Delusional Optimism with Dr. B

Putting Pain on Pause

In this episode of "Delusional Optimism," Dr. B talks about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). She explains the extent of traumatic experiences we can encounter in our childhood, and provides insight on how to cultivate healing practices in our present lives to become resilient. 

 

Listen to how you can lead yourself to healing.

 

“We need to carefully examine our language that we use so it doesn't imply blame to the person and cause even more trauma”- Dr. B  [4:36]

 

What You Will Learn:

 [00:37] Intro

 [01:10] Understanding adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

 [05:38] How does weight gain manifest as a trauma response 

 [13:04] A personal story on protective weight gain 

 [18:33] The pathway to undo trauma 

 [21:53] Some actionable takeaways: change the blame game; have difficult conversations; allow yourself to become conscious of your body and your mind; always seek and advocate for support

[25:28] Outro

 

Wear a mask and find your calm!

 

Resources:

 

Email Dr. B: contact@drbconnections.com

 

Visit her website: www.drbconnections.com 

 

Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dr.bconnections 

 

Follow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.beasley 

 

Book mentioned: “The Body Keeps Score” by Bessel van der Kolk

 

This show is published and produced by the team at Truth Work Media. Truth Work Media creates podcasts and develops content for businesses and clients of all sizes. Truth Work Media helps tell your business's story, and brand your message in an engaging way. Check them out at www.truthworkmedia.com

Wiring the Brain for Wellness

In this episode of “Delusional Optimism”, Dr. B talks about wiring the brain for wellness. She explains how our experiences in life, from infancy to adulthood, affect our physical and neurological health. Dr. B also opens a discussion on health inequity and advocates for fairer healthcare practices that will positively impact people’s long term health.

 

Listen to how social determinants influence your health and the health of people around you.  

 

 “Loving relationships mediate trauma, mediate risk, and build resilience and the ability to overcome adversity.” - Dr. B [7:26]

 

What You Will Learn:

 

[0:37] Intro

[1:43] Investing early in the wellness of young children as a means to create more resilient families and communities

[4:31] Healthy brain development is intrinsically linked to favorable life experiences

[7:47] The progression of brain development through life

[13:01] A lesson on extreme poverty in Nairobi and its impact on health

[18:30] How social and economic factors are significant determinants of health

[21:22] The process of building resilience

[27:11] Some actionable takeaways: become aware that health is a product of our environment more than our biology; know that building resilience is a choice; embrace your resilience and recognize your power to be a social determinant of health to others

[29:39] Breathe deeply and find your calm, and don’t forget to be kind to yourself and others

[30:35] Outro

 

Wear a mask and find your calm!

 

Resources:

 

Email Dr. B: contact@drbconnections.com

 

Visit her website: www.drbconnections.com

 

Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dr.bconnections

 

Follow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.beasley

This show is published and produced by the team at Truth Work Media. Truth Work Media creates podcasts and develops content for businesses and clients of all sizes. Truth Work Media helps tell your business's story, and brand your message in an engaging way. Check them out at www.truthworkmedia.com

All Stress Is Not Created Equal

In this episode of Delusional Optimism, Dr. B talks about stress. She explains the differences between healthy and toxic stress and the neuroscience behind it. Dr. B also shares how moods play a role in temperament and provides tips on how to stay on the sunny side. Listen to why relationships with people you trust are a key to resilience.

 

“Breath is a cleanser and a disperser of energy and anxiety and trauma, so we need to embrace it and use it to our advantage.” - Dr. B [33:26]

 

What You Will Learn:

 

[0:37] Intro

[1:40] How healthy stress works + an example of unhealthy level of stress

[6:24] Mediating stress + toxic stress

[12:14] The neuroscience of stress + substance misuse

[18:05] How cortisol works and how it reacts to a flight or fight situation

[22:21] How mood is part of temperament + how to stay on the sunny side

[28:08] How experience builds neuro-pathways

[29:04] Some actionable takeaways: Check in with yourself. Be kind to yourself and find people to be kind.

[32:21] Take some deep breaths and find your calm

[36:46] Outro

 

Wear a mask and find your calm!

 

Resources:

 

Email Dr. B: contact@drbconnections.com

 

Visit her website: www.drbconnections.com

 

Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dr.bconnections

Follow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.beasley

 

This show is published and produced by the team at Truth Work Media. Truth Work Media creates podcasts and develops content for businesses and clients of all sizes. Truth Work Media helps tell your business's story, and brand your message in an engaging way. Check them out at www.truthworkmedia.com

Transforming Trauma Into Triumph

In this episode of Delusional Optimism, Dr. B speaks on trauma and resilience. She explains what Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are and the origin behind them. Dr. B also discusses how the 10 original ACEs fall into three categories in your brain and the neuroscience behind them.

 

Listen to why it’s important to acknowledge our stressors of the past to help us thrive in the present. Dr. B shares practical tips for coping through challenging times and how resilience and relationships mediates trauma.

 

“When we know better, we help each other do better.” - Dr. B [20:26]

 

What You Will Learn:

 

[0:37] Intro

[1:46] What is Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) + where it began

[7:08] How trauma influences visible and hidden ailments

[9:23] What resilience means

[10:21] How the 10 original ACEs fall into three categories in your brain

[15:37] How to look at them per category + timing is everything

[17:58] The prevalence of ACEs + how ACEs are interrelated

[19:51] The neuroscience behind ACEs + how we triumph over trauma

[28:37] An example of an experience that can form an ACE

[30:45] Optimism and resilience

[32:31] Actionable takeaways: The roots of adult behavior trace to infancy and childhood

[36:32] Outro

 

Wear a mask and lead with resilience!

 

Resources:

 

Email Dr. B: contact@drbconnections.com

 

Visit her website: www.drbconnections.com

 

Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dr.bconnections

 

Follow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.beasley

 

This show is published and produced by the team at Truth Work Media. Truth Work Media creates podcasts and develops content for businesses and clients of all sizes. Truth Work Media helps tell your business's story, and brand your message in an engaging way. Check them out at www.truthworkmedia.com

Magical Thinking

In this episode of Delusional Optimism, Dr. B speaks on the concept of magical thinking as a phase in childhood, a form of parenting, and a defense and coping mechanism. She explains how it shows up in childhood and adulthood, in terms of both typical development and unhealthy behaviors or thoughts. Dr. B also describes the relationship between magical thinking, anxiety, and OCD.

 

Listen in to learn the neuroscience and optimism behind magical thinking, along with actionable takeaways regarding how you can use empathy to understand it. Dr. B teaches you how planning, along with taking reasonable precautions, can help you manage anxiety and OCD, and describes how to utilize conversation and explanations to manage magical thinking in children.

 

“Trauma in childhood leads to a child needing to try to control things they can’t understand in an abstract world by magically making up their version of the way things work.” - Dr. B [12:46]

 

What You Will Learn:

• [0:32] Intro
• [1:01] What Magical Thinking is and how it shows up in early childhood and adulthood
• [3:20] Why divorce and the death of a parent during childhood is so traumatizing
• [5:10] Magical thinking allows people to believe they have way more power and control over situations than they really do.
• [8:53] Dr. B’s personal experience with her son’s magical thinking
• [15:20] Feeling helplessness regarding Covid-19 and making sense of it
• [16:46] The neuroscience and optimism behind magical thinking
• [19:46] How anxiety and OCD relates to magical thinking
• [22:54] Actionable takeaways from today’s episode: Empathy, planning, reasonable precautions, and explanations
• [30:41] An extreme version of magical thinking: Managing the reality of Covid-19
• [33:43] Outro

 

Wear a mask and leave a lifeprint!

 

Resources:

Email Dr. B: contact@drbconnections.com

Visit her website: www.drbconnections.com

Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dr.bconnections

Follow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.beasley

This show is published and produced by the team at Truth Work Media. Truth Work Media creates podcasts and develops content for businesses and clients of all sizes. Truth Work Media helps tell your business's story, and brand your message in an engaging way. Check them out at www.truthworkmedia.com

How To Leave A Lifeprint

In this episode of Delusional Optimism, Dr. B shares the meaning behind the phrase “leave a lifeprint.” She shares personal stories of how she has created lifeprints and offers powerful words of wisdom regarding resiliency, acts of kindness, altruism, and healing childhood trauma.

 

You can’t fix trauma with resiliency. Learning to engage in the lifeprints and connections we make in life is the key to healing and building resiliency. Listen in to learn how you can build resiliency by focusing on the small stuff.

 

“You don’t have to know how you impact somebody else, what’s important to know is that you do with your life things that impact other people’s lives in a loving, caring, kind, and contributive way.”  - Dr. B [5:02]

 

What You Will Learn:

• [0:32] Intro
• [1:01] What does “leave a lifeprint” mean? + The impacts of two reality mortality events in Dr. B’s life
• [4:15] Being conscious of the lifeprints you leave behind + Accepting that we can’t always know or see the impacts of our lifeprints
• [6:30] A personal story about lifeprints created during Dr. B’s trip to Kenya
• [12:15] It’s the small acts of kindness that builds resiliency.
• [13:32] Altruism is health food for all of us.
• [14:13] People often struggle with the unknown… You must invest in resiliency for the long term.
• [15:45] Resilience isn’t taught or given to people + The results of too much trauma in childhood
• [16:59] Depth and long-term investment is required to build a resilient society.
• [17:58] Takeaways from the phrase “leave a lifeprint”
• [20:26] Positively impacting others during covid-19
• [21:21] Common regrets of those on their deathbeds + The most important parts of life
• [22:13] We must train our brains to engage in the lifeprints and the connections we make.
• [23:19] Outro

 

Now go leave a lifeprint!

 

Resources:

Email Dr. B: contact@drbconnections.com

Visit her website: www.drbconnections.com

Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dr.bconnections

Follow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.beasley

 

This show is published and produced by the team at Truth Work Media. Truth Work Media creates podcasts and develops content for businesses and clients of all sizes. Truth Work Media helps tell your business's story, and brand your message in an engaging way. Check them out at www.truthworkmedia.com

Managing Boundaries with Family and Friends Who Have Different Opinions About How to Handle COVID-19

In this episode of Delusional Optimism, Dr. B talks about the importance of maintaining relationships by having uncomfortable conversations with family and friends about COVID-19. She talks about how we’re are slowly adapting to the current environment and how that could have never happened were it not for the pandemic.

Listen in to learn the risk that COVID-19 still poses for you and younger children going back to school and how we can still exercise safety guidelines. You will also learn how you can maintain healthy conversations and safe relationships so as not to feel held hostage by cabin fever.

“Get comfortable being uncomfortable at least long enough to have a healthy conversation and not destroy your relationship.” [13:58]

What You Will Learn:

• [0:31] Intro
• [1:21] People’s different opinions about COVID-19’s safety guidelines and why there’s more pressure now than when it all started.
• [4:28] Dr. B explains how her family has been handling COVID-19 safety measures.
• [7:19] The awaiting risk of COVID-19 if younger children go back to school especially due to the oncoming cold season.
• [11:09] Cabin fever and its relation to COVID-19- how we’re feeling stuck and needing to be adaptable to our environment.
• [12:41] How we’re adapting to the new way of doing things.
• [13:11] Why we need to get comfortable being uncomfortable to have healthy conversations without destroying relationships.
• [14:46] How COVID-19 is forcing us to learn how to set boundaries confidently.
• [17:58] Figure out how to get your vitamin D so you don’t feel held hostage by cabin fever.
• [19:13] Find a plan to activate your endorphins to feel better.
• [20:16] Build a supportive network to stay connected with the world, friends, and family.
• [23:43] How to have open conversations virtually to help keep relationships alive.

Relevant Links:

Email: contact@drbconnections.com

Website: https://www.drbconnections.com/

The Impacts of Screen Time on Adults and Children

In this episode of Delusional Optimism, Dr. B shares her take on the impacts of screen time, both on adults and children, as well as how covid-19 has transformed our lives in regards to communication, entertainment, and stress. She details the importance of setting boundaries, moving away from guilt around our children’s use of technology, and shares a few ways to incorporate healthy and educational activities into your kids’ screen time.

Learning to entertain oneself is a skill which kids need to build upon. Plus, we all need distractions during uncertain times and technology is just one of the tools we use to cope. Listen in to learn how you can lean into technology and change… and even benefit from it!

 

“I know that it’s hard not to feel guilty about loosening the rules on how much screen time we allow, but it really is okay. Kids are balanced by parents who are balanced and healthy.”  - [22:41]

 

What You Will Learn:

• [0:32] Intro
• [2:36] Ways that excessive screen time impacts life today
• [4:39] Violence on TV or in video games & Violence in society: Are they correlated?
• [5:47] Dr. B expresses her concern with excessive screen use from her son and granddaughter.
• [7:53] Dr. B shares a story that shows how kids grow up with technology being part of who they are.
• [9:09] Where’s the balance? + The importance of kids having experiences without technology.
• [10:56] Ways to have good screen time
• [11:40] The Global Transformation: How covid-19 has transformed everything we’re doing right now.
• [13:45] The uncertainty of 2020 has caused adults to be are stressed, which means kids are stressed.
• [16:53] Leaning into technology and change… and liking it?
• [18:01] Parents don’t need to feel guilty for their kids using technology so much right now, in fact, there are benefits to it.
• [23:43] Self-care is critical, yet we often feel guilty for taking time for ourselves away from responsibilities.
• [24:30] Takeaways from this episode

 

Relevant Links:

Email Dr. B: contact@drbconnections.com

Visit her website: www.drbconnections.com

Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/dr.bconnections

Follow her on Instagram: www.instagram.com/dr.beasley

Reducing Stress Around Homeschooling

In this episode of Delusional Optimism, Dr. B tackles the subject of homeschooling during the COVID-19 pandemic and the lessons we can take from it. She describes the meaning of education as loving relationships rather than the four walls of a classroom like we’re used to.

Listen in to learn how you can make most of the time you have with your children and teach them about love and connection as a family. You will also learn the importance of loving relationships in raising your children to be resilient.

“You don’t have to be perfect; you don’t have to do it all right all the time, you just have to do it OK some of the time.”- [14:23]

What You Will Learn:

• [0:32] Intro
• [2:12] Why education is much broader than the four walls of a classroom and children shouldn’t be exposed to COVID-19 in the name of ‘education’.
• [3:26] How COVID-19 has forced us as parents to connect more with our children than we would have had the courage to connect with them before.
• [6:05] Dr. B shares some stories of parents who have found joy in having their children at home and the relationships they’ve formed.
• [11:38] How families are realizing that it is doable to be home together and how it is completely changing things.
• [13:52] How COVID-19 is teaching parents that they’re competent and capable of keeping their children on track without overwhelm or perfection.
• [15:33] The importance of loving relationships for raising resilient children.
• [17:50] The life lessons you should learn from homeschooling.
• [21:06] Forming a reading habit with your children to stay connected and giving them opportunities to learn important things.

Relevant Links:

Email: contact@drbconnections.com

Website: https://www.drbconnections.com/

Nighttime Anxiety and Panic Attacks

In this episode of Delusional Optimism, Dr. B talks about anxiety and panic attacks that happen during the night and where they originate from. She shares her personal story with anxiety after her diagnosis with cancer and how she came to understand the root cause of it.

Listen in to learn the importance of understanding the root of your anxiety and making sense of your life to change the trajectory of your future generations. You will also learn why you need to be kind to yourself and start by finding help to manage your anxiety.

“Recognize that anxiety is very common and there’s nothing wrong with you or bad about you if you have this experience and on any level of the spectrum that it shows up.” [33:03]

What You Will Learn:

• [0:32] Intro
• [1:12] Defining anxiety, how nighttime anxiety and panic attacks happen, and the current stresses of life that can trigger it.
• [3:49] The overwhelming fear of dying that comes with anxiety. How past non-verbal traumas that lead to somatic responses.
• [6:27] How depression and anxiety are passed epigenetically and may not necessarily be caused by trauma but rather passed down from another generation. 
• [7:36] Dr. B shares her personal story with anxiety after suffering from cancer and the role that medication played in getting her better.
• [11:21] The benefit of bringing your unconscious story to the conscious. How Dr. B’s life history related to the anxiety she experienced when she had cancer.
• [17:34] How anxiety allows us to make sense of our lives when we learn about its roots and get to change the trajectory of our children and grandchildren.
• [19:18] Learning how to be kind to yourselves by finding help and the support to manage your anxiety.
• [25:28] How to deal with primary anxiety by finding healing resources.
• [26:15] The importance of finding help for your nighttime anxiety, not just for yourself but for others as well.
• [28:45] Find the music to manage your anxiety.
• [30:03] Connect with people- have connection partners that call you and you can call to share your emotional states.
• [30:52] Say your anxiety out loud to let go of borrowed past experiences.

Relevant Links:

Email: contact@drbconnections.com

Website: https://www.drbconnections.com/