CGF TALKS
WITH Sky Yardeni, Former Therapeutic Director of CGF
In 2020, SKY YARDENI and guest speaker(s) unpacked issues related to grief and resilience in the context of mountain sports.
Each Episode is approximately 60 minutes (includEs Q&A with the audience).
CGF TALKS #10: Demystifying Therapy
GUESt Speakers: Kestrel Neathawk and Ben White
As a community of strong willed and gritty individuals, therapy can have certain stigmas that can become barriers to seeking support. Together, therapists Kestrel Neathawk, Ben White, and Sky Yardeni break down some of those barriers; share their own personal journeys with therapy, unpack some of the potential benefits to therapy, specifically with therapists who identify as climbers themselves, and share some pro tips on how to go about looking for a therapist.
Kestrel Hanson Neathawk is a psychotherapist, shapeshifter, climber and former Exum Guide. She has been a clinician for 15 years (Boulder, CO) specializing in the complex and nuanced constellations of integrating trauma, grief, loss and life transitions. She volunteers with the Climbing Grief Fund for the Climbing Grief Grant and is also a part of the film project, A Thousand Ways to Kiss the Ground — sharing both her work as a professional therapist while also being deeply touched by personal loss, informing her call to service. For more on Kestrel please check out her website: kestrelneathawk.com or podcast: kosmictonic.com which is a creative launchpad to roam other wild, uninhabited places, including astrology, personal stories, myth, psychology and more. And when not being a total nerd or serving, she is outside as much as possible climbing, skiing or just adventuring.
Benjamin White is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Group Therapist with a physical practice in Boulder County, Colorado. He maintains licenses in Colorado, Vermont and Montana and provides remote clinical services throughout those states, with a specialty in working with individuals concerned about the environment, outdoor professionals and adventure recreationalists. In his free time he enjoys backcountry and Nordic skiing, fishing, and long, easy rock routes.
CGF TALKS #9: NaviGating COVID + Mental Health
March 3, 2020
GUESt Speakers: Lor Sabourin and Madaleine Sorkin
The Covid-19 pandemic continues to significantly impact all of our lives in different ways. As we mark a year since the first lockdown , Lor Sabourin, Madaleine Sorkin, and Sky Yardeni take time to look back and reflect on those impacts, the struggles and challenges as well as strengths and resilience on personal, interpersonal, community, and systemic levels.
Lor Sabourin fell in love with climbing at a gym in Detroit, Michigan when they were twelve years old. As a young climber, they split their time between competitive climbing and exploring sandstone crags in the southeast. After graduating from Northern Michigan University with a degree in Outdoor Recreation Leadership and Management, they began working in the climbing industry as a guide, route setter, and coach. They now work as the Training Leader for the Warrior’s Way, a mental training organization that uses climbing as a foundation for developing awareness, engaging challenges with intention, and building personal power. Lor loves all types of climbing, but especially steep splitter cracks and desert towers. Outside of climbing, Lor is working towards a graduate degree in counseling with an emphasis on adventure-based counseling.
Madaleine Sorkin is a professional climber with a passion for difficult traditional routes, particularly up big walls. She is a certified AMGA Rock guide and coaches climbers to engage their performance edge. Recipient of the American Alpine Club Bates award in 2014, Madaleine has traveled from Colorado to California, and internationally to Kyrgyzstan, Patagonia, Jordan and Canada making several first or early ascents up to 5.13+ Grade VI (multi-day) rock walls, often in female teams and in remote areas. At the heart of her climbing are the partnerships, wild dreams, struggle and humor that make the pursuit meaningful.
In 2018, impacted by climbing-related tragedies in her community, Madaleine began the Climbing Grief Fund (CGF) at the American Alpine Club. Now as the Director of CGF, Madaleine works to make the program a resource hub for mental health in the climbing community.
CGF TALKS #8: Making Meaning
February 3, 2020
GUESt Speakers: Marcus Garcia and Lisa Kennemur
Grief and loss can be hard to grasp and exploring the concept of meaning can be helpful in the healing process. Together, Marcus Garcia, Lisa Kennemur, and Sky Yardeni will share frameworks from professional literature, share personal stories, and unpack the concept of finding and making meaning in the grieving process as they tie in the context of climbing.
"We need a sense of community when we are in mourning because we were not meant to be islands of grief. The reality is that we heal in community. There is no greater gift you can give someone in grief then to ask them about their loved one, and then truly listen. When we see our sorrow in the eyes of another, we know that our grief has meaning."
~David Kessler
Marcus Garcia is an all-around climber with over 28 years of experience and has established over 200 new routes, including everything from traditional, sport, and mixed climbing. However, his biggest accomplishment and legacy is not how hard he can push himself, but what he passes on to the next generation of climbers as a coach and mentor. Marcus is helping develop the next generation of Olympic Caliber athletes. When Marcus is not out teaching climbing clinics, he can be found in Durango, Co at his climbing gym, out running peaks, shooting photos, swinging tools, or just chilling at home. Marcus’s clinics are loved by all. He loves sharing his passions.
Lisa Kennemur grew up in Jasper, Georgia exploring the Appalachian mountains. She earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in biology from Shorter College and was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy in 1993. While serving on active duty, she earned a Master’s of Science degree from the University of Minnesota in Biophysical Science and Medical Physics. She served as a radiation health officer and medical physicist for 24 plus years and retired as a Captain in 2017. During her naval career, she worked in a variety of management positions ranging from middle manager to senior executive within large medical centers, technical laboratories and onboard ships. Most notably she served on the Navy Surgeon General’s staff as the expert advisor for radiation health policy and the community manager for radiation health officers (~95 personnel). She was the first female officer to ever hold this position.
Lisa is currently pursuing a second career in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in Wilderness Therapy at Naropa University. She performed her practicum at Pathways Grief & Loss in Fort Collins, CO where she worked with other therapist to create ways to involve nature in the grieving and healing process. She is currently performing her internship at the Somatic Wilderness Therapy Institute in Boulder, CO. Lisa’s ultimate goal is to make nature-based programs and rites of passage accessible to all populations as well as finding ways to incorporate the natural world in urban mental health settings.
CGF TALKS #7: Mental HEalth CHALLENGES + Guiding
January 6, 2020
GUESt Speakers: Angela Hawse and Mike LEWIS
Mountain guides are exposed to significant and continuous amounts of stress which can impact their lives in various ways. Together, Angela Hawse, Mike Mui Lewis, and Sky Yardeni unpack the mental health challenges that guides and the AMGA community face on a daily basis and address potential ways in which guides can engage in their own wellness.
WATCH & LISTEN:
GUEST SPEAKER BIOS:
Angela Hawse is the president of the American Mountain Guides Association board of directors and has worked on their instructor team since 2005. She is one of a few female IFMGA mountain guides, certified in the disciplines of rock, alpine and ski guiding. Her career has spanned three decades, facilitating others goals in some of the wildest places on earth. She’s led over 25 high altitude expeditions to the Himalaya, Karakoram, Andes, Caucasus, Alps Antarctica and Alaska Range. Angela has a Master of Arts Degree in International Mountain Conservation and a long history as an advocate for the environment, climate, diversity in the outdoors and service work.
Mike Lewis is a psychotherapist, an ordained Zen Buddhist priest, and an AMGA/IFMGA Mountain Guide living at Great Mountain Zen Center in Berthoud, Colorado. Mike began his career in guiding and outdoor education in 1993 and has worked domestically throughout the American West and the Southeast, and internationally in Mexico, South America, Canada, and Europe. Mike worked on the Yosemite valley YOSAR team, lived on the road for more than ten years, and was a sponsored rock climber in his twenties. As a result of traumatic childhood events and the need to reconcile his past, Mike took the paths of meditation and psychology to find healing and internal peace, which has now led Mike to work as a therapist in community mental health and in his own private practice, while continuing to guide part-time.
CGF TALKS #6: Climbing as a Facilitator for Healing
November 4, 2020
Guest Speakers: Hyoyoung Minna Kim and Virginia Sanford
We climb because it adds something to our lives, but we don't always have the words to say what those things are. In these times of stress, separation, division and uncertainty it can be helpful to highlight the potential ways in which climbing can contribute to our healing. Sky welcomes guest speakers Hyoyoung Minna Kim and Virginia Sanford to unpack these topics and share perspectives on how climbing can create change on personal, interpersonal, and systemic levels.
WATCH & LISTEN:
HyoYoung Minna Kim is into her third year of teaching second grade in her home-state of Maryland after teaching in New York City elementary public schools for six years. She has also worked with youth and young adults in other capacities, such as facilitating yoga and mindfulness experiences for youth ages 6-17 and inquiries of social justice in an undergraduate business course. She is an organizer and facilitator of Jams (yesworld.org) and is a co-founder of the Caucus of Anne Arundel Rank-and-file Educators (CAARE), a progressive collective within the local teachers union she is a member of. She is a big believer of radical honesty, body-wisdom, community-driven initiatives, transformative justice, diverse children’s literature, rest, and play.
Virginia Sanford is a clinical mental health therapist in Southern Utah. She works with adolescents and families using adventure and equine therapy in conjunction with traditional talk therapy. Virginia works from a trauma-informed lens with the belief that the body stores emotions and memories, making somatic processing a crucial part of healing. She is passionate about the ways that wilderness and adventure can facilitate deeper connections to self and place, allowing for deeper emotional healing. She is completely in love with the desert and the endless limestone and sandstone climbing Southern Utah has to offer.
CGF TALKS #5: MASCULINITY, GRIEF, POWER & PRIVILEGE
October 7, 2020
Guest Speakers: Tyree Moore and Rene Henery
Sky welcomes Tyree Moore and Rene Henery to how certain male stereotypes have impacted their lives. Toxic masculinity and patriarchy are phenomena that can influence all parts of life, including how we engage with our grief. This conversation aims to share personal stories, challenges, and insights about concepts like masculinity, community, grief, power and privilege, while weaving in climbing.
WATCH & LISTEN:
Guest Speaker Bios:
Dr. Rene Henery is an ecologist, eco-geographer and artist who holds a joint position as California Science Director for Trout Unlimited and research faculty for the University of Nevada, Reno, Global Water Center. Rene’s work embraces water, diversity, connectivity and equity as pathways to resilient ecosystems and communities in his home state of California and beyond.
Tyrhee Moore is a mountaineer and outdoor education advocate born and raised in S.E. Washington, D.C. Moore is a highly regarded outdoorsman whose climbs include Grand Teton, Mount Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua, and the first all African-American climb of Denali. Following his second ascent of Denali in May 2017, Moore garnered National attention for his unnerving bravery and bold leadership as a champion for increasing interest and advocacy amongst black youth in outdoor spaces. As a graduate from West Virginia University with a degree in Sport Management, Moore now encourages diversity in the outdoors and speaks around the country on topics regarding the adventure gap and conservation leadership.
In November 2018, Tyrhee founded Soul Trak Outdoors, a non-profit organization that is connecting urban communities of color to our planet’s green spaces. Soul Trak serves a wide age range of under-engaged groups from urban youth, collegiate members, and professional level urban residents in many outdoor activities like hiking, climbing, paddling, biking, and many others. Soul Trak’s programming works on developing leadership, community enhancement, outdoor advocacy, and outdoor exposure.
Contact Tyrhee on Instagram: @tyrhee.Moore @soultraks
CGF TALKS #4: SHOWING UP WITH KATHY KARLO
September 9, 2020
Guest Speaker: Kathy Karlo
What can showing up for ourselves and others look like? How can we process adversity and grieve as a community? Join Kathy Karlo and Sky Yardeni as they unpack concepts such as holding space and support.
WATCH & LISTEN:
Guest Speaker Bio:
Kathy Karlo is a writer, advocate, and climber. She is the executive director of No Man’s Land Film Festival, an all-women film festival based out of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, and regular columnist for Climbing Magazine. Along with cultivating a deep love for exploring the vastness of our planet from a rock climbing lens, she also has an affection for sharing doughnuts with strangers. As podcast producer of For the Love of Climbing, she wanted to create a storytelling platform that heartened and strengthened the community. Climbing is mostly jumping for her, as she has a negative ape index.
CGF TALKS #3: Secondary Trauma
August 5, 2020
Guest Speaker: Dr. ViveK Gurudutt
What is the impact on us after we hear about an accident even though we weren't there? What is the difference between grief and secondary trauma? How can we recognize impact and prioritize our wellbeing after stressful or tragic events? Together, Dr. Gurudutt and Sky unpack secondary trauma and shed light on something that is more common in our mountain sports than we thought.
WATCH & LISTEN:
Guest Speaker Bio:
Dr. Vivek Gurudutt is an Otolaryngologist/Head and Neck Cancer Surgeon. In addition to his clinical practice in oncology, he is skilled in organizational and individual well-being and has designed multilevel and multifaceted programs to improve the wellness of physicians. This work has led him to research the effects of secondary trauma on his colleagues on the front lines of patient care. In addition, he pursues study in the intersection of medicine and other fields to find wisdom and common ground among seemingly disparate fields.
Email Vivek — [email protected]
CGF TALKS #2: GETTING BACK ON THE HORSE
June 16, 2020
Guest Speakers: Chelsea Rude and Trevor Davis, Ph.D
The aftermath of a loss is difficult to navigate, regardless of climbing. Together, Chelsea, Trevor, and Sky will shed light on the process of returning to climbing and unpacking concepts of the ever-evolving relationship with climbing, Cognitive Processing, elements of choice, and being gentle with ourselves
WATCH & LISTEN:
Guest Speaker Bios:
Trevor Davis, Ph.D, is a rehabilitation psychologist in Seattle, WA. He works in an outpatient chronic pain management clinic and has a private practice specializing in supporting mental and emotional recovery after injury and trauma. He volunteers with the Climbing Grief fund as a Committee Chair for the Climbing Grief Grant and is active in the Pacific Northwest climbing community. Connect with Trevor through his website!
Chelsea Rude is a professional climber with Adidas and the founder of She Sends Collective who is based out of Boulder, Colorado. She has been climbing for 22 years and while the majority of her career was spent training in gyms for competitions, she now spends a lot of her time focusing on bringing women together and teaching them the skills they need to feel empowered and safe within climbing. Today Chelsea really has been enjoying sport climbing and bouldering, although she wants to become more proficient in trad, ice and alpine climbing. When she's not out teaching or climbing, she enjoys welcoming each day by watching the sunrise, covering large distances on foot with her dogs, jumping in alpine lakes, baking, reading and learning how to be a better ally for humanity. Connect with Chelsea at She Sends Collective!
CGF TALKS #1: RESILIENCE
MAY 19, 2020
Guest Speaker: Lorca Smetana
“I think you don’t heal with time. You heal with work.” — Lorca (CGF TALKS #1)
GUEST SPEAKER BIO:
Lorca is an innovative resilience and leadership educator, consultant and speaker, helping workers, leaders, businesses, and schools to design for energy, creativity and compassion. She is on the faculty of the Human Leadership Development Program at Montana State University, and is a regenerative farmer in Montana.
Visit Lorca’s work here.