A podcast about becoming human in a wounded world. We explore what it means to heal from trauma and live fully human, drawing on the connections between faith, wellness practices, and ancient Christian tradition. <br/><br/><a href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">recreationpodcast.substack.com</a>
Re-Creation Podcast
Claim This Podcastby Nicole M. Roccas and Eleni Opperwall
5.0(11 reviews)
29 episodes
Updated Daily
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Podcast Overview
A podcast about becoming human in a wounded world. We explore what it means to heal from trauma and live fully human, drawing on the connections between faith, wellness practices, and ancient Christian tradition. <br/><br/><a href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast">recreationpodcast.substack.com</a>
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
8/21/2025
1 verified contact email on file for Re-Creation Podcast
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Recent Episodes
June 23, 2026
S2E11 // No Man is an Island: Transforming Trauma through Eucharistic Community (Fr. Paul Abernathy)
<p>How do we respond to trauma that happens on a community level? I (Eleni) was deeply inspired by this conversation with Fr. Paul Abernathy about trauma as a collective experience, and how community itself is a transformational element in the healing process. Fr. Paul is the pastor of St. Moses the Black Orthodox Church, an author, a husband, a father, a veteran, and the founding CEO of the Neighborhood Resilience Project in Pittsburgh. Under Fr. Paul’s leadership, innovative grass-roots strategies have been created and implemented to address acute, historical, transgenerational and complex trauma on a community level.</p><p>Listen on<a target="_blank" href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/"> Substack</a>,<a target="_blank" href="https://open.spotify.com/show/51a6R7Y458avlPXu4qiyAn"> Spotify</a>,<a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/re-creation-podcast/id1834934428"> Apple Podcasts</a>, or<a target="_blank" href="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/5674348/private/9ba98e93-c467-47b0-840e-a99cde40bdb6.rss"> RSS</a> wherever you get podcasts.</p><p><strong>In this episode, we talk about:</strong></p><p>* The origins of the Neighborhood Resilience Project in the Hill District of Pittsburgh</p><p>* What the Trauma-Informed Community Development model is and why a community-based approach made sense</p><p>* Cities resemble a human mind — just as we often dissociate from emotions or experiences that are associated with trauma, certain neighborhoods or groups of people can also be “cut off”</p><p>* The wound of radical individualism and the foundational Christian emphasis on relationship</p><p>* “Never enter this pain alone” — the communion of the saints and how the Church offers us an image of interdependence that can protect us from burnout and despair</p><p>* How the current emphasis on healthy boundaries is helpful, but incomplete — we also need healthy connection</p><p>* Two questions to ask when we are helping another: How do I love this person? And who will love this person when they leave me?</p><p>* The virtue of otherworldly hope — change is always possible</p><p>* Remembering the lives of the saints as stories of radical change, and how this impacts Fr. Paul’s interactions with the people he serves through the NRP</p><p>* Christ sees us in our potential</p><p>* A Virtuous Cycle — If trauma can set off a cascade of harmful effects, then compassion and care has its own ripple effect towards the good</p><p><strong>Resources and links mentioned:</strong></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://store.ancientfaith.com/the-prayer-of-a-broken-heart/">The Prayer of a Broken Heart: An Orthodox Christian Reflection on African American Spirituality</a> by Fr. Paul Abernathy - available from Ancient Faith Press</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://neighborhoodresilience.org/">Neighborhood Resilience Project Website</a></p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://allpoetry.com/for-whom-the-bell-tolls">“For Whom the Bell Tolls” by John Donne</a></p><p>* All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit <a target="_blank" href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes">https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes</a></p><p><strong>Let’s Connect:</strong></p><p>* Subscribe to our Substack for show notes + behind-the-scenes reflections: </p><p>Re-Creation is a podcast about trauma, faith, and mental health from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Hosts Nicole Roccas, a trauma-informed coach and author, and Eleni Opperwall, a registered therapist, explore what it means to be human after trauma through honest and hopeful conversations. Drawing on Orthodox tradition, professional insights, and personal stories, they share reflections to support healing, wholeness, and spiritual growth.</p><p><strong>Disclaimer:</strong>This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care.</p> <br/><br/>Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at <a href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe</a>
June 9, 2026
S2E10 // Where There Are Dragons: Depth Psychology in the Life of Faith and Healing (Guest: Dr. Pia Chaudhari Cameron)
<p>Today we sit down with Dr. Pia Chaudhari Cameron about the place of the unconscious in the life of faith and healing. We also discuss the poem “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver.</p><p>Pia holds a doctorate in theology from the department of Psychiatry & Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York. She is the author of Dynamis of Healing; Patristic Theology and the Psyche (Fordham University Press 2019), as well as numerous articles, including on marriage and theosis, the unconscious and prayer, and healing and the Theotokos. Her research interests include theological anthropology, depth psychology, processes of healing, the feminine, aesthetics and beauty. She has trained and worked extensively in Jungian psychoanalysis.</p><p> Listen on<a target="_blank" href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/"> Substack</a>,<a target="_blank" href="https://open.spotify.com/show/51a6R7Y458avlPXu4qiyAn"> Spotify</a>,<a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/re-creation-podcast/id1834934428"> Apple Podcasts</a>, or<a target="_blank" href="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/5674348/private/9ba98e93-c467-47b0-840e-a99cde40bdb6.rss"> RSS</a> wherever you get podcasts.</p><p>In an amazing synchronicity, Pia was visiting our little Ontario city the week before we were scheduled to record this interview and we got to have coffee with her in person!</p><p><strong>In this episode, we talk about:</strong></p><p>* Depth psychology, an approach to therapy that takes the unconscious into account</p><p>* How does the unconscious fit into Eastern Christian understandings of what it means to be human?</p><p>* Ann Belford Ulanov’s contributions to depth psychology into conversation with Christian spiritual frameworks</p><p>* The paradoxical tension between suffering and the potential for deeper meaning, and the ongoing dialogue between conscious and unconscious, ego and self, as the place where healing can begin</p><p>* True aliveness requires a proper, life-giving connection with our human will rather rather than the abolition of it</p><p>* Eros as a love that propels us out of and beyond our selves toward the other</p><p>* The difference between the felt experiences of jealousy and envy, and the dangers of moralizing them in unhelpful ways</p><p>* Poem: <a target="_blank" href="https://allpoetry.com/poem/15374223-Wild-geese-by-Mary-J-Oliver">“Wild Geese”</a> by Mary Oliver</p><p><strong>Resources and links mentioned:</strong></p><p>* Pia Chaudhari Cameron, Dynamis of Healing: Patristic Theology and the Psyche (Fordham University Press, 2019)</p><p>* Quote from St. Macarius: “The heart is a little vessel. And yet there are dragons, and there are lions, the poisonous beasts, and all the treasures of wickedness, and there are rugged ways, and precipices. In like manner there is GOD, there are the angels; there is the life and the kingdom; there is the light, there are the treasures of grace: there are all things.” (Spiritual Homilies 18.9)</p><p>* Ann Belford Ulanov, The Unshuttered Heart: Opening Aliveness/Deadness in the Self (Abingdon Press, 2007)</p><p>* David Bentley Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite: The Aesthetics of Christian Truth (Eerdmans, 2003)</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://saintpaulsicons.com/product/creation-of-the-plants-roumanian-f111/">Icon of the Creation of the Plants</a> (15th c., Monastery of Sucevita, Romania)</p><p>* All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit <a target="_blank" href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes">https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes</a></p><p><strong>Let’s Connect:</strong></p><p>* Nicole: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.nicoleroccas.com">www.nicoleroccas.com</a></p><p>* Eleni: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com/">www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com</a></p><p>* Subscribe to our Substack for show notes + behind-the-scenes reflections: </p><p>Re-Creation is a podcast about trauma, faith, and mental health from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Hosts Nicole Roccas, a trauma-informed coach and author, and Eleni Opperwall, a registered therapist, explore what it means to be human after trauma through honest and hopeful conversations. Drawing on Orthodox tradition, professional insights, and personal stories, they share reflections to support healing, wholeness, and spiritual growth.</p><p><strong>Disclaimer:</strong>This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care.</p> <br/><br/>Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at <a href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe</a>
May 21, 2026
S2E9 // Wolves in Shepherds' Clothes: Clergy Sexual Abuse in the Orthodox Church (Guest: Dr. Hermina Nedelescu)
<p><strong>Heads up: this episode discusses sexual abuse and spiritual abuse within the Church. Please be kind to yourself. </strong></p><p>Today we sit down with neuroscientist Dr. Hermina Nedelescu for a wide-ranging and deeply important conversation about clergy sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, institutional complicity, and what healing and accountability might look like within the Orthodox Church. We discuss the neurological relationship between abuse and addiction, and why traumatic experiences often shape behaviors in ways that are misunderstood morally, pastorally, and spiritually.</p><p>Hermina also shares about her path toward advocacy for survivors of clergy sexual abuse and the founding of Prosopon Healing, an organization devoted to survivor support, education, accountability, and cultural change within Orthodox contexts.</p><p>Listen on<a target="_blank" href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/"> Substack</a>,<a target="_blank" href="https://open.spotify.com/show/51a6R7Y458avlPXu4qiyAn"> Spotify</a>,<a target="_blank" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/re-creation-podcast/id1834934428"> Apple Podcasts</a>, or<a target="_blank" href="https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/5674348/private/9ba98e93-c467-47b0-840e-a99cde40bdb6.rss"> RSS</a> wherever you get podcasts.</p><p><strong>We also talk about:</strong></p><p>* Neuroscience and the evolving theological conversation on what it means to be human</p><p>* The neurological connections between abuse and addictions</p><p>* Hermina’s path to advocacy for survivors of clergy sexual abuse and the founding of Prosopon Healing</p><p>* Why is disclosure so extraordinarily difficult for sexual abuse survivors</p><p>* How does the narrative of “one bad apple” diminish our solidarity and shared responsibility to prevent abuse and protect each other</p><p>* Spiritual abuse and how it paves the way for other kinds of abuse, including sexual abuse, within church communities</p><p>* The use of power in church communities and how Christ described the appropriate use of power</p><p>* “Seeing the plank” in our own eye – Becoming more aware to our own complicity and choosing differently</p><p><strong>Resources and links mentioned:</strong></p><p>* Nicole Lyon Roccas, “<a target="_blank" href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/not-everything-is-beneficial-fr-seraphim">Not Everything is Beneficial: Fr. Seraphim Rose and the Nature of Complicity</a>” (May 12, 2026)</p><p>* Article: Emily M. Hicks et al., “Decoding the Transcriptomic Signatures of Psychological Trauma in Human Cortex and Amygdala,” October 23, 2024, <a target="_blank" href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.23.619681">https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.10.23.619681</a>.</p><p>* Prosopon Healing: </p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.prosoponhealing.com/">https://www.prosoponhealing.com/</a></p><p>* The Betrayal Bond by Patrick Carnes</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.drpatrickcarnes.com/the-betrayal-bond">https://www.drpatrickcarnes.com/the-betrayal-bond</a></p><p>* The Milgram Experiments</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment</a></p><p>* “Descent Into Light” Podcast by the Sisters of the Little Way</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.sistersofthelittleway.com/podcast">https://www.sistersofthelittleway.com/podcast</a></p><p>* Predators by Anna Salter</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://enoughabuse.org/get-the-facts/predators-pedophiles-rapists-and-other-sex-offenders/">https://enoughabuse.org/get-the-facts/predators-pedophiles-rapists-and-other-sex-offenders/</a></p><p>* Poem: <a target="_blank" href="https://meredithsuewillis.com/Call%20Me%20By%20My%20True%20Name%20Thich%20Nhat%20Hanh.pdf">Please Call Me By My True Names By Thich Nhat Hanh</a></p><p><strong>Other resources about spiritual abuse and clergy sexual abuse:</strong></p><p>Some of these resources pertain to these issues in broader Christian or religious contexts. Those produced by/for Orthodox contexts are listed first and marked with an asterisk (*). </p><p>* “Resources for Survivors.” Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) website. (<a target="_blank" href="https://snapnetwork.org/resources-for-survivors/">https://snapnetwork.org/resources-for-survivors/</a>). May 11, 2026.*</p><p>* “<a target="_blank" href="https://www.prosoponhealing.com/services-7-1">Services for Survivors</a>,” Prosopon Healing.* </p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.prosoponhealing.com/single-project">“Ongoing Research: Clergy-Perpetrated Sexual Abuse in the Orthodox Church,” </a>Prosopon Healing (2024).*</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.oca.org/parish-ministry/parishdevelopment/when-the-unspeakable-happens">“Parish Ministry Resources - When The Unspeakable Happens,”</a> Ellen Gvosdev, OCA.org (1994).*</p><p>* For Orthodox clergy: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.prosoponhealing.com/services-7">“Role of Leadership in Clergy Sexual Misconduct Cases.” </a>Prosopon Healing.*</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106946">“The Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse Perpetrated by Leaders or Other Adults in Religious Organizations in Australia,” </a>Gabrielle R. Hunt et al., Child Abuse & Neglect 155 (September 2024).</p><p>* Redeeming Power: Understanding Authority and Abuse in the Church, Diane Langberg (2020).</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ualberta.ca/en/folio/2020/08/researchers-reveal-patterns-of-sexual-abuse-in-religious-settings.html">“Researchers Reveal Patterns of Sexual Abuse in Religious Settings,”</a> Ualberta.ca (2020).</p><p>* Suffering and the Heart of God: How Trauma Destroys and Christ Restores, Diane Langberg (2015).</p><p>* <a target="_blank" href="https://abuseresponseandprevention.ca/clergy-sexual-misconduct/what-is-clergy-sexual-misconduct/">“What Is Clergy Sexual Misconduct? - MCC Abuse Response & Prevention,” </a>Abuse Response & Prevention (March 6, 2025).</p><p></p><p></p><p>All music featured on this podcast is used in accordance with Creative Commons licenses. For a full list of the tracks we use, visit <a target="_blank" href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes">https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/p/music-featured-in-our-episodes</a> </p><p>Connnect with Nicole and Eleni:</p><p>* Find Nicole on Substack <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/35887058-nicole-m-lyon-roccas">Nicole M. Lyon Roccas</a> or her website (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.nicoleroccas.com">www.nicoleroccas.com</a>)</p><p>* Find Eleni at </p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com/">https://www.eleniopperwallcounselling.com/</a> </p><p>* Subscribe to <a target="_blank" href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/">our Substack </a>for show notes + behind-the-scenes reflections</p><p></p><p>The Re-Creation podcast is a show about trauma, faith, and mental health from an Orthodox Christian perspective. Hosts Nicole Roccas, a trauma-informed coach and author, and Eleni Opperwall, a registered therapist, explore what it means to be human after trauma through honest and hopeful conversations. Drawing on Orthodox tradition, professional insights, and personal stories, they share reflections to support healing, wholeness, and spiritual growth.</p><p><strong>Disclaimer:</strong>This podcast is for educational purposes only and not a substitute for professional mental health care.</p> <br/><br/>Get full access to The Re-Creation Podcast at <a href="https://recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">recreationpodcast.substack.com/subscribe</a>
29 total episodes available
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