with Matana
Dr. Karin Anderson Abrell shares her story of choosing to let her core values lead her life, even when others don’t understand. She was unwed until her 40’s because she would not settle for a marriage that did not align with her values. Because of this experience, much of her work has been about helping others thrive as a single person.
Lisa Wells is raising a son with Borderline Personality Disorder. As a little boy, her child was diagnosed with ADHD. He was throwing furniture, had to be taken out of school and went through all kinds of treatment. He endured a lot of ridicule, punishment, and rejection from school staff for not behaving in the way they expected. Lisa assumes this contributed to the trauma which led to him to develop BPD and an older teen.
When Brina and Paul began to date, he was magnetic and charming. They had a connection from the first moment together having a drink. People at work had complained about Paul, saying he was aggressive and difficult. Brina never witnessed that side of him until about 6 months into their relationship, after Paul had too much to drink at a party. Not long after, Paul was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, after having been together almost 4 years and had just gotten engaged.
Hannah Galliers has navigated through her journey with Borderline Personality Disorder, known in the United Kingdom as Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD). Although Hannah’s official diagnosis with BPD was recent, she has been on a healing journey through meditation and mindfulness practices and other therapies for several years.
Within the next 24 hours, more than 3,000 teenagers in the United States will attempt to take their own lives. Seventeen of them will succeed. Jackie Simmons’ daughter, Stephanie, shared that statistic when delivering a speech which would change lives and inspire teens to come together with Stephanie’s sisters and to create, “The Teen Suicide Prevention Society.”
On December 22, 2020, 24 year old Yocheved Gourarie took her own life. Yocheved was a kind and thoughtful person. Loved by all. She was a top student, always maintaining perfect grades in school and at the time of her passing, was in the process of applying to PHD nursing programs. Posthumously, the family learned that she was accepted at Columbia University in their DNP program on track to becoming a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. Unfortunately, her battle with mental illness raged, and she succumbed to it, not having fulfilled her dreams.
Tammy Ozolins is an extraordinary teacher. She returns to tell us of how teachers face an uphill battle in the field, boots on the ground, in the daunting challenge of helping teens who suffer with mental illness. She chooses to highlight the importance of being a friend to a student rather than a disciplinarian. In one instance, this technique resulted in a 6th grade student confiding to her years later, that her support drove him to not only graduate, but to join the marine corps with pride in who he was and what he became.
In continuation of Part 1 of this episode, we are joined again with Miri Grunhaus & Fally Klein, who share with us their wisdom, insight and experience in the journey of mental health, and healing with gold. In this stunning interview with personal friends and collaborators Fally Klein, a women’s empowerment facilitator, and Miri Grunhaus, a fashion designer with purpose, we gain a newfound understanding of healing. Both women have experienced tremendous pain in their lives, but it is what they learned from their pain that gave them purpose, and ultimately brought them together. If we learn to sit with our pain rather than shy away from it, they share, we can catapult ourselves into lives of deeper joy and meaning than we ever thought possible.
In this stunning interview with personal friends and collaborators Fally Klein, a women’s empowerment facilitator, and Miri Grunhaus, a fashion designer with purpose, we gain a newfound understanding of healing. Both women have experienced tremendous pain in their lives, but it is what they learned from their pain that gave them purpose, and ultimately brought them together. If we learn to sit with our pain rather than shy away from it, they share, we can catapult ourselves into lives of deeper joy and meaning than we ever thought possible.
One day, Malkie Gordon Hirsch received a phone call that would forever change her life. She was told that her husband had collapsed at work and had passed away. She was then left to not only navigate through her own grief but also try to help her five children process through the loss of their father.