I interview my friend, therapist Brenton Queen, LMFT about a difficult time in his life involving shame, suicidal thoughts, and addiction. We talk about psychedelic assisted therapy and the role of spirituality in healing.
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This episode contains an open conversation about depression, suicidal thoughts, and addiction. Please take care of yourself and take a break if you need to. If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988.
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Brenton Queen, LMFT, LCAS, CEC is a Marriage & Family Therapist, Addiction Specialist, and founder of Life Recreated. Over 20 years, he's worked with individuals, families, and groups across homes, hospitals, jails, and boardrooms, with a focus on relieving suffering and helping people reconnect with their deepest selves. He completed a certificate in psychedelic-assisted therapy and research through the California Institute of Integral Studies and has spoken at TEDx on psychedelics and the future of mental health treatment.
https://www.liferecreatednc.com/
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TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Introduction
00:02 – Brenton's inner calling
00:04 – Marriage falling apart, feeling like a fraud
00:05 – Suicidal ideation and mapping it all out
00:06 – The client who changed everything
00:07 – Meeting Ed, the therapist who saved his life
00:09 – \"You are looking at the problem\"
00:10 – How Ed dispelled shame
00:11 – \"You're self-centered and arrogant\"
00:14 – Shame spirals and why you're not special
00:17 – Shame at the heart of everything
00:21 – Ed, the 12 steps, and grinding away at yourself
00:23 – Expectations are pre-planned resentments
00:24 – Primary and secondary suffering
00:26 – Shame underneath addiction
00:29 – How addiction works and why it makes sense
00:32 – First thing to target: shame
00:36 – Safety is the presence of connection
00:38 – From transformation to plant medicine
00:40 – Spirituality as soul medicine
00:44 – The spiritual work of therapy
00:47 – Psychedelics and addiction recovery
00:50 – What people experience with plant medicine
00:55 – What Brenton would say to his 2011 self
00:56 – What to say to someone struggling with shame
00:59 – The whale: swimming, breathing, going back in
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LISTEN & SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST
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Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4K2khwqNKgs90Hs8vrQenZ?si=ad3d2dbeceab49c4
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CONNECT
INNERCALLING Podcast Website: www.innercalling.org
Dr. Victoria Ranade: www.victoriaranade.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/drvictoriaranade
Hope+Wellness: Kind, Compassionate, Evidence-Based Mental Health Care where you are genuinely seen and understood: https://www.hope-wellness.com
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WHAT IS INNERCALLING?
innercalling is a podcast dedicated to the belief that there is a light inside you of profound power, beauty, and wisdom that no darkness can ever overcome. It's a space where mental health meets spirituality, and explore timeless questions about existence, mortality, and what it deeply means to be human.
Hosted by Dr. Victoria Ranade, PhD, MBA, ABPP, conversations feature real, organic conversation between two humans, inspired by the field of mental health & clinical psychology, which values what happens simply when two people sit together and talk about life and all its beauty and complications.
WHO IS DR. VICTORIA?
Hi there, I'm Dr. Victoria Ranade. I'm a board certified licensed clinical psychologist, writer, and podcaster deeply passionate about mental health, spirituality, integrative wellness, and honoring the light inside you — the one that no darkness can ever overcome. Fun fact: You're one of my greatest inspirations.✌🏼💛
I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU. SEND ME ANY MAIL OR QUESTIONS HERE:
info@innercalling.org
#spirituality #mentalhealth #depression #drvictoriaranade #innercallingpodcast #intuition #innerwisdom #innerlight #suicideprevention #addictionrecovery #addition #psychedelicmedicine
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