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Bridge to Branches Podcast

Bridge to Branches Podcast

By Alix Ariel

If life is a tree, mental health is the bridge between the roots and the branches—bridging where we’ve been & what we’ve been through with where we’re headed & what we affect. The Bridge to Branches Podcast features interviews with folks who are doing impactful things out in the world despite, or sometimes, because of, their mental health journeys. We hope to combat stigma so that we all can live in a world where we discuss our mental health without judgment or shame. • Song: “Little Beckon” by Ayla Nereo • Logo Design: Espacia Fotiu
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S2 Episode 1: “Alternative” Healing for Multidimensional Beings

Bridge to Branches PodcastApr 09, 2021

00:00
01:01:57
Getting Your Worm: The Dynamic Envisioning of A Good Robin

Getting Your Worm: The Dynamic Envisioning of A Good Robin

In Episode 3 of Season 2, Ariel and Alix interview Dominika, a visionary of our time who believes that trauma is a necessary brain alteration. Dominika says that even though we try to shield ourselves and our loved ones from trauma, our brain is the ultimate “pentium”—in other words, it is able to process our trauma at top notch speed, and it does indeed help us in some way, regardless of our own will and our own ability to heal. Dominika is an intuitive and brilliant crochet artist and designer with two business lines, which she talks about in this episode. She lives in New Orleans.
Oct 13, 202101:21:51
S2 Episode 2: Trying to Navigate the Self through Music & Mental Health

S2 Episode 2: Trying to Navigate the Self through Music & Mental Health

In the second episode of Season 2, Alix and Ariel interview the talented Jevon Reynolds (he/him/his). Despite a mental health diagnosis, Jevon navigates the world with an engineering mind applied to music. Jevon’s music touches on the complexities of love, human emotion, and self-discovery. In this episode, he speaks candidly of his experiences with Anxiety and Bipolar II Disorder, and how he has worked with these maladies. Stay tuned until after the exchange for a special performance of a song Jevon calls “Try”.
May 18, 202146:38
S2 Episode 1: “Alternative” Healing for Multidimensional Beings

S2 Episode 1: “Alternative” Healing for Multidimensional Beings

In a triumphant return to the podcast world, Alix and Ariel team up to host Season 2—beginning with a rich conversation with Marta Styczen (she/her/hers), a world traveler and Intuitive Guide & Meditation Facilitator. In this episode, Marta speaks of her Slavic ancestry and how she connects it with the way she views her mental health, and “alternative” versus “traditional” healing (because what does that even mean?). She also speaks of the mental health system in Germany, where she currently resides, and how she was able to heal her own mental health ailments.
Apr 09, 202101:01:57
S1 Episode 10: Synthesis of Season One

S1 Episode 10: Synthesis of Season One

After a brief hiatus, Alix and Ariel return victoriously to discuss, process, and connect the dots from the podcast’s first season. This episode takes you on a psychological journey through the subtle undertones of the first nine episodes through a reflective dialogue on universal truths about the healing of the mind. This episode marks the end of the first season, and the beginning of the next phase of the Bridge to Branches saga. Stay tuned as the conversation advances, and remember how powerful your truth is...along with your human right to be fully and freely yourself. NOTE: This episode was recorded in Spring 2020.
Feb 01, 202101:02:58
S1 Episode 9: The Path of Self-Advocacy and Connecting Dental & Mental Health

S1 Episode 9: The Path of Self-Advocacy and Connecting Dental & Mental Health

In Episode 9, Alix and Ariel co-host, conversing with Rachel Mundus (she/her/hers). Rachel talks of her struggles with academics early on in life and how a seed of self-doubt was planted in her mind because of the impact of that challenge. She discusses her traumatic brain injury, her long road to recovery, and how she subsequently chose to transform her academic challenges through that potentially debilitating physical and mental experience. Through her healing journey, Rachel was able to seek out her dream—the path to dental school, where she is today, bringing all forms of wellness to the people.
May 24, 202001:09:15
S1 Episode 8: Opening the Doors of Misdiagnoses, Substances, and Changing the System

S1 Episode 8: Opening the Doors of Misdiagnoses, Substances, and Changing the System

In Episode 8, Alix interviews Chicago-based Phillip Petersen (he/him/his), an activist who advocates for cannabis legalization, and who was once diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and ADD. Phil is opinionated, and is a skeptic of the traditional model of Psychology; he has experience with being prescribed the gamut of meds (and instead, at one time, turned to illicit drugs for healing). He talks about his experience with modern day prohibition and gives the lowdown on the effects of medications—those that are legal, and those that are not. NOTE: This episode was recorded prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.
May 17, 202057:50
S1 Episode 7: Healing by Waking Up to the Gifts within Pain

S1 Episode 7: Healing by Waking Up to the Gifts within Pain

This is one of the first episodes we recorded for the podcast, and it veers from the typical or conventional look into mental health. Alix talks with James Wolf Irawe Mendoza (he/him/his), an Indigenous sage and truth-seeking extrasensory being. He talks about healing in terms of shamanic methods, and the ways in which Western cultural healing modalities are only a band-aid, and also how to work with your mind in ways that might benefit you—the person seeking healing—in a more holistic way. NOTE: This episode was recorded prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.
May 10, 202034:10
S1 Episode 6: Why Mindfulness AND Mental Health Matter

S1 Episode 6: Why Mindfulness AND Mental Health Matter

In Episode 6, Alix interviews Kevin Recinos (they/them/theirs), whose own mental health journey led them to a role providing mental health services for homeless folks in the Los Angeles area. Kevin and Alix discuss the nuances of vulnerability, the problem with substituting spirituality for mental health, and the dangers of getting therapeutic information from, yes, the internet. NOTE: This episode was recorded prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.
May 02, 202001:04:19
S1 Episode 5: The Shared Experience of the Weirdness of Being Human

S1 Episode 5: The Shared Experience of the Weirdness of Being Human

In Episode 5, Alix talks with Colorado-based psychotherapist Craig Salerno (he/him/his) about his perspective on the relationship we take on with our mind through being human, the place where Zen Buddhism and psychotherapy connect (in that we are innately whole), and the ways in which ketamine-assisted psychotherapy assists in healing. NOTE: This episode was recorded prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Apr 19, 202055:18
S1 Episode 4: A Working Definition of Mental Health

S1 Episode 4: A Working Definition of Mental Health

In this conversation, Alix is joined by Emily Sioma (she/her/hers), an activist for mental health and sexual assault survivor advocacy in the pageant world and beyond. In this episode Emily talks candidly about her recognition that she dealt with undiagnosed OCD as an adolescent, how we define anxiety and depression, and how she’s turned her own challenges into successes in her life today. NOTE: this episode was recorded prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Apr 12, 202044:17
S1 Episode 3: Seeing “Schizophrenia” as Sacred

S1 Episode 3: Seeing “Schizophrenia” as Sacred

In episode 3, Alix interviews Jacob Reid (he/him/his), who was once diagnosed with the disorder known as paranoid schizophrenia. Jacob redefines and reframes what he calls “Sacredphrenia” as a psycho-spiritual disorder rather than an illness, and talks about the fear encountered during a “sacredphrenic” episode as being on the consciousness spectrum. He believes a breakdown of the status quo might happen if we reject typical diagnoses and recreate what mental health really means. NOTE: this episode was recorded prior to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Apr 04, 202001:05:48
S1 Episode 2: The Influence of Psychosis, Aloneness, and Eternal Hope

S1 Episode 2: The Influence of Psychosis, Aloneness, and Eternal Hope

In Episode 2, we introduce Ariel (or Leira, she/her/hers) as the future co-host of the podcast; she speaks with Alix about her journey through her own mental health experience and her mile-marker psychedelic trip that took her into and then out of the depths and into the place where she is today, writing her dissertation on trauma and healing because of the influence of interconnection.
Mar 20, 202001:07:07
S1 Episode 1: Pod Concept + Normalizing Mental Health Stories (by sharing them)

S1 Episode 1: Pod Concept + Normalizing Mental Health Stories (by sharing them)

In the first episode, Ariel interviews Alix (she/her/hers) as she introduces herself, talks about the pod concept + the idea of “The Love Revolution”, and speaks candidly about her mental health journey and how it’s taken her to where she is on her path today.
Feb 19, 202038:23