Linda Graham

Linda Graham, MFT, is an experienced psychotherapist in the San Francisco Bay Area and a teacher of mindful self-compassion. She integrates modern neuroscience, mindfulness practices, and relational psychology in her international trainings. She is the author of Bouncing Back: Rewiring Your Brain for Maximum Resilience and Well-Being. Linda was the winner of the 2013 Books for a Better Life award and the 2014 Better Books for a Better World award. She publishes a monthly e-newsletter, Healing and Awakening into Aliveness and Wholeness, and the weekly Resources for Recovering Resilience. Both are archived at lindagraham-mft.net.

Author photo © Michael Fahey

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Resilience: Applying Brain Change to Cope with Life’...

When we learn to practice these five skills, we strengthen our resilience in exactly the way the brain learns best—small experiences repeated many times. We can develop new ways to respond to pressures and tragedies quickly, adaptively, effectively.

Linda Graham: Cultivating Response Flexibility: Neuros...

Linda Graham is a trainer, life coach, author, and ardent researcher in the fields of personal growth and the life of the mind. She’s the author of Bouncing Back: Rewiring the Brain for Maximum Resilience, and with Sounds True will be one of the teachers in the Leading Edge of Psychotherapy online course. In this episode of Insights at the Edge, Tami Simon and Linda talk about recent findings in neuroscience that psychotherapists (and their patients) will find useful in the treatment of shame and anxiety. Linda explains her view of resilience—what it means to be resilient, how to cultivate the quality, and how the brain’s prefrontal cortex is “the CEO” of resilience. Finally, Linda and Tami discuss the intersection of meditation and psychotherapy, including how to reconcile their contradictory aspects through the lens of modern neuroscience. (65 minutes)

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Chelsia Potts, EdD: Unmask Your Glory

Receiving a diagnosis of ADHD or autism, especially for someone in their adult years, can lead to a serious existential crisis. On one hand, it’s a relief to have a new understanding of the way your brain works. On the other hand, coming to grips with one’s neurodiversity often leaves us asking: OK, so who am I as a person? This was the case for Dr. Chelsia Potts, the writer, educator, and founder of the online platform Divergenthood. 

In this episode of Being Open, Tami Simon speaks with Chelsia about her empowering “unmasking” process for recognizing and offering the gifts of neurodiversity. Tami and Chelsia discuss the existential whirlwind that can come with a diagnosis of neurodiversity; the overall utility of diagnosis and labeling; being “gifted and talented”—and also on the spectrum; empathy, intuition, deep listening, and other “blessings” of neurodiversity; showing up fully versus self-suppression; letting go of shame and unmasking neurodiversity; resisting the system; self-reflection and taking your power back; why there are no shortcuts to the lifelong process of becoming who you really are; finding the tools to flourish after an official diagnosis; managing the boundless energy of ADHD; pattern recognition and the autistic mind; owning our personal limitations; the big question: How do I use this gift so that how we live together can be better?; the “unconventional intellectual” and the importance of bringing the heart into any learning process; finding equal value in thinking and feeling; ancestral spirituality; “autistic glory”; and more.

 

Note: This interview originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com. 

Guy Shahar and Melinda Edwards, MD: “Sensitivity...

In part one of this two-part conversation in our Being Open podcast series, Tami Simon speaks with Guy Shahar, the author of Transforming Autism, for his unique perspective on how we can best connect with and support our family and community members in the neurodivergent population. Most of us have a general sense of how difficult it can be to raise an autistic child. In Guy Shahar’s case, this already challenging path took a new turn when he discovered, at age 46, that he is also on the spectrum. 

Give a listen as Tami and Guy discuss: educating the parents and caregivers of autistic children, three keys to connecting with autistic children, flexibility and play, the intuitive capacity of autistic children to tune in to our energy and intentions, altruistic and idealistic values, the shift from anxiety to faith, how people on the spectrum can serve as spiritual and evolutionary guides for humanity, self-worth and self-acceptance, depathologizing neurodiversity, how autistic and non-autistic people can learn from each other, helping someone recover from overwhelm, the spiritual gifts of individuals on the spectrum, and more.

 

In the second part of this special episode on Being Open, Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Edwards about the overlooked gifts of autism and the unique capacity for people on the spectrum to experience—and point neurotypical people toward—the interconnection at the core of our lives. Autism is often described as a lack of connection. As a psychiatrist and the mother of an autistic daughter, Dr. Melinda Edwards holds a contrary position. “My daughter wasn’t disconnected,” reflects Dr. Edwards. “Her symptoms were often a reflection of a deep connection.. 

Discover: the limitations of the term “neurodiversity”; the “exquisitely sensitive, exquisitely porous” nature of autistic people; bringing your sensitivity into the world; vulnerability, openness, and the trajectory of human evolution; the paradox of boundaries for people on the spectrum; compassionate support; three ways of experiencing the world: physically, psychologically, and from a place of interconnection; pronoun problems; getting past the stereotypes we have about autistic people; the connection between trauma and truth-seeking; the spiritual path of parenting an autistic child; and more.

 

Note: These interviews originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com. 

 

Sarah Taylor: Neurodivergent People Are Wired for Awak...

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Give a listen to this compelling and informative dialogue on: waking up to our interconnection; the shift from “head awakening” to “heart awakening”; Dzogchen and “the one taste”; the receptivity and porousness of neurodivergent people; the healing power of integration and embodiment; the critical importance of downtime and self-care; experiencing equanimity; unraveling the adaption strategies that no longer serve you; living with a high level of “raw sensitivity”; owning your truths—instead of masking your wants, needs, and authenticity; the misunderstood habit of “stimming” (or self-stimulation); the concept of samskaras (or energetic blockages in your subtle anatomy); reckoning with grief; the futility and harm of self-labeling; reframing limitations as gifts; managing your energy and seeking support when you need it; the connection between our increased understanding of the neurodivergent brain and the collective evolution of humanity; and more.

Note: This episode originally aired on Sounds True One, where these special episodes of Insights at the Edge are available to watch live on video and with exclusive access to Q&As with our guests. Learn more at join.soundstrue.com. 

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