Labels Don´t Define Us

About Labels Don´t Define Us

This podcast is created and narrated using artificial intelligence (AI). Welcome to Labels Don’t Define Us, a podcast that shines a light on life beyond mental health diagnoses. Hosted by Sarah, this show explores real stories of resilience, recovery, and empowerment from people who refuse to be limited by the labels of mental illness. Each week, we break the stigma around conditions like anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, and PTSD, while offering practical tools for healing, therapy, and self-care. Through open conversations, inspiring guest interviews, and hopeful insights, we show that trauma and struggles do not erase identity—they can transform it. If you’re searching for encouragement, understanding, and a reminder that you are more than a diagnosis, this podcast is for you. Join us on the journey to mental health, empowerment, and resilience. Because here, labels don’t define us. Drop a like and a comment if you’re listening! 👇🎙️ #mentalhealth, #mentalillness, #stigma, #recovery, #therapy, #resilience, #trauma, #healing, #selfcare, #empowerment Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

Kicki E Johansson

Category

education · health & fitness

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

28 Sept 2025

Latest episode

27 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

44 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   27 Jul 2026

   Relationships That Heal: Love After Emotional Pain

   This episode is created and narrated using artificial intelligence (AI). Can you truly love again after being deeply hurt? Can you trust again after betrayal, open again after loss, or let someone know you fully after being known once made you feel unsafe? In episode 44 of Labels Don't Define Us, Sarah is joined by guest Nancy to explore one of the most searched and least honestly answered questions in the relationships and mental health space: what it means to find love after emotional pain—and what the science says about why it is not only possible but within reach for anyone willing to take the next small step. This is not an episode about moving on. It is about moving forward—with honesty, with self-knowledge, and with the kind of courage that only comes from having been hurt and choosing to open anyway. What you will discover in this episode: 💛 What relational pain and emotional hurt actually do to the brain, the nervous system, and the capacity for love—and why the patterns that make intimacy feel difficult are survival adaptations, not character flaws 💛 Attachment theory explained: how early and significant relationships create internal working models that shape every relationship we enter—and how those models can change 💛 Dr. Stephen Porges's Polyvagal Theory and why the nervous system develops physiological self-protection in intimate contexts after relational trauma—and what it takes to feel safe again 💛 Dr. Sue Johnson's Emotionally Focused Therapy: why healing in love requires not just understanding but new emotional experiences within safe relationships—and how the attachment system literally updates when safety is consistently experienced 💛 Earned secure attachment: the landmark research showing that relationship security is not fixed in childhood—it can be built, at any age, through the right experiences and relationships 💛 The corrective emotional experience: what it is, how it works, and why repeated experiences of being met differently from what hurt us restructure the internal working model at a neural level 💛 Nancy's intimate account of realising she was fundamentally unavailable even when she appeared open—and the slow, cautious, deeply human process of learning to let a different kind of love actually land 💛 The Gottman Institute's research on what actually sustains love: why healthy relationships are built not on grand gestures but on small, consistent acts of turning toward each other 💛 Dr. Brené Brown on wholehearted love and the permission to be imperfect together—and why this is the condition in which real healing in relationship becomes possible 💛 Why you do not have to be fully healed before love is allowed to begin and how healing and loving can happen simultaneously 💛 Three practical tools to begin allowing love in, protecting your nervous system, and building the relational safety that makes healing possible Whether you are navigating heartbreak, healing from a painful relationship, learning to trust after betrayal, rebuilding after loss, or simply wondering whether what you long for is still available to you—this episode will meet you with science, warmth, and a clear, honest yes. Follow Labels Don't Define Us on Acast, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts and never miss an episode. If today's conversation gave you permission to open a little more—please leave a review. Share this episode with someone who needs to hear that what they carry is not damage. It is wisdom. And the right love will not be frightened by it. Support my show: ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/support-my-show (https://tinyurl.com/support-my-show) Visit my Make Money & Heal blog and digital shop here: ➡️ https://makemoneyandheal.blogspot.com (https://makemoneyandheal.blogspot.com/) ➡️ https://payhip.com/kickisshop (https://payhip.com/kickisshop) 10 Minute Guided Meditation ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/10-minute-guided-meditation (https://tinyurl.com/10-minute-guided-meditation) #loveafteremotionalpain #healingfroheartbreak #howtotrustagain afterbetrayal #relationshipsaftertrauman #attachmenttheory #emotionallyfocusedtherapy #mentalhealthpodcast #healinginrelationships #loveafterloss #earnedsecureattachment Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   20 Jul 2026

   From Surviving to Thriving: Life After Mental Health Crisis

   This episode is created and narrated using artificial intelligence (AI). What comes after a mental health crisis? Not the crisis itself, but the long, often invisible, often non-linear road that follows it? In episode 43 of Labels Don't Define Us, Sarah is joined by guest Bill to explore one of the least talked-about and most important journeys in mental health: recovery after crisis and what it truly means to move from simply surviving each day to building a life worth living. This episode holds the full truth: recovery is not easy or quick. But the evidence—and Bill's story—is clear that it is possible. What you will discover in this episode: 💛 What mental health crisis actually is—and why it can take many forms, from breakdown and severe depression to burnout collapse and acute psychological overwhelm 💛 The recovery model: why recovery does not mean the absence of symptoms—and the research showing a majority of people who experience even severe mental health crises go on to build stable, meaningful lives 💛 Dr. Norman Doidge's neuroplasticity research: why the brain retains the capacity to change, heal, and rebuild throughout the entire lifespan—including after the most difficult periods 💛 The CHIME framework for recovery — Connectedness, Hope, Identity, Meaning, and Empowerment — and why recovery is almost never linear 💛 Post-crisis growth: what the research shows about the surprising positive changes that can emerge from surviving the hardest experiences of a life 💛 Why social connection is one of the single strongest predictors of recovery outcomes—more powerful than the severity of the original crisis 💛 Bill's honest, unhurried account of reaching the lowest point of his life, asking for help, and the long, unremarkable process of stabilization—and the one small moment when he knew the wanting was coming back 💛 The difference between surviving and thriving: Dr. Corey Keyes's research on flourishing versus languishing—and why the absence of crisis is not the same as a life well lived 💛 SAMHSA's four dimensions of recovery — health, home, purpose, and community — and why thriving requires attention across all four 💛 Why belief in recovery is not a precondition for recovery — and what to focus on instead 💛 Three practical tools to support the journey from surviving to thriving This episode is for anyone currently in recovery, anyone supporting a loved one through one, anyone who has lived through a crisis and is wondering what comes next—and anyone who needs to hear, clearly and without platitude, that there is more available than survival. Labels Don't Define Us is a weekly mental health and personal growth podcast about identity, emotional healing, resilience, and living authentically. Follow Labels Don't Define Us on Acast, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts and never miss an episode. If this conversation gave you something to hold onto, please leave a review — it takes less than a minute and helps this show reach every person navigating the long, quiet road back to themselves. Share this episode with someone who needs to know that belief is not the precondition. They just have to keep doing the next small thing. The rest can come later. Visit my blog here: ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/kickis-shop-blog (https://tinyurl.com/kickis-shop-blog) If you are currently experiencing thoughts of suicide or self-harm, or are in crisis, please reach out for support immediately. In the UK, you can contact the Samaritans free, any time, on 116 123. In the US, you can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In other countries, please search for your local crisis line or go to your nearest emergency department. You do not have to be in immediate danger to reach out—support is available for any level of distress. #mentalhealthcrisisrecovery #survivingtothriving #lifeaftermentalbreakdown #mentalhealthrecoverypodcast #recoveryfromdepressionn #mentalhealthcrisis #thrivingaftertrauma #postcrisisgrowth #mentalhealthpodcast #emotionalrecovery Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   13 Jul 2026

   The Role of Creativity in Mental Health Recovery

   This episode is created and narrated using artificial intelligence (AI). What if one of the most powerful tools for mental health recovery has been available to you all along — and it has nothing to do with talent? In episode 42 of Labels Don't Define Us, Sarah is joined by guest Louice to explore the evidence-based, neuroscience-backed relationship between creativity and mental health — and why making things, in any form, is one of the most accessible and most underused pathways to healing, resilience, and recovery. This episode is for everyone who has ever said "I'm not creative"—and every person in recovery who has not yet discovered what their hands might know. What you will discover in this episode: 💛 Why creativity and mental health have a bidirectional relationship — and how creative engagement actively supports recovery from depression, anxiety, and trauma 💛 The neuroscience of making: how creative activity engages the brain's default mode network—the same regions involved in self-reflection, emotional processing, and meaning-making 💛 A landmark meta-analysis of over 100 studies on creative arts therapy showing robust effectiveness across depression, anxiety, PTSD, and severe mental illness 💛 The critical finding that output quality has no bearing on mental health benefits—it is the act of creating, not the result, that heals 💛 Dr. James Pennebaker's groundbreaking expressive writing research: how externalising difficult emotional experience through writing produces measurable psychological and physical health improvements 💛 Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's flow theory and why creative absorption is one of the most reliable interruptions of the rumination and worry that characterise depression and anxiety 💛 Dr. Daisy Fancourt's UCL research: why creative engagement is associated with a 48% lower risk of developing depression over a 10-year period—making it one of the most powerful preventative mental health tools we have 💛 Why art therapy, music therapy, writing therapy, and craft activities are formally recognised evidence-based interventions — and why they require no artistic skill 💛 Research showing knitting, crafts, and making things with your hands produce cortisol reductions comparable to meditation and yoga 💛 Louice's moving account of how pottery became the unexpected thread in her own recovery—what it felt like when her mind first went quiet, and the shelf of things she made that made it harder for depression to lie 💛 Three practical, evidence-backed tools to bring creativity into your mental health recovery—starting this week Whether you are in active recovery from depression, anxiety, burnout, or trauma—or simply looking for evidence-based ways to support your mental wellbeing—this episode will give you permission, science, and a genuinely accessible place to begin. Labels Don't Define Us is a weekly mental health and personal growth podcast about identity, emotional healing, creativity, and living authentically. Follow Labels Don't Define Us on Acast and never miss an episode. If today's conversation reminded you that you are more creative than you have been told, please leave a review. It takes less than a minute and helps this show reach every person who has quietly set down something that was making them feel alive. Share this episode with someone in recovery who has not yet found their shelf. It might be exactly what they need to begin. Please write your suggestions for future episodes in the comments. Support my show: ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/support-my-show (https://tinyurl.com/support-my-show) 10 Minute Guided Meditation ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/10-minute-guided-meditation (https://tinyurl.com/10-minute-guided-meditation) Visit Kickis's Shop on Zazzle for beautiful wall art graphic designs. ➡️ https://www.zazzle.com/store/kickis_shop (https://www.zazzle.com/store/kickis_shop) Visit my blog here: ➡️ https://tinyurl.com/kickis-shop-blog (https://tinyurl.com/kickis-shop-blog) #creativityandmentalhealth, #arttherapy, #creativeexpressionhealing, #mentalhealthrecovery, #expressiveartstherapy, #musictherapy, #mentalhealthpodcast, #writingtherapy, #depressionrecovery, #creativehealing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

14 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.