.com

Connect with Christine:

Twitter | Instagram | website | Youtube | FB

Check out Christine’s other podcast with her sister The Family Burrito

Resources:

Integrating Spirituality Into Recovery Requires Ethical Approach

What is Spirituality? A Personal Exploration by Dr. Maya Spencer

Disclaimer: The information and recommendations in this Podcast are only opinions of the host and guests of How Coronavirus Saved My Life Podcast — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/howcoronavirussavedmylife/message

Christine Zethraus, PMHNP

Follow Me for More Content:

mental health, podcast

episode 34: the polyvagal (How to Heal Chronic Pain with Dr. Les Aria, part ONE)

September 4, 2022September 4, 2022 Christine Zethraus, PMHNP

It Always Seems Impossible…Until It’s Done
Nelson Mandela

Summary

Do you have Chronic Pain? Ready for Pain Recovery? This episode is for YOU!

We have a special guest today—Dr. Les Aria, a Pain Psychologist who specializes in helping people recover from chronic pain. Today, he’ll explain what polyvagal theory is and how it can help you feel safe when you’re dealing with chronic pain.

This week’s episode, Part One, on polyvagal theory and its application to chronic pain therapy. Polyvagal theory is the science of feeling safe, and it’s based on decades of research by Dr. Stephen Porges, who pioneered research into the autonomic nervous system and its relationship with emotions.

Check out Dr. Les Aria’s Pain Relief App: https://www.menda.health/

Topics Covered:

Healing Chronic Pain through the Vagus Nerve
Ways to stimulate your Vagus Nerve
Polyvagal Framework Ladder of Feeling Safe
Mind Body Connection
Trauma and Chronic Pain brain pathways
Autonomic Nervous System
Long Covid Symptoms
Shut Down Phase of Relapse connected to Trauma
Why slow breathing is key
Wisdom of your Frontal Lobe
Safe and Sound Protocol

Connect with Dr. Les Aria:

Website: https://lesariaphd.com/

Youtube: Myndfulness here

Podcast–Dynamic Healing– here

Safe and Sound Protocol here

Listen, Download, and Share Christine’s Podcast:How Coronavirus Saved My Life

Connect with Christine on Twitter | Instagram | Blog | Youtube | FB

Check out Christine’s podcast with her sisterThe Family Burrito

Big hugs to all the listeners! My little podcast to help the world heal is starting to reach the ears and hearts of people around the world!

Disclaimer: The information and recommendations in this Podcast are only opinions of the host and guests of How Coronavirus Saved My Life Podcast — Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/howcoronavirussavedmylife/message

Christine Zethraus, PMHNP

A Mental Health Healthcare Practitioner who got Coronavirus in April 2020 which changed the course of my life. I created How Coronavirus Saved My Life Podcast as a love letter to humanity. Having Long Covid symptoms, a failing marriage, fear, burnout from healthcare, frustration were launching points to my self-healing. All the answers we are seeking are within. No one is going to save you but yourself through self-healing and unwinding your childhood programming conditions.

episode 44: the teacher (How Coronavirus is My Greatest Teacher in Miracles) – How Coronavirus Saved My Life

episode 44: the teacher (How Coronavirus is My Greatest Teacher in Miracles) When you grow up in trauma, it's hard to understand the people who hurt you, the people who put you in unsafe situations, the people who purposely hurt you, are YOUR teachers. My racist father was my teacher for injustice. My narcissistic mother was my teacher for my inner worthiness. My ex-husband was my teacher on spotlighting my judgment of others. My past toxic friendships and relationships are my teachers for emotional growth through challenging experiences. Coronavirus was my teacher in finding the miracle of me. Coronavirus was my teacher for questioning my childhood belief system. Coronavirus was my teacher in building resiliency. Coronavirus IS my teacher in challenging my fears and proving those fears wrong. ============================================================= Connect with Christine for Mental Health Discussions and Tools for Recovery: ⁠https://howcoronavirussavedmylife.com⁠ ⁠ ⁠⁠Twitter⁠ |⁠ ⁠⁠Instagram⁠ |⁠ ⁠⁠website⁠ | ⁠Youtube⁠ | ⁠FB ⁠ Check out Christine's other podcast with her sister ⁠The Family Burrito⁠ Disclaimer: The information and recommendations in this Podcast are only opinions of the host and guests of ⁠How Coronavirus Saved My Life Podcast⁠ — Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/howcoronavirussavedmylife/message

how coronavirus saved my life podcast cover

Personal, Podcast, Racism, Mental Health, Coronavirus

“That Makes Me Want To Cry”

August 11, 2022August 11, 2022 Christine Zethraus, PMHNP

Teaching Yourself How To Parent | episode 32 | the warrior

My friend Belinda choosing Mental Health as an additional career to help her community and culture is beautiful.

Check out podcast episode 32. We speak OUR truth about broken mothers impacting our parenting and worthiness.

Watch FULL Video Here

Listen to Full Episode Here

Youtube Short Below:

Christine and Belinda

A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer; its sings because it has a song.
Maya Angelou

Continue reading →

mental health, mental health, nursing, podcast, self help

9 Common Burnout Symptoms of a Healthcare Worker

April 18, 2022April 18, 2022 Christine Zethraus, PMHNP

My Nursing Journey of Burnout in Healthcare

April 18, 2022 by Christine Zethraus, PMHNP-BC

How Working in Healthcare has Impacted my Emotional and Physical Well-being

My Burnout Beginning

Burnout is REAL. Burnout is definitely real if you’re a healthcare worker. Then throw additional gasoline on burnout if you’re a nurse working in the pandemic. Double it if you’re a nurse working the ICU.

Before I became a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, I worked as an ICU nurse for 5 years in a Level I Trauma Center. What does a “Level I Trauma Center” mean? Level I Trauma Center means my patients had a variety of life-threatening critical injuries such as gunshot wounds, car wrecks, plane crashes, strokes, sepsis, etc. Think constant extreme stress (fight or flight).

I purposely choose to work in the ICU because I knew this intense training and experience would be beneficial for my planned advanced nursing school. Quite frankly I had no clue what I was getting myself into. Looking back, I’m actually grateful I was naïve about my new adventure because this was the beginning of my nurse burnout story. The beginning of my nursing burnout signs affecting my emotional and physical well-being.

Hint: I didn’t listen or see the burnout signs.

Pandemic Burnout

Fast forward 12 years later where I am now a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner working during the Covid-19 Pandemic dealing with a different kind of trauma. An emotional one. And I’m not just talking about my patients. My own personal emotional trauma of FEAR. Fear of getting covid, fear we are all going to die, fear I would need heart surgery because of my long covid symptoms, fear there would be no food on the shelves, fear my lung damage due to long-covid, fear my family would die, and fear the world was ending.

**Fear was the dominate emotion during the pandemic**

I made the assumption my healthcare professional burnout was because of working during the pandemic. Nope. My burnout started long before working in mental health during the pandemic. My burnout started in nursing school when I put everyone and everything else before my own well-being. My burnout started when I was not myself a priority.

I first noticed my burnout symptoms when I had Coronavirus then Long-Covid Symptoms in 2020. Having Long-Covid forced me to slow down, forced me to re-evaluate what’s important, forced me to make myself priority. I had no other choice because I was on a path to chronic illness, auto-immune disease and most likely early death.

Continue reading →