Meet Our Mental Health Mondays Guest: Raina LaGrand, Therapist
Meet Raina LaGrand, our Mental Health Mondays expert!
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we've been doing a feature on our morning show called Mental Health Mondays. It's incredibly important to take care of your mental health as much as you care for your dental health, especially now.
Raina LaGrand, LMSW, MPH, CYT is a therapist and yoga teacher living and working in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, MI. She specializes in trauma treatment and "feels most alive" when she is able to help others be in their bodies and in relationships with others with presence & agency.
Raina has her Masters Degree in Public Health, Social Work and Interpersonal Practice from the University of Michigan. She's licensed to practice in the state of Michigan, as well as being one of the faculty members on the Michigan Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Treatment Board. Finally, she's completed over 200 training hours in Vinyasa and Hatha yoga styles.
Her business is called RISE Education and Consulting.
RADICAL
To me, being radical means practicing audacity: the audacity to acknowledge the collective pain of the world as a result of oppression; the audacity to live outside of health ideals constructed and maintained by oppressive groups and structures; the audacity to envision a world where resources for healing are normalized and accessible; the audacity to acknowledge health equity as a birthright.
INSIGHT - ORIENTED
We are meaning-making and story-telling creatures. As much as my work involves getting folks out of their heads, having a clear sense of self-including where we’ve come from and where we dream of going - provides comfort and reinforces identity. In practice with me, building insight involves playfulness, curiosity, and mindful awareness.
SOMATIC
Body-based (also called bottom-up) healing modalities get us in communication with our nervous system. Through mindful observation of sensation, impulses, sensory information, and emotions we can gather more data about our stress responses and triggers, and practice coping in intense moments of physical or emotional distress. We can also savor awareness of good feelings, success, and connection.
EMBODIMENT
Embodiment is presence, clarity about what you deserve, a sense of strength and stability. Colonization, patriarchy, and white supremacy rely on disembodiment. When you are embodied, you are actively fighting back against these systems and structures. When we are embodied we are also more able to connect with and give to our communities more fully.
If you'd like to reach Raina for her services in Michigan, you can email her at RISEeducationandconsulting@gmail.com
And of course, you can hear her every Monday at 8:20 AM on Cars 108 with us!
Here are some tips for self-care during the pandemic:
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