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Today I\\u2019m talking with Denise Dixon from Atlanta, GA. Denise is a life coach with a Master\\u2019s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, author of several workbooks and journals (with an upcoming book about surviving breakups), and a mother. Denise believes in the power of speaking loud about what we\\u2019re experiencing in life so that others don\\u2019t feel so isolated.\\xa0

The Struggle to Understand Mental Health\\xa0

To Denise, mental health is deeply personal. Therapy is valuable, but it\\u2019s important to find the right fit. Denise was a serial therapist hopper, and as a high functioning person, she struggled to find someone who was able to see through her to what she felt was truly wrong. Eventually, Denise found out she had depersonalization disorder, finally giving her the name for what she was feeling.\\xa0

Denise pursued her Master\\u2019s in order to figure out herself, but in the process realized she had a gift for identifying issues in others. \\u201cTrauma knows trauma,\\u201d she says, and she decided to put those skills to use. From her own experience, Denise believes in looking at things from the client\\u2019s perspective.\\xa0

Transitioning from Therapist to Lifecoach

After getting her Master\\u2019s, Denise planned to be a traditional therapist, but life had other plans. That particular career path didn\\u2019t fall into place, but she also knew that the type of conversations she loved having with people were conversations she wouldn\\u2019t have in a traditional setting. Denise enjoyed that space of accountability and made the natural transition from therapist to life coach.\\xa0

Denise offers in-person and virtual coaching, along with workshops, classes, and retreats. As a life coach, she doesn\\u2019t simply give her clients a pat on the back or a high five. \\u201cMy rates are too high for that,\\u201d she says. As a life coach, she\\u2019s an excavator, pulling out things in life that aren\\u2019t needed, so that her clients can meet their goals. Denise feels that this is truly her life\\u2019s work, and has had clients leaving who tell her that they\\u2019ve met someone who is doing what they\\u2019re meant to do.\\xa0

Reclaiming Childhood With Her Children

As a mother, Denise is breaking the cycle with her own children, now 26 and 17-years-old. She loves that they\\u2019re able to have the childhood that she didn\\u2019t, and is able to experience that childhood with them. She taught them early on that what happens in their heads is important, and that they should do what makes them happy, not what others expect from them.\\xa0

Denise had to learn how to trust as a parent. She believes that kids aren\\u2019t a possession, and parents don\\u2019t own them. They\\u2019re a gift, and even if she does her very best, she can\\u2019t control everything, so she focuses on raising human beings that can navigate the world on their own. Even in her absence, she knows she\\u2019s doing her best and gaining as many lessons as she\\u2019s teaching.\\xa0

Listen in to hear about Denise\\u2019s methods for living with depersonalization, conversations to have with trauma survivors, and more about her upcoming book about her own survival story.\\xa0

Resources Mentioned

Join Me on Speak Loud Platform

Speak Loud Podcast on the web

Contact Denise on her website

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