Therapy Beyond the Box with Shawna Lovins

Introduction and Guest Background 0:00

Hey friends, I'm your host, Dr. Elizabeth Samantha, the intuitive psychiatrist, and you're listening to stepping into soul power. Friends, today our guest is someone who is really shaking things up. She is rewriting the rules for therapists, healers, anyone who's stuck in burnout, stress, overwhelmed, she is making great things happen. Shauna Levin, she is a therapist. LPC supervisor, wellness educator, energy manager. She loves them trees. And she's the proud Leo wife, mother, recovering perfectionist, and has been doing this work, even though she looks good, she has done this for over 25 years.

Working with mentoring therapists, first responders, medical professionals, you know, the people that that make a huge difference in our lives. She is helping them get better and become the ideal healer they truly want to be. Shauna Lovin, we're so excited to have you. Welcome to the show. Thank you, thank you. I'm glad to actually be here. I, you know, for those people who I named a lot, I talked about a lotta, that you've done a while. But for our listeners who don't know you, can you tell us a little bit about your story?

Like how did you get to this place where you are now empowering people in such unique and innovative ways? Yeah, I can definitely do that. So I think I've always known that I wanted to be a helper in some kind of way. And along the journey, i realized I was not great at science because if you asked me when I as a kid, what was I gonna be? I would have told you a pediatrician. And then realizing that I was having trouble with science and chemistry and all the things you need to get into medical school, I said, OK, need find another way.

And I could recall going to counseling when I like maybe 10 and it was following the death of my father, even though the experience wasn't the greatest,

Career Path Into Counseling 2:48

but it is the idea of what we were doing and helping people. So that's kind of how I got into it. There's some other things that have kind of come along the way with, you know, trying to finish grad school. I had problems there. You know I didn't want to be a teacher because my mom and my aunt and everyone in our family are teachers and was trying not to do that at all. And so that's kind. Of how I fell into psychology and fell. Into the counseling world. When I started having trouble trying. To finish Grad school I couldn't do my thesis and it's a really long story but.

I couldn't do my thesis and I had to take extra classes and do a practicum. And when I started taking the extra class is that allowed me the space that I needed to prepare for the exam that you need. And so it's kind of like, this is, I think, where God, energy, source, whatever you want to call him, kind led me to this space. But then if we go along a little bit further, didn't know what the heck I was going to do or who I'm going counsel or any of that. I had no idea. I just knew that I was drawn to first responders, people in the helping professions, partly because I think my husband is one, and then he would kind of throw people my way, but I've had experience in school districts, the jail, residential, IOP, like I have been all over the place.

And I think when I started to, so there's two pieces to it. When I start to work with associates and helping them become licensed in the process for the state, I thing that showed me there was a lot of stuff that we didn't learn in grad school. A lot. So that kind of led into like, OK, well, how can I basically create grad school 2.0? And let's learn all the stuff that we didn't learn in school. And a lot of it is practical application of things. The other piece that got me where I'm at is my own personal journey.

I was diagnosed with fibroids. in 2009 and so my transition to live here in Texas a year before that you know you go to all the doctors before you leave because you don't know how long it's going to be till you can find someone new and everything was fine and within a years time I had gone from perfectly healthy ready to have babies to you have 11 fibroids and the largest is the size of a grapefruit. And so knowing that, that led... Okay, go ahead. I'm just thinking because both we are medical people.

Yes. For people who don't know what that is, like, can you just give them... Fibroids? Yes, so fibroid is basically a non-cancerous tumor and it lives in your uterus. It can be in it, on it around it. The outside, inside the wall is like that's where it And they can grow pretty large there. If you Google it, you could probably find pictures where they're like watermelons or just they are huge. They can be huge, but they cause so much pain and discomfort. It changes your cycle. Yeah, it can prevent you from having children.

There's so many things that come with that. But there's the mental health piece that I figured out So when I'm on my journey at the time, the only solution was basically have surgery. Like I didn't want to have a hysterectomy. Oh, I don't wanna have it because I still wanted to try to And the doctor's telling you, yeah, they're going to come back unless you have kids. And that's when I dove deep into why are they here? Where do they come from? How can we fix it? And, that is how I learned about the Xenoestrogens and all the toxins and everything.

It got me in a place where I had my own holistic journey, but then on the backside of that, when things kind of calmed down, it helped me figure out like for mental health wise, what herbs, because I'm a self taught herbalist. So what are herbs and supplements and what natural things that you can do for your mental, not just for regular health, for you mental. What kind got me where I am at today? It's so inspiring because you really took your, it's like you claimed it and took help into your own hands and educated yourself.

Fibroids and Holistic Healing Journey 7:48

Yes, I did. Because I was mad at what the doctor was trying to tell me. I didn't want to hear that. But you advocated for yourself and I think that's such an important point is that You know, a lot of times we are looking outside of ourselves for the answer, but there's so much wisdom that we have, that can come up with. We can do a LOT for ourselves, you know. Beyond what we're doing. Right. So you, you are very currently very, very busy woman. I want to ask, um, cause you're, your mentoring and you.

You're practicing. Um, and, You know, it sounds like you you were adding these holistic practices to your practice. And so I guess I'd like to speak a little bit to that, like, In what ways are you incorporating that holistic piece? Yeah. Definitely. Yes. So I actually am taking a step back from seeing individual clients at this point, just because I wanted to focus more on associates and their journey to full licensure and trying to give them grad school 2.0. But in the process of all that and blending everything that I have learned, I focus a lot on somatic based things.

Of course, nature, because nature is a great teacher, no matter what. And just trying to bring in that as a therapist in particular, doesn't matter medical professional, whoever, you are a human outside of your profession. Like you have your own things that you. Have to deal with. And a lot of times there's this place where we get looked at as if we have the magic wand and we could just fix all the problems. And it's just like, no, I can maybe help you on your journey, but I Can't fix that. But I've also found working with a lot of first responders in particular is like they know what they're supposed to do to manage their mental health, to managed burnout, manage compassion, fatigue and secondary trauma.

but they don't have the practical application piece of it. And so they often get stuck in what do I do? I've tried all of these things. In that process of trying to figure that out for my clients, I think that's where I brought human design into things because now when we use human designs, you're living based upon your unique energetic blueprint that is you. not anybody else, it's not a duplicate, its you. And when you learn the pieces of it and you tap into that, the blueprint tells you exactly how to live.

It gives you the guidance of where you may have pitfalls, where may need to kind of tighten things up. or what is naturally yours. And when you live according to your design, then you can start adding that into all the other things you do like your work, your practice, you're more aligned self-care practices because I'm finding that even though we have self care, we know what that is and we can easily check the boxes depending on your type, Your design type. You may not be doing the right thing.

So can you explain exactly because I'm you know there's some people who are are not as familiar with the human design. Can you just kind of describe like exactly what is that? What does it entail? So human Design is a combination of like Chakra, Ai Qing, Kabbalah, Astrology. Mix all together to create like this sense of who you are as a person, what you know consciously and what, you don't know unconsciously and like how you're actually designed. So there's two sides of the chart. And if you actually look at the charts, it looks confusing and it's just, It's like take it layer by layer to understand each piece of it.

The best way or easiest way I like to explain it is take your average personality tests, a Myers-Briggs, You know some of the other ones and add astrology to that and then put that on steroids That's the best way that I can explain like exactly what is human design and again is unique to each person because it's based upon your birth chart and So there's an aspect of you that gets developed the moment that you're born, and that's usually the conscious things that You understand, but about 88 days before your actual birth is when your unconscious piece comes into play and comes on board.

That's so interesting.

Holistic Therapy and Human Design 13:12

Yeah, taking astrology and then adding those other components to it. I guess what I want to get at is what would someone expect if they were going to come in for an appointment? So if I'm going to do a reading, we would first pull your chart. And again, it's knowing you're having your birth date, the exact time that you were born, and the location that were you born. When you plug it into the chart, I have a system that I actually use that kind of pulls everything up for you. But it's going to give you your type and there's five major types.

It's gonna give your profile, which is a couple of numbers, it is going give the strategy that you should operate out of, and it will give authority on how you operate as well. Taking all these pieces. It's let's learn the basics first if we can learn The basics and lean into the basic then you can maybe start to see changes in your life I know when I first pulled my chart because I knew about human design a long time ago And I'm just was looking at the chart was like, oh my god This is a lot of stuff here like I don't understand and kind of like closed the book and And then sometime later, probably about three years now, I've kind of been in what we call experiments.

And so about 3 years ago I decided, OK, i'm going to do this. I'm a pull it in and I must see. and the way that it blew my mind away is crazy. It's just like, oh, that's why I do what I. Oh, That's Why I think the Way That I Think. That why i am the. Way that I am and it just made sense. And so I started to lean into that and started notice changes within my life. Like relationship with my husband has improved. You know, it's knowing my energy type has got me to do rest differently and my self care differently.

And all of these things are just helping just improve me as a person. So now I can always to my best, try to bring my to like any clients or associates or whoever I'm working with. And so when, when you're doing a reading is basically just understanding what is going on with you and how can you try start experiments to apply this to your everyday life. I love that. What is going on with you? So you have a great, better understanding of, you know, who this, this soul that is sitting in front of you and, and then what you can actually do in your life to make the situation better.

Yes. Exactly. So, and that just having that information is powerful, almost seems like a map or a roadmap to kind of help guide you along on your path. It is. it's definitely unique to you and you're not going to find anyone else that has the same exact chart as you. You're just, you are not. You know, that's like I mentioned my husband and how our relationship has improved because I ended up pulling his chart at some point. And then it it's, like, the aha moment of even though we are the same type, we have different profiles, We have a different authority.

So there's some nuanced differences between us. But it helped me understand how can I communicate with him better? so that our relationship just naturally improved because I understand that he's in his head a lot versus I'm in my solar plex and I am an emotional being. And so I have to allow the time and space to kind of happen. Now when we have conversations, it's kind like I look for, well, what is his Because he can communicate that and then, okay, what is my gut telling me about how I should be feeling about this?

And I might have to let the emotional wave pass before I can make a full decision. Oh, that's beautiful. So even the way that you're talking about using it is informing you know, your close relationships, how you relate with other people. Like if, if they, yeah. So if had their human design and they know what's going on with them and you, you might be able to work a little bit together. Yes. For sure. Nice. Hold on. Have you done? couples stuff with? I haven't. And that could be something that would be very interesting to get into.

I typically don't do couples counseling. So that might be some interesting thing to look at in the future for sure. Yeah. Just, I'm just thinking about the couples. You know, we hear about like Gottman method and all that, but like just think of the possibility of having this. in the mix. Right, and that actually will be very helpful for first responders, people in helping professions, because as a wife of a first responder, I know very well about how we often have anxiety because of our spouse's job and what they're doing and how that translates to what we're And then there is the communication piece that gets mixed in because you could be two ships in the night kind of going past.

And you may never see each other because of whatever shift that they're working. You work day shift, regular time. So there's just nuances that can help with that. But you bring up a good point. That is a Good idea to have like a couples type reading for first responders. Yeah. I'm just thinking about what you're saying right now.

Using Human Design in Relationships 19:36

because so many of us have someone within our family or a loved one who has a job that is, who is a first responder. And I'm wondering, and you work with patients, you've worked with therapists, mentoring therapist. How do you what are the techniques strategies, especially with all the stuff going on right now that you have found to be helpful to help people, you know, stay centered or get centered? I think the biggest thing is just the somatic work and it's dropping into your body. And what is your buddy telling you?

Because it is always speaking to you. It's always giving you the clues, it always gives you what you need is that you have to take a minute and stop and actually listen to it. And then the other layer to that would be is to everything that's going on with us, there's sort of a shadow layer that kind of happening, some kind underlying thing happening going and is how can I address that piece and honor whatever is going our inner child if that is what it is and just take that to make ourselves healthier, better.

And so then that goes back to what I was mentioning before is when we know what's going on and what we need to actually address, instead of checking off self-care boxes, we have more aligned strategies with our self care. Yes. For people who don't know what like shadow work is or just that concept. So what is that? Think of it as your innermost being, your inner most place. It's the kind of dark place within yourself because we all have it. It's more commonly attached to say childhood because most of our schemas, our inner thoughts, are core beliefs, like how we operate as people is developed by the time we're 13. And so think about like the unspoken rules in your house growing up that is connected to how we operate and live.

What tends to happen is when we start running into trouble with the way that operates, it creates conflicts for us as adults. I'm not saying that as an adult, you can't have any issues or something like trauma happens or things happen. But it creates something different, but I'm speaking like our shadows are typically connected to stuff that we dealt with when we were kids, children. And so we have to take a space to honor that because That is how we can change what's presently happening to us when we honor what happened to use in the past.

Burnout, Shadow Work, and Self-Care 23:00

We can't change, what happens in us in past, we cant fix it, but we definitely acknowledge and accept the experience that happened and then be able to figure out what do we need to do present. to move forward and to not allow that space to dictate how we operate now. That is really powerful. If you can do that work, it can make a huge, huge difference. I wanted to switch gears and ask another question. You've worked with lots of different types of medical professionals and in the area of burnout.

And I wonder if you could speak to just what you have seen, I guess the most common blocks that you've seen or the things that that negatively impact their ability to really listen to their authentic selves? I think the biggest one that comes up the most is as so we go to school, they in many ways they put you in this box. This is how you're supposed to operate. this is what you learn. You can only, they'll tell therapists like you work for agency, you worked for pennies. There's so many negative things that they tell you in this box that you're supposed to live in.

And so as a medical professional or someone in this box, it's trying to get outside of the box because you're conditioned to think one way and to operate one-way. But you often know that whatever is outside-of-the-box is probably working better. That's how I figured out how like herbs work a lot better for professionals when it comes to burnout, it's just the fact of you can do this outside of the box, but you just have to find out what works for you because the other piece to it is time management.

It's the mindset around it. And it s like, we don't have t have these extravagant themes or extravagant routines to take care of ourselves. It could be the small moments in the day. Like I was mentioning, if you know what your human design is, what you're type is it's going to tell you naturally how do you operate. I'm not sure if I mentioned, I am a 3-5 emotional projector. Projectors are known for being calmer and less work, less output, and I have found that if, this is why I love working from home, because I found if if go, not even taking a nap, but just go lay down, That is self care for me because I'm resting.

And just the act of laying down, I don't have to go to sleep. I could be scrolling. You know, maybe watching TV or a movie or something, but it's the active, just resting and not doing anything has been helpful for just. The way my energy level flows. But knowing. If you can be outside of the box to do these things is what gives professionals a hard time because they think they can't do that. They think, they'll get in trouble. I think there'll be, you know, written up at work if that's the case, or, someone's going to complain to the board or any of that, and that just not true.

As we are getting a little bit low on time, but I would love to ask you about You know, because you've really, really made steps to empower yourself and empower other people. And I guess my question for you is, what does it mean for You to step into soul power? Well, that's a good question. I think embodiment. I think I have learned just over time that the more that I lean into what I'm trying to teach other people, the more it resonates with others. And so me honoring myself first and foremost is what I have found where my peace is, where joy is where, you know, I may not be able to do everything that I want to in a given day, but I also know that that's okay because there's always tomorrow.

I love that. That's okay, because there's always tomorrow. Yes, we don't have to do everything in one day. Okay, that is amazing. I mean, well, thank you. Thank you so much for sharing today. Before we go, can you tell our listeners where they can find you if they want to learn more about your work and connect with you?

Stepping Into Soul Power and Closing 28:36

The best place really is just my website. So at ShaunaLovinLPCS.com, you can find whatever I'm doing, hosting. I know I have a new workshop on human design and burnout that is going to be coming out in April. And that's going to be available. So I'm really excited and I have a different roll out for that where I am doing it more podcast style. I really am excited to see how well this works for busy professionals versus like webinar or like something video based. But my website is probably the best place to reach out to me.

Perfect. What an uplifting, empowering conversation. Shawna, thank you. Thank you, Thank You for being here today and sharing Thank for having me. I really appreciate it. If you haven't heard it yet today, I appreciate you the soul in me honors the If you want to see more episodes like this, please subscribe or click here. And friends, if this spoke to you, leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you.