Sarah (00:38)
Hey everybody, welcome back to Reclaim You. I'm so excited today we have a special guest. Cree Gore is here and we're gonna be chatting about a lot of different things I think. So welcome Cree. Yeah. Yeah. I think so. I think so. Yeah. Yes.

Kri Gore (00:49)
Thank you. Happy to be here. Super pumped. We're going to talk about a lot of things. I'm excited. Yeah. This has been like a long time in the works for for our listeners out there. Yeah.

Sarah (01:02)
It sure has been, yes. we've been talking about

Kri Gore (01:02)
Yeah.

Sarah (01:04)
doing it for what, since last year sometime? Yes, and then we finally put it on the calendar and then here we are. We did, yes. It really is a win.

Kri Gore (01:06)
Yes!

And then we showed up and we didn't reschedule. I always feel like that's such a win for adults.

Like when you like meet someone for coffee and you're like, look what we did. We made the plan and we like kept it. So that's a win.

Sarah (01:22)
Yes, yes,

yeah. And Kri and I were just talking about how we have been at events, the same events at the same time together, but we didn't know each other for a couple of years now, which is funny. Yeah.

Kri Gore (01:31)
We have. Yeah.

Right. Right. Just

two eating disorder professionals out there. The ship's passing, as you said. Yeah.

Sarah (01:41)
Yep.

shifts passing in the night, in the evening, whatever. Not really night for me, but yeah, evening. Yeah, yeah. So why don't

you just take a second and maybe introduce yourself a little bit more detailed. Yeah.

Kri Gore (01:56)
Totally. I'm Kree

Gore. I'm an LNFT who only works with individuals now. And some of my specialty areas include disordered eating, body image, ADHD, specifically like women who are diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood, life transitions, relationship issues, and more recently, sober curiosity. So kind of like...

Sarah (02:20)
Love that.

Kri Gore (02:24)
It is exactly what it sounds like, right? Like being curious about sobriety-ish, right? Or just changing your relationship with alcohol in general. Yeah.

Sarah (02:35)
Yeah, I love that. I love that. I was telling Cree we haven't talked a lot.

or maybe at all about sober curiosity on the podcast. So that's something that I'm excited to dig into. But first, our question that we ask everyone that comes on, as long as I remember, because sometimes I do not remember. So I'm remembering today. What does reclaim you mean to you?

Kri Gore (02:49)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Okay, I thought about this. And for me, I think it means sort of reconnecting with either something or a part of yourself that you feel like was lost or even mislabeled without your permission. And then kind of reincorporating it and redefining it for yourself now in a very authentic way.

Sarah (03:13)
Hmm. Hmm.

Kri Gore (03:24)
I kind of try to think of examples too, of in my own life and like, because I am also a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in adulthood, I've had this narrative growing up of, I'm not smart or I

can't understand things as well or like, I don't like reading, right? Like all of that felt like this label that was reinforced externally, right? Like.

Sarah (03:43)
.

Kri Gore (03:52)
It was somehow like lost in the mix. And since, you know, having that diagnosis and understanding what that means and what that means for me, I've been able to reconnect and redefine, you know, how do I feel intelligent,

smart, know, skilled? What's the best way of learning for me? Right. It might not be reading traditionally, right? Like audio books and podcasts are

great way of learning. And yeah, just like thinking about how I conceptualize myself in a very different way that felt very empowering and felt very like authentic,

right? Like, yes, that that's who I am.

Sarah (04:37)
Yeah, that's who I am. Yeah. Oh, I love that. I love that. I mean, I can, you know, as you were saying that I was just thinking about how myself included, how I was also diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. I think I was 37. I think it was a couple of years ago. I was 37 when I got diagnosed and how

Kri Gore (04:39)
Yeah.

And I'm curious, do you share your response on these?

Sarah (05:00)
that has helped, yeah, helped me understand myself a little bit more deeply. When I got diagnosed, it was really in the context of trying to understand my son who's autistic and has ADHD. So I was like, let me try to like understand it a little bit more. And if I can understand myself, maybe I can understand, you know, him a little bit more. So it was this interesting process, but I think it has helped point me back to myself and from

Kri Gore (05:15)
Thank

Sarah (05:26)
like a sensory and a somatic perspective, like what helps me inhabit myself a little bit more steadily, which has been really interesting and really cool. And then also, yeah, just more compassionate understanding for myself when, you know, I'm like, why, why do I do this? Why has this always been so hard for me throughout my life? And I'm like, this does make a little bit more sense, you know? Yeah.

Kri Gore (05:32)
And you mean.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that's huge.

I like the way you said that inhabiting yourself and use the word steady, that really resonated.

Sarah (05:57)
Hmm.

Yeah. Yeah. Does that show up for you in your life?

Kri Gore (06:01)
Inhab. How did you put it?

Sarah (06:03)
like inhabiting yourself a little more steadily. I don't know if that's even what I said.

Kri Gore (06:05)
I think.

Yeah. Yeah, it's sort of like going inward and getting a little more cozy in there. Almost like we go inward, we gotta rearrange the furniture or something and make it feel more at home and make sense for the way that we operate and the way we think and feel.

Sarah (06:12)
Yeah. Yeah!

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I'm like, that makes sense why I rearranged my bedroom every two weeks as a kid. me too. Me too.

Kri Gore (06:27)
Yeah.

Yes, I love doing that. Yeah. Yeah.

I was curious, like, what are the parts of yourself within ADHD and neurodivergence that you've been able to reframe or you maybe appreciate on a different level now?

Sarah (06:52)
Yeah, I think for me, part of the biggest game changer was like understanding the sensory overload perspective of things, you know, and how all of this like information and input throughout the day, how much it was impacting me each and every day, you know, and to be able to see that as not like a personal failing or something that's wrong with me, but to work within

Kri Gore (07:09)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Sarah (07:16)
what works for me, even if it's like my husband thinks it's weird or whatever, just so that I can stay a little bit more regulated. I think that for me, it was a lot more important as I was going through the early years of parenthood to find like little ways to feel a little bit more regulated because parenting is just so dysregulating inherently, especially when you have, I kids are dysregulated also, but kind of like more dysregulation happening in a little body.

Kri Gore (07:21)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Sarah (07:43)
and a little neurodivergent body who's trying to just be a kid and figure things out himself. So, that was really game-changing for me and how I can support myself doing little things like little adjustments to just feel a little bit more regulated throughout the day. And also I think something that I really resonated with years ago, but I didn't really attach it to ADHD. know it is a component is the rejection sensitivity dysphoria and just having an understanding of that and how it made sense for me.

Kri Gore (07:49)
.

Sarah (08:10)
in my life and in relationships and things like that.

Kri Gore (08:15)
Yeah.

Sarah (08:14)
Yeah, yeah, I'm curious, what about for you?

Kri Gore (08:18)
A lot of what you said. Yeah. And, and not judging that, right? Like embracing it or just simply accepting, right? So like, I'm definitely somebody who is more highly sensitive and overstimulated. And it was like pushing, you know, what is it like, like round hole and peg and square.

Sarah (08:24)
Yeah.

Kri Gore (08:41)
whatever the fuck, like, yeah, that thing.

Sarah (08:42)
That thing, yeah.

Kri Gore (08:44)
That's how life felt for a while until I just, it was like, gave myself permission to just do it differently than others, right? Like we live in a very neurotypical extroverted world of which I am neither. And, and we could talk about this. kind of like dog earing this page here of all that.

Sarah (08:47)
Yeah.

Kri Gore (09:08)
impacts your relationship with alcohol and what it feels like to then unpair from alcohol. And that was like another level of acceptance of like who I am and what I'm about and like, how do we, like, if we like look at ourselves like a machine, what's like the optimal way of running this machine? yeah, like a lot of

Sarah (09:10)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Kri Gore (09:31)
Like you were saying, you know, maybe giving yourself more time or space or not committing to every plan or going to every social function or leaving early or whatever it is. there's so much value in meeting yourself where you are and telling yourself like, it's okay, you're, you're allowed, you're allowed to do it a little differently than the people around you.

Sarah (09:54)
Yeah, yeah, and I'm imagining that relates to like your Instagram handle, which everyone, it is the introvertish therapist, right? Yeah, yeah. Talk about that a little bit if you can, introversion and ADHD and where things flow together, how it all kind of fits, how it makes sense.

Kri Gore (10:01)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So to me, introversion is how do you gain energy? How do you, what depletes you of your energy? And so being around people in places, right? Like certain environments can really deplete my energy versus somebody's who's more extroverted, like my sister gains energy from those situations, wants to be around people, wants to be like,

constantly connected. She talks about she would be okay with me sharing this. Sometimes when she's in the shower, she'll ask her husband to come in and talk to her. I'm like, I can't even imagine. Right. Yeah. This is my safe space. Don't come in here. Yeah. Yeah.

Sarah (10:39)
Mm-hmm.

I can't imagine. I'm like, no one, like, stay away. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Get out. Yeah.

Yeah.

Kri Gore (11:01)
I think there's this misconception of like introverted means shy, means socially awkward, means you don't ever want to do anything or be around people. And that's just not true. It's more keeping track of your internal battery. know, like even you could be having so much fun and your battery is depleting gradually. And sometimes that speeds up.

Sarah (11:15)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. How do you feel like acknowledging, the introversion part or differentiating it from like what the cultural narrative maybe was throughout life? How's embracing that supported you in this season of adulthood?

Kri Gore (11:36)
embracing the introverted part. Yeah. It is very similar to ADHD in that you grow up feeling very different, very isolated in this and trying so hard to like force yourself to be normal, right? Like, or what I thought was normal, what we grow up to think is normal.

Sarah (11:39)
Yeah, yeah.

Mm hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Kri Gore (12:03)
So for me, it's again, it's like, let's take a look at this through a non-judgmental lens with some compassion, which is really fucking hard, right? Yes. Just like a continual practice in life. And sometimes that meant like thinking of other people, Like other friends I know, family members, or even clients of I'm not looking at them with judgment.

Sarah (12:13)
really fucking hard. The journey of a lifetime, yes.

Yes. Yes.

Kri Gore (12:31)
I want them to have their needs met, however that looks, right? And why aren't I doing the same for myself?

Sarah (12:38)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Kri Gore (12:40)
Yeah, yeah, like just I need more quiet

time. I need more alone time being open about that.

Sarah (12:47)
Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes. Yes. yeah. Yeah. So hard for so many people, myself included. I think anyone who listens to podcasts knows that. Yeah. Yeah.

Kri Gore (12:48)
which then overlaps with people pleasing and challenging that. Yeah, saying no to things.

hard. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, and of course

there, yeah, there's an intersect there with ADHD. But I do feel like as a whole, culturally, we're understanding this better. We're talking about this more. And how, we're viewing it more on this continuum rather than like you fit in this box with this label, right? Yeah.

Sarah (13:17)
Yeah, yes. Yes,

Yeah, and it feels just so important supporting people to understand, like if they fall on the spectrum, wherever that is, what can we do to help people figure out, like, just what makes them feel better in life, right, in relationships and taking care of themselves?

And there's so much crap that can get in the way. you know, once it's like, once you, once you kind of like see it, it's hard to unsee it. And so once you see it, you can layer on ways of supporting yourself.

Kri Gore (13:51)
So true. Yeah. And that like, most people who care about you are supportive, right? Yes, there's that like, people please Z, I'm gonna do things a little different and how are people going to respond? And also the, you know, we want the best for each other generally, right? Like our loved ones, like I found both with

Sarah (13:52)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Kri Gore (14:16)
you know, the journey of just accepting my introverted part, my ADHD part, and also the sober curious part. It was a lot of like, how are people going to respond? And I was

a surprise in a way, like even though I shouldn't be that like, everybody was very on board and supportive and like, just wants the best for you.

Sarah (14:43)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, but right, like you're chosen people, right? could you talk a little bit more about the sober curious part of things? It feels like a really nice place to kind of like, yeah, just.

Kri Gore (14:44)
Everybody who's close to you, I should say. Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

definitely.

Sarah (14:59)
Share more about that and maybe even your process and how it really supported you to settle into yourself more.

Kri Gore (15:02)
Mm-hmm.

I mean, I think I had heard about like the sort of like buzz term of sober curious and what that meant. And it in a way it's sort of like was bumping up against all that I was taught clinically as a therapist and more of like the abstinence AA model. And not first of all, I had to figure out like, where do I land here? Like clinically, like what are.

Sarah (15:24)
Mm-hmm.

Kri Gore (15:33)
my thoughts and opinions on this and

A lot of it was rewiring, unlearning some of the things that were taught to me that didn't quite make sense to me. When I think about that, think of eating disorder treatment

and then working in a higher level of care and some people in the program were also in AA. I remember the tension of, in AA, if I relapse, I'm back at square one.

Sarah (16:07)
Yeah, Right, that's not it, yeah.

Kri Gore (16:07)
and eating disorder treatment being that it's not the modality at all, right?

That's not it, yeah. So I remembered that was hard for me to conceptualize. And then once I started thinking more about this sober curious approach of kind of dipping your toe in, like figuring out what is your ideal relationship with alcohol look like and the gray area, it...

Sarah (16:32)
Mm

Kri Gore (16:32)
started making a lot more sense to me clinically. And then I went through my own experience of being kind of curious for a couple years and then ultimately just cutting out alcohol, which wound up being like the

Sarah (16:35)
hmm.

Kri Gore (16:47)
best decision ever for me. Yeah. And then after a while that I incorporated that into my clinical work, because it, at first it felt like, okay, like if this is something I'm going through, I don't

Sarah (16:49)
Yeah. Yeah.

Kri Gore (17:03)
feel ready to, right, like bring those worlds together. And once I got, you know, my footing and figured out like what's best for me and felt more steady, like you said, in that, I think it was my own therapist

Sarah (17:17)
Yeah, like so cool.

Kri Gore (17:18)
who said like, you know, you can, this is something you could specialize in. You know, this is something that you can offer clinically. I'm like, great, I guess so. Like, yeah.

which then brought me to a Sober Curious support group for women that I have now had like two rounds of. It's been really cool to experience and bring people together. you

Sarah (17:32)
Yeah.

Kri Gore (17:43)
know, something that I really appreciate about the Sober Curious group is the distress tolerance of all members being in a different place. You know, like there's this like, this kind of

Sarah (17:44)
Yeah.

Kri Gore (18:01)
solid ground that we were coming together and saying, something's not working here in terms of relationship with alcohol and I want it to change, but we're not all in the same place. And how can we

tolerate that?

Sarah (18:16)
What have you found is maybe some of the hardest parts for people to sit in that distress of being in all different parts of the process and maybe even choosing something different from someone else after, you know, the curiosity of what would being sober look like or feel like? Yeah.

Kri Gore (18:20)
Mmm.

Yeah, I think one of the challenging parts for people is this sense of right and wrong and what you're supposed to be doing. And if someone in this group has already cut out alcohol and I haven't, is that wrong? Right? And the comparison ends. The group has been a great place to talk through that and process, okay, what's coming up for you? Why do feel like you're behind now?

Sarah (18:40)
and

Yeah.

Kri Gore (19:02)
or that you should have made that decision already.

Sarah (19:09)
Right. Right.

Kri Gore (19:04)
And or that you even need to make that decision. Like that's not always the goal and that's okay.

Sarah (19:10)
I mean the term curiosity is just filled with compassion and openness, right?

Kri Gore (19:15)
some people that's action mode and for others it's not and that's okay. That's like, we're not here to judge. It's not a race. We're not measuring anything. We're simply coming together and saying like, yeah, like isn't this isn't going the way that it was or maybe it never actually worked for me. But like, here's what how I have benefited from alcohol, right? Like, and a lot of that is connection and belonging.

Sarah (19:19)
Thank

Okay.

Hmm. Yeah. And what have you found, you know, personally and even professionally? Why do you think brings people into like the edge of sober curiosity? You know, is there like some common stopping points or experiences that people are having?

Kri Gore (19:51)
Mm-hmm.

Definitely. Like the

first that comes to mind is just aging and like, it doesn't have the same impact, right? And like hangovers are a lot worse. Yeah. Right. Like this, it's just like, there is something very much that is not working here. Or I go out, you know, socially and I'm the one that's out of control and I'm the one that like overdrinks.

Sarah (20:03)
Yeah. they are bad, yeah.

hair.

Okay.

Kri Gore (20:22)
You know, so something that like initially made me feel very connected and the sense of belonging is now ostracizing me, making me feel very different and bad and wrong.

Sarah (20:31)
not only the physical hangover, but the emotional hangover afterwards of like the anxiety and worry about what was said or, you know, what behave, whatever it was can just cause so much upheaval on the back end.

Kri Gore (20:33)
Mmm.

Yeah.

Oh yeah, the anxiety, so real. Yeah, right. And the irritability and yeah, depression and all of that. Yeah, I think there's also this commonality of like, why can't I get it together with alcohol? Like I've tried to reduce and say like, okay, two to three drink minimum. I like it.

Sarah (20:45)
Yeah, anxiety. Yeah, that's terms. I love that.

Kri Gore (21:11)
I'm always failing, right? And then there's that narrative of when I try, I fail. So then you get the case of the fuck it's, fuck it, never mind, you Yeah.

Sarah (21:13)
Yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. And then that undercurrent of shame that's just under all of it, right?

Kri Gore (21:25)
Yes, so much. Which feels so isolating.

that was a part of why I was like, we need to like, we need have a group. We need to all talk about this, right? Like we need something that's not quite AA because that can also be very shaming. Works for some, not for all. Yeah.

Sarah (21:33)
Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

I'm just thinking about even the connection of shame underneath, know, when folks may be neurodivergent and don't realize it until adulthood and the shame, undercurrent of shame with alcohol and sense of self and

Kri Gore (21:54)
And.

Sarah (21:59)
and all of that. What other connections do you feel like you've made over the years with the ADHD, alcohol use, shifting into sober curiosity? What do you see there?

Kri Gore (22:14)
I mean, a lot of numbing, right? A lot of like trying to manage that feeling of feeling different, right? Or trying to force yourself into something that like is not authentically you. Yeah.

Sarah (22:27)
Yeah.

Kri Gore (22:29)
I get it. think, you know, now we know, right? It's like, very common that like neurodivergence and ADHD and all of that like leads to over drinking, relying on alcohol substances, right? Like wanting to just numb out, fit in. Yeah, there was, know, like a few different like, I don't know, situations where once I caught out alcohol, I realized like,

Sarah (22:39)
Okay.

Okay.

Kri Gore (22:56)
Oh, I actually don't enjoy that. I'm actually not having fun, right? I'm just like, self-medicating to stay out a little longer, right? Because like, I don't want to miss out or everybody else wants to get another drink or go to another place or whatever it is. And I'm like, that actually doesn't work for me on so many different levels.

Sarah (22:58)
huh. Yeah. Yeah.

Right,

it, it quote unquote feels good, but it actually doesn't feel good, right? Yeah.

Kri Gore (23:19)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and you might not realize that until you change something, right? Take a break, do something different.

Sarah (23:26)
And I'm thinking from the, Cree is also a fan of somatic work and just thinking about the inherent kind of with neurodivergence and ADHD and I'll just speak for myself generally, right? Like some of the churn and the dysregulation that's just like inherent in my body at times and how the use of alcohol to just kind of, like you said, like numb or just kind of like chill things out a little bit.

Kri Gore (23:32)
Alex.

Thank

Sarah (23:52)
So it feels a little bit more tolerable without having all of the words to connect all of these things. Right, like it makes a lot of sense that when you're like here, for people listening, my hand is up in the air. When you're here and you have something that's like, you a little bit of an exhale, of course that feels good on some level, you know? So it makes sense that alcohol kind of or substances, fits into the puzzle, you know? Yeah.

Kri Gore (24:02)
Okay.

Yes, very much.

Right. And we're not really like addressing what's going on in here. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. If anything, you can make it worse. Right. Like this lack of distress tolerance or like even knowing to listen to your body's cues and how to go inward.

Sarah (24:21)
Right. Right. Yeah. If we just keep like slapping shit on it, like it's not going to do anything. Right? Yeah.

Yes.

Yeah.

Kri Gore (24:37)
which I feel

like is like, it's so powerful. Yeah, I kind of forgot that we wanted to talk about somatics. I want to talk about somatics.

Sarah (24:43)
Yeah.

And we were texting last night about, like, you got to feel right. But for you, what? Yeah, like, what has been the hardest part? Working with clients or with yourself to, enter the body to like actually enter the body and start to feel even just a smidge. Or to acknowledge that it's there even, you know.

Kri Gore (25:04)
Right. Again, I think there is a lot of like, what I hear is, not doing it right. I'm bad at that. I can't do it. And just shutting it down. I'm not somebody who can meditate. I hear that a lot. And I'm like, me either kind of, right? Like, I don't. Yeah. Right. Yeah, but

Sarah (25:17)
Yeah, same, Yeah, I'm not great at it. Yeah.

Kri Gore (25:22)
there's this expectation. So it's also teaching people and myself like, well, what does this actually mean to go inward, right? To connect to your body and like your body's cues. That could be a split second. And that's something.

Sarah (25:38)
Yeah, it is something. It is something. Yeah. And if we tie in kind of like eating disorders to this to something, and I didn't work in a higher levels of care or anything like that before I opened my practice, but something that as I was learning about eating disorders years ago, I was like, why is no one talking about like being, everyone's talking about body image. Like, why isn't anyone talking about being in their body and learning how to actually do that? And so that kind of led me the trajectory of where I am right now.

Kri Gore (25:41)
and we'll be back.

Sarah (26:07)
But it's just, yeah, to like be there, to experience things just feels so powerful to shift patterns without going the traditional route, you know, the traditional like just change your thoughts route.

Kri Gore (26:19)
Yeah.

Yeah. It's intimidating really like to go in there, right? And yeah, it's not something that like, we are taught generally, right? Everything is very like external, how to soothe, how to get your needs met.

Sarah (26:20)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Have a drink. Yeah. People, please. shop.

Kri Gore (26:36)
yeah. Yeah. Right.

Yeah, shop, get

this new thing that's going to fix everything, right? Yeah. But like, what happens when we realize we've got those tools, right? Like we, we came with the kit. How do we access the kit internally?

Sarah (26:52)
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's such powerful work.

Kri Gore (26:57)
Yeah, what was it that inspired you to go that route?

Sarah (27:03)
Yeah, I'm trying to remember. I think it really just felt like something was always missing, you know, as I was learning about eating disorders and eating disorder treatment. Of course, it was kind of a lot of self-education. So it could have been that I wasn't looking in the right places, what I was, it just kept coming back to like, okay, like I get this cognitively, right? I get like how to do this type of like golden standard treatment. It makes sense. I just don't,

think it works because it didn't work for me. You know, it didn't work for me. So I'm like, how could I try to ask someone to do these, I don't know, exercises or worksheets or whatever, when I can't stand behind them, you know? And then I think at the time, a lot of the clients that I was seeing were folks who experienced a lot of trauma, you know, we know that the intersection of being discerning

trauma is pretty significant. And so it made a lot of sense why people were using behaviors.

to disconnect from their bodies, right? And to not inhabit their bodies. And so that, you know, led me into many offshoots of trying to figure out like, what's actually gonna work for people for the longterm, not just like a band-aid approach.

Kri Gore (28:14)
Right. you say even like you saying like the underlying goal there, whether it's

we're aware of it or not is like disconnecting from the body, right? And so like, wouldn't it make sense for the work to include reconnecting to the body?

Sarah (28:25)
Mmm.

Yeah, not just talking about it. Yeah, yeah.

Kri Gore (28:31)
Right, right.

Yeah. Have you had any experiences yourself with like a somatic approach?

Sarah (28:38)
Yeah, yeah. So I see a somatic experiencing practitioner. have since I started the SE program, this is like three and half years ago at this point. I finished up the formal training last year. I guess it was December when I got my FCP. But anyway, I'm working with my FCP for like three years. And before that, I was like, I had seen a number of different therapists and I did some like IFS, did some EMDR. They're all super.

lovely, helpful modalities, nothing landed for me the way that Essie landed for me. Nothing kind of like moved the needle in terms of me actually feeling what it felt like to be in my body, then like the gentleness and yeah, the modality of somatic experiencing. So it was,

it was so, I would say it was life changing. It still is because I still, you know, see her as much as I can.

Kri Gore (29:31)
Yeah.

Sarah (29:32)
And yeah, yeah, it's super cool and gentle and honoring

and just kind of like natural to help you get in the natural rhythms of your body. super powerful.

Kri Gore (29:44)
Very, very, and so nice

as a caretaker to then be cared for in that way is so powerful. I saw Somatic Coach, which again, I agree, very life changing. It just changed the game of how I view so many different things, right? Especially like physical pain.

Sarah (29:49)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Kri Gore (30:06)
I went for chronic back pain where like nothing was really doing it. And of course there's like an emotional benefit as well, even though like I came for the like this physical symptom, but what I left with, right, was like, just a different, a completely different way of looking at my body, my emotions, my cues listening. That was hugely helpful.

Sarah (30:15)
Okay.

and

Yeah.

Yeah.

Kri Gore (30:31)
And now it's, it is, it's like once you learn that, like once you have that shift, like you can't go back, which is great. Yeah. Yeah. It's really hard. Yeah. Yeah. I remember, you know, if I had like a twinge of like back pain or any sort of physical pain, it would send me into this panic of like, oh, now my back's going to go out and like, it's going to affect my life.

Sarah (30:36)
Yeah, you can't go back. It is great. It is great. And it's hard too, right? It's hard too. Yeah. Yeah.

Kri Gore (30:56)
this

Sarah (31:01)
Like brace brace brace brace brace. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That's not me, but yeah.

Kri Gore (31:26)
Right, yeah,

it doesn't evoke the like maternal, like what's wrong? I'm like, ugh, stop. So, right. So that also was really helpful. Like how am I like, how am I handling this like baby crying in my body? And what if I just listened, right? Rather than like try to shut it down.

Sarah (31:29)
They're like, yeah, yeah. They're like, shut up.

Yeah.

Mm hmm. Right, right. needs to be expressed, right.

Kri Gore (31:52)
Maybe it needs this too, right? Like sometimes like babies and people, gotta cry it out. We don't need it to be squashed.

It's like, okay, this is our

body like working something out. So can we like let it and give it space?

Sarah (32:05)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah. I love that.

Kri Gore (32:09)
Yeah, yeah, love somatics. Enjoy it.

Sarah (32:10)
Yeah. Yeah.

How it ties all of these things that we've talked about altogether, right? Yeah. So I'm just aware of the time. So Cree introduced me to a podcast. You want to share? bet everyone other than me in the world knows about this because I like live under a rock.

Kri Gore (32:16)
That's very cool.

Thank you.

I hope so.

Well, listeners, I'm about to do you a favor. I highly recommend checking out the podcast, Lost Culture East Us, with Bo and Yang and Matt Rogers. More of a comedy podcast focused on like culture in general. Great guests. Anyway, they're hilarious. And a segment that they have at the end of their podcast, which I would like to borrow. I'd like to borrow. not stealing. I'm giving them credit. It's called

Sarah (32:36)
Yes.

Yeah.

Kri Gore (32:58)
I don't think so, it's each participant in the podcast gets a minute straight uninterrupted where they just get to like rant and talk about something they want to complain about. could, you know, doesn't have to be like culture related or like there doesn't have to be a theme for us. It could be mental health. It doesn't have to be mental health related.

And we get a minute and then the other person like kind of gives us a countdown, like, all right, you got 30 seconds, 10 seconds, five seconds, and that's it. And we could start about it after too. Yeah.

Sarah (33:26)
I love it.

Kri Gore (33:27)
Yeah.

Sarah (33:27)
I love it. Let's do it.

Kri Gore (33:30)
Yeah. So if you want to go first, I can

set up the format if that's helpful. I got it.

Sarah (33:35)
Okay, well, so everyone,

I wrote mine down because I am like, I'm, I need to be prepared for things. The structure in my brain is important.

Kri Gore (33:42)
I get that, show you real.

It's very important.

I'm going to get my stopwatch, my phone. Okay. And all right. So they say, this is Sarah, stitches. I don't think so, honey. And her time starts now.

Sarah (33:52)
I love it.

Okay, so CBT for eating disorder treatment as the gold standard. CBT acts like disordered eating is just faulty thinking like, just challenge your negative thoughts about food in your body. Excuse me? When someone's entire nervous system is wired for survival, when food feels like a literal threat,

You think a worksheet is going to fix it? And so let's talk about the behavior first approach, forcing someone to eat without addressing why their body feels unsafe. It's not healing. It's forcing someone into compliance. If the body is still in a trauma response, the eating disorder will just shape-shift into something new. And also, kind of like we just talked about where it's the somatic work, eating disorders don't just live in a journal prompt. They live in your body. You can't just logic your way out of nervous system dysregulation. And...

Kri Gore (34:23)
Mm.

Sarah (34:50)
don't even get me started on fear food exposures with no emotional support. You can't just throw people into distress in a hope for the best. If we're not teaching body trust, where are we at?

Kri Gore (34:58)
I forgot.

It's over a minute now. I'm so into it.

Sarah (35:03)
is it? You're like, just keep going.

Kri Gore (35:08)
I'm so sorry, I'm bad at this. So let's just give you, I'll say like 10 more seconds.

Sarah (35:13)
Okay, 10 more seconds. Okay.

You can't just throw people into distress and hope for the best. If we're not keeping body stress, nervous system safety, and emotional regulation, what are we even doing? The end.

Kri Gore (35:21)
Five seconds.

I love it so much. was just... Speaking of ADHD, I'm like, all right, here's my job. have my like, right, go. And then I'm like, yes, yes, queen, say it. All right, thank you for that. Thank you for humoring me. Okay, I didn't prepare. I know my topic. It's a little silly. Okay.

Sarah (35:31)
I have my diner.

Alright, yeah, you're welcome. Now it's your turn.

I love it.

I love the silly. I love the silly.

Kri Gore (35:50)
If you

can remember to count me down. Okay. Yeah.

Sarah (35:53)
I will, I'm gonna pull up my timer though real quick.

Not one hour, one minute, Sarah. Okay, Kreegor, 60 seconds of I Don't Think So Honey. Your time starts now.

Kri Gore (36:03)
Don't think so, honey. The lack of soft serve ice cream available year round. Let me tell you something. This is not a seasonal treat for me. This is a year round treat that I love to enjoy and I want to enjoy more of and I want to give you business. I want to give you my money for soft serve ice cream. There's plenty of hard scoop ice cream shops out there, two of which I could walk to when I arrive and I say, what is your soft serve option? They say we don't have that all the fucking time. Like.

Sarah (36:17)
Okay.

Kri Gore (36:32)
Soft serve ice cream, it's not just for the summer. It's not just for boardwalks. It's not just for Ritas. please, if there are listener out there that knows like, what's the deal? Is the machine really expensive? And like, that's why people don't offer it. But like,

it gives me life. I want more of it. And I don't need this fancy shit. There is a new ice cream place. I'm not gonna name names in the city. Shit. But they have fancy soft serve. I don't need the fancy shit. I need the boardwalk shit. I need vanilla soft serve with rainbow jimmies.

Sarah (36:53)
10 seconds.

Kri Gore (37:00)
And yes, I was brought up to say Jimmy's South, or anything, or Philly thing. Thank you. I don't think so, honey. I have a lot of passion there. Thank you.

Sarah (37:05)
Love it. Head time. Oh, I love it. I need to come up with a silly one and do a replay at some point. We'll come back next time Cree's on. I'll have a silly one ready.

Kri Gore (37:13)
Yeah,

and I'll have a serious one and I will completely captivate you and you'll be like, it's been five minutes.

Do you say sprinkles or jimmies? Just curious.

Sarah (37:21)
sprinkles. I grew up in Maine though, so it's like a whole different like world up there.

Kri Gore (37:25)
we have to, that's another episode right there. Growing up Maine.

Sarah (37:27)
Another episode. Yeah, what it was like.

Yeah. The way life should be. they say it's a look, the logo, the slogan, the slogan. Yeah.

Kri Gore (37:33)
wow.

I wonder what the jersey one is. Big hair!

Sarah (37:41)
I love it. Yeah, that is a prick of Jersey. I'm like, prick of Jersey. like, I don't have to get out in the cold. Like, I'm okay with it. Yeah. Yeah.

Kri Gore (37:44)
We'll pump your gas. Everybody hates us, but...

You know, right. It's lovely. I was just there the other

day and I was like, thank you. Yes. Yeah, I like didn't know how to speak. was like, fill it with. They're like, yeah, they're like with what? I'm like, regular. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anything but that. This is lovely.

Sarah (37:57)
Go for it. Here's my card. Yeah. Regular?

Like, not the diesel one.

Oh, well, this was amazing,

Cree. Yes, thank you. Tell everyone if you can where they can find you on the internet.

Kri Gore (38:20)
Mm.

Okay so on the internet Instagram is the underscore introvert-ish that's ISH underscore therapist. Facebook I'm Kreegor.

Sarah (38:35)
website.

Kri Gore (38:35)
Oh, website, healingfromthecouch.com.

And in person, you can find me at any local ice cream establishment in Philadelphia area, knocking down doors. Yeah, let's have soft serve. Raise in hell. Yeah, I do love ice cream. So if anybody wants to talk ice cream flavors, I'm your gal year round. and Sober Curious Group.

Sarah (38:44)
That had a soft soar. It's not soared.

Hahaha!

Kri Gore (38:58)
It's a closed group, in the process right now, but yeah, there may be future groups, so hit me Thank you.

Sarah (39:04)
I hope so. It's needed. awesome. Thank you so much for taking the time. Yeah, I love chatting. Yeah. I don't.

Kri Gore (39:10)
Thank you. I love chatting. This is great. I don't even know what time it is. I'm like, is time to see a client? Nope. Not yet.

Sarah (39:16)
Good. Like, whoops, sorry guys.

Kri Gore (39:16)
Hope not.

Sarah (39:20)
All right, everybody, I'm going to link to Creed's website, Instagram, all of the things in the show notes. So be sure to check her out. we'll have her back on again. And until next week, take good

Kri Gore (39:31)
Would love to.