Talks with Dr Shafer

Latest Episodes:

Talks with Dr Shafer with Special Guest Donna Galanti, Author and Host of Your Bounce Back Life Apr 18, 2024

Show notes

Talks with Dr Shafer welcomes guest Donna Galanti, Author of the Unicorn Island series, Joshua and the Lightning Road series, and The Element Trilogy and Host of the podcast Your Bounce Back Life to today’s episode. Donna shares her journey as an author and storyteller, which began after her mother's passing, a challenging and pivotal time in her life. She discusses how she found healing and purpose through writing and storytelling. Donna also talks about her newest adventure, her engaging podcast, Your Bounce Back Life, and how it allows her to share her experiences and inspire others. Donna shares her experience as a caregiver for her father, and the challenges and emotions involved in caregiving and finding peace in the process. She shares her toolbox of techniques for navigating challenges, including transcendental meditation, emotional freedom technique (EFT), walking in nature, yoga, exercise, and journaling, as well as the importance of slowing down and enjoying the journey rather than being fixated on the goal. Donna reminds us of the importance of core values, identity, and living in a state of wonder.

You can follow Donna Galanti’s beautiful and inspiring podcast, Your Bounce Back Life, at www.yourbouncebacklife.com, for inspiration and support.

You can find out more about Donna Galanti the author at www.donnagalanti.com, where you can find her blog, books, and information about upcoming events!

Talks with Dr Shafer is hosted by Neurologist, Mom, Life Coach, Musician and Author Shafer Stedron, MD. Dr Shafer is passionate about storytelling as a tool to help reclaim your story and create your most beautiful future.

You can learn more about Dr Shafer on her website, www.drshaferstedronova.com, and follow Talks with Dr Shafer on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music.

Little House of Dreams Entertainment, 2024.

Music Credit: Shafer Yost, Impulse

Talks with Dr Shafer featuring Special Guest Jonathan Niziol, Model, Entrepreneur and Mental Health Advocate Apr 16, 2024

Show notes

*Trigger Warning: Today's Episode includes discussion of Sexual Assault, Addiction, Alcoholism, Self-Harm, and Eating Disorders

Join Dr Shafer on Talks with Dr Shafer with Special Guest Jonathan Niziol. Jonathan shares his journey of overcoming distractions and addiction after the sudden loss of his mother as a young adult. He discusses his struggles with severe anxiety, clinical depression, panic disorder, and self-harm. Jonathan's turning point in his alcoholism came when he experienced a life-threatening case of acute pancreatitis due to alcoholism. This event led him to make the decision to quit drinking, but his relationship to distractions and self led to several other cycles of addiction that he had to learn to face through a focus on self-awareness with the help of therapy. Jonathan is an International Model who was a victim of sexual assault in the workplace. Jonathan then faced a battle with bulimia and details his experience.

Jonathan Niziol shares his personal journey of overcoming addiction, trauma, and self-discovery. He emphasizes the importance of vulnerability, forgiveness, and self-acceptance in the healing process. Jonathan highlights the power of words and mindset in shaping our lives and encourages continuous learning and growth, and the importance of treating ourselves with kindness and compassion. Jonathan's story serves as a reminder that we are stronger than we think and that it's never too late to make positive changes in our lives, and those changes start with our mindset and our habits.

Thank you for joining us today. Please subscribe to Talks with Dr Shafer for more inspiration and growth-oriented episodes! Let's grow together and reclaim our stories.

You are not alone in dealing with addiction.

SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.

1-800-662-HELP (4357)

FindTreatment.gov

You are not alone in dealing with your sexual assault.

Help is available

Speak with someone today

National Sexual Assault Hotline Hours: Available 24 hours/day

1-800-656-4673

National Sexual Violence Resource Center

https://www.nsvrc.org/find-help

You are not alone in dealing with an eating disorder:

ANOREXIA NERVOSA & ASSOCIATED DISORDERS

ANAD HOTLINE

The National Association of Anorexia Nervosa & Associated Disorders (ANAD) is a non-profit organization that provides support and resources to individuals and families affected by eating disorders, disordered eating, or body image concerns. They offer free, easy to access resources to anyone who needs them.

1-888-375-7767

Suicide and Crisis Support: You are not alone

Help is available

Speak with someone today

988

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Hours: Available 24 hours.

Talks with Dr Shafer, Featuring Dr Shafer Stedron MD, Neurologist, Life Coach, Author and Musician with a passion for storytelling as a tool for growth, health, and creating a beautiful future.

www.drshaferstedronova.com

Little House of Dreams Entertainment

Music Credit: Shafer Yost, Impulse

Would you like to be a guest on Talks with Dr Shafer? Go to www.drshaferstedronova.com and contact us on the Podcast section! We can't wait to hear your story.

Talks with Dr Shafer featuring Clinical Psychologist, Author, Innovator and Mental Health Advocate Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala, PhD Apr 11, 2024

Show notes

On today’s episode of Talks with Dr Shafer, Dr Shafer talks with guest Dr Shannon Sauer-Zavala, PhD, Clinical Psychologist and Mental Health Researcher, Associate Professor in The Department of Psychology at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, author of her book Neuroticism: A New Framework for Emotional Disorders and their Treatment, and blogger for Psychology Today, as well as the developer of a new Personality Assessment Tool, the Personality Compass Assessment.

You can learn more about the Personality Compass Assessment Tool and other resources at www.personality-compass.com, and follow Dr Shannon Sauer-Zavala on social media at @self.made.personality. You can also find her blog on Psychology Today, featuring helpful articles on mental health-related topics.

We are so grateful for Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala sharing her wisdom and the important work she is doing. We are sure you will be inspired by what she has to share about her work as a Clinical Psychologist with patients, her work in developing a new Personality Assessment tool, the Personality Compass Assessment, and her work with the Royal Canadian Mountain Police developing and implementing a mental health prevention program for cadets in training.

Hosted by Shafer Stedron, MD

www.drshaferstedronova.com

Little House of Dreams Entertainment

Music Credit: Shafer Yost, Impulse

Spring Musings on Love in Life’s Seasons, on Short Talks with Dr Shafer Apr 11, 2024

Show notes

Join Dr Shafer as she shares Spring Musings on Love in Life’s Seasons, a Short Talk edition of Talks with Dr Shafer. Learn more at www.drshaferstedronova.com Little House of Dreams Entertainment All Rights Reserved Music Credit: Shafer Yost, Impulse

Talks with Dr Shafer featuring Guest Faith C. Echo, Author, Recovery Coach and Narcissistic Abuse Survivor Apr 08, 2024

Show notes

*Trigger Warning: Domestic Abuse and Domestic Violence are discussed in today's podcast.

Dr. Shafer of Talks with Dr Shafer interviews Faith C. Echo, a survivor of domestic abuse, about her experience and recovery. Faith shares her story of being in a narcissistically abusive relationship for four years and how she eventually escaped. She emphasizes the importance of sharing experiences to help others going through similar situations and finding support from a community of survivors. Faith also discusses the process of healing, including the need to sit with and process emotions, practice self-love and self-care, and find meaning in the experience. She now works as a recovery coach for women who have experienced domestic abuse.

Learn more about author Faith C. Echo and her work, including her book Rising from Ashes: A Testimony of Strength and Survival After Narcissistic Abuse, on her website www.faithcecho.com

If you are in immediate danger, call 9-1-1.

Help is available.

National Domestic Violence Hotline Hours: 24/7.

call 800-799-7233

Thank you to our local Women's Resource Center of Northern Michigan for the amazing and life-saving work you do.

www.wrcnm.org

24 hour Help and Information Hotline: 231-347-0082

To learn how you can help support these services at the Women's Resource Center of Northern Michigan, email info@wrcnm.org

Talks with Dr Shafer

Little House of Dreams Entertainment

www.drshaferstedronova.com

Music Credit: Shafer Yost, Impulse

You Have a Choice, on Talks with Dr Shafer Apr 02, 2024

Show notes

We only have so much energy.

A secret of life that we often come to realize midway or closer to the end, is that we get to choose where we direct our energy.

We have a choice.

You have a choice.

I have a choice.

If you could say one thing to yourself, every day, that could potentially change the outcome of your life, both in small and enormous ways, if you simply believed it to be true, it would be this simple truth:

I have a choice.

I can choose where I put my energy. I can choose what I believe. I can choose who I align myself with. I can choose where to allow my power to be expended. I can choose to see myself as someone who can’t do it, or to see myself as someone who is learning how to do it.

I have a choice.

I can choose.

What else can be more powerful?

When we were young, life seemed so open. The options seemingly limitless for many of us, overwhelming to the point that a common sentiment is that of wishing someone would simply tell you what to do.

But if we subscribe to this, searching for our why and our purpose outside of ourselves, then we only delay our journey to our true purpose. We take on the weight and the consequences of other people’s ideas and intentions for us, mostly serving them and not us. We pick up more and more outside of us, trying harder and harder to find what we are looking for, until the truth becomes glaringly clear.

We have to shed it all.

The expectations.

The labels.

The shame.

The guilt.

The what ifs.

We have to unpack it all, lay it down, release it, and walk on. Alone with ourselves, in the quiet, listening to only our voice. The one that we had silenced and replaced with every voice and every opinion but our own.

We have to return to the self.

In the quiet, in the warm embrace of acceptance of our true self, all of the damage, all of the broken bits and scars, and all of the incredible beauty that we painted over with someone else’s palette.

When we are there, in our essence, without anything else to hide behind, and we begin to not only accept, but to love and cherish ourselves, there we finally come to the magic of life.

We truly recognize our worth, our value, our uniqueness, and our purpose.

And once we do the difficult, painful, and long work of stripping down to who we are, and we see the beauty in every bit of us and recognize our true worth, we know that we will never abandon ourselves every again.

Thank you for joining me today, and for allowing me to be with you on your journey. Go to www.drshaferstedronova.com for more resources and to connect.

Bring it Back to Your Body Mar 21, 2024

Show notes

In this week’s Podcast episode, Bring it Back to Your Body, Dr Shafer discusses how we can and must come into our body in the present to move out of being stuck in our past and instead move into acceptance and growth. Only then can we meet the abundance that awaits us once we return to ourselves and our purpose.

Your Response is your Responsibility, on Talks with Dr Shafer Mar 14, 2024

Show notes

Hi Everyone! And welcome to Talks with Dr. Shafer. I am Dr Shafer, and I am a mom, a physician, a board certified Neurologist, a musician, writer and publisher on a quest to help others on their journey of growth and improved health through storytelling. I believe in creating safe spaces to share our stories so that we can heal, grow and support one another, and create and environment where there is no need for shame. Where we meet life’s challenges with a focus on the possibilities ahead, and learn to release or work around past limitations. Today, on Talks with Dr. Shafer, I want to talk about your response, and a concept that I call: Your Response is Your Responsibility There is this incredibly moving clip circulating right now where a woman witnesses a young girl being pulled into an alley by a man. The man is very tall and strong, towering over the young woman in the alley. The witness, another woman, asks what he is doing with her. He responds tersely that it is his family and tries to make the woman uncomfortable for bothering them. This is where the story could have easily taken a tragic turn. You see, many of us, if not most of us, are afraid of conflict. We are afraid of inconveniencing someone, of embarrassing them. We have been socially programmed to fawn and apologize for taking up space, let alone for speaking and asserting ourselves. So with the understanding of how women are expected to behave in social situations, when being rebuked by a tall, authoritarian man, it would be no surprise if the woman apologized and walked on. But that would be tragic, and it would probably haunt her forever. Because her gut knew. Her nervous system signaled danger to her. Her mind is trained to “mind your own business”, so it would be easy to respond to the social cues the man gave her with fawning and going about her day. But she didn’t. Because she trusted herself. She trusted her gut. She knew the girl wasn’t safe. And she knew that the only safety she had to offer the girl was her presence. And she was very generous with it and courageous. Despite the man yelling at her, making it seem that she was rude, asking why she was “stalking them” as he is quite literally abducting a child, his arm around her so that she can not escape him, trying to lead her away from the witness. He is actively attempting to manipulate the witness’s perception of reality, to reframe it so that she is actually the problem, disturbing him with what he calls his “family,” and “stalking” them. He does not allow the witness to see the girls’ face. He wraps his arm around her and leads her in the opposite direction. But the woman witnessing this does not back down. “I’m following you,” she firmly tells him, walking a safe distance behind them as he tries to lead the girl away on a different street. “Are you okay?” She repeatedly asks the girl. She cannot see her face. But her gut tells her that her presence is keeping this girl safe. Because there is no safety in silence. There is no security in isolation. Predators of all types know that isolating someone is key to being able to do whatever they want to them. It happens in relationships and homes, at work, at school, at night on the street with strangers, online, everywhere. And while they isolate their victim, they typically use verbal tactics to manipulate the victim’s perception of reality, such that the victim begins to believe that by being silent and isolated, they are safe. Then the unthinkable happens. And that moment is often followed by more silence and more isolation, as shame overcomes the victim. When we shed light on these moments, however, and we share them, the truth can’t help but come out. That the victim did nothing wrong. That a woman walking down a street, any time or day, no matter what she is doing or wearing, should be able to safely arrive to her destination. There is no circumstance or condition that would make that not justifiable. Period.

Connection, on Talks with Dr Shafer Feb 29, 2024

Show notes

Forgiveness, on Talks with Dr Shafer Feb 10, 2024

Show notes

Podcast: Forgiveness: What it is, What it isn’t, and why we shouldn’t live without it. The concept of forgiveness has been all around me this week: conversations with family and friends, podcasts, books, a program for my child at school, a certification program I am in and even the sermon at church have all centered forgiveness. I have experienced great love and great loss in this week, and in the processing of that, the virtue of forgiveness has been in the center. If I was approaching life from the perspective of not letting go, of not being willing to forgive, I would be full of pain and frustration. There are relationships that will always invoke this virtue, and that we will need to approach with caution and self-awareness to ensure we are honoring ourselves will also giving the grace and forgiveness awarded us so many times. From where I stand in this current moment, forgiveness is pulling me through so much. The release it awards me is keeping me focused and energetic. I am not ignoring what I am experiencing, but I am choosing how much pain I wish to carry forward on my journey. www.drshaferstedronova.com

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