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Summary
With co-host Lauren out for a pole dance competition, this episode features host Joe Borges with special guest co-host Bethany Noelle aka BooBoo. Bethany is very special to The NeuroNerds because she is our art department! She created The NeuroNerds logo and is currently designing our t-shirts which are coming soon. In this episode, Joe and Bethany discuss their quests for new psychological therapists to help with PTSD, anxiety and more. They talk about their coping mechanisms like meditation, leaning on support systems and how service and therapy dogs are great for psychiatric support.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

• Guest co-host artist Bethany Noelle aka BooBoo

• For Halloween, Bethany is going to be Dustin from Stranger Things. Joe has beef with Dustin for almost killing everyone on the show with his pet Demogorgon, D’Artagnan.

• D’Artagnan is the name of Bethany’s dog plus she has two other dogs named Raven and Shasta.

• Joe has been a little down because he is looking for a new therapist. Joe has been seeing a psychological therapist since his stroke. A big cause of his stroke was stress so he’s managing it now through therapy

• Joe hemorrhagic stroke was a right basal ganglia bleed.

• Joe summarizes his journey of finding a therapist and working with several different ones. He had found a therapist that he really liked, but she disappeared suddenly. His current therapist doesn’t specialize in PTSD so he’s looking for a new one.

• Bethany is in the middle of looking for her first therapist. She says there are so many factors in searching for the right therapist like gender, insurance, LGBT friendly, etc.

• They both agree that finding a therapist is a little like dating.

• Joe talks about how much his service dog Stella has helped him with his PTSD and night terrors. Bethany talks about her dog Dartanian who helps her at home as a comfort animal.

• Joe and Bethany talk about their meditation practices using the app Headspace.

• They discuss dealing with anxiety and overstimulation

• They talk about how they have to fight withdrawing from friends and disappearing when they’re going through mental issues. Short moments of solitude are ok especially if they go meditate, but disappearing for days is not ok. They have gotten better about leaning on their friends and family for support.

• Joe isn’t looking forward to starting over with a new therapist.

• They discuss the importance of finding a therapist you really like. The therapist is working for you so you should feel really comfortable with them.

• Art is an outlet for Bethany. She is The NeuroNerds art department. She also plays piano for hours as therapy. Art therapy is very helpful to Bethany to get through her anxieties. She feels most comfortable behind the piano and creating.

• Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Dave Gilmore are Bethany’s favorite guitarists.

• Bethany talks about her anxiety with driving and how she copes by talking on bluetooth during long drives and how parking can set her off

• Bethany is an introvert/extrovert while Joe used to suffer from horrible social anxiety and still does, but it is more manageable now. Bethany stresses more about the process of going out, but is comfortable being around people once she’s there.

• Bethany talks about how she designed The NeuroNerds logo after a super hero logo.

• Bethany creates custom art on shoes and is going to create some NeuroNerd sneakers for Joe. She’s also going to be designing NeuroNerd t-shirts.

Links to Topics Mentioned

• Bethany’s Links – www.boosquared.com, https://www.redbubble.com/people/vintagelycan, https://society6.com/vintagelycan | Bethany’s Instagram Handles – @vintagelycan, @bootothetwo

• D’Artagnan the Demogorgon from Stranger Things – http://strangerthings.wikia.com/wiki/D%27Artagnan

• Headspace app – https://www.headspace.com/headspace-meditation-app

• Jimi Hendrix – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimi_Hendrix

• Eric Clapton – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Clapton

• Dave Gilmour – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Gilmour

• Chinese Democracy (album) by Guns N’ Roses – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Democracy

Credits

• Co-hosted by Joe Borges and Lauren Manzano

  • Find Joe at http://joesorocks.com and @joesorocks on Twitter/Instagram and submit your stroke/brain injury recovery story at https://www.joesorocks.com/submit-your-story
  • Find Lauren at @laurenlmanzano on Instagram, @tankbbg on Twitter

• Produced by Joe Borges and Felice LaZae

• Edited by Felice LaZae, http://felicelazae.com, @felicelazae on Twitter/Instagram

• Theme song produced by Sleep Deez, @sleepvision on Instagram, @sleepdeez on Twitter

• Sponsored by Avid Technology