Healing is the Revolution
Healing is the Revolution is a collection of podcasts brought to you by the Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies (IWES), a community-based public health non-profit founded in New Orleans in 1993. The first podcast is "Healing is the Revolution,"
a soulful, intimate, and honest one-on-one conversation with IWES' Founder, noted psychiatrist and trauma expert Dr. Denese Shervington, and a guest. Individuals share intimate - and at times tragic - stories of creating successful lives beyond their traumatic beginnings and for some, untreated experiences. The series features a range of guests: each episode a personal story revealing joys, pains, and a path to healing. Dr. Shervington pulls from her training and study in both eastern and western healing modalities to guide these explorations of past, present, and future. In her own words, she describes the podcast as a place where “everyday people like us bare our souls as we try to learn from each other the naked truth of living.”
The second podcast is "Should I Get A Doula?," an exploratory journey into the world of doulas and doula care so that host Iman Shervington, IWES' Sr. Director of Media & Communications, — a 40 year-old Black women without kids yet — can decide whether or not a doula is right for her. Over five episodes, Iman speaks with doulas, people who gave birth with a doula, and an OB-GYN to answer every question she could think of relating to doulas and how they can support healthy pregnancies, especially for Black families, who disproportionately have the worst pregnancy outcomes in the United States. Whether you're planning for pregnancy, are curious about becoming a doula, want to know information for the future, or haven't even thought about it yet, through open dialogue and frank and honest stories, this podcast shares a lot of wisdom that you need to know.
Episodes
18 episodes
So...should I get a doula?
In the final episode we go over the last details about doula care we haven't covered yet so that our host, Iman, can finally decide if she should get a doula or not. To wrap up, all of the guests come back to discuss the remaining logistics, li...
Why are doulas so crucial for Black women?
“Black maternal health is a public health crisis.” - Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell It is impossible to critically discuss maternal and child health in the US without talking about race and the challenges Black birthing...
Why should I trust doulas?
Ever wondered what it takes to become a doula? This episode centers features Tasia and Jen as they share their journeys into this field and the special training they received that has shaped their practices and their philosophies about doula wo...
So what do doulas actually do?
In this episode we hear from Allison, Arlet, Tasia, and Jen as they recount real birth stories from the perspectives of birthing people and doulas themselves. The episode shares information such as how doulas educate birthing families, what it ...
What is a doula?
In this inaugural episode, host Iman Shervington invites you on a journey into deciding whether or not she should get a doula. Mothers Arlet and Allison, doulas Jen and Tasia, and OB/GYN Dr. Veronica Gillispie-Bell break down the basics by expl...
New Podcast Coming Soon! "Should I Get A Doula" Preview
Should I Get A Doula? is the newest podcast from the Institute of Women and Ethnic Studies (IWES), this time hosted by IWES’ own Sr. Director of Media & Communications, Iman Shervington...and...
Flozell | The B-Sides
This episode focuses on one man’s journey to care for himself and his community during a time of loss and hardship. Flozell’s childhood epitomized the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child,” as he grew up in a tight-knit and supportive f...
Arnold & Jasmine | The B-Sides
This episode explores the concept of freedom in two very different expressions. First, we hear back from Arnold, who exemplifies the idea that 60 is the new age of enlightenment. With every year, Arnold has found it easier to let go of his anxi...
Gina & Lauren | The B-Sides
This episode focuses on two women that are dedicated to breaking the cycle of trauma in their families and who are using their stories as a means to help heal others. First, we hear from Lauren, a board-certified child and adult psychiatrist...
Amy & Brennan | The B-Sides
This episode focuses on two people whose healing journeys have been highly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the unique processes each one uses to cope. In spite of the traumatic experiences that marked his childhood, Brennan’s resilient s...
Nikki Napoleon | The Scar I Wear Every Day
If pain is indeed inspiration for art, then poet, health advocate, and educator Nikki Napoleon’s first few decades were not short of material. From the layers of trauma in her home - heartbreakingly brushed off as “just learned behavior” by...
Jasmine Davis | Being Jasmine
Since the age of four, artist and activist Jasmine Davis was very clear about who she was, yet she felt burdened by the weight of other people’s prejudice, expectations and projections onto her, and she had to constantly navigate this lack ...
Brennan Jacques | The Absence Of My Father
Today Brennan Jacques is a thriving middle-school teacher, and a football and basketball coach, yet in his own words his early life “was not pretty.” The memories that play on repeat in his head aren't all bright and positive like the once ...
Amy Stewart | The Issues Are In The Tissues
Despite all, bodyworker, healer and writer Amy Stewart gently reminds herself that “I’m better now than I was back then.” And that is saying a lot, because by the age of nine she had already experienced enough trauma to feel that the world ...
Arnold James | You Can Run But You Cannot Hide
Dr. James is a psychologist, but today he is not going to be a therapist, he’s just going to be Arnold. On the other side of the couch, Arnold talks candidly with Dr. Shervington about his first few decades, which were lived ...
Lauren Teverbaugh | He's Ever Present
Daddy’s girl Lauren Teverbaugh has fulfilled her father’s mantra, “excellence, nothing less,” and is now a board-certified child psychiatrist, adult psychiatrist, and pediatrician. Despite tumultuous changes in her family unit starting when...
Flozell Daniels | Finding Joy in Justice
Flozell Daniels’s story is rather unique, yet some may say it's unfortunately not uncommon. These days Flozell thrives as the President and CEO of the Foundation for Louisiana, likely possible through the foundation he received growing up i...
Gina Brown | To Heal You Have to Know You’re Hurting
Gina Brown could have settled with being one of many tragic stories of a human’s inability to claw beyond circumstances outside of her control. Beginning at just four and a half years old, Gina has endured a history of abuse, a devastating heal...
