Episode 12

full
Published on:

3rd Oct 2023

Unravelling Anxiety 2

About Anxiety

In today's episode of MaryLayo Talks, I'm with guest, Suzi Williams, a psychotherapist to talk about anxiety and our mental health and wellbeing. This is Part 2 of the Unravelling Anxiety series.

The conversation covers:

  • Exploring the root causes of anxiety
  • How long can it take to overcome anxiety when being treated
  • Various forms of support to deal with anxiety
  • Faith and relationship with God when anxious
  • Bible verses for anxiety

Take a moment to delve into what may be 'beyond the smile' - listen in to the conversation.

Guest details:

Suzi is a Person-Centred psychotherapist passionate about self-discovery, self-development and personal growth.

Guest's website

MaryLayo's spiritual wellbeing tip: Meditate on the bible scripture 1 Peter 5:7.

Research links:

Other mental health groups and services may exist depending on your location.

Related resources: Check out podcasts Episode 11: Unravelling Anxiety & Episode 13: Unravelling Anxiety: The treatments.

Connect with MaryLayo:

LinkedIn

Instagram

For help in dealing with mental health related matters, please seek specialist professional advice and support if needed.

Transcript

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Marylayo: Welcome to Marylayo Talks, a podcast

that.

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Marylayo: Discusses mental health and

spiritual well being.

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Before we jump in, there may be episodes that

are particularly sensitive for some.

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Marylayo: Listeners, and if that applies, then

I hope you'll be able to join me.

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Marylayo: Whenever you feel ready and able.

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Today's episode is part two of Unraveling

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Anxiety, and I'm with Susie Williams, a person

centered psychotherapist who's just passionate

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about self discovery, self development and

personal growth.

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In part one, Susie shared about different ways

anxiety can express itself and how to gauge

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when to reach out.

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For that extra support, we also explored some

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techniques that can be used to help deal with

the physical symptoms of anxiety.

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Before closing, we started to look at dealing

with the underlying root causes, which can

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mean revisiting earlier experiences in

childhood.

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Let's join in the conversation.

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Marylayo: Sadly, one of the things that came

to my mind was how it's almost like a running

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joke.

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If someone's to visit a mental health

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professional, they're always going to bring up

their childhood.

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But there is a reason for that.

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And as you were talking, it was just reminding

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me that it's true that people shouldn't

dismiss or try and fix the now because what

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they're experiencing is in the now.

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The history behind it has formed from way back

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and therefore you have to go way back to be

able to address it and address it effectively.

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I get why childhood experiences or that

exploration can go back to the past.

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Suzi: Yeah, absolutely.

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And you're so right because there is a stigma

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about therapy and childhood.

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But a supportive therapist is not going to

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allow you to I wouldn't say not going to allow

you, but in response to treating anxiety, what

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we're looking for is just the origins and to

then be able to reframe it.

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And I'm of the standpoint of imagine a garden,

a garden that has grown sort of out of

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control.

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You go out, you cut the garden, you cut the

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grass and you get rainfall, and then within a

few weeks it's back and it's even growing even

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more wild and the weeds are coming out.

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These weeds are coming out because they have

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not been plucked out.

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Yeah.

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So it's sort of a similar process for working

to find out the origins of your beliefs and

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your perceptions.

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It's going into the childhood to investigate

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where it all started and to reframe, which is

symbolic to the plucking out of those weeds

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which are showing up in my current life now

and creating anxiety.

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But I just want to say that not all anxiety

stems from childhood, but it is a treatment

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that can be used to sort of explore and help

to conceptualize the anxiety because we want

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to look at the background and where things

have stemmed from and what might be keeping

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your anxiety going.

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So it is necessary just to say that.

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Marylayo: Sure. So Susie, based on your

experience, I'm assuming that so many of your

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clients, you have to deal with anxiety.

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Basically, you have to address that or it

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comes up.

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So it's not a question, but I guess I just

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want to get a sense of how common does it come

up?

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And when it comes up and you do treat it with

your clients, how long does that process take?

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Yeah, well, it may vary.

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Suzi: Yeah, I mean, it comes up a lot.

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Anxiety is very, very common.

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My goodness.

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It's really common.

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And in terms of how quick people.

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Marylayo: Can how people respond and I'm

thinking more about the root cause in terms of

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addressing it, not the outward, more physical

manifestations that you talked about earlier.

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It's about, okay, if you really want to get it

treated.

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So it's not that you're managing it or you're

controlling it.

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You're actually overcoming it.

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And it's no longer something that you

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experience because of those past issues that

are manifesting themselves through anxiety, I

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guess.

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So how long could that process take?

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If it's going to be if someone was to go to a

professional like yourself and I'm

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experiencing anxiety, actually, let me give an

example.

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So I know someone, and actually, I know

several people who have a phobia when it comes

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to flying, and one person that I know, they

fly, but, oh my goodness, it's a traumatic

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event.

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They're thinking about it days before their

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flight.

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If they're the kind of person that if they

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were sat next to a stranger on the plane, they

would grab that stranger's arm and squeeze it

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because that's how bad it is.

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And then you've got another person that does

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not fly.

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So they're very limited in terms of when it

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goes to on holidays, when it comes to

traveling, they only go local.

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And for me, it frustrates me and it saddens me

that how people, including myself, can be

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affected by anxiety.

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And if it can be addressed as what you're

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saying, and I do believe it can be addressed,

then it's from that, I guess that's the

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context of me asking, from your experience,

how long could that process take for

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treatment?

So it's not even just managed and controlled.

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It's actually dealt with.

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Suzi: And I think that's to do with the

severity and the level of the anxiety that the

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person is experiencing.

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So you get two scenarios.

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One who flies, but whilst flying, it's very

discomforting for them.

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And then one who does not fly at all, which

could be a more deeper, deeper issue.

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So in terms of therapy, you would want to

explore again, my approach would be to explore

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the origins and to sort of look at what could

be sustaining the anxiety.

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And that might be to do with lifestyle factors

like continuing to avoid exposing yourself to

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the situation.

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Yeah.

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So just to say it varies.

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We all heal at different rates, we all respond

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differently to treatment.

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And from my experience, I've seen clients who

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come in and they've got anxiety that is

related to might be work related stress that's

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created the anxiety.

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And so that therapy might be shorter, the

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length of therapy might be shorter, but

someone else's anxiety may stem from a

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traumatic event that happened again, sorry to

say the word, but in childhood, which would

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need revisiting and reframing, which might

take longer.

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So that's just to say that we all respond

differently.

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And I never really allocate a time when I'm

working with clients because my approach is

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also very person centered.

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And so that is to allow the individual to find

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that power within themselves to drive the

process.

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And it's about discovering those abilities to

heal, to self heal and to overcome your

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challenges.

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Yeah, I never really give a time on things in

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treatment with clients.

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Marylayo: I mean, that's good because some

people, when they go about going for, let's

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just say counseling therapy, they tend to have

them in batches, like six sessions, eight

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sessions.

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So I guess it's always good to not necessarily

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see it as an ongoing thing, but something that

someone can go to until they're at that point

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of let's call it freedom.

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Is that fair to say?

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Suzi: Yeah, freedom.

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They're in control of the anxiety because as

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you said at the start, anxiety is something

that it doesn't go away.

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And that's to say that anxiety is a normal

human emotion that we experience.

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But it's more about, okay, how do I manage

this?

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How do I take control of my thoughts to

alleviate the symptoms and to get through my

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day to day life and enjoy a fulfilling life

without anxiety in the background crippling

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me.

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Marylayo: And lastly, are there any parting

words that you would like to say or share with

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anyone who's listening, who let's say they

have anxiety to the level that's actually

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crippling them?

Is there anything you would want to say?

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Suzi: I would want to say to that person to

reach out.

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Reach out for help and talk, talk about what's

going on in your current life.

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Reach out for support.

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There's support all around.

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Support can come from friends, family,

neighbors, obviously, depending on how

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comfortable you feel.

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But I would say reach out for help and support

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to help you work through it, to help you

understand why you're anxious.

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And I know I said before, it doesn't go away.

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Let me just rephrase that.

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Anxiety can be diminished, but it may rear its

head now and again.

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But because you've dealt with the core issues,

the root issue, you now have control.

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You've gained control over it.

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You know how it comes, you know how it shows

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up in your life, you know what your triggers

are.

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But in order to get there, you do need

support.

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I wouldn't advise suffering in silence.

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Yeah, reach out.

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There are support lines.

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Support lines such as no panic helplines that

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you can call if you're feeling anxious.

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There's anxiety UK, there's rethink mental

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health who are a helpline that offer info and

advice on mental health issues.

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There's the Samaritans, who you can call 24/7.

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If you're experiencing panic attacks or you

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feel stuck and you don't know what your next

step is, reach out.

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And I just also want to say that as a

Christian woman, in times of when I might feel

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anxious, my point of call is to go to the

Father.

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My faith has helped me in times when I've been

anxious.

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And there is a Bible verse that says, cast all

your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

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And it's just knowing that for me, God cares

for me.

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So talking to God, praying about what might be

bothering me is a starting point for myself.

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And if you're not a Christian, reach out to

someone who cares about you, because that

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person may be able to direct you to the right

place where you can receive support and help.

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Yeah.

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Marylayo: Thank you, Susie.

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I love how you just talked about making sure

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that that person reaches out for that support,

that level of support, because it's out there.

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Suzi: There's so much out there.

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So it's a reach out.

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Don't suffer in silence.

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You can overcome this.

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Marylayo: Love it.

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Especially those final words.

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Thank you so much for sharing your experience

and even touching on the fact that if someone

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does have faith, if someone is a Christian,

they can also talk to Father God and apply

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that scripture in their daily lives.

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Marylayo: Here's a spiritual wellness tip that

you can meditate on.

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It's one Peter, chapter five, verse seven, and

reads, cast all your anxiety on him because he

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cares is for you.

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Thank you for listening.

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Marylayo: Do follow and join me again.

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Marylayo: Next time on Marylayo Talks Beyond

the Smile.

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About the Podcast

Beyond the Smile
with MaryLayo
Beyond the Smile - with MaryLayo is about issues and life events that negatively affect our mental health and spiritual wellbeing (biblical perspective). Various topics will be discussed, alongside guests, to help listeners understand more about their challenges and learn how they can live a more free and radiant life.

About your host

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MaryLayo Talks

MaryLayo is a podcaster, with a strong interest in mental wellbeing, social justice and issues which affect the lives of vulnerable individuals and communities. She has extensive experience in research programme management, and like research, sees her podcast as a way – through the help of guests, to find out relevant, useful information to share, inform and help others (but with the fun-factor thrown in).

MaryLayo is keen for the messages of her Christian faith to be relatable to the everyday person and volunteers for several charities. Her hobbies include voice-overs, singing and travelling.