What if anxiety and depression aren’t problems to eliminate — but signals pointing toward healing?

In this episode of Behind the Practice, Katie Brinkley sits down with psychotherapist Chris Wells to explore a radically different perspective on mental health. Chris shares why he rejects pathologizing emotional distress, how psychotherapy can become “soul healing,” and why many symptoms we fear may actually be attempts by the psyche to restore balance.

The conversation dives into developmental psychology, trauma, psychedelic-assisted therapy, spiritual integration, and the idea that human beings are born whole — not broken. Chris also explains why curiosity, not suppression, may be the key to deeper healing.

This episode is for anyone questioning traditional mental health models, exploring personal growth, or searching for a more compassionate way to understand emotional pain.

Katie Brinkley sits down with Halema Yates, founder of Love Mark, to explore how emotional health, self-worth, and personal conditioning directly affect workplace culture, communication, and leadership.

Halema shares her journey from personal healing to helping organizations create healthier, more psychologically safe environments. Together, they discuss bias, communication breakdowns, emotional awareness, and why so many professionals struggle to feel seen and valued at work.

This episode is a powerful conversation for leaders, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to improve both personal growth and team dynamics.

• Self-worth and workplace performance
• Why employees stay silent in meetings
• Emotional conditioning from childhood
• Bias in leadership and organizations
• Building psychologically safe workplaces
• Leadership communication skills
• Team trust and emotional intelligence
• Healing internal narratives

Website: https://luvmrk.com

Kayla Crane is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the owner of South Denver Therapy in Denver, Colorado.

She specializes in relationships, relational trauma, and infidelity recovery, drawing on her background in trauma therapy to fill a gap she saw in traditional couples work: the reality that trauma inside a relationship can't just be talked through, it has to be processed.

Her approach blends couples therapy with trauma-informed methods to help partners move through some of the most difficult moments a relationship can face.

What we cover:

• What relational trauma is, and why it's different from ordinary relationship conflict
• The physical and nervous system responses that signal trauma is running the show
• How anxious and avoidant attachment styles interact and what tools actually help
• The step-by-step systematic affair recovery therapy process Kayla walks couples through
• Why asking too many questions after betrayal can compound the harm
• What genuine accountability and empathy look like in the recovery process
• Why relationships can come out of infidelity stronger than they were before

Resources mentioned:

• Systematic Affair Recovery Therapy (SART) model
• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) training and application in couples work
• Attachment theory concepts: anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, pursuer-distancer dynamic

Connect with Kayla:

Website: southdenvertherapy.com

Instagram: @southdenvertherapy

Facebook: South Denver Therapy

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About Behind the Practice: Behind the Practice explores the philosophy, decisions, and experiences behind modern health and wellness practice. New episodes every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and all major podcast platforms.