Do you desire to step into your fullest potential but feel held back by past traumas? If so, you aren’t alone. Today we are joined by men’s coach Jason Ward for a conversation around the power of seeking support & rewiring your brain. Jason openly shares his vulnerable story and the struggles that he had overcome to become the man he is today. Join us as Celeste and Jason discuss the stigma around men’s mental health and practices they can use to help maintain their emotional health. 

Even if you are battling your darkest days, this episode shows us that it is possible to emerge from this darkness and thrive. Jason reminds us that there are many other modalities, aside from therapy, that can help in this process. Please don’t hesitate to reach out for support if needed.

In this week’s episode, we discuss:

[01:30] About Jason Ward

[03:57] How Jason’s parent’s divorce impacted him

[09:04] The turning point that led Jason to seek therapy

[12:49] The different healing modalities that have helped Jason

[16:25] The stigma around men seeking support

[19:27] Dropping into your heart and being vulnerable

[22:26] It is possible to get through dark times

[26:51] Daily practices that men can do to maintain their emotional health

[30:19] The impact of rewiring your brain 

[34:42] Jason’s favorite date

[39:10] Therapy can be slow – there may be more effective modalities for you

About Jason Ward

At the age of six, Jason Ward found himself deeply affected by his parent’s divorce and father’s subsequent abandonment. This left lasting scars of anger, resentment, jealousy, and unworthiness. These experiences had unknowingly cast shadows over his life until his marriage ended, prompting him to seek healing through intensive therapy, hypnotherapy, understanding his psychology, and learning about self-awareness. 

This journey of self-discovery helped him overcome past traumas and he is now committed to guiding others through their struggles and powering them to heal and thrive before they hit rock bottom. His mission is to help individuals emerge from their darkest times into their fullest potential.

How Jason’s parent’s divorce impacted him

Jason shares that when his parents got divorced when he was six, he did not think much of it. His parents tried to hide things from him but what ended up happening was that they split visitation rights. One day, he was waiting for his father to pick him up and he never showed up. He did not hear from him for another 12 years. 

When Jason was 19, his dad was going through his second divorce and he called him to blame the fallout on his ex-wife. This was not true and finding out all of this caused so much pain for Jason. He felt abandoned, unworthy, and angry. He could never keep friends around, he was jealous in relationships, and fell for people really fast – yet he could never understand why.  

Later in life, he was dealing with a marriage that was full of issues and they ended up getting a divorce. He felt guilty thinking he was going to turn into his dad. He started doing therapy, hypnotherapy (which was a huge thing for him), and dove into psychology. He learned why he was feeling the way he was and why he was acting as he was as well. Once he could work through these things, everything started becoming clearer and he felt like he could finally start over. 

The turning point that led Jason to seek therapy

After Jason’s marriage ended, he found himself in an abusive relationship. There were red flags and signs that should have been clear but he could not see them. One day he said to himself “What are you doing? You need to figure out your emotions, brain, and everything inside of you because you are putting yourself through hell.” He then tried therapy but it never really helped. He felt like it was really slow and the therapist just wanted to get the sessions over with. 

The different healing modalities that have helped Jason

When Jason found hypnotherapy, he found that it dug into his subconscious and he became aware of things much faster. Hypnotherapy does not mean you are not in control of yourself, if you work with a good hypnotherapist, you can dig through your mind and bring up things that have been buried. Throughout these sessions, you are aware of what is happening and can stop it at any moment. 

He then started working with Dr. Alok Trivedi, which helped him to work through all of the remaining issues. Jason is now certified under Dr. Trivedi and also works with Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) to help rewire the brain. 

The stigma around men seeking support

Celeste shares that there is still a stigma around men seeking support and unfortunately there are many suicides that happen as a result of this. Many men are raised with toxic masculinity and feel as if their feelings need to be covered up. They were told that whatever happens, they need to push it to the side and move on. The truth is, when you do this it messes with your psychology. Even though it is buried, when your brain sees a similar event, it will trigger the thought of “this happened before.” Your brain instantly thinks it needs to protect you. By working through your emotions instead, you will get more clarity and become a much more clear-headed, calm, and logical man. 

Dropping into your heart and being vulnerable

Jason shares that people often put on a facade and pretend that they are brave. Men have been taught to hold back their feelings and they are never really vulnerable, authentic, or open. The truth is, you need to be vulnerable and have at least one person you can trust and open up to. If you are constantly putting on this fake face, they are never going to trust and build a deep bond with you. 

Celeste shares that being vulnerable does not mean that you have to cry. It means that you drop into your heart and communicate what you are feeling. Jason shares that vulnerability does not make you less of a man, it makes you more of a man because you can deal with so much more.

It is possible to get through dark times

Jason shares that people are committing suicide because they cannot deal with whatever is in their lives. If you learn how to properly deal with anxiety, depression, and anything else – then you can get through it. Jason shares a story about a client he worked with who was a military veteran. He had PTSD and got into heavy drinking when he got home. He ended up losing his license for a couple of DUIs and he was in a dark place. While working with Jason, he ended up getting serious with AA and worked through his PTSD and alcoholism. It has been a year and a half and he has made a huge change in his life. He put his life back together and is now helping other veterans who are dealing with the same issues that he was. 

Daily practices that men can do to maintain their emotional health

Meditation is a powerful practice that can help you learn how to control your mind. We all know that our minds can get crazy and mediation helps us become aware of this and bring it back before our thoughts get too far out. Even meditating for just 5 minutes a day can make a huge difference. Journaling is also a great tool to use. It can help you get all of your thoughts out and then you can see them more clearly. Both journaling and meditation can be calming. Celeste also shares to write down three wins each day, this retrains the brain to have gratitude no matter the circumstances. 

The impact of rewiring your brain 

Jason shares that you could be having one of the most horrific things going on and a practice you can always use is to write down 50-100 benefits of this. Then you can realize that nothing is good or bad, it is just the emotion we put into it. If you think about winning the lottery, give a list of 50 reasons why this is bad. You will start to notice that there are perks and drawbacks to everything. When we have a bad day, we can rewire our brains to see the good in it. This has changed Jason’s life.

Jason’s favorite date

Jason’s favorite date was the first date with his fiance. This is the most amazing relationship he has ever been in and the way that they connect is unlike anything he has experienced. They even met on Tinder so it is a reminder that anything is possible! 

Therapy can be slow – there may be more effective modalities for you

Jason shares that there are ways to improve your life in a timely manner. Therapy can be very slow and although he is not against it, there are so many more effective things that you can be doing. Please reach out for support and if Jason cannot help you, he will find someone who can. 

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