Olga dives in to share that even when she was on the brink of burnout, initially she could only see it as a stress leave from work. Her story unravels her experience of her lost sense of self while battling through burnout as she worked with students and clients in the international students and immigration sector. It was September 2022 when she identified there was a shift in her energy, feeling frustrations and irritability, simultaneously the political unrest that continued forward with the invasion of Russia on Ukraine. The events of this war further perpetuated another lost piece of her identity, as she expressed feeling shameful to identify herself as Russian. At her place of work, Olga supports both Ukrainian and Russian students amongst other races and backgrounds and she internalized all the suffering she experienced, witnessed, and endured. Olga mentioned that this external event affected her ability to cope, so she sought out support for her mental wellbeing and actively participated in the therapy process. The intense shame that she experienced took a toll on her physically, like stomach pain became intolerable, severe migraines and a great deal of crying and tears followed. She explains that the support she provides to her students, is beyond study permit regulations, she learns about each student’s individual life and students tend to confide in Olga with personal details of their struggles to get to Canada, which was a contributing factor of the battle that led her to burnout. It took a great deal of time for Olga to admit after being on stress leave and seeking out some additional supports, guidance and building her coping skills that she came to terms that what she was experiencing was in fact burnout. Her key message to the listeners is that: take action by allowing yourself to explore all of what you are going through; give yourself time, be open minded, explore help and resources that are out there; and even when you know what to do, do the doing because knowing is not enough.

Visit Dare to Heal to find out more.

Passionate about: Ruben Gagarin (spouse) and his YouTube Channel providing a way for individuals to develop their own #mentalbeauty.

Guest shoutout:

YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Dr.Gagarin

Guest Links:
Email - info@canpassgroup.com

Website – educatedimmigration.com

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/olga-gagarina-mba-rcic/

Funmi shares the impact of an unfortunate teenage sexual assault, immigrating to Canada, marital challenges, the loss of both her parents within the span of 18 months, shame, and regrets along the way and how it all has forged her character and identity of who she has become today. She details that it took her a decade to work through the trauma of sexual assault and violent rape endured at age 17, which robbed her of her virginity and her innocence. This led to further impact of her sense of loss and mistrust, and amplified negative perspectives she held about men and family and maintaining long-lasting relationships. She described overall how her mental health was impacted such as, what being on autopilot looked like to her on an everyday basis; the self-blame placed on herself thinking she didn’t deserve a good life and that she brought on these problems onto herself; and what it took to break free from her patterns, learning she can work through her healing process and realized she can still claim her life. Funmi spoke about the emotional pain and turmoil of the death of each parent and how debilitating this was for her and still is on some days. Some moments of her life became unbearable to the point where she entertained suicidal thoughts, thinking that life would be easier for herself and others if she disappeared and not have to deal with any further consequences. Her key message to the listeners is that: life is totally worth living; know that there is an even deeper untold story within your untold story; diver deeper, as it will produce so much more motivation to be exactly who you are called to be; there is so much more to life than what you are currently experiencing, so rise up to your full potential; each person is a work in progress.

Visit Dare to Heal to find out more.

Guest Shoutouts:

https://immersecoaching.co/

Visionary Compass Accelerator Program (https://myvisionarycompass.com/)

Guest Links:
Instagram – www.instagram.com/funmiayowole

Website – www.thefunmiayowole.com

LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/funmifatonaayowole

Podcast - https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thesoulclinic1

Phoenix grew up in East Germany, still communist in 1972 with an enabling father, growing up being parented with a narcissistic mother she explains. Phoenix shares that she grew up in darkness, and her mother was lost within herself, not knowing her own identity, Phoenix slowly started to get to know herself, and as she did this, she felt she was shedding light on herself. Phoenix expressed that she really struggled to sort out who she was and what she wanted to be and felt that she was not lovable. Her childhood experiences led her to feel unworthy, insignificant, and small. She explained how she was unable to foster healthy relationships or understand how to manage conflict, or cope with difficult people and situations. Phoenix indicates that any relationship she entered, fell apart due to her insecurities and unfinished business with her prior life growing up. Phoenix shared a narrative that was running on repeat for herself was she was not enough, love could only be conditional, and this led her to learning art and precision in walking on eggshells. She later moved to West Germany, and later at the age of 21, she moved to New York to be a dancer, and found a way to express herself through dance. Along her journey, Phoenix believed that to be loved, she needed to be what the other wanted her to be. Her auto response became tuning in with every moment and plan her expressions based on what she thought they wanted her to say and how she was expected to behave. Phoenix admits that this was a mask, and this was not her authentic self, this way of expressing herself that she learned was not conscious, but felt the need to wear a mask, deeply entrenched in mass insecurities and filled with self-doubt. Her key message to the listeners is that: healing can happen, believe it; darkness may show up, but it’s not as scary as you think; look at yourself with more courage and fall in love with who you are; you are not alone, whatever you are suffering, you can hide it successfully, but it’s too isolating; isolation creates more shame; ask for help and break the pattern.

Visit Dare to Heal to find out more.

Guest Shoutouts:

Free Radical Self-Love Practice

Facebook Group for Women

Guest Links:
Instagram: Instagram

Facebook: Phoenix Facebook Page

Website: Free Coffee Chat with Phoenix

LinkedIn: LinkedIn

YouTube: Youtube