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Empower Your Mind: Dr. Anna Marie Frank's Holistic Approach to Mental Health

• me&my wellness / Dr. Anna Marie Frank • Season 1 • Episode 222

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Dive deep into the world of mental wellness with Dr. Anna Marie Frank and Anthony Hartcher as they unravel the power of holistic healing. In this eye-opening episode, Dr. Anna Marie Frank shares her transformative journey from conventional mental health treatments to groundbreaking alternative methods. Discover how she rewired her brain to overcome PTSD and trauma and explore the intersection of biofeedback and energy healing.


From personal struggles and triumphs to innovative approaches in mental health, Dr. Anna Marie Frank reveals how questioning conventional medications and embracing holistic practices can lead to profound healing. Tune in as she discusses the profound impact of biofeedback, energy medicine, and self-care practices like nutrition and herbal remedies.


About Dr. Anna Marie Frank:
Dr. Anna Marie Frank, a Doctor of Traditional Naturopathy and Ph.D. in Natural Medicine, founded Happy Whole You wellness centers and created a unique brain nutraceutical line. Overcoming personal struggles with depression and learning difficulties, she is dedicated to advancing brain health. Dr. Frank authored “Stop Bullying Yourself!,” a guide to better health, wealth, and happiness.


Interview Topics: 

  • Rewiring Wellness: Transforming Brain Health for a Holistic Life 
  • Debunking the Myth of Perfect Work-Life Harmony 
  • The Brain-Biology Connection: How Thoughts Shape Our Health 
  • Enhancing Employee Health and Corporate Wellness Holistically 
  • Integrating Mind and Body for Optimal Mental Health 
  • Think Well, Be Well: Uncovering the Power of Cognitive Health in Everyday Life 


Connect with Dr. Frank: 



About me&my health up & Anthony Hartcher

me&my health up seeks to enhance and enlighten the well-being of others. Host Anthony Hartcher is the CEO of me&my wellness which provides holistic health solutions using food as medicine, combined with a holistic, balanced, lifestyle approach. Anthony holds three bachelor's degrees

Podcast Disclaimer
Any information, advice, opinions or statements within it do not constitute medical, health care or other professional advice, and are provided for general information purposes only. All care is taken in the preparation of the information in this Podcast. [Connected Wellness Pty Ltd] operating under the brand of “me&my health up”..click here for more

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Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

I think all of us should be questioning the medications that we're being told that we have to have or that we need to take. And, yeah, I'm a big proponent of just ask a lot of questions before you go on a medication, ask your doctor how long you should be on it and how will they take you off of it. Because that's the other problem is a lot of women are prescribed SSRIs, antidepressants and are told, oh, well, it's just for a period of time. And then they're on them five, six, 10 years later. And, you know, they're not, they're not trained on how to take people off medications. It's a trial and error thing. So I'm a big proponent, ask a lot of questions. And I would look into some holistic things first and foremost.

Anthony Hartcher:

That was Dr. Anna Marie Frank, a doctor of traditional naturopathy and a PhD in natural medicine. Also the founder of Happy Whole You Wellness Centres. And she has a book called Stop Bullying Yourself. So you've landed on the me&my health up podcast. I'm your host, Anthony Hartcher. I'm a clinical nutritionist and lifestyle medicine specialist. The purpose of this podcast is to enhance and enlighten your wellbeing. And I've brought Dr. Anna Marie Frank on the episode to talk to you about mental health. And she shares mental health based on her personal struggles with her own mental health, her journey, what worked, what didn't work. And so you'll get a lot of profound insights and in particularly on biofeedback and how you can use biofeedback to help you on your wellness journey. So without much further ado, I'd love to welcome you into the discussion I'm having with Dr. Anna Marie Frank. Welcome on the me&my health up podcast. How are you, Dr. Anna Marie?

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

I'm wonderful. Thank you.

Anthony Hartcher:

So great to have you on this show. Where are you joining us from?

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

I'm joining you from Bakersfield, California in the US of A.

Anthony Hartcher:

Beautiful spot in the world. I guess it's quite warm for you over there at the moment.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Yeah, most definitely. It's where I live is the desert. And so we got up to 98 this past week. So we are warm.

Anthony Hartcher:

Wow. Yeah. The Australian listeners won't be relating to that because we're in the middle of our winter. Yep. So great to have you on. And I'd love for you to share with the listeners as to how you arrived at what you're doing today.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Yeah. Well, my journey started way back before I even realised. Really in high school, I struggled with my mental health. Back then, we didn't, you know, you wouldn't say someone had depression or you wouldn't say someone had anxiety. Like those weren't words and labels that were thrown around back then. It was just kind of, I felt, you know, unhappy. And I felt embarrassed and ashamed of that. And so I didn't really tell anyone and you would look at my life and think, you know, what do you have to be unhappy about? I was, you know, I got good grades. I was a wonderful athlete. I had, you know, a roof over my head. I had married parents. I had all the boxes checked to say, you should you should have a pretty good life, right? So don't, I shouldn't feel bad inside. And so I hid that for quite some time, went on to university and my mental health struggled even more. So being a student athlete, and then as well as, you know, all the things that go along with going to university, you're drinking, not taking care of your body as well as you should. And then I thought, you know, once I graduate from college, then I will be happy, right? We keep chasing that carrot. I actually moved across the country to California. I'm originally from Michigan, more on the east side of the country and, you know, came out west. I thought, okay, this is where I'm going to transform my life. And it kept being, I kept chasing that carrot, the next thing. And I found myself in my early 20s. I had the job, uh, had graduated and I thought, wow, I have this thing called health insurance. Now I'm going to go see a doctor because they'll fix me. So I went to a psychiatrist. He put me on three mind altering medications in my early 20s, after only spending about 15 minutes or so with him. And I continued on a downward spiral with my mental health. And luckily for me, I had this little light inside of me and I remember when I kind of hit my rock bottom, and that little light was like you are the only person that can make yourself happy and whole. And so that's what I set forth on the journey to look into alternative ways that can help heal myself. And the funny thing is, is when I looked into these alternative ways, I quickly realised these are, were alternative. These were the ways that people used to heal themselves way before Western medicine, you know, came in and took over our universities here in the States. But nevertheless, I started to do a lot of little things to shift my biology, to shift my thinking. And I started to heal myself from the inside out.

Anthony Hartcher:

Wow. What a journey. It's inspirational in terms of how you've turned your health and even your profession around. Yeah. So it's, it's remarkable how, you know, looking from, I guess, people observing from the outside can sort of assume that they must have everything going well for them on the inside. And, and often, sometimes, yeah, we get that misperception about the person and we have no idea that they're really struggling because they're essentially, we take an assumption. And I think that assumption then blinds us from actually asking the questions to really understand if that person is okay. We just, you know, assume they are. And yeah, it's remarkable. So in terms of those small things that you did to turn your mental health, your life around. Can you please share that?

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Yeah. So I had this idea that if you could reprogram a computer, we could reprogram our brain. So I thought I needed to change the way I'm thinking and the way I'm viewing the world. And so I started to just change the music I was listening to. I started to stop watching the news. I started to listen to audio books and professional doing personal growth books. I started to exercise for enjoyment versus punishment. I stopped counting calories and worrying about every little, you know, calorie I put in my mouth and just started to eat real food. I started to surround myself with positive people. That was another thing is I was attracting these low vibrational people that treated me the way I was treating myself and I wasn't treating myself well. So I found myself in some pretty poor relationships. And I think the biggest thing that I did was I took ownership of where I was at in my life and I quit blaming the outside world for my circumstances. And I took ownership and I started to say, okay, what can I choose now? How can I shift this now? Because no one was coming to save me. No one was waking up every morning trying to figure out how do I make Anna Marie's life the best life. That was something I got to choose to do. And so it was really essentially rewiring how I was thinking and how I was speaking about my life. And so that started to shift what was going on within me, which then in turn changed everything around me. And so it was it was I would say it was never just one thing.

Anthony Hartcher:

Absolutely. It's the sum of the parts, right? Yes, absolutely. So that wake up call, that little light bulb moment, where do you think it's come from? Has it come from one source or multiple sources? What do you attribute that light bulb wake up, you know, Anna Marie, as to, you know, she's, she's in control. You know, it's not, stop blaming the outside world. It's time to take control of my life and really, yeah, I guess control my, you know, like take ownership of my mental health.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Yeah, I definitely think that this lifetime is a time where I get to work through a lot of things. And I'll never forget the moment that I woke up and it was I was in my psychiatrist's office and I was going back because I wanted him to change the medications that I was on because I was going to tell him, hey, these aren't working for me. I need new medicines as if that was the thing that was going to cure me. And he took, he took a call during my time, and I remember feeling so infuriated. I was so upset that here I was in front of this person and not mentally well. And he just took a call as if I wasn't even there, as if I didn't even exist. And that hit me in a way that was so profound because I allowed it. I mean, I had gone to his office multiple times. I had, it was like, I was just like herding sheep, right? I wasn't a person. I wasn't Anna Marie. I wasn't this athlete, this smart woman. I wasn't any of these things. I was just a number. And I allowed that to happen. And for the first time he got off that call and I told him, I said, I don't appreciate you taking a call during our session. And it took every ounce of me to say that. I remember it was like my voice was cracking. It was like, oh my gosh. And he was like, sorry, as if he wasn't sorry at all and went straight back to the questioning questions he was asking me prior to taking the call as if I was nothing. And I just, I stood up in that moment and I said, I need to leave. And he pulled out my three prescriptions. He had already written them before he even saw me. And I remember taking them and looking at them and I walked out of there. I threw them in the trash. And I remember walking outside and like seeing the blue sky for the first time, seeing the trees green for the first time. And I was like, I am going to change. Like, it was like, it was almost like I was like someone else was living in my body and I wasn't who I was meant to be. And, and so, yeah, it was my soul saying, wake up, sister. Like you've been being a victim long enough. You got some things you need to do in this lifetime. So we need you to wake up, get on board and start doing the thing so you can help other people. And so that's, that's essentially what I started doing from that day forward.

Anthony Hartcher:

So is that really that light bulb moment was that now I've got to take control. I can no longer trust the outside world or these people that I've seen because they don't really care about me. And, you know, who, who truly cares about me is me. And therefore, I'm going to own my health, own my mental health and take it in my own hands. So where did you go after after that? Where was the guidance and support for your mental health?

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

You know, what's interesting is I've had this question before and I essentially did it on my own. I didn't go see a counsellor. I went to books. I went to listening to Christian music. I went to church. I didn't, I didn't know exactly where to go because I, of course, I went to the doctor. That's what I had thought. And so, and this isn't something people were talking about back then as, you know, people talk about mental health more now than ever before. But, you know, I look back and knowing what I know now, you know, I probably had some nutrient deficiencies. I probably had some toxicity going on in my body. I do, I did have a brain scan from the Dr. Amen Clinics. I'm trained by the Dr. Amen Clinics and he has places all over the United States with SPECT imaging scans. And I do have a brain that represents somebody who has a, who has PTSD. And so that's just how my brain functions. It doesn't mean that I have to, or I show up in the world with that PTSD and depressed brain that shows in my imaging. I get to mould a new brain and I get to essentially reprogram my brain. And so it was literally just going to church and doing these things. And then I started studying more in nutrition. I started to look at types of workouts and how those affect the brain. I didn't ever know that, you know, if you have anxiety, you shouldn't be doing HIIT training. You know, like, I just started to learn like all these little things that I'm like, oh my gosh, I have an undergrad in exercise science. Why were we never talking about the brain and the brain and exercise in terms of mental health? You know, so I started to learn all these little nuggets and I just started to explore them on myself, try them on myself, and then started to just like go deeper down the rabbit holes and learn about herbs and plant stem cells and, you know, different raw materials that the body needs to be able to function properly, amino acids and how those impact neurotransmitters in the brain. And my mind was just like blown at all the things I started to learn that, you know, through all the schooling I had, it was never talked about. And yeah, so I essentially did it just seeking information and which really catapulted me into what I do today is having a brick and mortar, working with people virtually. So they don't have to do it on their own. They don't have to do, you know, years of studying and trying to find this information. And so I just kind of help people collapse time. You don't have to take a decade or two to heal yourself. You could do it a lot quicker with the right support and the right help.

Anthony Hartcher:

Wow. It's incredible how you've, you know, realised that over time, different types of exercises, you know, are good for how you're, you know, based on mood or based on how you're feeling, you need to, you know, moderate your exercise. You need to ensure that you've got a well-balanced diet, that you're actually taking in the right amounts, quantities of amino acids in order to produce the neurotransmitters that you need. So I see that as really good resourceful tools and we can certainly unpack some of that in a bit more detail. But I'm really keen to get to that, back to the PTSD-like brain. So has there been a PTSD incident in your life that happened that caused your brain to go this way? Or was it just the way you're thinking that drove your brain to be resembling a PTSD-like brain?

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Yeah, that's a great question. So I thought about that. I've thought about that a lot because when we think of PTSD, we think you've gone to war, you know, you've had some ultra traumatising things happen to you. And a couple of things for me, one, so I was doing some work and this lady I was doing work with kept saying, what happened between when you were born and about one to two years old? And I'm like, how would I know that? Like, come on, like, what kind of. And I kept going back to this lady doing sessions and every six months I would do a session with her and she would bring this up. And I'm just like, oh my gosh. So then I finally said to my mom, I said, mom, what happened from like born to about one to two years old? Like what was going on? I'm the fourth of five children. And my mom just started crying because I'm like, this lady said that there's something there because in the background, like, you know how we all have that background? I have in the background, nobody wants to spend time with me. I'm not good enough. I'm not smart enough. And so the one that nobody wants to spend time with me or people don't like me, that's been since I was really little. And the I'm not smart enough, that came out of second grade. But that one that has been with me my whole life, my mom, when I asked her this, finally, she said, she started crying and she said, yeah, I did not want you. I had postpartum. You were such a great baby and you were, you're, you know, I was like a good, calm baby, but I started losing weight. And the doctors told her, your daughter needs to start putting out weight or like you can get turned into CPS. Like you can get turned into an agency that you're not taking care of your kid. So I think that that energy of, and I know that wasn't my mom's intention. My mom was a wonderful mother, but she was going through a period of time. And I think that that energy stayed with me and that frequency of, you know, not being wanted and that, you know, nobody likes me or people don't love me. And then, you know, so I think that part of that was like the initial blow to the, to my psyche and my energy, and then pile on top of that fourth of five children, getting picked on. I remember very clearly, I talk about this in my book in second grade, I was, I was not good at reading comprehension. I could read words, but I couldn't understand what I would read. And I would do my best to read ahead. So I would know how to say all the words before the teacher would call on me when we were reading aloud. And so I would like hurry and read ahead. And I remember this one time she asked me a question and I didn't know the answer or something like that happened. And I had read the work, but I didn't comprehend it or remember. And I remember her pointing her finger at me and essentially saying something along the lines that I'll never amount to anything if I don't learn to read. And in my little second grade body, I was like, I am stupid. I am not smart. And then also that my little body was like, but I did it. I really did read the words. Like I really did it. So I always also have this thing that I'm always in trouble too, by the way, like this, I'm always feeling like, am I in trouble for something? Again, I think all of this contributes to, you know, the brain that I wound up with as an adult. And I have to learn to work with this machinery that I have and I have to keep it fine-tuned. I have to keep it, you know, oiled up because it can have a tendency to go off track. Right. So it's just, I think the PTSD aspect, is it a cumulative of things? I mean, I'm like any other person where, you know, in high school, I remember the first week of high school, these juniors and seniors were like being very cruel to me, you know, and I always tell people, you know, PTSD can be as simple as your kid and someone on the playground who you thought you were friends with says to you, I don't want to play with you anymore, or I don't like you, right? Like, as an adult, we may say, oh, well just go play with someone else or, you know, oh, they're mean anyways. But that child in that moment, that is their life. That is everything. And it was just ripped away. Their best friend or their friend or whoever, it was just ripped away from them. And so how our brains take on trauma is everybody's different. And we don't get to say, oh, well, that's trauma and this isn't trauma because I don't think we can do that because everybody is different in how they process things. And that at different ages, we process things very differently.

Anthony Hartcher:

Absolutely. Thank you for sharing that. Obviously, it's going quite deep into your personal life. So I appreciate you being so open and just allowing the listeners into your journey because I'm sure they're resonating with what they're hearing because they could probably relate to and I can certainly relate to different experiences that you've experienced. I've had similar but different experiences in my in my upbringing. So I'm just intrigued to go back to the person you're saying that kept mentioning something happened to you when you were 0 to 1.5 because that was very profound insight. And I'm intrigued as to what is their specialty.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So this was like, almost 20 years ago, 15 to 20 years ago. During that five-year time frame, I would go back to this person. And she was simply using some biofeedback and intuitive abilities that she had. And, you know, I mean, it was simply, and I use biofeedback today. That's what actually inspired me to get into biofeedback and start using it. And it's amazing how the body remembers and our biofield holds all the information of everything from our past to what we're holding on to. And it's completely incredible. But it was biofeedback and then her own intuition.

Anthony Hartcher:

Wow. So what did she, how did she market her services? Like, what was like, I'm intrigued as to how people like find this. Yes. Yeah.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Yeah. I mean, I, there was no marketing. This was simply somebody knew her and did a session and I was listening. And I was like, oh, I want to do that. And they're like, oh, you just call this number. And I literally would go in there and I would sit in this chair and, and I would just sit there and she would be doing this, this biofeedback and I'd be sitting there. Sometimes I would fall asleep. And at the very end, she would bring up a few things that were substantial that she came across. And that was it. I didn't see, like when I do biofeedback, there's a whole screen. I show people what's going on, whether I'm in person or remotely. We're looking at organ systems. We're looking at all this all this feedback. And hers back then was literally just, I sat in this chair.

Anthony Hartcher:

Wow. Wow. Was it a, would you say it's like a type of hypnosis? That she's, is she accessing the subconscious mind?

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Well, she put these, so she put these things around my wrists, around my ankles and around my head to get the biofeedback essentially to send signals into my body and then my body would react to those different signals. And so that's essentially what biofeedback is. Now, if we fast forward because that was so long ago, we all know technology is like, incredibly faster. So now we can use biofeedback, really like using it remotely, you know, through the quantum field or like with the when I have people in person, I use a headset for them. But yeah, back then it was it was multiple things that she would attach to my body to get the information out of my body.

Anthony Hartcher:

Okay. So now I'm intrigued about this bio field. You've got me switched on to this biofeedback. So I'm really keen to better understand it. And I guess I'm like putting myself in the listener's perspective as to, I personally haven't heard much about biofeedback. So bring me up to speed with the biofeedback in terms of how it works. And, yeah, yes.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Okay. So let's, if we think of the body, every or the body, anything on this planet vibrates at a very specific frequency. It's like its own identification code, its own, you know, fingerprint, if you will. And so when we use biofeedback, it's sending different signals into the body and the body is either responding and connecting those signals or rejecting them. More simplified term is back in the day when we would tune in the radio station, right? We would tune in a very specific station number and that frequency would go up and it would find its match. And then we would have music in our cars or on our radio or on our headset, right? So this is a form, this is, right, a form of frequency connection. Frequency always, frequencies always want to find their match. Right. So when you talk about how, you know, like for me, when I was going through the challenges I was going through, I was attracting other people that were similar to me, right? Like misery loves company, we've heard that saying before. We will attract people to essentially the vibration of where we're at. And so, we can use biofeedback by, I do this with, by physically touching people. I can use biofeedback, I don't need a machine. I can use it by essentially, you know, remotely working with them as well. But there are certain points on the body that I can press on those points on your body and you and I can have you hold your arm out and your arm will either fall or it will stay strong, depending on what organ system I'm touching, depending on what spot on the body I'm touching. If I'm touching your vitamin D spot and your arm drops, then I'm going to say, all right, Anthony, like, are you taking vitamin D? How much sun are you getting? You know, do you have a past history of being low in vitamin D? And so the physical body is always giving us feedback. And so biofeedback, we can use, you know, technology to do that. We can physically use our bodies. Also called, there's another word for it. I use energy testing as well. And then, you know, like physical feedback, kinesiology feedback. Kinesiology. I was like, where did that word go in my mind? Yeah. So. So yeah. And then I also combine with what I do with people is some Chinese medicine as well, where I look at what physical observations is the body giving us, which again is biofeedback. It's your biology giving us feedback. So I'll look at people's tongues. Your tongue says a lot about your health. I'll actually look at your eyes. I'll look at your fingernails, I'll look at your ears. I look at your skin. And again, this is all feedback that the body is constantly giving us. It's just, we're no longer trained what that means. Like people think having a line down the middle of their tongue is normal because they've seen it in cartoons and that is not normal. That's an indication of some digestive issues. And depending on how far the line comes down the middle of the tongue, there's some other indicators there.

Anthony Hartcher:

Very insightful. And I love how it's a combination of these traditional practices, such as Chinese medicine that's been around for thousands of years. And, and so you're working with these energy systems, which, you know, are classified as like whether they're meridians or chakras. Chakras. Yeah, exactly. Depending on, you know, whether you're looking at from a Chinese perspective or an Indian perspective. So you tap into those chakras and see whether they're they're blocked, you know, whether the energy is flowing through them or the energy stuck in those certain energy centres. And that's, is that how you're applying the biofeedback with respect to the energy centres?

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Yeah, that's one of the ways. Yeah. So I'll check the chakras, look at meridian points. I also study work by Donna Eden, who does a lot with energy medicine as well. And so I teach people different tapping points on the body, different things that they can do to align their chakras, meridians, and just essentially their biofield. It's, it's really, it's really fascinating and, and people may wonder, well, what's a chakra? And a chakra is, think of it as pinwheels of energy that flow in and out of the body forward and back from the base of your spine to the crown of your head. And those pinwheels of energy go in and out. Anytime there's an impedance in that energy flow, it can cause a psychological or physical ailment. And so we never want the energy to be blocked. Same with meridians. Meridians are what I say, they're highways of energy that go through the organ systems, connect muscle. And anytime there's a blockage in one of your highways, again, it can cause a physical or psychological ailment. And when people hear, you know, in both of these fields, they're like blueprints, they feed into your, your auric field, your biofield. People are like, well, that just sounds a little, I don't understand, right? But then it's like, okay, well, how in the world does your cell phone work? Right. If you go into an older building and your WiFi signal or your phone signal is like low in your phone, it kind of works, but it's kind of not working. And you're like, your apps are just spinning and they're, it's frustrating, right? You're like, gosh, I need to go get a signal. I need to like get this to work. The same thing happens in the body. If you have any energy being blocked in the body, your body cannot function as efficiently and as properly as it should. Yes, you'll get by, but it doesn't feel smooth and easy. Things get harder and harder and harder. And so, you know, our phones are a perfect example of energy and frequency. And so, you know, we will completely dismiss energy and frequency in the body, but yet we'll believe in our cell phones. And I always tell people, if you go inside every single cell until you can't go any further in the body, the only thing that's left is energy. So to not address the energetics of the human body, I believe we are missing a whole aspect of healing. And most people don't want to talk about it because we don't fully understand it. But why do, like, if you think about like energy and frequency, those of you out there that believe in prayer, right? So if you believe in prayer, you're saying a specific prayer. Your intention is for that prayer and that message to go to someone, somewhere. And I believe in prayer because I believe anything that we say with intention carries a frequency and it will be delivered to that person. And so if we believe in prayer, then we believe in energy and we believe in frequency. You know, it's just, it's a very beautiful thing that we have the power to connect with each other from far, far away. And we have the ability to connect with our inner soul and our body. It's just, we haven't been taught in this generation how to do that, how to understand it. And it's been kind of, oh, well, that's kind of weird, right? So that's why it's not readily available.

Anthony Hartcher:

That's fantastic insight that you've shared and really made it easier, much easier for listeners to understand what you're talking about in terms of energy fields and biofeedback. Now, I'm keen to get back to your story because it's very intriguing. And that when you've asked your mom about, you know, what happened to me when I was zero to one and a half and your mother broke down and, and shared with you in terms of where she was at and how she was feeling towards you and, and whatnot. So after that, where did you go? Like, so, cause you mentioned at the start of the episode that, you know, reprogramming the brain is, you know, one of, one of these real instrumental areas that you work in, believe in and, and that we have this neuroplasticity. And so, obviously, your brain, you know, at, you know, 20 years beyond that event of, you know, between zero and 1.5 is wired in a particular way. It's coming up, It's like PTSD-like brain. What was the process in terms of rewiring that PTSD-like brain? Because certainly what you're sharing today is well beyond where you were.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Yeah, well, I think, one, understanding where we came from and what happened in our life, that's one piece of it. But we don't like, okay, now I know almost the full story, right? I almost know the full story and that makes sense now. So that helps me as a grownup be like, okay, yeah, that that happened, that energy was there for sure. But how I work through it is when I am showing up in life as an adult and I'm already assuming people don't like me, I'm already assuming that people don't wanna spend time with me, I have to like, check myself and be like, okay, you're doing that thing again, is this true? But what's interesting is when we do have a brain that is, well, any of us with the brain that we have, our brains are automatically going to filter the world to avoid danger. So my brain registered that danger means that when somebody doesn't like you, that is a bad thing that is dangerous, right? This is my little mind thinking that when I was little. And so now as a grownup, I have found myself going through life and then it's like, oh, somebody didn't do something for me, oh, well, they don't like me, right? Because my brain is filtering the world to justify and to say, well, yeah, because of this, right? So I've had to like really check in with myself and be like, okay, is this true? Okay, is this from programming from the background? And then I always ask myself a open-ended question because when we are living in past emotions, we're coming from the limbic state of the brain, the emotional state of the brain. And so when we're coming in any decision-making that we're at, and we're coming from the emotional state of the brain, when we ask ourself an open-ended question, it forces us to use our prefrontal cortex, which is our executive function thinking. So I have to, when I go to my like automatic responses, which are way less now than ever, right? But they're still there. Like we don't get to just like get rid of it. We can quiet it down and minimise it and push it to the background. But when it comes up, I don't attach emotion to it. I don't get emotional and I'm just like, oh, you're doing that thing again, or, oh, is that really true? The moment we attach an emotion to something is the moment we give it more power. We give it more fuel. And so the very past that we have, that we do not desire, that we do not want, the most important thing we can do is extract the lessons from the past, take them into our future, the lessons, but leave the emotions in the past. And that's that's kind of an art to get to that point. I do this worksheet, well, I have my clients do this worksheet. It's how we find the value gained in different situations in our life out of, you know, past traumas or past things that weren't so fortunate. And the moment we extract the value gained, it gives us gratitude for, oh, I went through that because, versus, oh, I went through that and I'm still hurting. And so we find the value in it. Like, I know I went through, I have so many stories, but I know I went through what I went through and just the small stories I shared with you guys today because it helps me with, one, who I'm becoming and, two, how I show up and I'm able to give people space and how I support them. I would never be able to do what I'm doing today had I not gone through the challenges in my life that I had. So I'm so grateful for them. There's so much value that I've gained in my life and it didn't always feel great, but I mean, at this point, who cares? I don't have to feel that pain again. I get to choose to take the lessons and move forward in my life.

Anthony Hartcher:

time of zero to one, the focus was on what was lost. It was lost connection with mum, lost connection with siblings, and it was all about what you had lost in terms of connections. But what I'm hearing now is now you're looking to balance that and and to have that more prefrontal cortex function where you can see things objectively, you can see things both sides. It's got, you know, there's there was, okay, I'd lost these connections, but what was the value gained? Where have had, have I, you know, gained connections? And, obviously, you connected strong to athletics and that was a strong connection. And you probably wouldn't have been the athlete if it wasn't for what had happened to you between zero and one and a half because you embraced athletics, you went after it, you chased it, and you felt connected, you felt connected to exercise. And so I'm just curious as to hear a few more of these value gains because I think that's really important insight for the listeners is often they will encounter events where they perceive, you know, just loss or everything is just negative about it, but you're asking them to say, let's gain a, you know, a balanced perspective on it, let's look for the other side, let's look at what you've gained, how you benefited, how has it served you? So I'm just really keen as to what profound insight you've come up with in terms of that abandonment because that abandonment is pretty much, you know, kids will face that sometime, whether it be primary or high school. Right?

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Yeah, I remember walking into junior high one day and I was out, everyone was mad at me, I didn't know what I had done. I will, I mean, literally, I went into school and I had no friends. My group of friends turned their back on me, I didn't know what had happened. That was definitely another trigger. But the value gained from that looking back is I never ever want someone to feel like they are being left out in my life. I am the one that is going to, you know, I haven't talked to you in six months, I'm the one that's gonna pick up the phone and I'm going to call or I'm gonna send the text that says, hey, I'm thinking about you. I am the one that's going to say, oh, you didn't get a ticket to this? Oh, just come, just come, more the merrier. You know, it's like, I am the one that is like any person that walks into my office, they are automatically going to feel like they are being heard and that I see them. That is so important to me. I never want a single person to feel lonely and to feel like they're being left out. It breaks my heart to even think that someone would feel that way. That was a huge, huge value gain to me. And then another value gain, the first time I was fired, I was fired from a Dairy Queen. And the value gained from that was people will close a door for you on purpose because there's a window open somewhere else. And you weren't noticing that that was open until you got the door closed on you. And so whenever the door closes on me in my life, because this this will happen to all of us, especially when we're not listening, especially when we're not paying attention to that inner soul that's telling you, you need to change, you need to shift this, leave that job, stop doing that thing and that relationship. And we keep saying, no, but it's easier and we keep staying in it. The universe is going to literally shut a door in your face. They are going to body slam you and they are going, it's just so you'll make that change. And so I've really realised, and there was another moment in my life that was, I was in a very bad relationship. And I remember I kept praying, God, get me out of this relationship, get me out of this relationship. And something pretty traumatic happened to me. And I kept asking for that to happen to me, and it did. And instead of being so angry that that happened to me, in that trauma, I was actually relieved. And so it was like, okay, value there is to recognise anything we ask for, the good, the bad, and the ugly, we will get it. So we need to not focus on the things we don't want. We need to focus on the things we do want. And then also that someone is always listening, always listening. Even if you're talking to yourself, somebody is always listening. And so those were some other values gained. Second grade teacher, not feeling smart enough, the value gained there, I don't care what your education level is. I know you have some value and something incredible inside of you, that, and you do it in a unique way that no one else does it. And I have so much to learn from every person I come across. I don't care if it's a two-year-old, an eight-year-old, a 15-year-old, a 99-year-old, they all have some value in something that they can teach us. So helping people feel that, that they're smart, and again, that they're heard, that they're seen. I mean, all of these are such great values that I was able to extract from those moments.

Anthony Hartcher:

It's amazing, because as you share that value gained in relation to some of, you know, past events, I was thinking back to what you shared around that psychiatrist, and you sitting in there, him taking a phone call, ignoring you, making you feel like you're just a number, or you're not even there. So he's basically, he's not even seeing you there, and he's not, he's not listening to you. And I was thinking, okay, who's listening? Well, that was you listening, because you were listening, and, and what he did was wake you up and, and made you listen to yourself. And then you felt empowered in that moment to speak up and speak out. And then you walked out and you saw the blue horizon. You know, you could see now, you could see. And now you're showing up as to the person you wanna show up as, and that is someone that's always there for their client, always seeing them, always hearing them. And that's how you're so good at biofeedback because you're totally present with them. It's, it's, it's amazing.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Thank you. Yes.

Anthony Hartcher:

So I really appreciate the conversation, the in-depth conversation and the openness that you've expressed today because I think what you've shared, the listeners can relate to some part of your journey. And, and I think what they're doing is hearing you, and if they're watching on YouTube, they're seeing you, and this could be their wake-up call. This could be their waking up moment. So I really appreciate you sharing your personal story and what's helped you. And for those listeners that are either watching or hearing you, how can they best connect with you? How can they best reach out for help if they are looking for that guidance?

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Oh, yes, thank you. Yeah, so I'm on Instagram, dr.anna.marie on Instagram, or our brick and mortar that's located at Bakersfield, California, our wellness centre, is at happywholeyou on Instagram. Then I'm on LinkedIn and then our website, happywholeyou.com. So, you know, in this day and age, you could if you wanna find me, you will. And I would be grateful to work with anyone.

Anthony Hartcher:

Fantastic. Thank you for sharing where people can find you. And to the listeners and viewers, I'll incorporate all those links that Dr. Anna Marie shared in the show notes. So just go directly to the show notes and click on the link and reach out to Dr. Anna Marie. And I just wanted to, I didn't ask you this at the beginning, but I'm intrigued as to what you are a doctor in. What do you do your PhD in?

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

In natural medicine. And I'm a traditional naturopath, so not breaking the skin, not using synthetic drugs. There's a time and a place for, you know, everything, but I believe the very last result should be drugs and synthetics and medications and things like that. So I'm trained old school.

Anthony Hartcher:

Fantastic. And so you're helping people connect with traditional medicine.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Yes, yes, the original OG of medicine.

Anthony Hartcher:

Absolutely. And you're strongly connected with it and you're helping those see, I guess, well, you're providing options, providing options for people that they don't need to go down one specific path. Here's another path that gets great results where it's non-intrusive, non-invasive, and it is just tapping into the body's innate healing. So, uh.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

I do, can I throw in one more thing? So this is very fascinating to me, that when I learned that the brain is the only organ in the body that a doctor will prescribe medication for when they've never scanned it, looked at it, or have seen it, I found that very interesting. We would never put someone on a heart medication without evaluating the heart, right? We would never put someone on different medications without, you know, diagnosing and proper, you know, looking at these organ systems. And the brain is the only one, yeah, that doctors aren't looking at and prescribing medication for, and there's really no way to measure brain chemistry. So when someone says your brain chemistry is off because that's what I was told, how did he know that? Um, so yeah, so with my work, it's like, I feel, I know that we can do holistic things first that will make a big change in our mental health. And it's just knowing what to do because when you aren't well with your mental health, it can feel overwhelming. I get that. I have been there. So with clients, we just start with two or three things, and maybe it's one thing you do tomorrow and one thing you do after that, and then another thing. But I think all of us should be questioning the medications that we're being told that we have to have or that we need to take. And yeah, I'm a big proponent of just ask a lot of questions. Before you go on a medication, ask your doctor how long you should be on it, and how will they take you off of it. Because that's the other problem, is a lot of women are prescribed SSRIs, antidepressants, and are told, oh, well, it's just for a period of time, and then they're on them five, six, 10 years later. And, you know, they're not, they're not trained on how to take people off medications. It's a trial and error thing. So I'm a big proponent, ask a lot of questions, and I would look into some holistic things first and foremost.

Anthony Hartcher:

Fantastic, uh, share there, Dr. Anna Marie, I really, really appreciate you coming on, putting aside your time, and really enlightening and educating the listeners of me&my health up.

Dr. Anna Marie Frank:

Thank you so much. It's an honor.

Anthony Hartcher:

You're welcome. Thank you.

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