Elizabeth talks with Shelly Sharon, a trauma-informed Hakomi therapist with a specialization in the Mother Wound. Shelly describes what the Mother Wound is, and how it can affect people's decisions, relationships, and beliefs about themselves and the world. They talk about the power in understanding and working on the Mother Wound in therapy, and how these themes can resonate through generations and society. To learn more about Shelly's work, you can check out her website: https://www.shellyshar...
Jul 04, 2025•42 min•Season 4Ep. 1
Elizabeth speaks with Bindu O. Fernandes about the Heart2Heart english support hotline. She shares her experience working with the organization and the possible usefulness of the service for english-speakers looking for support during tough and lonely times. Bindu notes that Switzerland can be a lonely place for migrants and this phone line is one way to feel connected to others. You can learn more at https://www.143.ch/en/ To contact Bindu for more information, you can email her at bindu.fernan...
May 23, 2025•30 min•Season 3Ep. 18
Elizabeth and Zurich-based counselor Krish Phua discuss the complex interplay between sexuality and mental health. Their conversation explores how well-being can be benefitted from self-awareness, confidence and intimacy that grows in the realm of embracing and exploring one's sexuality. Krish suggests that working with clients can be enhanced by inviting them to discuss their sexual lives and identity, either in an individual or couples context. To learn more about how Krish works and to check ...
May 05, 2025•32 min•Season 3Ep. 15
The decision to separate or divorce is a huge point of stress for many immigrants, and a stressor that often shows up in the therapy room. The lack of familiarity with the legal system can be one of many barriers to taking the next step to leaving a relationship that is no longer working. Our interview with Frau Sabine Renker reveals important information about common areas of confusion and about the different resources that are available to those in challenging financial situations. You can lea...
Apr 02, 2025•36 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Elizabeth discusses the inspiration for the Neurodiversity Support Network of Switzerland with the co-founder, Rachael Camp. Nsns strives to connect clients with better support options for understanding and navigating the particular challenges a neurodivergent person might encounter working and living in Switzerland. For more information, you can check out the nsns website: https://nsns.ch/about/ or contact Elizabeth at contact@nsns.ch
Mar 19, 2025•30 min
Elizabeth speaks with coach Tessa Richter about her personal journey to understand the relationship between her high creativity and neurodivergence. She reflects on the ways in which creativity is commonly misunderstood and how the potential inherent to connecting actively to creativity can be better accessed. Tessa sees neurodivergent traits as an expression of our intrinsic human genius and that we lose through a mechanistic world view and educational system. In her work, she helps clients use...
Jan 27, 2025•35 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Elizabeth is joined by artist and therapist, Cristina Szemere, who describes a novel intervention for increasing acceptance of somatic experiences. She describes how externalising traumatic or painful events onto paper can make the experiences easier to process, and can be a way to honour the resilience of the human condition while creating a sense of being witnessed. Cristina explores how Somatic Body Mapping could be expanded to help other populations navigate illness, accidents, and trauma. T...
Dec 08, 2024•29 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Former HR professional Karina Schneider talks with Elizabeth about how her experiences shaped her work as a re-integration specialist for clients returning to work after a prolonged mental health absence. Her work is informed by compassion, strategy, and practical expertise and is grounded in her value to make the working world a more mentally-friendly place. For more information about the work that she does with clients and companies, you can check out her website: https://www.karinaschneider.c...
Oct 28, 2024•29 min•Season 3Ep. 1
There is a growing emphasis on the power of complementary body work to help people access and process emotional experiences. Psychologists are beginning to encourage clients to move beyond simply understanding and relating to their experience and into feeling their experience. As part of digging deeper into the potential of body work, Elizabeth speaks with Nadya Seeberger, a Breath Work facilitator and hypnotherapist in Biel-Bienne/Nidau. More about Nadya: nadya-seeberger.com More information ab...
May 28, 2024•30 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Elizabeth speaks with her colleague, Laura Wadhwa, about her research on blended families. Laura shares some ways to talk to kids about the changes to the family constellation, and how to give space for kids to discuss and share whatever feelings they have. The importance of validating their reactions to avoid the destructive effect of shame is described. For more information, Laura recommends the following book: Van Deurzen, E., & Iacovou, S. (2013). Existential perspectives on relationship...
Mar 07, 2024•42 min•Season 3Ep. 2
Elizabeth interviews her own father, Richard Wack, about his ADHD history. He reflects on the ways that it affected his relationship with his peers, family and himself. Despite having a successful legal career, he shares how undiagnosed ADHD affected his anxiety and addiction. He shares feedback that might be helpful to others who are discovering the ways that their brains work at a later age. You can learn more about Richard here: https://nadn.org/pdf/Rick-Wack.pdf...
Nov 30, 2023•44 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Many of us no longer live in the same community as our parents. Often we live oceans away. This conversation is dedicated to discussing a topic that brings up many emotions and involves many complicated variables but in the end, is the most human of experiences to have. For a recommended article that touches on some of these themes, we could recommend starting here: https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/health/a45665678/caregiving-for-aging-parents/ We are grateful for the contributions of Aoife, Patr...
Nov 23, 2023•48 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Patricia and Elizabeth discuss the particularities of the process of applying for foreign training to be recognized in Switzerland to practice as a psychologist or psychotherapist. We talk about the important things to know, the differences between the BAG, PsyKo and FSP, and the pros-cons of working as a psychologist vs. a psychotherapist. We get lots of questions about this from mental health clinicians new to Switzerland so we hope that you will find this to be a handy resource as you navigat...
Jul 06, 2023•34 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Elizabeth talks with Patricia about the importance of grief and grieving, and the particular ways it may impact people living away from their home countries and cultures. The collective experience of grief from the period of Covid is also discussed. Ways to navigate the experience of grief within yourself and with others were explored. To find more information on the topic and additional resources, you can check out Patricia's blog post: https://c2gether.ch/grief-and-loss/ To join the virtual Gr...
Jan 30, 2023•40 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Elizabeth and Patricia outline and discuss the upcoming changes to how psychotherapy will be covered by the insurance in Switzerland starting in 2023. This episode is for: Any existing psychotherapy clients curious about if and how their services will be reimbursed, Anyone considering starting psychotherapy in the future, or any mental health practitioners who may be curious about how these changes might impact how they interact with the healthcare system, and how this might contribute to the cu...
Nov 02, 2022•41 min
Elizabeth chats with Meltem Kusku, a mental-health counselor who talks about how her own experience with psychedelics has reduced her suffering and avoidance of a traumatic childhood experience that shaped her life. They discuss current research that suggests the efficacy of psychedelic-assisted therapy for healing trauma, and the proposed uses of psychedelics in the treatment of other mental health conditions. She encourages people who are curious to talk openly about next steps with their medi...
Sep 27, 2022•46 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Professional journalist and writer, Tara Giroud, shares her experience of writing for her mental health and her current inspiration to help others use this medium to support their own well-being. She discusses the importance of reflecting on our experiences and communicating with ourselves and others. Tara gives a number of practical tips to help when self-criticism shows up in your writing. c2 will host Tara's workshop on this topic on 11 June at 10-12:30. To sign up, please contact Tara direct...
May 24, 2022•28 min
Elizabeth speaks with Jeremy McTeague of Scott's Kirk Church in Lausanne. He has spearheaded an initiative to create a day center for refugees (mainly from Ukraine) who are staying with local families in the area. Forced displacement results not just in disconnection from homeland, but also from a sense of identity. This day center intends to help its members stay connected to themselves and others. It is currently open on Thursday and Sunday afternoons. For more information or to help out, plea...
May 14, 2022•22 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Elizabeth talks with Lyla Schwartz about her broad experience providing psychological support to people who have been affected by trauma in different places around the world, and how this has led to her current research at the University of Basel. In this conversation, she suggests some ways that we can help support migrants and refugees who are settling in Switzerland. AsyLex: Legal Assistance Haus Pour Bienne Jeremy McTeague of the Ukraine Day Centre in Lausanne email : ukraine-centre@scotskir...
Apr 17, 2022•24 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Elizabeth chats with Carl Wahlers, the founder of the Lausanne-based Blokes and Black Dogs support group. This peer-to-peer group is for men who are needing support around mental health issues like isolation, loneliness, depression or anxiety. He talks about how the idea of the group arose and how he hopes it will be a resource that english-speaking men across Switzerland use to reduce the shame and build community. Link to the Blokes and Black Dogs podcast: Buzzsprout Web site: https://www.blok...
Mar 09, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Elizabeth talks with Dr. Patricia Vriesendorp about the ways in which challenges to self-compassion show up in day-to-day life, and how to make self-compassion a practice that could potentially benefit motivation, mental-health and well-being. The particularities of practicing self-compassion as a foreigner or migrant are discussed, as well as some ways that this uniquely vulnerable group can learn to be kinder to themselves. We will discuss this topic further in our upcoming webinar on 23 March...
Feb 16, 2022•31 min
ADHD advocate Renée McClure shares her ADHD story, and some of the resources that she found useful along the way. If you have any questions for Renée about her journey or about joining her Facebook support group, Women Who Rock CH (the ADHD Edition) , you can contact her via email at mcclurer@hotmail.com. Some other resources mentioned are: ADHD 2.0 How To ADHD ADHD for Smart Ass Women Psy Bern Clinic...
Jan 15, 2022•34 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Elizabeth interviews nutritional therapist and functional medicine practitioner, Kerry Fugard. We discuss brain health and how to eat to prevent dementia. Ways to use nutrition and other aspects of daily life to help your brain function well and deal with common challenges (including seasonal change) were explored. To contact Kerry , you can visit the following sites: https://www.nutri-360.com/ https://www.facebook.com/nutri360.nutrition/ https://www.instagram.com/nutri360swiss/ Resources discus...
Oct 19, 2021•34 min
Elizabeth chats with body work therapist and coach, Jaya Saunders, about her way of helping people connect the mind and body. She talks about how working with the body can help us better understand ourselves and reduce tension. Jaya gives us a preview of her two upcoming workshops with c2, including the Women's Health Day and her mindfulness meditation workshop on 16 October, 2021. She also presents a brief mindfulness to the breath exercise. If you'd like to sign up for Jaya's mindfulness medit...
Sep 22, 2021•29 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Elizabeth speaks with Agnes Leonetti, a therapist/doula in Biel/Bienne, who discusses ways in which parents and families can build community with other parents and families. She discusses a new family café project called "Graines de Vie" which brings together families and kids with therapists, educators, and creatives in order to build connection and support. Agnes also talks about her work as a doula, and why having a birth support person as a non-native Swiss resident can be particularly usefu...
Sep 07, 2021•25 min•Season 1Ep. 5
In this episode, Elizabeth interviews Stéphanie Goffaux, a psychologist who works with kids and their families to set up systems that help kids participate more actively in family and household tasks while building autonomy and self-confidence. Stéphanie shares a number of practical ideas and tips for navigating common areas of daily challenge for parents and their kids, like hygiene, mealtime, and homework. You can find more information about Stéphanie on her website: https://psy.goffaux.ch/en/...
Jun 29, 2021•32 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Elizabeth interviews Angela Warm about what women can do to support their health and mental health during perimenopause and menopause. We cover topics related to nutrition, stress, sleep, communication and sex.
Jun 04, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Elizabeth interviews Sandrine Dennler, a shiatsu therapist, about how perfectionism shows up in the body, preventing vulnerability and interfering with connection. She shares ways that people can identify and resolve issues related to anxiety, perfectionism and stress by working with it in their bodies and in their lives.
May 20, 2021•38 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Elizabeth interviews Patricia about c2's Open Space Day event occurring 30 April 2021. Patricia explains the element of co-creation of the schedule that make this event particularly dynamic.
Apr 23, 2021•23 min•Season 1Ep. 1
