Why You Want to Discover What's Inside Your Darkness with Nikki Rollo, PhD

Darkness more often than not is portrayed as something to fear or to tread with caution. However, we all have darkness within us. We all have shadows that we can’t get rid of, whether we like to or not. In this show, Depth Psychologist and National Director of Program Development for Reasons Eating Disorder Center, Nikki Rollo, PhD explains why our own inner awareness and exploration of our shadow is essential for recovery and gives actionable advice on how to host your shadow so you can better understand it’s presence in your life and find wholeness. In the words of Swiss Jungian Psychologist, Marie Louse Van Franz, “whether the shadow becomes our friend or our enemy largely depends on ourselves”. Are you ready to face your shadow, warrior?

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What You’ll Learn from Nikki Rollo

Who is Carl Jung and his contributions to the field of psychology
What is the difference between the persona, the ego, the shadow, and the self
How to find wholeness by allowing your shadow to express itself and integrate into your life
What the antidote to shame and worthlessness is
Why people in our lives act as mirrors, reflecting the positive and negative

Favorite Quote

To confront a person with his shadow is to show him his own light anyone who perceives his shadow and his light simultaneously sees himself from two sides and thus gets in the middle. ~Carl Jung

Favorite Recovery Resource

The Compassionate Mind by Paul Gilbert Ph.D.
Recovery Warriors

Warrior Moment

I’ve been practicing yoga for a while now; this week my body was feeling tired and a little sick and just moving slow so I found myself drawing on both my commitment to the practice and getting on the mat, but also having compassion for the needs of my body to just move at a slower pace. The commitment and compassion were the two things that showed up on the yoga mat this week with my body.

Definition of Recovery according to Nikki Rollo

It’s multidimensional, layered, it’s a process, it’s an experience, it grows over time, it has these twists and turns. It has elements such as being physically and nutritionally recovered, psychologically recovered, behaviorally recovered, and then socially recovered. It doesn’t mean that you’re never going to have another negative thought about food or body, it just means that you’re not going to act on it as a way to cope with life.