KXRW Vancouver Presents

Internal Chatter

Turning mental health into daily dialog

Every other 3rd Thursday from 1:00pm to 2:00pm

Internal Chatter

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About Our Show

We will tackle the Hot Topics, tough Topics and Fun topics that affect us all in our daily lives. From relationships, make up tips, recipes and world view we will not shy away from the conversation.  

The Crew

Host

Melissa Beatty with brown hair and open mouth smile

Melissa Beatty | Host

After dealing with the loss of her mother to suicide, Melissa Beatty wondered: where are the easily accessible resources and why aren’t we talking about mental health more openly? Silence not being “her thing”, she decided it was time to put her lived experience to good use in the community.

Not a fan of homework, she endeavors to make Internal Chatter an accessible, conversational, and humorous resource - after all, if mental health is about being able to enjoy one’s life and relationships, why not enjoy learning about how to enjoy one’s life and relationships?

Staci Hunter with eye contact and open mouth smile with blonde hair

Staci Hunter | Co-Host

Staci Hunter is an advertising veteran turned digital marketing software instructor residing in Vancouver, Washington. With a hospice nurse and a Jungian analyst for parents she has long been comfortable with discussing heavy or dark topics. Dysfunctional family dynamics, medical issues, death and dying, grief…these were all daily topics of interest counterbalanced with large doses of humor. Dining out, dog walks, gardening, and dabbling in encaustic painting and stained glass are her favorite ways to unwind. Co-hosting Internal Chatter and volunteering for Three Little Pitties All Breed Rescue are Staci’s current endeavors to connect with larger communities in the Pacific Northwest.

Episode Library

Kristine and Cindy stop by the chat to talk PTSD, the COMPACT Act, CBOC’s, PCL-5’s, and other varied acronymed topics that give Melissa and Staci the insider’s peek into mental health care in the Portland VA (Veterans Affairs) Healthcare System. They’re on a mission to spread the word about the VA’s whole health approach, build community coalitions, explain how the VA is trying to broaden the reach into more rural communities, and what treatment and benefits are like at the VA. Welcome Kristine and Cindy! Let’s chat! If you or a Veteran you know is having a suicidal crisis, or you’d like to get advice on how to talk to a Veteran you care about, call the National Suicide Crisis Line at 988 and Press 1 to be connected to the Veterans Crisis Line ...
Joining us on the chat today is Dr. Amanda “Mandy” Allen, the newest OB/GYN at Cascadia Women’s Clinic. Mandy tackled the cold of Chicago for medical school, braved the heat of Las Vegas for her residency, and now is practicing at the perfect temperature here in Vancouver, WA. She schools us in just how common PPD is (spoiler alert, it’s more common than breast cancer), its diverse symptoms, and tests how many acronyms Melissa and Staci can actually internalize. We dive right into the murky water of PPD to clear things up a little by talking scales, screenings, and Pregnancy Centering. When she’s not practicing, she enjoys spending time with her two dogs and two cats, hiking, snowboarding, rock climbing, and exploring the greater Portland/Vancouver area with her fiance, Dane. Welcome Mandy! ...
Grab your honor beads and lace up your kicks - it’s time to chat with Angela Perry about suicide prevention - just in time for September’s Suicide Awareness Month. As a Board Member with the Oregon Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) she educates Melissa and Staci about: the differences between 911 and 988, the community connection found in the AFSP hosted walks, educational programs in mental health first aid, the research behind suicide prevention, Adi’s act (mental health in schools), the importance of a safety plan, and her own personal struggles with ongoing suicidal ideation. The annual AFSPPortland “Out of the Darkness” walk is the first Saturday in October - you bring you, they’ll bring the honor beads ...
Mike Nieto stops by the chat to discuss with Melissa and guest host, Sandra Foreman, how his self-funded nonprofit, Dig Deep, is helping employees in a “tough guy” industry like heavy construction deal with their mental health, so they can be their own best selves. He works to create the ‘uncomfortably safe’ environment where the tough issues can be discussed, in a safe way. In doing so he offers team members opportunity to learn about who they are and what they can be. He utilizes many tools including: therapy, PRINT, and other team building activities that harvest vulnerability. He believes when business helps build people, those same people help build a better community. We talk about the “Why of You” insights the PRINT process brings to his team, the fatigue of therapy, keeping the ego in check, becoming aware of triggers, the high suicide risk in the construction industry, what ...
Sarah Desjarlais, Executive Director of Fosterful, stops by the chat to discuss how Fosterful provides a variety of ways volunteers can show up for foster children in the greater community without needing to make the full-time committment as a foster parent. Along the way we talk about ACE scores, the four trauma responses and how to work through them (Fight, Flight, Freeze, and Fawn), and Fosterful’s next big initiative, Sidekicks. As a former foster parent of nine years and momma to five wild kids, Sarah has a high tolerance for pain. Her tireless ability to dig in when problems need solving comes through as she describes how she and Fosterful navigate the ever changing goals and regulations in the foster system, pandemic changes, and how Fosterful evolves to support kids in Washington and Idaho. Sarah loves cooking, eating, public speaking, and believes that Bigfoot really does exist. Welcome, Sarah! ...
Richard Ott joins the chat to talk about glasses, getting older, and fighting fires as an office worker. In addition, he stops by to discuss the intersection of mental health services and the unhoused. Richard has worked in the healthcare field for over 25 years, with 16 years of that time being spent working in acute, inpatient psychiatric care at Oregon State Hospital (OSH). At OSH he worked as a direct service provider (clinician) and held administrative level positions. Currently, Richard works as a Compliance Officer, Privacy Officer, Risk Manager, and Safety Officer for The Portland Clinic. In addition, for more than a decade, in his off-work time, he also volunteered as a firefighter/EMT and saw firsthand the pernicious impacts mental health and addiction related issues have had on individuals, families and communities. Welcome, Richard! It should be noted, that while Richard is super knowledgeable about the mental health system, ...
Arabeth Mashek, LPC, LMHC, joins the chat to tell Melissa and Staci that lightbars aren’t just for ceilings anymore. She’s the owner / operator of Three Creeks Counseling in Vancouver WA, and specializes in helping those with anxiety and trauma histories, heal from past difficulties so they can live rich, meaningful lives. In addition to traditional talk therapy, she employs EMDR as a psychotherapy treatment that helps clients heal from both incident based trauma like PTSD and/ or chronic buildups from the past, that continue to limit her clients in the present. She has found that EMDR can be a relatively quick alternative to traditional psychotherapy when clients are not seeing results, with high success rates ...
Lowell MacGregor, Executive Director of Taylor Made Retreat, stops by to give Melissa and Staci the lowdown on addiction, recovery, and Taylor Made Retreat. Lowell has been in recovery for over three decades and in the last four years has made Taylor Made Retreat into a recovery house with a 70% success rate. He’s leveraged his career in concert promotion to fund those clients that can’t afford to pay, and for those clients that can pay, reports a 30% smaller bill than traditional substance abuse recovery programs that first bill insurance. With a focus on the 12 steps, longitudinal assessment of patterns that keep clients stuck, and focus on connecting to the spirit that flows through all living things, Lowell has created a spiritual focused retreat house from a former bootlegger’s mansion. Welcome, Lowell! ...
Debbie Dedrickson is the Director of Crisis Line Operations at Lines for Life in Portland, Oregon. Lines for Life is one of the crisis call centers that answers the national suicide crisis line. We’ll talk about things like:Why the Karpman Drama Triangle can underpin a lot of dysfunctional relationships and be the unseen force driving relationship issues. Who calls Lines for Life - is it always people in imminent danger of suicide? Can others call if they have questions or want to help a friend?When someone calls Lines for Life - who picks up the phone? What kind of training have they had? What are their requirements for confidentiality?What changes are coming to Lines for Life for the new nationwide mental health 988 crisis line?What happens on a call for Lines for Life? Someone calls in - what happens next? How do you help someone identify reasons for living that ...
Melissa and Staci chat with Debbie Dedrickson about the best relationship advice you've never heard about... The Drama (or Rescue) Triangle... what it is, how damaging it can be, and why it's so important to avoid on Lines for Life Crisis calls. Lots of other super helpful advice to take the pressure off you and be a better friend if you know someone struggling with substance abuse or suicidal thoughts.Deborah currently works as the Director of Crisis Line Operations at Lines for Life, an Oregon-based non-profit dedicated to preventing substance abuse and suicide and promoting mental wellness. In this role, she trains and supervises a team of 150 clinicians who answer calls on over 30 behavioral health support lines, including the state’s Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Drug and Alcohol Helpline, Youthline, Military Helpline, Senior Loneliness Line and Racial Equity Support Line. In her 14 years at Lines for Life, she has ...
Melissa and Staci chat with Sam Stevens, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in private practice in Portland, OR. His focus is on new fathers and couples with young children. Has been facilitating the Portland New Father’s Group since 2010. He previously taught birth preparation classes for soon-to-be parents and now is asked to speak at industry and community mental health conferences on early child development, parenting, adjustment to fatherhood, and postpartum mood and anxiety disorders in men and women.We discuss:How postpartum depression and anxiety presents itself in parents of all kindsHow common it isWhy it happensWhat support is available right nowWhat friends can do to helpThe difference between postpartum depression and postpartum psychosisWhat you can do to prepare, if you suspect this might happen to you, even before the birth or adoption ...
Melissa and Staci chat with Sam Stevens, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in private practice in Portland, OR. His focus is on new fathers and couples with young children. Has been facilitating the Portland New Father’s Group since 2010. He previously taught birth preparation classes for soon-to-be parents and now is asked to speak at industry and community mental health conferences on early child development, parenting, adjustment to fatherhood, and postpartum mood and anxiety disorders in men and women ...
Melissa and Staci talk with Cindy Cook from Emergence Grief and Loss in Vancouver, WA. Cindy is an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist in the Grief Recovery Method. This is the second half of our conversation. We discuss what the Grief Recovery Method (GRM) is, what kinds of losses typically produce grief (it’s not just death…), and the six most common grief myths that often keep grievers stuck, and how everyone can receive and give better support to grievers ...
Cindy Cook, from Emergence Grief and Loss joins the chat to discuss some of the myths around grief and provide tips on healing from losses of all kinds. She’s an Advanced Grief Recovery Specialist in the Grief Recovery Method - an evidence based program, that’s designed to help grievers experience a full range of emotions again, especially if they’re feeling stuck ...

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