Wendy Reed talks about tools we can use to build our mental fitness to deal with anxiety, stress and other mental health challenges.  Wendy is a certified professional coach in the DC metro area.  She coaches clients across the US and facilitates live and online workshops with a focus on helping parents who are trying to "do it all" build their mental and emotional fitness in order to meet their unique challenges and to consistently access the best parts of themselves for their goals.  Wendy is a parent herself and is committed to facing daily life as a parent with a resilient, positive mindset and doing the work to make that happen.  She trains her clients to do the same using a research-backed mental fitness formula and somatic embodiment coaching practices. www.wendyreedcoaching.com

Lucinda Robb talks about the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, and the lessons modern movements can learn from one of the longest - and ultimately successful - civil rights movements in American history.  Lucinda has been interested in the suffrage movement since her time at the Center for Legislative Archives, where she was director for an education project on the hundreds of thousands of petitions that women sent to Congress.  Lucinda has a book coming out this fall with her co-author Rebecca Roberts titled The Suffragist Playbook:  Your Guide to Changing the World.  She also serves on several nonprofit boards including the National Archives and Running Start, which trains young women to run for office. 

Dr. Cecily Havert talks about different coping tools to deal with the stress and anxiety many people are experiencing during the pandemic. Dr. Havert is a family doctor with special interests in women’s health and mental health. She’s been practicing for over 15 years. She also teaches medical students at Georgetown University. She’s gotten a number of awards including Washingtonian Magazine’s top doctor award numerous years including the last three years.

Today, instead of a guest, I talk about the challenges of having anxiety and an eating disorder during the quarantine and the tools I've used to help me get through these challenges.

Amanda Long talks about her struggles with and recovery from an eating disorder.   After 20 years as a journalist, she became a massage therapist in 2011 and loves communicating through touch.  She checked herself into inpatient treatment for an eating disorder in 2017, and is yearning to care for, love and accept her own body after 25 years of letting an eating disorder control it. She recently wrote about recovery in quarantine in The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2020/04/10/after-lifelong-struggle-with-an-eating-disorder-she-has-more-fear-than-coronavirus-during-self-isolation/?arc404=true).Resources:National Eating Disorders Association - https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/Therapist mentioned during the show - https://www.mindbodyva.com/ Treatment center mentioned during the show - https://centerfordiscovery.com/ 

Ericka talks about her experience of being a black woman and a mother of a black son in America.  We discuss systemic racism, faith and hope for the next generation.  Ericka has been a Montessori teacher for the past 13 years.  Prior to that, she was a social worker for 10 years in North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia.  Ericka, originally from North Carolina, has lived in the D.C. metropolitan area since 1997.  She and her husband have been married for almost 19 years and are the proud parents of two high school honor student athletes.  

Louis, not his real name, talks about his experience of being a black man in America and his views on the national conversation we are having about race.  We discuss systemic racism, faith, and hope for the future.  Louis is a legal professional and an entrepreneur.  

Dr. Cecily Havert discusses the physical, emotional and mental health issues faced by the LGBTQ community.  Dr. Havert is a family doctor with special interests in women’s health and mental health. She’s been practicing for over 15 years. She also teaches medical students at Georgetown University. She’s gotten a number of awards including Washingtonian Magazine’s top doctor award numerous years including the last three years.

Pamela Lessard talks about losing her father to suicide and how that affected her, her family and her identity.  Pamela was born in Tehran, Iran.  Her family moved around the world from there because of her father’s job as a CIA agent, landing back in Washington DC in the early 1970s, then to Kabul, Afghanistan briefly, and back to Tehran for a few more years.  As the Iranian Revolution started, her family was transferred to Islamabad, Pakistan and stayed there until November 1979 when student protestors attacked the American embassy.  Pamela and her family left and ended up in Williamsburg, Virginia.  On Christmas morning 1980, her father took his life.  Sometime after his suicide her family moved to Florida.  Pamela eventually settled in Washington DC, got married to Andrew Gross, had her daughter, Haley, and got her beloved dog, Skye. 

Jim Albright discusses living with cystic fibrosis and his journey with the disease since founding out he had the disease at 15 years old and being told that he had only a few years to live.  He also discusses how his condition has affected his life during the pandemic.  Jim spent twenty years in education, first as a teacher of students with disabilities, and then as a program coordinator for the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and then closing out his career as the Principal of Alice Deal Middle School for over eight years. Previously, Jim ran a television station, was an economic consultant, and an urban planner. Jim holds a Bachelor's degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, Master's Degrees in Urban Planning and Administration and Supervision from University of Virginia, and an Executive Masters in Leadership from Georgetown University.