009 - Facing Fear and Anxiety

Welcome to The Fully Lived Life podcast! A podcast for those who are longing to pursue the full life and want to break free from anything that holds them back. Listen in as two friends - a psychologist, Dr. Merry and a life coach, Gillian - talk about life, love and purpose - with wisdom, humour and transparency - through the lens of science, psychology, and life experiences.

Dr. Merry shares that anxiety is up the wazoo. - clinical terms!

Join the conversation as Merry and Gillian talk about, fear, anxiety, and parenting anxious kids, all through the insight of Dr. Merry’s clinical experience.

Merry shares that fear is a survival mechanism that is wired into us for survival. However, because of beliefs and trauma, our fear lever can get stuck and the alert in our system goes off to things that are not inherently dangerous - leading to serious anxiety and suffering.

• Merry shares how trauma can lead the brain to perceived threats in the environment.
  
• Repeated anxious thoughts can reinforce our brain patterns, but repeated healthy thoughts can also lead to our healing, with professional help.
  
• We have a tendency to shut down our awareness of anxiety in ourselves and in our children, which can actually lead to insurmountable anxiety.
  
• Merry walks us through some of the tools that can be used to help us with anxiety.
  
• Merry also gives us hope as she shares her own experience with trauma and anxiety and through her experience as a clinician too.
  
• How do we move toward a fully lived life if we are locked in fear and anxiety?
  
• Do we want to live small lives but avoiding anything that causes us anxiety?
  
• Do we want to acknowledge, face and move through fear and anxiety to live bigger, fuller lives?
  
• Gillian shares an experience of moving through fear and the lessons she learned. Gillian can now leverage that experience to help her face other scary things in her life.
  
• For parents - are you passing along your own fears to your children? Merry shares her expertise in some freebies offered in the links below.
  

Links:

Free Resources for Parents: https://www.drmerry.com/store/

Dr. Merry’s book: https://amzn.to/2rCrJyI

Dr. Merry’s videos: https://bit.ly/377eFR0

Dr. Merry’s website: https://drmerry.com

Dr. Lin & Associates: http://drlinandassociates.com

Gillian’s Website: https://gillianmcshane.com