Back, Rooted, Renewed

The mic is back on, but the heartbeat is different—steadier, warmer, and anchored in a deeper why. After eight years leaning into wellness and thirteen months in full-time psychotherapy, I’m opening the door to a new season where safety is the foundation and presence beats perfection every time. I share the pivot from chef to therapist not as a reinvention, but as a continuation of the same thread: food, culture, rest, movement, and healing woven into one grounded way of living.

This conversation is part field report, part love letter. I tell the story of walking into a room of a hundred kids—terrified for a minute, then carried by their openness—and a teen mental health panel that shattered the myth that young people won’t share. We talk about what a truly welcoming therapy space looks like (soft light, real comfort, no sterile edges), and why even the most guarded clients relax when the room says, “You’re safe here.” We name the stigma many communities face, especially people of color, and the relief that comes when care is culturally aware, human, and practical. Across ages and backgrounds, one need keeps surfacing: to be seen and heard without punishment.

I also pull back the curtain on the quiet months: revamping my website, writing weekly reflections on wellness, nutrition, and mental health, and contributing to Brains Magazine to widen the conversation. Looking ahead, we’re exploring stress and burnout through a nervous system lens, cultural perspectives on mental health, and everyday practices that restore balance without the all-or-nothing trap. Expect guest voices—colleagues, clients who choose to share, friends, and the people whose paths we cross—because healing is communal. If this resonates, subscribe, share with someone who needs a gentler pace, and leave a review with the one question you want us to tackle next. Let’s build a season that feels like a safe room you can carry with you.

Chapters

• 1:20 A New Chapter Begins
• 2:16 From Chef to Psychotherapist
• 3:28 Facing Fear, Finding Flow with Kids
• 5:19 Teens, Honesty, and Real Hope
• 6:30 Building Safety: Space and Practice
• 7:51 Inclusive Care Across Cultures
• 9:08 Why the Pause, What’s Next
• 9:46 Writing, Website, and Wider Voice
• 10:29 The Podcast’s Refreshed Mission
• 11:31 Community, Interaction, Your Questions
• 12:24 Themes Ahead and Guest Plans
• 12:47 Closing: Presence Over Perfection

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:51

Welcome back to that. I think yes, it has been a while. For those who've been listening from the beginning, thank you for your patience. While I took some time away, and if you're brand new here, you join me at the perfect moment. Because this is the start of a new chapter, both for me and for this partners. Since my last episode, you know, life has shifted. You know, and many of you knew me as Cheflerin, you know, rooted in hospitality and culinary work. But over the last few years, my journey has been carrying a little deeper, if you might, you know, if you might notice into wellness and healing. Well, about maybe the last eight years or so. But now I am fully in psychotherapy practice. And it feels like a natural continuation of everything I've done. Still about mind and body, but with an even more intentional focus on emotional well-being. What I've realized is that the threat has always been the same. Food, culture, rest, movement, and healing. It's all connected, you know. And now in my practice, I get to sit with people to witness their journeys and to walk alongside them because it's been one of the most meaningful shifts in my life. And so I needed that time, you know, the honeymoon moon period, you know, to just be, you know, and enjoy being in it full time. Before I was just doing a, you know, a client here or there, but not fully in it. But I've been fully in it now for about 13 months. And and and I must say it's been very meaningful. One experience I remember in the early this summer, United Way TCI had a summer camp, and they invited me to come down like a colleague to talk to the kids about emotions and expressing emotions and not being ashamed. And I thought I was maybe going to maybe a group of 20, 25, 30. Oh my goodness. When I arrived, it was like about a hundred, a little over a hundred kids. Now, let me tell you, I'm going to be honest. I was terrified. I thought, how am I going to manage all these little ones, even with my colleagues, and keep their attention and guide the session, you know? But when I walked in, after a while, like within minutes, the fare melted away. Everything just flowed. The love in that room was overwhelming. The hugs, the little kisses, the pure openness of these children. It touched me so deeply, you know. Of course, a week later, you know, I was laughing to myself because I had the worst call for two weeks. I kept joking with my friends and colleagues that those of the Germans just got me. But I say that with love because it reminded me of how powerful it is just show, even when we're scared. And the reward is always greater than the fair. As a matter of fact, I have an alternate of about a week's time at the school. And I have to, I am, I am just as nervous. But you know, I'm no longer afraid. I'm looking forward to being in my kids again. And another experience that really touched me was being on a discussion panel at a one-day conference for teenagers on mental health. And uh, you know, let me tell you something. It was it was eye-opening. I expected a bit of resistance from teenagers, you know, maybe a wall of silence. But what I found was the complete opposite. Those teens were so open, and their emotions, their fears, what moves them, how they think and feel. It was such a reminder that you just need to give people, especially young people, the space and the safety to be real, and they'll surprise you with their honesty. That conversation filming is so much hope about our young people in a time when people tend to think, you know, these kids are so, you know, they're exposed to social media, they're they're losing their empathy. No, that's that gave me hope. And that's what I've really found across the board in this new chapter, you know, when I'm connecting with a 20-year-old, a 48-year-old, a 60-year-old client, nine times out of 10, what people need most is safety. And I strive to provide that. You know, that's become my foundation because it took me a long time to find that sense of safety for myself. And that's why it's so important to me because once I did, I realized how powerful it is. So now I try to create it for others. When somebody steps into my therapy room, space, you know, space for it feels like a little lounge. That's what somebody says. There's soft cushions and candles and blankets and posing chairs. It's not clinical at all. There's nothing clinical at all the room. The lighting is warm and it's inviting. It's like a place to breathe because I created that safe space for me. And this and as a therapist, I'm sharing it with my clients. And you know what? Even the guys who come in, sometimes nervous, sometimes a bit guided. Eventually they relax and they realize I'm not a scary therapist. We just connect human to human. And um another thing I found very meaningful in this whole chapter over the past year has been the diversity of people that I've worked with. As a black woman, it means a lot to connect with people of color and to hold that space in a in a in a culture that we still deal with stigma and fear about what are people gonna think about me going to a therapist. But it's also been helpful to you know to work with clients from different backgrounds, Asia, or Latin America, the parts of the Caribbean, and even Caucasian clients, and that commonality of creating a safe space has been the key to that. Because what I've learned is that the need for safety, the need to be seen and heard, it transfer, it transcends the race, background, or culture. Mental health is a common need that connects all of us. That's emotional connection. So when I stepped back from the podcast, at first it wasn't a conscious decision. I was just too busy. But then it became a conscious decision. I wasn't sure when or how I returned, but that time allowed me to grow to deepen my practice and to really understand what I want this platform to be. And now I come back with new energy, new stories, and a strong sense of purpose. Even though the podcast has been quiet, I haven't been completely absent. My website has been completely revamped. It's uh, you know, theitellifestyle.com. And my blog on the the page has been updated, you know, weekly and with reflections on wellness, nutrition, and the mental health. So that's a good thing. And something when I'm especially called up, I've become an executive contributor, executive contributor for Brains Magazine, writing mostly about mental health and lifestyle. That has given me another way to share my voice and to you know just connect with a wider community of readers who are also on their journey. So, what's the new direction of the podcast? That's so new, just another changes. Still, we're gonna still stick to honest conversations about mental health and real life, reflections and insights from my psychotherapy practice, and as always, a holistic approach to that connects mind, body, and spirit. My hope now is that am I there yet? Becomes a space where we can slow down and reflect, and just remember that we are not alone. And I want this to be interactive. I I still love, I still love the occasional message from one of my listeners, but I I would love some more. Like I'd love to hear what questions you're carrying, what topics you'd like me to explore. You can reach me through my socials, I tell lifestyle, or I am I am Irish Auto. You can send me a message from my my blog, my podcast page on BuzzGround. This isn't just my journey. It has become very clear to me, Delton Down, that this is our journey. What started out as a solo, just me during COVID, just talking through things for myself to make sense of things, has turned into a community, and I really appreciate that. So we're here, a new season, a new chapter, and I thank you all for giving me the space to pause. And I thank you for being here now as we move forward together. In the weeks ahead, I'm the gathering to themes like stress and burnout, cultural perspectives on mental health, and practical ways to restore balance in our daily lives. I'm looking forward to this new journey with openness and joy. It really is a new game. And I'll have guests, of course, maybe some of my fellow colleagues, clients who want to share their stories, my friends, just people who I meet, as you know, I meet people and we just jump into it. So that's being said, this is just this episode was just to say hello, hello, hello, hello again, and that I'm back. And on to the next time, remember, progress isn't about perfection, it's about presence. So this is Larry, and you're listening to Aye There Yet. I'll see you in the next episode. Bye bye.