Casey Stevens - Radical Transformations Through Conscious Awakening

My guest this week is Casey Stevens - spiritual psychologist: clinically trained, mystically guided. Casey helps her clients heal and awaken to their true natures through a combination of traditional psychology methods and modalities stemming from various eastern philosophies. She shares a bi of her personal story with me here as well. You're going to love getting to know this remarkable woman.

Learn more about Casey on her Links page: https://linktr.ee/shrinkbigger

and follow her on Instagram:   / shrinkbigger 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:08

Welcome to the Joy Felicity Podcast. I'm your host, Laura Wakefield, and I am pleased today to have as my guest, Casey Stevens. Casey is a psychotherapist who specializes in psychology with a spiritual base and restructuring unproductive patterns and conscious awakening. And of course, I read that in her bio and got really excited because that's what I'm all about, too, is topics like this. So thank you so much for being here with me today, Casey.

SPEAKER_01: 0:38

Oh, thanks for having me, Laura. I'm delighted to be in your presence.

SPEAKER_00: 0:42

Oh, thank you. That's so sweet of you. So I was all up in your website today and got to reading your belt story and kind of what led you into wanting to be a healer and a counselor and a psychotherapist and a coach and all the things that you are. Would you mind sharing a little bit of that story with everyone? How you got to where you are today?

SPEAKER_01: 1:01

Sure. Well, it's been a circuitous path for sure. So I did not start out knowing that I wanted to do this. So I feel like I just was living an entirely different life. And then challenges came for me, real, you know, challenges that were unexpected and they felt really unwelcome at the time. And I guess I was in my, you know, mid to late 20s at that time. And really, I didn't have any other choice but to really examine, re-examine everything, truly everything. So um, so that's what I did. I really, it was a time where I was just seeking and exploring and trying to find answers to some of the challenges that I was in, trying to find myself, you know, and discover who I really was, because I think so much of that can be automatic, habituated programming that, you know, we're not even really conscious of. And so it really was an opportunity for me to just wake up to become awakened to myself. So I went into um therapy. And uh at the time, this was like I was in a marriage, and my husband needed some therapy, and I needed something, we needed some therapy, and we all we all needed therapy. And so a lot of it had to do just with that, entering into that realm that I hadn't done before. And um, I was so fortunate because I found a therapist. She was, she was also a um psychotherapist, but she practiced from this spiritual bent. And I just loved, you know, I mean, I think it's no coincidence that I found her, you know, energetically. I think these things just work out that way. So we started working with her, and then I kept working with her as, you know, all of that kind of imploded and unfolded. And then it really, you know, she just became this sanctuary that I really looked forward. I was going, you know, at the height a couple of times a week uh just to kind of dive in. And I just was like, you know, I loved my sessions. It was like my most coveted hour of the week that I got to spend. And I just kept doing that until I started to uh, you know, unfold and more answers about myself were revealed to me. So this is probably uh the long answer, but that's how it all started. And so my life, I always kind of think about before therapy, going into therapy, and then after, and they were just are just totally two different seasons of my life. And so that feels like a lifetime ago. But I just I got so much out of my time with her. And after a certain point, I walked in and I just had been thinking, and she just kind of held a really beautiful container for me. She didn't lead me too much or tell me what she had already seen that I, you know, hadn't quite seen in myself yet. And eventually I walked in and I just said, I think I want to do what you do. Because it was like everything in my life was needed to be restructured and I needed to figure out not just who I was, but also like what I what my real purpose in this world was. And there was just so much of it that was unfolding. So eventually I had that knowing that I shared with her, and she just said, I've just been waiting for you to say that, which I'll never forget, right? I mean, it just is like, you know, singed in my brain this um beautiful moment. And then she was actually so amazing and so supportive, helping me write recommendations um to go into school. And she's like, I normally wouldn't do this for most people, but we just kind of had this special bond, which was so amazing. So she was a huge part of that. And then once I decided, I was just so, you know, intentional. I just was so clear about what that path was. And I knew that I wanted to practice, not in the same way that she did, because I think we all bring our own, you know, natural medicine. Um, but I knew I wanted it to be this hybrid of spirituality and psychology because both really resonated with me. Uh, you know, I can be really analytical and I want to understand human behaviors and like I'm really grounded in my uh someone said to me once, like, you have a really grounded intuition. So I but I knew I wanted to bring my intuitive parts and learn and study things because a lot of my own gifts started to awaken when I just spent time being present with them. So um, so that's kind of how that unfolded. So then I, of course, went, you know, back and did my schooling for um my psychology degree, but then also I knew that I wanted to just, you know, boom, boom, boom, like knock out some of these other things that I was really interested in, um, which was, you know, learning about some of the more Eastern um traditions, ancient practices, those kinds of things as well. So I wanted to get, you know, just play around in in lots of things that there were um that were available in addition to the psychology degree to just kind of know like how what is my medicine and how will I merge those two together? So that's how that all unfolded. And then once I was on that path, it was it was pretty swift. I mean, I was pretty determined and focused. And, you know, I still look back and wonder how I got through all those years, but but I did, and um and I emerged and then I hung my little shingle and um have been practicing ever since.

SPEAKER_00: 6:11

Isn't that interesting? Because I hear I hear a similar theme from a lot of people when I ask that question that get into healing and counseling, that it was some kind of a tragedy or a difficulty in their own life that shook them out of the life they were living and just opened a whole new life out in front of them. And then they just want to help other people to do that once they see how that feels for themselves. And I love that stories where people's lives are just completely transformed like that. Right, yeah, it's a architect, right? It is, and it's it's quite common, but a lot of people never experience it. And that becomes the message is to try to help as many people as possible learn that you really can live a different way if you're not happy the way you're living.

SPEAKER_01: 7:03

Right, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, it's really um, I always think of it as this journey from like the wounded healer, right? So it's an archetype, I think, that we have as as helpers and healers in the world, and you know, and moving from the wounded healer, which is like unproductive healing or helping of others, right? But our unproductive helping of others to truly healing others. And I experienced, I was, you know, like benefited from somebody else being an embodied healer and holding that container for me. And then like when you click into that and you see how powerful it is, it really you can align with your purpose and think like, yeah, how do I do this? How do how am I kind of my true essence, which is wanting to be helpful really to people, be loving and and be that presence that can inspire. And how do I do that in a more healed, embodied way? And so that was the journey that I went on to learn how to how to do that. And it, you know, you can look back on all the tragedy and and um, you know, struggle and loss and whatever it is that it is for each of us and really see it as, you know, a transformative moment that you're really grateful for. And I wouldn't have any other way because I wouldn't be who I am today without it.

SPEAKER_00: 8:21

So exactly. So I love that you're blending the spirituality aspect of living with the clinical aspect of living, because so often I think in society and in our own minds, those are like separate entities. And a person needs to be one or the other, either very clinically minded or very spiritually minded. Talk to me about why it's important to tap in, because I believe all of us have both of those sides to our personality. Yeah. Talk to me about why it's important to blend those two things and why you like to blend them in your practice.

SPEAKER_01: 8:57

Uh, well, I mean, I just think when when I you know have studied any of the modalities, I feel like if we're too spiritual or if we're too grounded kind of in the Western traditions or the structure, the modalities of that, I feel like them separate from one another, there's just such a fundamental, essential, quintessential piece really that's missing if we don't blend them. Um, I know for me, you know, as I um probably just was explaining, that it really was the blending of those two that I found most beneficial. I needed to be grounded, you know, I needed my healing to be grounded and practical in this world and have, you know, this logical, comprehensive understanding of that um in a traditional sense. But also we are, you know, I think that the part of us that is this ephemeral um piece, right? That uh is so uh essential and really the most important part of who we are. And so if we just look at one without really including this other piece, then I think we're not examining the whole self. And that it would just, I think is a disservice. And I think we're more potent and healing when we can include both. Um, because I really believe that we are spiritual beings, right? Having a human experience. So um to understand that part of ourself, I think it's just kind of the integral way of really including all of us, um, and and a way um even in psychology and systems thinking, right? Of like getting to that higher um system that we really need to tap into and what what is our spiritual self, um, which is our relationship with everything. And so it's important to examine that. And I think to just do one, like if, you know, um sometimes, and it's not a criticism, but just my personal belief um is to just study spirituality or to be too mystical, right? Sometimes it can be unapproachable to some people or to be too in the psychology, we can, you know, diminish this other really uh essential part of ourselves, of our essence. And so I think blending them, um, I couldn't practice without it, right? Sometimes people, it's like you just never really know how um anyone's session or experience with any one, you know, client is gonna be. Um, but for sure, whether you're talking directly about it, somebody that's holding a container that really sees the whole you is really important, I think. Um, I know I wouldn't have healed in the same way if I didn't experience that. And so I like to offer that in my own unique way for uh for clients of mine.

SPEAKER_00: 11:47

Yeah, I agree with you that I think that that spiritual component is really the essence of who we are. But yet it's deeply ironic to me that that's the aspect of life that I think most often gets ignored or pushed down by people. And so when you talk about awakening that that resonates a lot because we all have it, whether we acknowledge it or not. And and you said in your website, and this is something that I agree with too, that spirituality and religion are not the same thing. Now, religion may be an aspect of that for some people, but regardless of what your stance is on religion, you are a spiritual being. Yes. And so we tend to kind of ignore that. And I for me, I I tapped into that a lot, and this is kind of my next question for you because I saw a lot about guided meditation. And it was when I got into meditation that I really started to sit long enough to let some of that reveal itself to me. So talk about guided meditation and how you use that in your practice.

SPEAKER_01: 12:55

Yeah, I mean, you know, I have um, you know, you can go on and get free guided meditations um that are just like pre-recorded that hopefully people will find. And there's lots of those out there in the world, but certainly I have, you know, you can go get those on my website if you sign up, and then you'll get little free things that I'll send you. Um and but I use it a lot in my sessions. So I think when we're just accessing, you know, the conscious mind, lowercase C versus the capital C, conscious mind, um, and the unconscious, right? And all the layers that we can go into. I think guided meditation or any kind of induction into, you know, a subconscious state really allows us to bring forward more of our consciousness and that that depths of self, the spirituality, our our um, you know, that you know, eternal essence that we have, and we can peel all of that away. And so one way that I do it, and I don't even know if it's just that I would just call it guided meditation. Sometimes I feel like even the language can be um too simplistic for exactly what it is, or it just looks like such a um different place, but it really is a dropping into our deeper self, exactly what you're describing, right? And finding that center point, connecting that center point to um a presence that's greater than we are, but also the deep presence within our own self, right, as we do it. So when I do it in sessions, um, it's all just kind of channeled, honestly. Like I, you know, I could, you know, be in a session, I don't think, oh, hey, I'm gonna go in and this is what we're gonna do. But if it seems important, the message is coming through or whatever, however that translates, it could just be, all right, I'll have um clients close their eyes and then, you know, just guide them through whatever is coming through. Their energy is kind of connecting with my energy and communicating, and then I can guide them through something that would be essential, and it's usually something that they would need. And sometimes it's just, you know, they're listening and I'm kind of relaying, you know, like a live meditation to them. Um, and sometimes it's interactive, right? Where um, you know, we get to a certain point and you know, they're deep enough, and then we'll kind of go in and do it, could be, you know, kind of this shamanic type quantum work where they're conveying back and removing energy. And sometimes it's just silence and stillness where they're fully receiving, but sometimes it's this um interactive thing, and I just never know what's going to come through, but usually, you know, the guidance for that steps forward as well. So I think it's a really, really amazing way. I don't know what your experience is with it, but I feel like healing can happen faster when you're accessing those deeper parts, and then you bring them forward, even if it comes through in this really um, you know, animate way that's symbolic or might seem random or weird. It's like we can actually access and we can go heal, you know, things from you know, past lives or childhood. We can just access all of these. There's no time and space. We can just access it all. And so that also helps to just really make these radical shifts in a quicker time than we could if we were just doing traditional talk therapy.

SPEAKER_00: 16:16

I love that because now I know what what's coming to my mind while I'm hearing you is from my own experience and from other people that I know that journey, if you haven't walked it before, can feel a little bit scary, a little bit intimidating. You know, do I really want do I really want to tap into all of that? Right. You know, and so what do you say to people that maybe have a hesitation that I I don't know, I mean, I'm doing okay. I don't know if I really want to bring all that, you know. What would you say to that?

SPEAKER_01: 16:52

Well, I would say if someone uh I mean, that happens often, right? I mean, this is what we're doing is we're breaking through barriers of resistance inside of us. And so if you have that feeling, then probably you do need like it would depend if we were in the middle of a session and that feeling came up, which happens often, then instead of trying to push beyond it, we just really want to greet that energy and find out what the barrier is, what the resistance is. Um and so that's one thing. And I usually encourage people, I you know, in my healing, I always hold the intention, you know, as a healer, to really kind of have a sacred uh container that I'm holding people in. So I I want to push people, right? I really want to push people. I don't want to just kind of, you know, linger right in the liminal space. I want to push people beyond because that's what they're coming to me for. Um so I always encourage them to push themselves beyond what they're comfortable, but I also hold the intention and the energy in the container that everything that needs to be revealed, like nothing is going to come forward that they aren't ready for. I don't think that's how the psyche or the unconscious mind works. Like if it's coming forward, um, especially in a container, you know, I I think um I really try to be impeccable in the way that I hold that for people energetically, just so that nothing steps forward that is their psyche can't handle or they're they're not ready to process. So knowing that, I feel really confident pushing people, um, but also, you know, listening to where they are. And I think when that comes up again, if you're in the space of it, then all we need to do is just really greet that feeling. And that's then we just stop right there and and we're just with that energy, whatever presents itself. And it might be really interesting or surprising what steps forward if you really just pause and instead of thinking about what's beyond that that moment or what what's beyond that feeling or where we might, you know, want to go eventually in the journey, we're just we just stay right there as long as we need to take, as long as we need to, um, as long as it takes, right? Until we can emerge beyond it and they are can really integrate and feel more comfortable moving forward again. So that's how I approach it. Um, I don't know, you know, how you do, but I but I would just say to anybody who you know is contemplating even like, oh, I don't need it. Um probably you do, you know, if you feel that way. Um, but it's also so personal and it's such a choice. And really um the seeking heart, right? I I tend to work with people who are seekers and want to dive into this stuff. And so they have a growth mindset, they, you know, want to awaken, they want to keep push pushing the next level. And the truth is when people start doing that, it's uncomfortable. And it's it's you're opening a door to uh, you know, a almost like a constant state where that doesn't really end because you're choosing this path um consciously now that I think your soul is already on, right? That wants to awaken in this way. And, you know, you can get deep into the healing with people, um, whether it's the one time or it's ongoing where you're constantly kind of pushing those, that you know, leading edge. And it never and then people will look back like, oh my gosh, if I I knew that this is what this is like crazy, if I knew that this was gonna be like, like nobody would start it really, but it's also you just wouldn't because you it it is so in it's so powerful and it's so intense, and nobody ever regrets it, right? It is because you are ascending to these places um when that's who you are. I think when that's who your soul is and when that's the work that you choose to do in the world, you see that it actually never stops, right? And so that can be inherently uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_00: 20:42

Yeah, and I love that you the way you worded that, that you greet that as it comes up. Because I think usually the reason we want to keep things down is because we've already either consciously or subconsciously labeled them as flaws or that's bad about me. That's either my history or this characteristic I have, all these things are bad. So we have to keep those down. We don't want those coming up, right? Except for they're still residing in us as long as they do. Right. And so, but if we shame them immediately upon approach, they're gonna stuff back down. And I I love that idea of greeting that. Like, well, hi, let's let's get to know you and let's decide if you're staying or going in my life. I love, I love that imagery.

SPEAKER_01: 21:28

Well, and that's really how any shame work, like if you're doing shame work and that's what shadow work is, right? Is there's some part of ourself that we can't accept, we can't acknowledge, we're ashamed of, is causing too much pain. And so we kind of, you know, push it out and we don't want to experience it. We shun, you know, shun it and reject it or avoid it or whatever, you know, words you would want to use for that. Um and really the way to integrate any parts of ourselves that feel shame is to welcome them, to greet them, to accept them, to lovingly try to understand them and have compassion for whatever it is that they're trying to tell you, because ultimately all parts are valuable and useful and essential and important. And it really is, you know, I think that this journey that we're on, right, as a soul is just a journey to wholeness. And so we have to accept all of those parts if we're going to journey towards that wholeness. Otherwise, we're just this fragment itself.

SPEAKER_00: 22:30

Yeah, I I totally agree with that. And as long as there's a part of us, maybe part of our personal history, that we're labeling as bad, what we're really doing is labeling part of us as bad. That experience might have been bad or unpleasant that we went through. But we need to find some way to come to peace with that within ourselves that we're not bad because that's part of our history. And that can be a painful process. It's I love that you talk about holding space and creating that safety for someone because that's so essential. You know, there's people that reach adulthood and have never had that safe space and that place to let all of that come up. We all need that, don't we? Absolutely, for different things. And you refer to it, I want to make sure I say this correctly as true alignment. What do you mean by by true alignment?

SPEAKER_01: 23:26

Yeah, well, I mean, oh gosh, that can be so um complex. Ultimately, what I think it is, is um we are made up, our soul is whole, right? Like it it wants to be whole. And so it is about integrating these pieces, but it's also about consciously knowing. It's really important for us to get to consciously know what are the constructs and the programs and the personalities and the compensatory strategies that we have taken on as a, you know, product of having some injury along the way. And so, or absorbing what it is that other people are is other people's energy or their woundedness, or, you know, the society's, you know, construct around things. I mean, there's just so many layers and so many systems that we take those on throughout our lives, especially developmentally, when we're forming what we think is our, you know, identity and our personality, right? And so I think that alignment really is about dismantling all that that is not who we are, right? Truly who we are. So all of those constructs, all of those programs, all of the things that we've, or compensatory strategies again, because that's part of it, that we take on ourselves to get through, you know, difficult, challenging times or um even opportunities. And it's really examining consciously, capital C conscious, who am I really? Um, versus what is it that I have done in order to get through this, or because I needed to, or because I didn't really have another choice, or because I wasn't conscious at this time and I was absorbing, you know, this intel from all around me, my parents, school, friends, you know, whatever, partners, you know, whatever that might be. But even developmentally, I mean, so much of this we we know from studying um psychology and the brain, right? That that really is developmentally, so much of it is formed, you know, from zero to seven. So it's um really kind of examining all of that. And and, you know, people, I think, even so often uh mistake their personalities for their identity, but so much of that isn't real. And so I think it is dismantling that, questioning all of it, identifying what piece of it might be real, um, and what is the exalted form of that? How are we in uh how do we identify what our true uh virtues and values are, which what really matters to us? And there's always a system, right, that is actually intrinsic to each of us, and no two people are the same, right? We all have unique blueprints. So even the ordering of those things is going to be different for all of us. Our our passions and our interests and our what lights us up and what gives us pleasure and what we truly desire and what we're our purpose is in this life. That all is made up, you know, in this in this list of our virtues and values, which again is intrinsic, but most of us don't live in alignment with that. Most of us live with that totally kind of jumbled and random and and you know, not really living into what it is our true alignment. So I think it's dismantling that and then getting conscious of what the true alignment, what the true ordered system of our virtues and values. And of course, if we're a seeker and we're growth-minded, that's going to be ever evolving as well. And so it's a constant practice where we have to keep um attuning to that, attuning to ourselves, breeding in new information, new consciousness that we learn, new experiences that we have, and really identifying, okay, well, now that I know this, now that my consciousness has expanded, how do I integrate that into my value system? And how is that reflected? So I think reflection of that isn't just knowing it, right? Because knowing it is important, but we end up feeling in deep pain and suffering, frankly, when we then get conscious of that, but we're not embodied in it. So then it's what are the conscious right steps that I would need to either eliminate from my life, the things that are contrary to what I now consciously know? And what would I incorporate or how would I live more aligned? Meaning, how am I giving my time, energy, attention, money? Like what how do I invest the most valuable um currency that I have? How do I invest that? And do I put that into conscious, the conscious right action, knowing what this conscious uh list would look like? And then how is that ever evolving? And so that's our work to do, right? To keep coming back to that place, right? And then, you know, each day we'll fall out of alignment with that, or you know, when we get better. It's like, and it's not really about ever arriving there. It's really about doing what it feels like in our body when we have incorporated and brought those pieces into alignment. And if something feels out of alignment, then what do you need to do? How do you know that you need to show up? Right? How do you need to invest in yourself so that you can bring yourself back into alignment, right? And that just can be simply listening to the little things, you know, what feels good to me? Where do I feel like I am in harmony inside myself? Um, who am I around? What things am I doing? What are the sensory experiences? It's everything, right? It's like our consciousness is is engaging with other, you know, consciousnesses all the time. And so it's listening to what that is and knowing what's true for us, right? And that way, nothing's personal. It's no criticism against another person or their system. It's just what's true for me. And so I think it's our truth. I really think our it our alignment is our truth, and knowing that and feeling it, and then it becomes aligned in our, you know, in our bodies. We can feel it just in, you know, all of the layers of our being.

SPEAKER_00: 29:18

So yeah, and you know, it's this kind of ironic thing. I think we have this idea that nobody knows me as well as I know myself, right? I've lived with myself all my life. I know me until you start to dig in and qu ask the question like I have to stop myself at this point in my life. I'm in my little midlife recovery, discovery period. I'm 55 years old, and you think by 55 you know yourself, right? Except when you start to challenge, you know, what do you like to do? Well, this is what I do, but is that real? Is that really what you like to do? Yeah, well, I don't know, you know, you sort. Asking those questions and you find yourself on these paths that are very surprising even to yourself. And sometimes people outside of us, like your therapist, can see it before we even can. So I think we need to get past this idea that we know ourselves better than anybody else because sometimes that's not true.

SPEAKER_01: 30:20

Yeah, it's and sometimes it's really the very opposite of that, right? So um, and I think it's so important, right, as healers and spaceholders to allow people to arrive at that on their own, right? And we can hold a container and reflect that back to them. And if, you know, like what is it that we see, and if they're participating, right? But that's where it really is this even energy exchange, right? Where no one person is um, you know, like we're all just, you know, equal, really. And so how is it that there's not this hierarchy, there's not this authoritative presence, really? Like somebody might have more insight, and you know, I'm I might have insight into other people, um, which often is absolutely the case. I can see things before they unfold, and it's really allowing that person the dignity of their own process so that they can arrive at that space and really then be able to witness it's not important that I see the truth in somebody. Um, I mean, it can be helpful, but what is really valuable is that they see the truth, that they can identify it. And that's when we're transformed. It's not, and because, you know, when I talk to people about this often, right? It's like so much of the world is structured on this explicit motivation rather than real implicit motivation. And when we're aligned, we are implicitly motivated. Every like we know what we we are unflappable in that way, right? We no nobody can, nobody's criticism or rejection or any of those things that ended up forming, you know, our our psyches and the way that they are, our personalities or our um identities, um, matter, right? Because we know our own truth, right? Like it it all of that is being sourced implicitly. And so then that is what drives us, and that is also what protects us. And we can do that for ourselves. So it's really beautiful, right, when you can hold the container and allow people to really see their own essence and arrive at that awareness and that um just connect with the knowing being inside themselves.

SPEAKER_00: 32:34

Definitely. So I know you work with people in person and online. So really people from all over can work with you. If somebody comes and wants to work with you, I saw on your website that it talked about that you can work with them in just very traditional psychotherapy, the way that everybody would assume it would go. But you also have offerings in ancient, how did I, how did you put it? Ancient energy healing. Yeah, yeah. So there's a little bit about that. I know there's a lot to that question, but you know, like what is what kinds of things do you offer?

SPEAKER_01: 33:08

Yeah, it's um, you know, the long and short answer is I've trained in lots of modalities, many of which I don't even talk about, um, you know, on my website. Uh, and I wouldn't say, I mean, I I don't know, maybe this is my own little, you know, rebel spirit, but I think I don't ever even in the psychology realm, there's so many modalities that we study, and it's like, okay, this is a good way to do something or whatever. And I I don't know. I have just a bit of a rebellion against all of that because I really think when we are most powerful is when we take anything that we know and it's all just sitting there somewhere, right, in my psyche. But there's not one thing that I've trained in and I'm like, okay, well, I'm gonna do this with this person, right? Here's the technique, you know, and I'm gonna follow what I learned. I think that we're most powerful when we kind of overlay that with our own um magic and our own medicine. And so I I know that I have just unique gifts that are inside of me that I um that step forward and how that translates a lot for me is well, I'm kinesthetic, I'm pretty kinesthetic, right? That's kind of the way that I experience the world as a sensory experience. But um, it's kind of clairsentience and clear cognizance that show up for me as well. And so I take a lot of those, you know, trainings that I've done, and again, they're rumbling around there somewhere in my uh in my psyche and my knowledge, you know, it's like it's all there and I probably extract from different pieces, but there's not just one, you know, thing that I follow because then I overlay it with however information comes through for me, which um happens to be like if I'm in a container with people, then I will uh intuit, like I will feel a lot in my body, or I'll just get this knowing, or I'll get, you know, kind of this psychic download about a lot of stuff. So especially when we're doing, you know, what I would call more of the quantum uh shamanic work, right? Um, how that comes through is I can feel, you know, like they might be experiencing something and I can feel it in their body, or I can feel anxiety, or I can feel if it's a I can see a memory field or just information comes through and it's cool because then I can reflect. And that's not anything anybody taught me. It's just my system, you know, it's who I am. And so, and it's not anything I've ever trained for, but I I trust it because I use it and have used it every day for, you know, a decade or plus, right, in an intentional way with other people. So I know what I'm getting is real, and I know that it's really powerful at helping other people move that energy and tap into that. So um, so that's probably I, you know, I I always feel like I'm at a loss or a lack of of like the appropriate words, right? It's like you try to take things that people would understand or they could conceptualize, but really that's how the medicine kind of moves through me. And then I overlay all of these practices, you know, my psychology and um kind of more of the the ancient, you know, Eastern practices um as well. And then you just meet that soul and you give that soul what they need, and then you, you know, sometimes it's moving energy, sometimes it's bringing parts back. You know, there's so much that um is involved in that. So sometimes again it's it's past lives or inner child stuff. Um, but that's really what that that's how I practice. And um yeah, I hope that answers your question, even though I know it's yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 36:33

You're I love that you don't limit yourself to either clinical or spiritual, either western or eastern. Like you just will meet the person where they are and use all the gifts and and intellect and all of those things that you have at your disposal to help them. And I think that that is amazing. So if somebody goes to your website and wants to work with you, what kinds of offerings do you have for them? Do you have like packages or not really, not really, you know, it's funny.

SPEAKER_01: 37:05

I um I mean, I lot so because I'm a licensed therapist um and I'm able, there are people that come and really will show up. And I actually, you know, have negotiated this within myself different times, um because a lot of people will come in and they think, oh, I'm doing therapy, and so it's like a weekly thing. And um, and what's really fun is people will come in and maybe they're not, they're thinking that's maybe what they want to do, but they end up doing regularly because they're seekers and and you know, growth-minded and want to explore all of these things. And so they end up opening up. So a lot of my people will see me as an ongoing basis, right? And maybe that's just for a season in their life, but they almost like a traditional therapist, right? Um, that it's like you have your weekly appointment or every two weeks or whatever that is. Um, and a lot of it's that, but it's also can be really random. So I don't do, you know, there was a time that I tried, I don't know how you feel about this, and I actually love it when I work with other people and I do this, but there was a time when I tried doing packages and I just didn't like it because I like the energy exchange of you show up and that's, you know, here's your time. And I mean, I certainly have structures and um practical ways that I've kind of set up my business. Um, for people who are, since I'm in Washington state, I am licensed here and I'm not licensed anywhere else, um, even though a lot of those with the therapy world have actually, you know, extended so people can be in another state or other, and there's ways that they can still use their insurance benefits. I've never taken insurance, um, but this is where my license is. And so it kind of helps with that structure. People will show up, they'll usually have standing appointments, but definitely people, you know, a lot of times then when people kind of graduate from therapy, they'll end up maybe they'll come back once a month or every, you know, or when they need it, you know, there people definitely do that as well. So there's options, but honestly, to me, it's just um to drill all of that down. I know I probably just said a lot and nothing at all. It really is, I just like the energy exchange, right? It's like I'm showing up and you're gonna get a full, you know, my full presence and everything that I have to offer my energy in that if it's an hour you book or a full day that you book, like whatever it is, um, that just is how I like to show up and meet people. And um, I think it's super rigid. It's not, no, not at all. Um, yeah, and I just don't like like I don't know about so for me, packages kind of feels like I almost feel like there's like this horde, you know, where people where people are waiting, or I don't want people to feel like that at all. I just feel like, okay, now is our time, and it's just really about like the now moment, right? And so I just don't like that. I like to kind of be in the energy, and then I feel as like um also like the energy hygiene is really good for me when I um and of course these can be ongoing people, but even in terms of the way I charge people, it's just like okay, that's the day. Like we're just showing up and and we're connected, and then we uh I disconnect the energy, right? And I send you out and I hold you in this beautiful container, and you know, maybe I'll see you again, and maybe, you know, it's a one-time thing or it's a whatever, and um, or maybe I'll see you next week. But I just kind of leave them in that and it's to me the energy exchange, I don't know, it's just such a personal thing, and that's all I can explain it, but yeah, that's how it works for me.

SPEAKER_00: 40:27

Well, that leads me. So I pulled this quote of yours from Instagram from a few posts ago. But you said um healing at its very essence is about placing truth and the desire for love above all else. It's about allowing yourself to be torn down, built back up with a greater integrity and discernment. But what I'm hearing from you is that love isn't just important for them to desire, but that seems to be kind of how you run your practice too, is from a foundation of that. Because I'm hearing that rather than just this is my business, you have to fit into it, more like I want to know you feel you in the way that makes most sense for you. And I love that.

SPEAKER_01: 41:08

Yeah, I feel like I show up with, you know, um, anyone, you know, whether it's somebody that I see a couple like I just show up fully present, right? I think we were talking about this as we were chatting before we, you know, got on our actual interview. But it just is so organic and really everything happens in the now moment. And so I really like to live that way because I want, I know how wonderful it feels when I'm in alignment with that. And and even I love, you know, the word integrity because circling back to the word alignment, that's what I think alignment is, is it's like, are we in integrity with ourselves? And so for me, my flow, and a lot of people are much more structured than I am, but my natural flow is actually very organic. It's I think it's really listening and being in the flow. The most structure that I have in my life, honestly, are like if I have an appointment with you at noon, then I'll be there at noon, right? Um, usually give or take, right? A few minutes, but even that can flow a little bit with me. But that really is my essence. It's not everybody's essence, but that's my essence. And so I um feel like just how do I show up as organic and as present as I possibly can for you, and then you get that full presence, right? It's like you get all of my energy during whatever time that we're meeting, and then we seal that up, right? We close it up so that your energy is yours and mine is mine, and then I can show up. And I think that's really important too, just to show up. It helps me because then I have the energy and the presence to show up in integrity and having my full um kind of like uh an impeccable hygiene for the next person, right? And so I can really show up that way because people can feel that when we choose a healer, we are absorbing the consciousness and our own wounded, we are absorbing all of that. And and that's true with any exchange, but especially the container of a healer. I mean, it's it's I mean, if you go get a massage, if you do anything, right? Like you are absorbing the consciousness. And so I think choosing really wisely and feeling into everything about that exchange, um, and and feeling into that consciousness, right? And does it feel right and really listening to what you know? And again, none of this is even personal if it's not a match, because that just means there's not alignment, right? And that's okay.

SPEAKER_00: 43:35

Right, yeah, because you're not gonna connect with everybody, but the people that need your spirit and your energy will be drawn to you. So we don't have to worry about those things, you know. We just have to show up as ourselves and and we will be who we need to be. You know, exactly come to us and need to be near us. So I do have another question for you, but before I do that, tell everybody all the places that they can find you.

unknown: 44:00

Sure.

SPEAKER_01: 44:01

Um, well, so uh my name is Casey Stevens. Um, and so you can probably Google that and find, but my website is um shrinkbigger uh.com. So you can go there and um as I mentioned, you can sign up on my newsletter and I send a newsletter maybe once a month or something with just you know musings, um, sometimes stories, sometimes helpful little things. It's never, you know, too invasive. I I hope it's helpful to people. I, you know, if I am on podcasts, I'll share those things so that people can just find, you know, meet people, wonderful people like you and have exposure to that. Um, and then you'll, you know, get free meditations and stuff like that from time to time as well. So um, so that's one way to connect. Um, and then my Instagram is at shrinkbigger.

SPEAKER_00: 44:47

So my last question for you is how does all of this relate to joy? Because you know that this podcast is fundamentally based on seeking and finding greater joy in our lives. How do the things that we've been talking about, about finding the alignment and accessing our spirituality, how do those things lead to greater peace and joy in our lives?

SPEAKER_01: 45:10

Um, just directly. So, yeah, I love the conversation and how you kind of wove it all in because I really think our alignment, right? Our that integrity, when we peel that back and get more clear about it and live in alignment with that. What I I talk often about this with people, um, that there's there's impulse, right? And then there's pleasure and desire, right? And I those are kind of synonymous with joy for me, right? And so a joyful, peaceful life, if we are living aligned in that way. Um, and and again, these these two, like the idea of pleasure, joy, um, desire, uh, really is how do we live this aligned life? So everything we talked about earlier, whereas impulse really t takes us directly, it's it's not similar to that, it's not only not similar to it, it takes us away from what it is we truly desire. So when we're impulsive, when we do the thing that it's like, ooh, that'll give me, you know, that instant dopamine hit, right? Whatever that is. That's actually taking us away generally from the serotonin that we can achieve if we're living this joyful, aligned, pleasure-filled life. And so it's again getting to know what that is consciously, peeling back the layers and the things that we are mistaking for that, um, that would probably be over like in this more impulsive category, right? It's like, oh, I have this reaction. I mean, it could be, you know, I have this reaction or I want to have this. It's like, but does it really bring you closer to this integrity of self, um, to your truth? And so I love what you're offering to the world by, you know, and I'm just so in awe of people who show up in the way that you, you know, it's like you're you're broadcasting it and helping reach the masses. So I'm so in awe of people that, you know, have that in their blueprint, right? Um, because that is us bringing joy to our life. So it really is understanding that that that is the joy-filled life. And I think that's really what we are here for, right? Is to have more and more moments of that, to feel that alignment, to feel that integrity, to feel that truth, to feel that joy. And if we do that, then we are leaning into true pleasure. We are leaning into our highest, uh most aligned desire. And that's what I think life is about.

SPEAKER_00: 47:47

I love the way you put that because for reasons that I mean, there's a whole lot of reasons why, but in in our society, we seem to have taken those two words, pleasure and desire, and convoluted them to almost bring up not actual meanings of sinfulness and badness and impulsiveness and and all that stuff, but but that's almost what comes up in us when we say those words. If if I want to say I'm seeking my desires, I'm seeking pleasure, almost has like a bad cause.

SPEAKER_01: 48:21

I know it does. And yet, right, they are actually, I mean, I I really believe in, you know, like you can do research and really understand this, that it is in opposition energetically, even just feeling into it, right? You like you don't have to research a thing, energetically feel into when I'm aligned with what I'm wow. I mean, it could be something so innocent and beautiful, right? And often really it is, right? It's like to be in a beautiful meditation or to sit and admire a thing of beauty, um, to stare out it, you know, or to have peace, whatever that is. It's there, there is pleasure in that. And it's really noticing what that is, and that's what I desire to feel is more joy and more pleasure in my life in the most pure and and beautiful of ways, right? Versus what is impulsive. And that's what I think people associate that that word, like an impulse, desire, and and pleasure. Um, and oftentimes what I think people, and again, this is maybe getting too too you know out in the weeds, but uh oftentimes that's just where my mind goes, is people who think that they're experiencing a pleasure or a desire, it actually truly is an impulse, and they're mistaking it. And that's I think what you're talking about, right? They're that they're um mistaking the meaning or the understanding of what that truly is. Um, and that's why it's been labeled, right, taboo or nefarious in some kind of way.

SPEAKER_00: 49:49

Um it's weird how those words have taken that connotation on. Yeah, it's unfortunate. Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_01: 49:57

It's unfortunate because when you really feel into even just the consciousness of pleasure and you just allow that to come in, it's a beautiful thing. It's a positive, it's a very high frequency thing. If you lean into desire, right, it's like same thing, really. If you feel the consciousness of that, like intuitively, just drop it in, like get yourself neutral and just drop that consciousness in, right? Just like anything. If I if we use the word peace or happiness or love, right, you can feel the consciousness of that. So feel the consciousness of, you know, joy, feel the consciousness of pleasure, feel the consciousness of desire. And those are pretty high frequency when I tune into them, right? Versus anything that's like an impulse. And and a lot of times those impulsive things actually take us further away from alignment, further away from our truth, further away, and then our and our lives are, and how we know that that's true, that we are living into these impulses is that our lives are chaotic in some way, right? Like we feel depressed or anxious or chaotic or stressed or out of alignment, like that's how we know that there are too many impulsive things happening in our life. It could be just our impulsive response to things, you know, reaction to things rather, because um, you know, our response would probably be more conscious.

SPEAKER_00: 51:16

Um, but yeah, that's how, you know, I I hope, you know, that's not too complex, but that's the way that I know I think that that's a really lovely way of putting that, because the energy that we feel, there's so many things that bring pleasure. And they're not, I mean, some of them I suppose could be bad in the mistaken definition, because oftentimes our impulses really don't bring real pleasure. No, they always bring up exactly.

SPEAKER_01: 51:44

They always take us away. They don't bring us any sustainable pleasure, right? And and they leave us wanting, they leave us needing, they leave us empty, they leave us with a void rather than this kind of sustained, again, if you're just understanding what those two um hormones and chemicals are in our body, right? Um, it it takes us away from that every time. So it will give us the instant hit and the illusion that we are actually capturing something. But we need more and more in our society. I mean, it's with all the things, right? All the social everywhere. Yeah. It's really just kind of turn the corner. So it's really hard to avoid those things, right? Even for the most mindful of among us, right? It's it's like it really, it really takes up a fierce spiritual practice to identify that and then move to be, you know, uh different from that in the world that we live in today. But I think this is where the real juicy fruit lives, right? To be in that joy, in that truth, in that alignment, in that integrity. Something I'll often say, right, if we identify what that hierarchy is of our true virtue and value system, our truth, our essence, right? Our that like blueprint that we're here for. Oftentimes, and and this is kind of circling back to everything we're saying, but just saying it in a different way, there is pain, right? There is real like to choose that path to invest in that often will cost us time, energy, money. And so not to give up if like if we are investing those things, if we can identify what is valuable on this list over here, right? This conscious list, then it will cost us time, energy, and money. But the payoff will be so great if we really make that investment because we've really listened and not abandon that because, oh, it's gonna take time, or and and most people do, right? Most people do abandon. It's like, oh, it's too hard or it costs too much money, or I don't have the time, or whatever it is. And that's those are exactly the things that your soul, your your aligned self would really want to be doing if it were gonna be, you know, in harmony.

SPEAKER_00: 53:54

Well, and it's costing so much more not to. Costs so much more not to, yeah. No, and it maybe not in the immediate sense, but over our lifetime. To be out of alignment causes so much more damage than taking the time, the effort, the money, whatever it is that it takes to get in alignment. It's well worth the price.

SPEAKER_01: 54:15

It's yeah, I yeah, have no regrets myself.

SPEAKER_00: 54:20

So yeah, yeah. Casey, thank you so much for being my guest today. I've really enjoyed talking with you and learning from your wisdom and knowledge. I really appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01: 54:30

Likewise, I have enjoyed it very much. Thank you for having me and thank you for holding this space for me.

SPEAKER_00: 54:36

Wonderful.

SPEAKER_01: 54:37

Have a wonderful day, everybody.

SPEAKER_00: 54:45

Thank you for joining me today on the Joy Felicity Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please like and share, and come follow me on all major social media sites at Joy Felicity or on my website, joyfelicity.com. You can follow the link in the description for this episode to all of the places that we can connect. Have a great day, everybody, and remember dare to dream, plan to play, live to learn.