There is no question that there is a link between physical health and mental health. What do we do, or what can we do, when one informs or impacts the other? Karen Rothstein Pineda, founder of Multicultural Counseling Associates, and our Resident Therapist, leads this discussion on what to look for in therapy as a patient if we are having physical challenges, if we are a caretaker, what might feel like hopelessness, and finally where there is always hope. As always Karen does not disappoint with her charm, her understanding, and her insight. We are lucky to have her on the I Am Speaking team, and she always comes through for us. 

Disclaimer: This podcast is for information, education and entertainment purposes only. In no way is I Am Speaking intended to provide medical advice or substitute for mental health advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you are feeling suicidal, thinking about hurting yourself or concerned that someone you know may be in danger of hurting themselves, call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or call 911. 

October 21, over a decade ago: Peter Vishneski was driving late at night with friends and became tired behind the wheel. He nodded off. He woke up in the ICU two days later unable to move his fingers properly. 

You will fall in love with Peter, or Mr. Vishneski, as his students call him. The once-physical-therapy-student-turned-HS-Biology-teacher has lessons for his students beyond composition of starch in a potato or backing up essays in Google Drive. To listen to Peter is to learn the strength of resilience, the power of overcoming grief, and the truth that sometimes kids just get it better than adults. 

Your lovely cohosts had the privilege of seeing Peter as the brilliant Professor X in the OPRF HS premier of X-Men: Mad Ave (the musical), and we just had to have him on the show. To see him perform, to hear him sing, to hear him speak about his recovery and renewal, and to learn how to be a better ally and champion from him, you definitely understand what he means when you he says that life after his spinal cord injury has been “a net positive.” 

We know you will fall in love with Peter Vishneski as we did. And for goodness sake, hold the door open for people, for everybody. It’s just good manners. 

“Acceptance doesn’t mean resignation; it means understanding that something is what it is and that there’s got to be a way through it.” - Michael J. Fox

Life, in all of its challenges, came at Dana Blanchard, hard and fast in 2020. Ready and packed for a big move to Australia with her husband and two kids 9 days before the world shut down, things started to go sideways. When those plans got put on indefinite hold due to the pandemic, her husband, Wells, started falling ill with unexplained sores, extreme pain, fatigue and full body aches for which doctors could not agree on a diagnosis. 

Three years later and Dana’s life is not what she imagined it might be. She has become the caretaker for her husband, the sole breadwinner of their family, and their move to Australia went from indefinite hold to canceled. But Dana is not one to be down and out. Fighting for answers for her husband’s health and always with her glass half full, Dana continues to find love and gratitude in the every day (and sometimes she admits that things are hard and things can suck).