Choose To Heal, Find Your Truth with Carrie Leaf

Today's guest is Carrie Leaf.  For over a decade, Carrie has helped her clients break through the obstacles that seem to be holding them back in life. Life's too short to be unhappy, unsure, or unfulfilled. Let Carrie help you learn and develop better ways to handle the issues that are standing in the way of your goals. She will help you identify and eliminate the subconscious thought patterns that are holding you back in life.

Carrie offers a variety of life coaching services (both virtual and in-person) that will nurture your spirit, help you overcome personal challenges, and allow you to achieve your individual life goals. She caters to each of her client’s personal needs in order to unlock their full potential. Contact Carrie to start your proactive journey today.

Connect with Carrie at carrieleaf.com.

Transcript

Magic Barclay: 0:59

Welcome back to a Magical Life. I'm your host, magic Barclay, and today I'm joined by Carrie Leaf. Carrie is currently a practicing psychotherapist, holistic. Mindset coach and hypnotherapist. She holds her undergraduate degree in psychology with a minor in sociology from the University of Northern Iowa. She completed her master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, graduating top of her class from Iowa College. She's been a practicing psychotherapist for over 10 years and working in the psychology field for over. Carrie has worked in the field of psychology in a wide variety of settings, which include hospitals, community, mental health. Youth, residential homes, substance abuse, military base, college, university, and private practice. She has worked with a wide variety of clients from all ages and around many different identified problems. She has worked with individuals, couples, families, and groups. Carrie is a mother to. Twin toddler, boys and a stepmother to their elder brother and sister as well. She's a f. She is a fur baby mom to two boxer dogs. She enjoys working out, exploring her health and fitness journey, staying active nature and being outdoors, traveling and trying new things. Welcome, Carrie.

Carrie Leaf: 2:34

Thank you. Thanks so much for having.

Magic Barclay: 2:37

My pleasure. What a great intro. Tell us about how you got into the field that you are in.

Carrie Leaf: 2:46

Sure. Um, I have been on this path for a long time. I've known since middle school, high school age that I would be in the field of psychology, um, in the helping and services industry. And, I, I believe it started, my dad was a high school guidance counselor and taught at the community college in our hometown. So I was introduced, you know, to the field from my dad and then, somewhere in that high school range. I was, gently suggested that I go to my own therapy by my parents. so I got my first experience of doing my own therapy in high school. Cool. and shortly after that I thought, this is what I wanna do. and so, through your introduction, I've gone a lot of different ways since then. which has led then to kind of narrowing down even further to the holistic mindset coach, because as I have worked with so many different types of people and. Settings, different populations with different issues. It has led me to seeing the importance and the central focus of focusing on mind, body, spirit, the holistic health approach.

Magic Barclay: 3:56

That's fantastic. Now, Carrie, I always ask my guests the same three questions and the array of answers I get is nothing short of mind blowing. So here we go. You ready?

Carrie Leaf: 4:10

I'm ready.

Magic Barclay: 4:11

Great. So what can your expertise do to accelerate health, be it physical, emotional, spiritual, or.

Carrie Leaf: 4:19

Ooh, that's a good question. since I do take a holistic approach, I see them as highly interconnected and necessary to integrate and focus on all of them to get our, our most progress, the best success, our highest functioning possible. So if we are, you know, taking good care of our body, that's where I like to start my clients at, even no matter what they're coming to me for, they're generally coming for mindset and mental health. But I like to start with the body, with the basics of e sleep and exercise, because then we have a better foundation to jump off and, and deep dive. Into the mental health because a lot of times those mimic each other, you know, physical symptoms, the things going on in the body can actually look like mental health symptoms and the other way around. And I wanna be able to narrow down the best we can, what we're actually working with sometimes. You know, if we're stressed out and there's, there's a lot of stress going on that's gonna show up in, in physical symptoms, you know, i b s, stomach pains, back pains, and we wanna make sure that we're, we're addressing the right issues. So we wanna rule things out. So if we attend to mind, body, spirit, all of them, we're going to see our progress and our healing accelerate That much faster and get better results as well. It's just impossible to get the best results without looking at every angle.

Magic Barclay: 5:47

I couldn't agree with you more there. I think so many people, you know, whether it comes to their diet and they think that they're hungry, but they're actually thirsty or when it comes to their body and you know, they think they're depressed, but they're actually just not creating the right fuel type to help their mental health through their physical health. Like people just seem to start off on the wrong track. So I love what you're doing.

Carrie Leaf: 6:14

Yes, thank you. I find it like, so Im important to look from every angle and sometimes clients find that a bit confusing thinking that's not what I came here for. But if they're open and then they hear me out and they give it a shot, they tend to see, okay, I'm, I'm feeling so much better pretty quickly when I start getting that good sleep, eating those better foods, things like that.

Magic Barclay: 6:35

I think those foundations are just so important. Now we talk about wealth here as well. So wealth is not just financial, but also personal and emotional wealth, which I know is a big part of mindset. So what are your top three tips to creating wealth?

Carrie Leaf: 6:53

It is a big part of mindset that that is central. There are so many things with creating wealth. I think, you know, that, that can be a, a broad question in the sense of what is wealth and what does that mean and what does that look like to you? But if we just keep it broad and, and stay in general in, in keeping wealth, the mindset is either gonna help us get there or it's going to stand in our way and we're gonna have blocks. So some of the, the things that I work on with clients when we're working on creating wealth is to see where they might be standing in their own way. What belief systems do they have around wealth? What blocks might be there? Now, a lot of times these are subconscious, they're not on the conscious level. We're not always necessarily aware that we have these blocks, these belief systems and narratives going on in our mind. So I, you know, I start with a, a. A thorough assessment about who they are, their life experiences, their background, their family, their ideas and experiences around wealth. You know, what growing up was like, and try to connect the dots of who they are and why they are the way they are present day. And then we can kind of delve into. Looking what's standing in way by identifying a negative belief system around wealth. And then when we can clear that out and reprocess that to a healthier, more positive belief system around wealth, we tend to see a lot of actions start happening. Once that process is done and it's pretty, it's pretty fast and, and amazing and impressive, how fast we can see action once somebody has addressed their negative belief systems around wealth and they've, they've reprocessed those and created more positive belief systems. So, long story short, I wanna, I want a full assessment. I wanna identify what are the negative belief systems there and I wanna reprocess them to healthy positive ones.

Magic Barclay: 8:50

I think that's really key there, and I just wanna pull that point out that listeners, if you say I'm broke, I'm always broke, I can't seem to manage my money, you'll prove yourself, right? Because that's just a negative belief system. Whereas if you say, I'm building my wealth each day, I am wealthier. I can afford the things I want and need, that completely changes things. Yes. What you, the stories you tell yourself on a regular basis are, are a big deal. And, and those often are, are the conscious ones that you might be aware of or you're able to identify and then you can challenge those using some, you know, cognitive behavioral therapy challenge. Those, those thoughts that you're aware of and, and re. Place'em with, like you said, a, a positive one, a healthier one. A lot of times though, we're not always aware of that underlying negative belief system, those negative stories we're telling ourselves. And so we gotta dig a little bit deeper. There might be a relationship with wealth or, or money or, um, you know, there, there's a, could be a lot of fear and we wanna understand what is that relationship, what does. Experience, what story have I written on a subconscious level? And that can take some digging and, and work to bring that to the surface. Definitely. Now, Carrie, my final question for today, it's got several parts to it, so here we go. Have you ever battled your weight? If so, what was your trigger to lose it or what can you offer the listeners to reduce their stress? Because we know stress is a key issue in weight problems.

Carrie Leaf: 10:35

Sure, good question. I have battled weight and gone up and down and, and all around, with weight, especially in the second half of my life. so I, I noticed somewhere in my. Late twenties. That was the first time I noticed the weight creeping on, no matter what I did. And, you know, I'm like, what's going on? And, and the exercises and the things that I, had typically done in the past just weren't working. Um, you know, so I was getting frustrated. and then at one point I ended. Losing a lot of that weight because I, I really went to an extreme and the motivation at that point was my wedding. I wanted to lose weight for my wedding. And it did work. It did work. but I was doing a lot and I was being pretty extreme about it. I got physically strong. I got physically healthy, but that took a toll on my mental health. I was obsessing, You know, over calories over, did I get my workout in or not? Was I working out seven, you know, days a week, like I was telling myself I should be? It wasn't the healthiest, balance for me as far as mentally, emotionally. So in the more recent years, I'm a, a really big believer that, No one size fits all for weight loss or health. that's a journey we have to learn ourselves and, and tailor it and Individualized, Our approach. and so in the more recent years, my approach to losing weight or getting healthy has looked different, as you mentioned. I have twin boys. They're four and a half. Fos now. and so losing that baby weight was new and different and hard. And so that was a process for me, um, which spun into more of a mind body health journey instead of just looking to focus on losing the weight. So that, that's been a much healthier approach for me. Looking at it as shifting my mindset around the weight loss and looking at it as more of a health journey and getting my body back to optimal functioning, feeling good instead of obsessing over the weight in the size the way I did when I lost the weight for my wedding. and so that journey has included. Functional medicine and, healthier, eating functional medicine, plant-based supplements, checking out food sensitivities, shifting, you know, exercise. To things that are enjoyable and more moderation for me and, and that don't feel like a chore that might be too intense for me. and trying different types of exercises and how much, and how long and what type. and so that really has been a journey, like I said, and it's been, it's worked. It's worked for me. And intermittent fasting has also, Been a game changer for me. I understand that any one of these things aren't necessarily for everybody. but the combination of these things has worked to help me lose weight in a healthy way, at a healthy pace, and then most importantly maintain it and it's sustainable and I don't feel like it's a chore and. Uh, I'm obsessive about it. It's, it's become a more sustainable lifestyle for me. So this journey has been really interesting and, enjoyable actually as I learn myself and I learn my body.

Magic Barclay: 14:24

What can you offer to relieve stress because we know that's an issue with weight problem.

Carrie Leaf: 14:30

So, relieving stress, absolutely crucial. You know, if we, we don't want our body inflamed from all the things. there's a zillion and one things to relieve stress. And again, I think this is a very tailored approach. It, it's gonna be different for everybody, but I really want, and this is something I work with with all my clients, I want everybody to have Their coping skills toolbox and their self-care routines. The way I look at it is the coping skills are things that we can turn to in the immediate situation. If I'm mad in that moment, what can I do to deescalate and, and relax and calm down? Uh, I look at the self-care routines as things that we do on a regular basis and, and preventative care. so I like people to explore and get these in, place. but they're going to look different for everybody. We want a whole bunch of'em cuz you know, one that works one day might not work great the next day. You know, like I like to go outside a lot. I like to walk outside. I like to be in nature. I live in Iowa, in the US and the weather is all over the place all the time. Today. It's rainy and gloomy, so I'm probably, you know, in cold. I'm not gonna walk outside. I don't get to use that one. So I'll probably go to the gym. And do the treadmill there. but I like people to have a whole bunch, you know, maybe that's a bubble bath music walk, call a friend, something creative, you know, spend time with family animals. There's just so many different things that can help relax and relieve stress, meditation, mindfulness, breath work, body work. You know, it could go on and on, but at the end of the day, I can't prescribe any one thing for any person. It has, again, has to be a journey. It's gotta be that trial and an air experience and a journey for each individual. Like, yes, this calms me down. This helps me relax. This makes me happy. cuz what makes me happier, calm, or de-stress isn't necessarily gonna do the same for somebody.

Magic Barclay: 16:32

I think that's really key. You, you've pointed out quite a few good things there and definitely I recommend to my clients get out in nature whenever you can and even if it's freezing cold, just a couple of minutes out there and just appreciate. How small we are in the big scheme of things. That's always a great stress reliever. Now, Carrie, people can find you@carrieleaf.com. We love freebies and you've got a stack of free resources on your website. so what kind of resources can people expect to find there?

Carrie Leaf: 17:07

Yeah, I believe there is, a free little mini assessment on the website. Um, and that will help you walk through, what is going on in my life in different environments. Where am I at, you know, where am I doing well, where maybe there's some areas that I could boost up and, and spend more time on and focus more attention to. there is also I think, a free chapter or two of my. Book Therap is yourself, and you can subscribe and, and get those free chapters and see if you think that that might be something that's worth digging into further. let me see. I'm trying to think if I can recall. I think there might be some meditation examples on there as well. There's a breathing meditation that you. See how that goes for, and you see if that's something that you could get into and all to help assist, heal, and grow and de-stress.

Magic Barclay: 18:05

Terrific. And Carrie, people can find you on Instagram at Carrie Leaf Coaching listeners. This was your episode 1 62 and we titled this, choose to Heal, find Your Truth, and I think after listening to Carrie speak, You'll understand that title because you can make the choice. It is in your mindset and finding your truth. It's different to other people's truth. There is no one size fits all. And Carrie, I'd really like to explore that and people can be their own health expert more in our next episode. Is that okay?

Carrie Leaf: 18:43

Absolutely.

Magic Barclay: 18:44

Terrific. Listeners, thank you so much for your time, Carrie. Thank you for your. For now, go forth and create your magical life.