Love and Life with Dr. Karin and Pastor Elliott

Latest Episodes:

Cheating: 4 Types of Affairs and 3 Reasons They Happen Ep. 265 Sep 29, 2023

Show notes

No one walks down the aisle on their wedding day expecting to cheat on their spouse. But sadly, it happens all too often.

What happens? Why do couples stray?

Elliott and I discuss 4 types of affairs (Pittman) and 3 reasons why they happen (Balswick & Balswick).

Join us for part 1 in our series on infidelity. Learn how to protect your marriage from an affair and/or recover from the pain if infidelity has already occurred.

Citation:

https://hackspirit.com/infidelity-statistics/

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson

Eat Better to Feel Better! Eliminate the Hateful 8 with Dr. Cate Shanahan, Part 2 Ep. 264 Sep 21, 2023

Show notes

We’ve all heard it a million times—you are what you eat. And, of course it’s true—every cell in our body relies on and is sustained by the nutrients we ingest. So on a physical level, this reality is obvious.

But, the more research I do, the more I realize how much this adage—you are what you eat—pertains to our mental health as well.

In some ways, I think about all the work I’ve done as a psychologist—as many of you know, I’ve found so much power in cognitive techniques. When we take charge of our thoughts, we take charge of our lives—and, I absolutely stand by cognitive strategies. More importantly though, research substantiates the effectiveness of CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), as we’ve discussed in many episodes of Love & Life.

That being said, how much easier is it for us to take charge of our thoughts if we’re fueling our bodies in a way that supports our thinking and emotions?

That’s why Elliott and I focus on MIND and BODY and SPIRIT.

Today’s episode is part 2 of my conversation with Dr. Cate Shanahan. If you haven’t had the chance to listen to the beginning of our interview, be sure to check out episode 263.

Dr. Cate describes why industrial seed oils are one of the worst—if not the absolute worst—substances we can put in our bodies. And of course, because our physical wellbeing and mental wellbeing are inextricably connected, when we eliminate the hateful 8, we’ll feel much better emotionally, too!

Learn how to eliminate the Hateful 8 to level up your psychological health!

Dr. Cate Shanahan

Website: ⁠http://drcate.com/⁠

Books: ⁠https://drcate.com/books/⁠

Instagram: ⁠@drcateshanahan⁠

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

Instagram: ⁠@dr.karin⁠ | ⁠@pastorelliottanderson

Tired, Depressed, Overweight? These Dietary Fats Could be to Blame! with Dr. Cate Shanahan - Part 1 Ep. 263 Sep 15, 2023

Show notes

About a year ago, I started hearing a term that was new to me—seed oils. Apparently, they’re everywhere—in virtually all processed foods. And, recent research links them to horrible health outcomes.

So, I did a lot of reading and found that much of what I’d understood about dietary fats was completely off base. For years, I’d been making food choices I thought were healthy but in fact, they were the exact opposite of nutritious!

One book that deeply impacted me—and Dan, too, because I immediately started cooking with different ingredients—was The FatBurn Fix by Dr. Cate Shanahan. I reached out to her to see if she’d be willing to appear on the program.

Today, Dr. Shanahan joins us to unpack the deleterious effects of industrial seed oils—along with the remarkable benefits of eliminating them from our diets! Stay tuned for Part 2, which releases next week!

Dr. Cate Shanahan

Website: http://drcate.com/

Books: https://drcate.com/books/

Instagram: @drcateshanahan

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson

The Mental Health War: How to Fight It! Ep. 262 Sep 07, 2023

Show notes

We’re in the midst of a mental health war. Over the last 50 years, we’ve raised awareness and developed abundant treatment options, yet Americans’ rates of depression and anxiety continue to skyrocket (Whitaker, 2015).

Today, Elliott and I discuss my reflections on his recent messages about the epidemics of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and addiction.

We conceptualize the current mental health landscape as a war for two reasons: (1) because so many Americans battle psychological concerns and (2) professionals are in the midst of deeply contentious disputes regarding how to best treat clients’ emotional distress.

Pharmaceutical corporations and many psychiatrists view this issue through a medical model i.e. patients are diagnosed with psychiatric illnesses and are prescribed pills to manage symptoms. But despite an exponential increase in the use of psychotropic medications, the number of Americans filing disability claims due to mental conditions has tripled over the last two decades (Whitaker, 2015).

Elliott and I argue that a “medicalized” framework pathologizes reasonable responses to trauma and pain; this frameworks also disempowers clients—which is both an unintended and unfortunate consequence. Furthermore, and very importantly, most pharmaceutical interventions for psychological conditions simply don’t work as promised—if at all (Brogan, 2016, 2019; Whitaker, 2015).

Join our conversation to learn the necessary tactics for engaging in this mental health war!

Works Cited

Brogan, K. (2016). A mind of your own: The truth about depression and how women can heal their bodies to reclaim their lives. Harper Wave.

Brogan, K. (2019). Own yourself: The surprising path beyond depression, anxiety, and fatigue to reclaiming your authenticity, vitality, and freedom. Hay House.

Spielmans, G., Spence-Sing, T., & Parry, P. (2020). Duty to warn: Antidepressant black box suicidality warning is empirically justified. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 20. ttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00018/full

Whitaker, R. (2015). Anatomy of an epidemic. Broadway Books.

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson

Addiction in America Ep. 261 Aug 31, 2023

Show notes

Elliott’s mental health series continues with a message about addiction. Sadly, addictions have touched us all—whether we’ve struggled ourselves or we’ve endured the pain of watching a loved one wrestle with the grip of addiction.

Elliott shares an understanding of addiction through a Biblical lens. He tackles questions surrounding the grip of addiction and the hope and healing we can find in Christ.

Download Elliott’s PowerPoint here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/6pku0usfyr8cz8enz2dyi/Altering-Addictions.pptx?rlkey=t1p3y55dyo1gjhdvzzs4q82l1&dl=0

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson

How to Diminish Depression’s Hold on Your Life! Ep. 260 Aug 24, 2023

Show notes

Depression. No one can escape it. Yes, some of us struggle more than others, but sadness, despondency, and despair are part of life. Of course, we’d prefer to skip over the valleys. We’d rather stay on the mountaintops but that’s not how life works.

Can we accept depression as a normal part of the human condition?
Does despondency serve a purpose—other than making us miserable?
What does Scripture tell us about depression?

One of the reasons Elliott and I take issue with the “disease model” of mental health and the tendency to medicalize our emotions is that it assumes that depression and anxiety are bad.

And of course, they’re uncomfortable and undesirable. But don’t our emotions provide us with important information? Might we benefit from paying attention to what our feelings are trying to tell us, as opposed to masking them and covering them up with a drug?

Elliott discusses all this and much more in this week’s message, “Diminishing Depression.”

Download Elliott’s PowerPoint here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o0iict7yabpm2d71iym00/Diminishing-Depression.pptx?rlkey=ydfqnlp1fk9m5mhyh9mq1y8sd&dl=0

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson

Abating Loneliness Ep. 259 Aug 18, 2023

Show notes

Abating - something becomes smaller and less intense.

Did you know we are dealing with an epidemic of loneliness in our culture today? More than ever people are asserting feelings of loneliness in their lives.

Today we continue Pastor Elliott’s series on mental health on the topic of loneliness. He covers the following topics:

- What is loneliness?

- How we emotionally and physically respond to it

- 3 ways we are most vulnerable to loneliness

- 3 ways to abate loneliness

Thank you for listening!

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson

Attacking Anxiety with Action! Ep. 258 Aug 10, 2023

Show notes

Do you struggle with anxiety? Have you felt disempowered on how to address it in your life?

In today’s episode Elliott shares a presentation he gave on the topic of anxiety and how we can proactively attack it with action!

Elliott discusses the following:

The Top 8 Causes of Anxiety
Mental and Physical Manifestations
The Root of Anxiety
And Steps to Overcome Anxiety Through: Situational Awareness, Positive Self-Talk, Physiological Regulation, and Sleep

Download Pastor Elliott’s Power Point Presentation: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/jzozv331w2s96z9n51tqy/Attacking-Anxiety-with-Action-7.23.23.pptx?rlkey=fum0rh3sojqita7rg59o2azv9&dl=0

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson

7 Steps for Empowered Dating—Even When You’ve Been Single Longer Than You Expected! with Roshini Rajkumar Ep. 257 Aug 03, 2023

Show notes

How can we remain empowered when we’ve been on the dating scene for SO long?

As you know, I spent 27 years dating—from age 15 until I married at 42. It can be exhausting, demoralizing, and heartbreaking.

How then, do we remain happy, hopeful, and positive on our journey to love?

Today’s guest, Roshini Rajkumar, also dated for many years before meeting her now husband. Fun fact: they fell in love at first sight!

Here's some more about Roshini. Roshini Rajkumar is a crisis strategist, C-suite advisor, and media insider. Core clients include Fortune 500 brands and their leaders. In her public life, Roshini is a media commentator and host of The Crisis Files podcast, which is also in pitch phase as a television pilot. She draws upon 25 years on air—first as a TV reporter. Then after starting her business in 2006, as host of REAL Talk with Roshini, which aired Sundays on WCCO Radio from 2012 through 2021.

Roshini shares the 7 important steps she discovered as she navigated relationships in her twenties and thirties. And actually, these same principles prove helpful not only for empowered dating, but also for empowered living!

Roshini and I discuss our journeys—including marrying later to a man with children—and the 7 concrete steps we can take to keep our head in the game, while following our heart.

Roshini Rajkumar

Website: http://ownyourwow.com/

Twitter: @RoshiniR and @TheCrisisFiles

Instagram: @RoshiniRajkumar and @TheCrisisFiles

YouTube: @TheCrisisFiles

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson

Does The Pill Impact Your Mental Health? with Dr. Leah Gordon Ep. 256 Jul 27, 2023

Show notes

According to a recent KFF poll, 77% of women would like birth control pills to be available without a prescription—assuming they’re safe and effective.

But are they?

Effective? Okay. But, safe? Not so much.

Among the many side effects of using hormonal birth control is an increased risk of breast cancer.

According to a study by Dr. Marilyn Althuis of the University of Maryland, “Women under 35 years old who are using contraceptive drugs have a 91% higher risk for developing breast cancer than women who use hormone-free contraception.”

And sadly, the risk of breast cancer is just the tip of the iceberg!

Dr. Leah Gordon specializes in helping women “break up with birth control” and balance their hormones naturally which allows them to optimize their fertility to prepare for pregnancy, if that’s their goal.

Join us to hear why a switch from hormonal birth control—including, The Pill, progestin-laced IUDs, vaginal rings, implants, and injections—will help you take charge of your emotional health and level up in love and life!

Citations:

Wadia-Ellis, S. (2020). Busting breast cancer: Five smple steps to keep breast cancer out of your body. Busting Breast Cancer.

Althius, M.D. et al., (2003). Hormonal content and potency of oral contraceptives and breast cancer risk among young women. British Journal of Cancer, 8, (1), 50-57.

Dolle, J. et al. (2009). Risk factors for Triple-Negative breast cancer in women under the age of 45 years. Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 18, (4), 413-439.

https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/press-release/most-women-are-in-favor-of-making-birth-control-pills-available-over-the-counter-without-a-prescription-if-research-shows-they-are-safe-and-effective/

Dr. Leah

Website: https://www.drleahgordon.com/

Instagram: @drleahgordon

Womanhood Wellness: https://www.womanhoodwellness.com/

Dr. Karin & Pastor Elliott Anderson

Website: http://loveandlifemedia.com/

Empowered Dating Playbook: smarturl.it/EmpoweredDatingBook

Instagram: @dr.karin | @pastorelliottanderson