Journey to Well

Harmonizing Healing: Integrating IFS Therapy & Reiki | Olivia Testa

• Hannah • Season 1 • Episode 38

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This episode explores the integration of Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy & Reiki, highlighting how these modalities can foster profound self-healing. Olivia Testa (Human Design 1/3 emotional Manifesting Generator) shares her journey as an IFS therapist, illuminating how we can connect with our internal parts and recognize the innate resources within us.

In this episode, we explore :
• Olivia's background and her approach to therapy
• Explanation of Internal Family Systems and its significance
• Differences between IFS and traditional psychotherapy
• The benefits of incorporating Reiki into therapy
• Understanding Reiki and its practices
• The intersection of Western and Eastern healing approaches
• Emphasizing self-reliance and inner resources in healing
• Connection between human design and personal journeys
• Information on Olivia's upcoming retreat in Mexico

Connect with Olivia! @olivia_testa_lcsw

Let's connect on social media! You can find me @ _journeytowell
Be sure to reach out and say hello 🤍

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be well, my friend
xx Hannah

Speaker 1:

Hello, welcome back to the podcast. So today, honestly, we have a really good one. If y'all listened, a long time ago I don't even know when it was I had Tammy Sullenberger on this podcast and she is the founder of the One Inside. She wrote a book. She has her own podcast. She's her own podcast. She's also an IFS therapist. That was probably one of my highest actually listened to podcasts.

Speaker 1:

So today we have Olivia Testa. She is also an IFS therapist, but she has such a beautiful perspective. She's also Reiki certified, so she does this kind of combination of bringing energy work and somatics into traditional psychotherapy, which maybe we'll get to this. But IFS kind of takes a more bottom up approach in general, as traditional IFS therapy or as traditional therapy, ifs has a bottom up. But anyway, I'm super excited for this conversation. Olivia, thank you so much for coming on. One of my favorite things when I have guests on is just allowing them to introduce themselves, because who better to introduce you than you? So who is Olivia? And share whatever you want. No, there's no like right or wrong or long or short. Intro, however you want to introduce yourself, is welcome.

Speaker 2:

Cool. Thank you and thanks for having me. I'm really excited to be here with you. Super fun just getting to chat with you a little bit before we started. Yeah, I'm Olivia. I have my practice in Belmont, maine, and I do mostly IFS work and, like you said, incorporate energy work into those practices Sometimes.

Speaker 2:

Um, I'm a big believer in a somatic approach and really love to incorporate the body in all aspects of healing. Um, incorporate the body in all aspects of healing yeah, that's always been really important to me. I found yoga when I was in grad school and realized, like how disconnected I was from my body and from myself and didn't really didn't know any better until that time. So that kind of led me on this like exploratory path of wanting to work with people, understanding that therapy is like that traditional route, but never quite feeling like that was right for me or 100% for me. So I just sort of started like branching out. I did my yoga teacher training, reiki certifications, um, and then also reconnected with horses Uh, I grew up riding horses and reconnected to them through like a therapeutic perspective.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that was like super body based. You know what's happening right now. What are you noticing physically in your being Like, can we just be with that and really like present moment based in order to be in connection with the horses? So, yeah, I'm a I'm a horse girl at heart. I love that. I think that's me. I just I really love people, I love humanity. I love that. I think that's me. I just I really love people. I love humanity, I love nature and I love that I get to work with people in this way and in this capacity.

Speaker 1:

I was telling you earlier. I feel like not again. Not that I've looked super hard, but I've never met an a therapist that's especially trained in IFS, that does like Reiki and practices that way. Typically, what I've seen is maybe like a previous therapist in a previous life of theirs where they did maybe the traditional therapy and then they found yoga or Reiki or whatever and then they decided to become more of like a holistic practitioner where maybe they got certified in massage or body work or just did Reiki and they kind of left their therapy practice.

Speaker 1:

I have another really great friend who's also been on the podcast I guess everyone's been on the podcast but she was a therapist and then found human design and now she's a human design coach. So not that we ever leave fully what we're doing, Like it's just she's not seeing traditional therapy clients anymore, but she brings a really beautiful perspective having therapy as a background. But anyway, before I forget, because I feel like I always do, Olivia is a 1-3 emotional authority manifesting generator, which we an emotional place and, like I'm a pretty emotional person, which I love, I love sharing human design with people, because it truly is never, never should be something that you feel is super out of alignment. It should be something that solidifies. Oh, this is how my energy most wants to flow. This is like how I've always kind of done things or wanted to do things, but somebody made fun of me for it or somebody told me it was the wrong way. So it really should be something that helps build the confidence. So I love that you already do the, do the decisions based off of your emotions and kind of ride that which we would call like riding the emotional wave riding your emotional wave when you're making a decision.

Speaker 1:

I want to talk about IFS first. So because I've only had I believe I hope I'm not forgetting, but I believe I've only had one IFS conversation before on my podcast. So can you just briefly explain what is IFS? How is it different from traditional psychotherapy?

Speaker 2:

Yes, with the disclaimer that the woman you had on your podcast before did an excellent job describing it.

Speaker 1:

She did. Yes, Go back and listen to that episode.

Speaker 2:

Go back, go back. She absolutely crushed it. So IFS looks at each person as being its own, like internal family system. So it started because Dick Shorts, who created the model, worked with actual family systems and realized that, like in each of us, there is our own internal family system. So that's how we get parts and parts. Each have like their own emotional experiences, needs, wants, desires, beliefs um, they're like little personalities inside each of us and ifs just really gives us the lens to be able to work with those parts instead of against them. I think a lot of times we are learning to cope with anxiety or try to get rid of anxiety. This is just an example.

Speaker 2:

But instead of trying to get rid of or push it aside, we're kind of just diving right right toward it from a really like non-pathologizing perspective. There's no bad parts, they're all welcome and it just gives us a way to be able to, like, sit with ourselves, validate ourselves, attune to ourselves and kind of be the parent that those parts maybe needed and didn't have. So we do that through what is called self-energy, and the understanding is that every person embodies self-energy. Sometimes we're able to access that more than others because parts can make that a little bit cloudy, but the goal is to be able to develop a relationship between yourself and your parts so that there's harmony and balance and wholeness, instead of having to reject any aspect of what makes you you.

Speaker 2:

I love that have you ever read?

Speaker 1:

the book the untethered soul? I haven't, but it's on my list, okay, do you know what it's about though? Yes, so I read it shortly after, like not purposefully, but shortly after I originally learned about IFS, and I feel like in the untethered soul it gives the most beautiful description of self energy. So, anyway, I would list, I would read the book. It's a really beautiful book, but just it always reminds me, like maybe it was because I learned about them at the same time, like IFS. And then I read the book but I was like, wow, this is a really great example of self energy and like it, just how to access self energy too, which is kind of fun. So, anyway, thank you for that.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for that intro. I'm very curious. I don't even think I asked you this before we started recording, but what made you interested in IFS? Like you learned about it before it became, I don't know, popular, I don't know Before it became like super mainstream. Not that it even is mainstream yet, but you got trained and certified very early on in the process. So what made you interested about it when you probably didn't even have that much information about it? Yeah, I didn't even have that much information about it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I had a professor in grad school um 2017 I think that was talking about. I don't even know that. She said they were non-traditional approaches, but like it was very clear like hey, these are kind of new, upcoming approaches to treating trauma.

Speaker 2:

Like it's important to look to, like, look into this and keep going this and IFS was one of those um, and then I started working with an IFS therapist myself personally, so I had this experience of like hearing about it at school and then also my own personal experience with it and really resonated with the model. And then I was like, okay, this is it, I really want to do this and did the training in 2019. And here, we are.

Speaker 1:

Here we are. How was your experience, Do you mind? Not that you have to share any personal examples unless you feel called, but how was your experience working with an IFS therapist versus a traditional psychotherapist?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think at that time it was really really what I needed. I had worked with other therapists before and I was like never consistent. I didn't really feel like it was doing much. I didn't really feel aligned and that's no shade for those therapists like they were doing a great. I just didn't understand myself enough to like utilize that experience in the way that I could have.

Speaker 2:

So being in a session with a therapist who's trained in IFS like just really helped me uncover my own parts that I mean I was like 22 at the time. I really just didn't. I didn't know what, I didn't know about who, what was happening in here, and so to have somebody saying like that sounds like a part like could we be a little curious about what's going on? For that one Was like whoa, okay, hold on. Okay, I can do that. I can be curious about that experience. And it's also really helpful for me and for, I think, a lot of my clients that you get to close your eyes, you get to be in this internal space. There's not like any pressure of having to make eye contact with someone sitting across from you or worrying about what you look like or what you know. It's like a very internal connective experience which I love and I think resonates with a lot of people yeah who I work with yeah, I think it would too.

Speaker 1:

I agree, I like that a lot, uh. So let's talk about the other aspect of Reiki. So what drew you to Reiki? I know you said you kind of started with yoga, then then got into Reiki, but what drew you to Reiki?

Speaker 2:

I'm trying to think back. I think I've always kind of felt a pull to that. When I was younger, I was like this is so weird, like I want to be magic, like I want to be a witch, like I believe I love that and I started seeing a Reiki practitioner, like, I think, as soon as I turned 18, and I could do it by myself, like in small town Guilford, new Hampshire.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to be a Reiki practitioner, Wild and then when I did my yoga teacher training, the Reiki one certification was a part of that training, so that just felt really natural was a part of that training. So that just felt really natural.

Speaker 1:

And in that training obviously I realized like oh, it's not real magic Like this already exists.

Speaker 2:

But I had this respect that like, oh, those people have like figured something out Like they have some like healing magic. And then it was like, oh, everybody can access this. Like how amazing is that anybody be attuned to reiki. Anybody can, um, be the channel for reiki energy, and I really loved that, um that it wasn't like I needed to reach for something outside of me. It was like no, this is just here, this is innate. Like why don't we just channel that for good?

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I just continued. I did level two and level three and I love that practice yeah.

Speaker 1:

So how do you? How? How does working with you look like? Is it? Because whenever, most of the time, whenever I've gotten reiki, it's like laying down on a massage table and then just you just kind of like zone out um, so how does that work? Do you do reiki and therapy at the same time?

Speaker 2:

yeah, it depends. So sometimes sessions will look like doing a little bit of ifs work and then moving to the massage table and sort of integrating with reiki, and sometimes we do ifs work while we're on the table doing energy work. So I think it really depends on the person and where they're at, and I always try to meet people where they're at and what's feeling right for them receive Reiki. You're kind of like flowing through different states.

Speaker 2:

You're not super present and I think that is really helpful for some of the integration. So if that's what you're seeking, then receive the Reiki after having done some of the internal work can be like really soothing and balancing for your nervous system and just like taking a pause with the work that you just did. Yeah, and, on the other hand, doing ifs work while you're in the energy of receiving and just generally like more grounded and connected to yourself, opens up space to do the work in a deeper way. Sometimes it helps people access different parts, because hands-on work is always going to elicit a different experience. Yeah, so it really. It really depends. I'm pretty fluid in how I yeah, hey.

Speaker 2:

I think that's good.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I think you need to be. I mean especially with there. I mean both modalities. I think they really just kind of go with the flow of meeting people where they're at. I realized I don't even know that I've talked about Reiki on my podcast. I probably have, but can we define Reiki for those of us that are listening that are like what the fuck is Reiki?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's a Japanese tradition meant to bring healing, meant to bring balance, meant to bring harmony to mind, body and spirit. So Reiki defined is universal life force, energy, and it's believed that that energy just already exists. You know, we are all energy, everything is made up of energy and that life force, energy, flows through the practitioner to the person and it's believed and trusted that that energy just flows where it needs to go areas in the body that may be depleted or lacking energy, spiritual needs as well, and I think, mental and emotional. It's not common-on modality where the practitioner is essentially just a channel for the energy. Practitioners get attuned to the energy of reiki, meaning like they can not give but practice energy work.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. Yeah, there's some things I always. One of the goals on my podcast is to make everything that I talk about very easily digestible and very beginner friendly, and you don't. I sometimes forget what I know that other people might not know, although I think that a lot of people have heard of Reiki. In my experience, probably eight or nine out of 10 people have heard of Reiki, but maybe they don't know necessarily what that means. They've just maybe heard the word or they know. You know you can go to like a massage place and get Reiki done. I've definitely never, never heard of it in terms of therapy.

Speaker 1:

So here's my question when we're talking about therapy, that to me is very Western medicine, very masculine, like left, left brain I don't know if left brain is even the right way, but like they're very, like all in your head. It's very scientific base and data driven and all of these things. Reiki very much the opposite of like Eastern medicine. I mean it obviously comes from like traditional. It's aligned with like traditional Chinese medicine, maybe a little bit more ethereal. Maybe some people would call it woo-woo witchy. I mean whatever you want to call it, which you and I were talking beforehand that I grew up with Reiki.

Speaker 1:

My mom was Reiki certified. I think she was a Reiki master before I was even born. She went to massage school. She's done energy work. So I grew up and this was very normal for me.

Speaker 1:

But I also consider myself very scientific and data-driven. Actually, we're going to talk about this at the end, but our one line in human design is called the researcher, and so I really love to research information and get the facts. So if you tell me something, I really appreciate knowing like okay, where did you get that information? Are you making that up? Did you get it from a scientific journal? Reading like scientific studies is actually kind of a weird hobby of mine, like I like doing that. Oh gosh, sorry, I hit that mic if it was loud for you.

Speaker 1:

So I've always I've always seen the connection of like right brain, left brain and how they just kind of interweave, or Eastern medicine and Western medicine actually can be very complimentary to each other. They don't have to be black and white where we cannot mesh anything. It can be actually like this gray area, like the combination of the black and the white. But I also understand that not everyone has that perspective People maybe not a lot of people have grown up with more Eastern philosophies, so now I lost my question because I was explaining so much. So my question is well, one of them is do you find a lot of pushback in your field of what you specifically do, or maybe in pushback in your clients perspective on that, because obviously you see some sort of connection? But what's your perspective on the combination and meshing of these two seemingly very different approaches to medicine or healing?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, I think there's a reason I ended up with IFS, because I don't feel like I fit as well with that. More like left brain does for yours, or, yeah, left brain right.

Speaker 1:

I'm calling it left brain, I don't know if that's the right thing. You know what I'm thinking about too. In human design we have arrows and, like the left, left facing arrows are very like masculine, very structured, very, very data-driven. So that's why I'm calling it left brain, but it might be right brain.

Speaker 2:

Okay, well, that energy, whatever it is yeah, not feeling as connected to that definitely led me to IFS, because I think that IFS is actually a fairly spiritual model. So for me, there was no other option. For me, like I was always going to do a more holistic based practice. I wouldn't be able to do this work if I wasn't operating this way, because it wouldn't feel right. True, yeah, and you know what? Surprisingly, I don't feel like I get very much pushback at all from other professionals.

Speaker 2:

When I talk about what I do, people are usually fairly interested and I've had a lot of people say like, oh, I've had ideas about that too, but I just wasn't really sure if people would respond to it Like are you, are you able to have clients respond to that?

Speaker 2:

And yes, like, yes, I am. Because I think people also feel that pull, like maybe they don't necessarily, they can't describe that, but I think we are all like deeply yearning for a deeper connection and a deeper connection to ourselves and those around us and the earth, you know, etc. Um, so when I when I like pre-screen clients, I always do a consultation call. I tell them up front like, hey, this is how I practice, is this something that you'd be open to. You don't have to be, but I just want to let you know like this is the framework and the perspective that I come from, and most of the time people are really intrigued and really interested in that, especially as they know that I do IFS, so they're already willing to like step outside of the box a little bit. So I'm not really, I'm not encouraging them to go that much further little bit.

Speaker 1:

So I'm not really I'm not encouraging them to go that much further. Yeah, that makes sense. That totally makes sense, I I would assume. I would assume that most of the people, if they're coming to you or you, that's a good point, like if you're coming to IFS, and also if you feel like you've tried traditional therapy and it just didn't work for you, like you said, then that's typically when we feel a little bit more open to trying other modalities and maybe IFS is something that would interest you.

Speaker 1:

It's very body based. To me, it's very somatic, which, if you're listening, you might or might not know that I'm a somatic breathwork practitioner, so I got trained in a specific form of breathwork called somatic breathwork and so the co-founders of somatic breathwork they pull a lot of their training from, like trauma training and also just somatic bodywork. Actually, the founder, steven Jaggers, um, he started off as a body worker for years, so he pulls a lot of his training from there. But as I've learned about IFS and experienced IFS, there's a lot of connections to like really tapping in and tuning into our body, which is a lot of the work that I do too. Actually, just even from a human design perspective, that's something that I say all the time.

Speaker 1:

Like we only have two energy centers which you can think of. Our energy centers very similar to our chakra system. There's nine human design centers, seven chakras, but roughly they're based off of the chakra system. So there's only two centers in our head and everything else there's seven centers in our body. So, just like the statistics of that alone is indicative of an invitation to like, get into our body and feel. Feel our emotions, feel our instinct, feel our, our gut response, feel like how our heart feels and what wants to come out of our throat. Or, in terms of communication, feel your root center, feel grounded. Um, so, so like anything to. To me that's always, that's always a huge information. Uh, invitation is anything somatic based. Check it out.

Speaker 1:

Um but I'm curious have you done any other somatic training I know you and I talked about. Actually there's a woman, uh, a leader I guess in IFS called, uh, her name's Susan McConnell and she wrote a book called Somatic IFS and it's really bringing even more like. So. Ifs is somatic based. I like that you said. It's kind of more spiritually based too, but then she brings even a little bit deeper into like tuning into the body and the somatics behind it. But is there any other insight that you have on somatic work or is is it just kind of your, your reiki and feeling, feeling people's energy?

Speaker 2:

well, I think what you're saying is totally spot on. Like, when I start IFS sessions, it always start with the body and seeing if we can notice a part as a physical sensation to begin with, or see if we can find a part in the body first. Um, and I did Susan McConnell's like IFS circle uh, somatic training. So I'm certainly not certified. That's a very long training that I would love to do someday with her, but I have like a little glimpse of that and I think that IFS opens the door to like more of the breath work and the nervous system work, which is obviously all body-based as well, and really helping people drop down. And before I start an IFS session, I typically do like a little bit of grounding, a little bit of meditation, just to try to set the stage and get people into that space. And I do that before Reiki sessions. I do that almost always because we're we're, we're busy in our bodies and we don't often slow down and soften. So so, yeah, yeah, it's definitely a somatic approach.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I, I know I spend so much time in my head, so anytime I can slow down and like root down whether it's through breath, work or meditation or Reiki you can do Reiki on yourself. You could do self Reiki. I always say, like you can do Reiki, whether you're certified or not. Like the level of it is going to be different, but this is what my mom always said. She said you have holy hands, so place your holy hands on your body and that's Reiki ultimately, and you're just sending.

Speaker 1:

Like if you have I don't know, let's say like you have a bellyache placing your hands on your abdomen and sending healing energy and just kind of imagining that healing energy. I always imagine a light I don't know if you do, but like always like a white light that's coming in either from the crown of my head down into my belly, for this example, or just kind of coming down onto my belly if I'm laying horizontal, and just imagine this like healing white light's just kind of coming. That's Reiki. That's ultimately what it is and there's kind of maybe different levels of it. But you could do it on yourself too.

Speaker 2:

I love that your mom said that I was just saying talking about this the other day, because what really matters there is the intention, and as long as you have this intention of sending love and energy and connection, I mean that's also parts work, like it's all so interconnected. And if you're, if that is the space that you're in, you're doing it. You are, you are supporting yourself, you are taking care of yourself, you're nourishing whatever it is that's going on for you.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that, I love that. So we I want to talk about two things, um, before we close, but the first question is more of an open ended question. It's what? What do you wish that like you having a platform right here, right now? What do you wish that every person knew? What message do you wish that you could like share with the world?

Speaker 2:

I think it would be that you have all of the resources that you already need within you. It's all. It's all already in there.

Speaker 1:

That's such a beautiful reminder, I know, for me man I still struggle with this all the time of looking outward, like looking even even for my mom. We were talking about my mom before we started recording, so that's how, talking about her so much, um, but I love my mom, she's the one of the most incredible human beings I've ever met, um, and even my mom I'm like she can, can heal me, she can fix me, or you know, doctors, right, we give away. We give away so much of our energy of to doctors or to other people or in our relationships. Like he made me upset or he did this to me or he's not.

Speaker 1:

I'm thinking partners, obviously, like he's not. I'm thinking partners, obviously like he's not fulfilling my need or my desire, or even siblings I mean friends anytime. Like we put so much into other people that we seldom and I'm including myself, because I do this all the time too, too of looking into other people too, for happiness, for joy, for power, for empowerment, for um, accountability, for healing, for help, and not that all of that is bad, none of it is bad, because we need people. But to remember that, to remember our power and to remember everything that we we already possess, yeah, we need someone alongside us, we need guidance and direction, but we have.

Speaker 2:

We have it already in here, and that's definitely my intention as a practitioner. I certainly don't have the answers and do not feel as though I'm the authority on that in any way, but I do trust that the people who come into my office can connect with the resources that they have within them and have that power internally for sure would you find that ifs is helpful in that aspect of like reclaiming what is that?

Speaker 1:

like your autonomy?

Speaker 2:

yeah, because essentially you are. You are the one who's meeting those wounded, tender or burdened parts. They don't have to look outside because they have you, the self right. So it's. It's that relationship between parts himself. So they don't need someone else to come and rescue them, because you're there, you're, you're jumping in and holding their hand or hugging them, reassuring them. I think the whole basis of it there's. You know, it's already in you, yeah. I'm obsessed with IFS now I'm like now I need to get an.

Speaker 1:

IFS therapist, because I really, I really am, I'm obsessed with it. All right, let's chat a little human human design, which I introduced, but so I'm going to give maybe a little bit of a deeper description, just because I know that you are not super familiar with it. So for anyone listening that is also not super familiar with it maybe this is the first podcast you're listening to Human design we have multiple aspects of human design. I'm talking about one aspect that's called our profile, and our profile is like our personality, so it might be like certain characteristics that we have, maybe ways that we move through the world, like our kind of like our energy, although it's not our energy type, which would be like manifesting generator, but it would be like our personality traits. So every profile has two numbers. The first number is what we call our conscious line, so it might be something that you feel a little bit more aware of in yourself. It might also be something that you, kind of like, see yourself as more easily than the second line is our unconscious line, which sometimes we say other people can see a lot more of this second number in us than we can see in ourselves. Another way that it's described is we have to kind of master and not like overcome, but we kind of have to master our conscious line, our first number, before we then master our second number. I'm sure there's a better word than master, but that's what we're going to go with.

Speaker 1:

So you and I both are what's called a one three, the one I already shared a little bit about. The one line is also called the researcher or the investigator. So the one line is really all about it. It's very data driven and and and likes to research things. So my mom also has a one line and like I love using like she's constantly just like going down these deep dives of of like who knows what, but whatever, it is like with with my back stuff. Right Last night I called her and, um, somebody else mentioned to me like oh, you should try magnets on your back. Which, lord, I've tried everything. So I'm like, why not try magnets? Okay, and so then like she gets on, you know, and she's doing like so much research and she's like all right, here's what you have to do, this is, this is what's going to help, and blah, blah, blah. But she's always constantly researching stuff, whether it's like food that's good for you, or energy, medicine or whatever. So that's really the one line. I see that coming in with me, like I've kind of already shared, like I just love I love knowing where people get information from. So if you're going to like especially argue something with me, have some facts that like back up your argument, because I don't want just your opinion, I want to know where you've gotten that information. That's really the one line.

Speaker 1:

Three line is the experimenter. So the three line learns through trial and error. So it's very much like I always use the example of my sister has a three line and so growing up, you know I would do something and then she'd be like don't. Then I would be like don't do that Faith, like this is a bad idea, it's a mistake, and she'd be like, no, I just I have to do it for myself to make sure that, make sure that it's a mistake, like I have to experience it and we learn through. We really learn through that experimentation and that like trial and error and just like trying things.

Speaker 1:

A big part of my three line that comes out that I said when I started my YouTube channel was you have to start before you're ready.

Speaker 1:

That's a big like motto of three lines is start before you're ready because you don't know.

Speaker 1:

Same also a little bit of this is manifesting generator energy of like we don't really know if it's fully the right decision for us until we're in it and then we're like, yeah, no, that's not it, or that's definitely the right decision. Me, like learning, my three line has really been opening myself up to sharing my failures, quote on on social media. Um, because, like, that's a big part of my business, is my platform. So, um, sharing my failures on social media and sharing like here's what I learned from it, and not like a huge, like kind of shadow side of the three line is fear of failure. So, not not so much being afraid of failure and really recognizing that you don't fail, you just learn and then sharing those again learn, I guess, learning opportunities with other people and not being afraid of of sharing those learning opportunities with other people and not being afraid of of sharing those learning opportunities or those growth moments, because that's truly how, how we were created. So that's a one three. That's how I see it in my life at least.

Speaker 2:

That makes so much sense. I like everything that you just said. I, um, I had a horse for a while. He passed in April but prior to his passing, uh, all I did was research the best like treatments for him, the best interventions for him.

Speaker 2:

Like he had a lot of chronic health issues and I spent so much time doing deep dives and I was like why? Like I didn't. I didn't really understand that. I knew why I was doing it, but you know, people can have animals and not do deep dives and take care of them. So I totally relate to that and the the three as well. Like my partner and I always joke because like I'll have an idea and then, like the next day. I always joke because like I'll have an idea and then, like the next day, I'm like doing it and he's like what you didn't even like, you didn't even plan, you didn't. Yeah, sit down and like think this from like I know, but I have an idea and like it's just happening and just need to do it just dive right in yeah, it either comes together or it doesn't.

Speaker 1:

Just dive right in. Yeah, it either comes together or it doesn't. And if it doesn't, then you learn what didn't work. Or you always learn along the way, like this would be a better way to approach this idea and then you try the better approach. But you wouldn't have learned that unless you tried it, in my opinion. I'm sure other professors would disagree. They'd be like no, there's better ways that you can do this, but but that's the three. That's just like zoning into it.

Speaker 2:

I love that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, thank you for sharing your example too, because that was that was a spot on, spot on example of a three line. Okay, so where can people find you? Where do you hang out the most? Um, and also not that we typically plug a lot of things, but I know that you have a retreat. I don't know if it's coming up, but I think that you also do retreat. So feel free to share a little bit of, maybe where people could find more information on that too, if you're, if you want to share, you don't have to.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, uh, I'm on Instagram. I'm not I'm like still figuring out how to be an Instagram business owner, but I am on Instagram. Um, it's just my name with LCSW Olivia Testa, lcsw. Um, and yeah, the retreat the retreat is March 2025. I'm leading that with my good friend, kathy. She's done these retreats for years and years and actually I attended her retreat three years ago and this year I get to be hosting with her, which feels really, really cool. That's going to be in Mexico, at Prana Del Mar, on um, the Baja Peninsula, and that's going to be a whole week of yoga, meditation, um, embodiment practices, kind of everything that we just talked about. Kathy is super aligned with energy and IFs and she's wonderful, so yeah, love it.

Speaker 1:

Yay, thank you for sharing. And also, your link um to your instagram channel will be in the description below, so you could always click the link for those of us that have bad memories and wouldn't remember how to type your name, thank. Thank you so much for coming, olivia. This was such a fun conversation. Thank you.