Bear Psychology Podcast
by Dr. Anna Baranowsky
Dr. Anna Baranowsky is a Canadian Clinical Psychologist, CEO of the Traumatology Institute, Founder and President of the Board at Trauma Practice. She is the author of two books on trauma, numerous courses to help train professionals in trauma mental health and the developer of the Trauma Recovery Program for Self-Guided trauma care. She works with trauma survivors and those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on post-traumatic growth and recovery.Through her work she believes that when we share, dialogue and feel supported, it provides a powerful foundation for forward movement in our understanding and the care needed. In her own words "I have found that the most profound changes occur when a person truly feels heard and understood - I like to think of it as deeply BEARING WITNESS to life evolving. We can feel incredibly stuck when we live with our fears, stressors and troubles in isolation."Dr.Baranowsky is the host of the Bear Psychology Show, focusing on bearing witness
Episodes
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Managing Pain by retraining Your Brain
Do you hurt all the time? Chronic pain—the kind that lasts long after the normal healing period is over—can be devastating, at any age. You may feel achy, exhausted, anxious, or scared. As a result, it becomes tough to return to your normal activities. Even if the pain does go away for a time…
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Good decision making in mental health care
If you or someone you know receives mental health care do you feel confident in the services being provided? Or are you left with question or concerns? Mental health awareness and treatment has grown into a global priority. One in five experience mental illness in their lifetime, and those who...
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Internal Family Systems for Healing from Trauma
If you have experienced trauma or neglect as a child, you may struggle with depression, anxiety, loneliness, and low self-esteem in adulthood. You are not alone. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)—including early emotional neglect—affect millions of people and have led to many of the greatest...
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Using MDMA therapy to improve relationships and manage conflict
MDMA or 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine is a synthetic psychoactive medicine that alters mood and perception. It has been shown to be highly effective for treating trauma. Some studies have shown 71% to 86% of participants achieved clinically meaningful improvements, and about half no longer…
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Caring for patients with kindness and connection
This guide for mental health professionals offers an insightful, conversational approach to mastering empathic communication with clients. Dr. Douglas Flemons invites readers to join him in a dialogue that incorporates voices from clinical research and practice, philosophy (both Eastern and...
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The Strength to Serve: Mental Health for First Responders & Care Providers
First responders and healthcare professionals are trained to manage crisis — but repeated exposure to trauma, loss, and high-stakes decision-making can take a cumulative toll. Over time, this can lead to emotional exhaustion, sleep disruption, irritability, and disconnection — not because of...
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Addiction and the Journey to Enlightenment
Addiction isn't just about pain—it can also be a call to something greater. The darkest paths can sometimes lead to the brightest truths by walking the path from suffering to self-discovery. In his book, "The Shadow of a Figure of Light: The Archetype of the Alcoholic and the Journey to...
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Using Polyvagal Theory for Healing
Listen to us as we discuss how you can rewire your nervous system for lasting calm, connection, and resilience with cutting-edge, polyvagal theory-based activities. Whether you have suffered a single traumatic experience or faced repeated difficult life events, you can be left feeling...
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The Relationships Workbook for BPD
The Relationships Workbook for BPD - Bear Psychology Radio hosted by Dr. Anna Baranowsky with guest Dr. Daniel J. Fox. When intense emotions, fear of abandonment, or distorted expectations consume you, relationships can slowly erode, replaced by feelings of resentment and hostility. Unstable and...
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Inner Growth for emotional healing
Many people associate the term "enlightenment" with images of a solitary figure sitting atop a distant mountain peak or a monk focused intently on meditation, but what does this concept look like when navigating our lives in today's complex society? Enlightment, at its core, is about gaining...
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The Power of Psychoanalysis
From alleviating recurring nightmares to finding oneself by discovering your family's secret past, psychoanalysis is a turbulent but rewarding form of psychotherapy. Sigmund Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis establishing it in the 1890's. The approach includes a focus on the unconscious…
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Divorce and New Beginnings
Using Self-Compassion practices after divorce can help both parents and children. Divorce and/or separation is a stressful but quite common experience for both parents and children. Children often carry guilt, shame, and anger along with many other big feelings that parents often feel…
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Schizoid Personality Disorder and a life of challenge
Blair Sorrel shares her journey of living with Schizoid Personality Disorder and learning to accept and love herself. She undercovers further elements of her life growing up in a family of origin where she experienced ridicule leading to low self-worth, social anxiety and a debilitating fear of...
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Your Historical Trauma
Looking for a new approach for self-help or to support individual or group therapy for those who experienced childhood trauma? In his guidebook, "The Historical Trauma Programme - For Self-help or to Support Individual Therapy" Bill Wahl introduces a comprehensive and science-based model of…
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Dopamine Nation – Freeing Ourselves from Overconsumption / Instant Gratification
It seems clear to me, that if we are constantly striving to experience only pleasure we will certainly land in a hurting world of pain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (or chemical messenger, which the brain produces) that plays a big role in the experience of pleasure. Instant hits of pleasure…
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Use Movement to Heal Trauma
"Embodied" approaches to healing include expressive movement, guided imagery, ritual, music and creative expressive interventions. This goes beyond static medication and breathing exercises and into more dynamic practices. Pioneer Toni Bergins, brings active movement or "embodiment" into the...
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Navigating Life's Ups and Downs
In her book, "A Very Narrow Bridge: Reflections of a Psychologist", Dr. Rickey Miller shares her story guiding readers toward a greater understanding of life and the development of compassion for yourself and others. Her book takes an important look at suffering, resilience and healing. This…
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The Relief of Letting Go
Having dedicated her life to helping others through emotional moments, Dr. Bea MacKay knows better than most that there are many things we cannot control in life. In her book, "Let Go of the Outcome and Let Things Fall Together", she shares strategies for dealing with events we cannot change...
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Understanding Narcissism
If you have ever struggled with a person in your life that displays behaviors such as: lack of empathy; entitlement; a need to be the center of attention; negative reactions to any critical feedback; a grandiose sense of self; arrogance; manipulation and gaslighting; a need to be in control;...
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Healing from Wounds No One Sees – From Military to Motorcycles
Dedicating your life to the safety and freedom of your country is a massive sacrifice military veterans across make every day. One of the largest challenges for these heroes is working through the barriers and stigma of PTSD following service and navigating their path of readjustment and…
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Our Emotional Connection to Pets and how it impact our lives
So many of our listeners have pets that they cherish and certainly have shared struggles they might have with these animals. I am a great animal lover and many of my clients have found solace in their relationships with pets in the home, at times feeling a great emotional boost from the…
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Overcoming Depression with Activation Strategies
Depression is a type of mood disorder that often results in chronic feelings of profound sadness and disinterest. Referred to as both clinical depression and major depressive disorder, it affects one's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and can result in a range of psychological and medical…
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Healing Emotional Dysregulation
In this healing exploration author and therapist Dr. Tamra Sattler reflects on the "Enneagram 4" also referred to as "Borderline-style personality". These personality styles have a reputation of being difficult for therapists to work with, families to tolerate, and importantly for those…
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Medical Assistance in Dying – loving someone through the process
Upon receiving a brain tumor diagnosis in 2018, Cynthia Clark's husband expressed his desire to prioritize the quality of his remaining years over the quantity. His desire was to relish his time with his wife and kids, which ultimately led to his decision to utilize MAID when treatment failed…
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Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) impacts your life today
After 20 years in practice, Dr. Jonice Webb noticed the painful struggle of people who grew up in homes where they were emotionally neglected. She identified this neglect as an "invisible factor" that continued to affect adults often leaving them feeling depleted and dissatisfied or what she...
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Meditation after Injury and Loss
After years of excellent health as an ultra-marathon runner and athlete and a good life in a stable marriage Katie Arnold's life flipped from stable to unrecognizable. Arnold experienced a significant injury while on a rafting trip that left her with a broken leg and big life changes. She takes…
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Untangle from Toxic People
Growing up with emotionally immature or self-centered parents can mean that your emotional needs were either disregarded or unmet. As a result, you may struggle with feelings of betrayal, abandonment, rage, or loneliness. Although you may work hard to become the person you want to be, your old...
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Creating Better Relationship Boundaries
If you are interested in learning how to assert yourself in the workplace, navigate tumultuous family dynamics, or establish boundaries in romantic relationships, this show is for you. Boundaries are the invisible lines that define the limits of our emotional and physical space, safeguarding our...
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How your past hurts you today
Relationships rule our inner world. Understanding how you feel and think about your relationships helps you become more accepting and then more peaceful. You can develop an appreciation for other people's perspectives and stop assigning blame on others. Dr. Jacqueline Heller's book "Yesterday…
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Dangerous People in Powerful places
Disconnected People in positions of power make the world more dangerous for everyone – Bear Psychology Radio hosted by Dr. Anna Baranowsky with guest Dr. Steve Taylor. Disconnected people have the tendency to gravitate toward power. When Disconnected people rule in positions of power societies...
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Why your coping skills stop working
Experiencing stressful or traumatic experiences during childhood leads us to develop certain coping mechanisms to get us through. While these strategies might have helped us feel secure when younger, they often fail us in adulthood. Richard Brouillette's book "Your Coping Skills Aren't Working…
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Muslim Loving Peace and looking to a better future
Raheel Raza, a Muslim Canadian born in Pakistan, migrated to Canada in 1988, has a unique perspective on what is happening right now in the Israel-Hamas war and her reflections on misinformation and what Peace would take. She has visited Israel 13 times in the 16 years. In her National Post…
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Collective & Personal Trauma: one family's graceful end-of-life story
What does it mean to lose someone so close to you that your world will never be the same? What if this happens when the whole world is locked down during a global Pandemic, a collective trauma? How do we navigate terrible loss with great compassion and love? Journalist Mitchell Consky has…
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Childhood Emotional Neglect impacts your life today
After 20 years in practice, Dr. Jonice Webb noticed the painful struggle of people who grew up in homes where they were emotionally neglected. She identified this neglect as an "invisible factor" that continued to affect adults often leaving them feeling depleted and dissatisfied or what she...
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Mind, Body and Yoga for Healing Trauma
Recovery from trauma is not simply about healing the mind but about healing the body as well. Often the approach when treating trauma is solely focused on the mental and emotional effects and fails to address the physiological imbalances that trauma leaves behind on our bodies. In Dr. Arielle...
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Healing from Emotional Eating
Every wonder why you make poor food choices? Have you ever tried a new diet just to end up miserable and eating even more than before? Kim Shapira will help us understand how to put an end to disordered eating habits and improving your health and happiness in the process. Shapira recognizes that...
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Cultivating Core Creativity
I know you are creative and innovative at your core. However, most of us just don't know how to access the deep wealth of creativity that sits inside. Dr. Ronald Alexander's book "Core Creativity: The Mindful Way to Unlock Your Creative Self" guides you through using mindfulness practices to…
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Healing the World through Human Connection
Disconnected people have the tendency to gravitate toward power. When Disconnected people rule in positions of power societies trend toward patriarchal, hierarchical and warlike. In contrast, societies with connected leaders trend toward egalitarian, democracy and peace. Although most people have…
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Finding the courage to truly be yourself
We all want to feel free to be our true selves and live in a way that feel authentic. I want to live my life to the fullest and I imagine you do as well. Despite this, we can get sidetracked by demands and expectations that throw us off our true gifts and passions. Instead we might follow the...
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The Dangerous Relationship… loving a Narcissistic, Sociopath or Psychopathic
There are times when someone describes in detail a relationship that seems unkind, unhealthy and even dangerous. Or maybe we have experienced this personally in a relationship with a person we thought would be a wonderful partner to begin with only to realize after falling deeply in love that…
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Untangling your Marriage
Across North America, almost half of all marriages will end in divorce or separation. Even though divorce is a complex process that requires legal, psychological and financial considerations, there may be ways to make it just a bit less painful. Nanci Smith's book "Untangling Your Marriage: A…
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Forced psychiatric confinement – Who is at risk?
We may believe that asylums are a thing of the past but practices of enforced psychiatric confinement continue today, much to our surprise. Author Wipond, argues that, now more than ever, North Americans are being forced into treatment and involuntarily committed supposedly "for their own…
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Healing Family Connections
In a house full of turmoil, sometimes the person who you hope has your back may become your enemy. Sisters Ronni Tichenor and Jennie Weaver know this better than most. In their book "Healing Begins with Us" they share their journey in overcoming childhood abuse that pitted the two against one...
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New Year's Stress Reset
Most of us are stressed these days and don't know how to manage it. While stress is an inevitable part of life, it doesn't have to take over our lives. Dr. Doni Wilson's book "Master Your Stress, Reset Your Health" walks us through identifying our unique type of stress and the best ways to manage...
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Wellness through Mindfulness Practices
Are you interested in adding mindfulness, meditation or contemplative exercises into your life to help you manage the demands of daily living or better manage stress and anxiety? If your answer is yes, then this show will prove to be a perfect fit. I am excited myself. I have been a bit lazy with...
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Adult Children of Immature Parents
Not everyone has a picture-perfect childhood. In fact, some of us grow up in homes where our parents need parenting or we have to parent ourselves. Dr. Lindsay Gibson's book "Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents" helps you overcome the crushing role of catering to parents who were (for...
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Be Less Dickish – self-help for men
If you have ever fallen into negative patterns of action or thoughts that fail you often AND you identify as male (or know a man you want to better understand) then this self-help guide provides humorous and relevant instruction. David and Corey write this book together as a patient & therapist…
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Surviving a Bad Relationship
Surviving a violent or abusive relationship can leave us broken hearted and in need of healing. Dr. Amelia Kelley & Kendall Ann Combs' book "What I Wish I Knew: Surviving and Thriving after an Abusive Relationship" offers strength, guidance and clarity on this difficult life experience. The book...
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Psychedelic Assisted Therapy – for resistant mental health symptoms
If you have struggled with a serious depression or PTSD that does not resolve, even after trying everything, then you might have considered Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy. This might involve a plant medicine like Ayahuasca, Psilocybin or maybe MDMA or Ketamine therapy. Whichever approach you...
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Dopamine Nation – Freeing ourselves from overconsumption and instant gratification
It seems clear to me, that if we are constantly striving to experience only pleasure we will certainly land in a hurting world of pain. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter (or chemical messenger, which the brain produces) that plays a big role in the experience of pleasure. Instant hits of pleasure…
more
About this show
Dr. Anna Baranowsky is a Canadian Clinical Psychologist, CEO of the Traumatology Institute, Founder and President of the Board at Trauma Practice. She is the author of two books on trauma, numerous courses to help train professionals in trauma mental health and the developer of the Trauma Recovery Program for Self-Guided trauma care. She works with trauma survivors and those with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on post-traumatic growth and recovery.Through her work she believes that when we share, dialogue and feel supported, it provides a powerful foundation for forward movement in our understanding and the care needed. In her own words "I have found that the most profound changes occur when a person truly feels heard and understood - I like to think of it as deeply BEARING WITNESS to life evolving. We can feel incredibly stuck when we live with our fears, stressors and troubles in isolation."Dr.Baranowsky is the host of the Bear Psychology Show, focusing on bearing witness
Hosted by
Dr. Anna Baranowsky
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