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Open Heart Healing Podcast

Open Heart Healing Podcast

Written by: Vesta Hurlbutt
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The Open Heart Healing Podcast is a space for mental health, self-care, self-love, inspiration, resilience, and emotional healing. Each episode is designed to support you in navigating life's inevitable ups and downs while reminding you of your true worth and inner strength. In today's fast-paced world, balancing daily responsibilities with happiness can feel overwhelming, but this podcast proves that healing, growth, and joy are possible—even during the most challenging times. Hosted by empowerment strategist and health coach Vesta Hurlbutt, the Open Heart Healing Podcast is more than just another wellness show—it's a resource for personal growth, emotional wellness, and navigating change with an open heart. Listeners will find practical tools, heartfelt inspiration, and meaningful conversations that address the full spectrum of what it means to be human: from managing stress and anxiety to finding courage, forgiveness, and freedom in the face of transitions. At the core of every episode is the belief that self-care is not selfish. In fact, self-care is the foundation for building resilience and balance. Through stories, strategies, and honest reflections, Vesta offers guidance to help you reclaim your energy, rediscover your authentic self, and cultivate a deeper sense of peace and happiness. Each conversation shines a light on the importance of self-love, mindfulness, and emotional healing, encouraging you to pause, breathe, and reconnect with your inner wisdom. Guests on the Open Heart Healing Podcast include coaches, healers, authors, and everyday people who share their journeys of resilience, recovery, and transformation. These powerful stories of breaking free from toxic relationships, overcoming self-doubt, healing emotional wounds, and finding joy again serve as reminders that you are not alone. Their insights help listeners explore how to navigate transitions, embrace new beginnings, and approach change with creativity, strength, and inspiration. But this podcast isn't just about the tough moments—it's also about celebration. Vesta highlights the beauty of starting over and the privilege of being able to begin again, again. With every fresh start, we are invited to align more closely with who we are meant to be. That sense of freedom and possibility is central to what the Open Heart Healing Podcast delivers: a reminder that resilience and balance are not just survival tools, but pathways to authentic joy. If you are searching for a mental health podcast that provides not only insight but also practical steps for self-care, emotional wellness, stress relief, and personal growth, this is the place for you. If you are looking for inspiration, motivation, and encouragement to keep going when life feels heavy, you'll feel at home here. If you're working to strengthen your resilience, practice self-love, and find balance between your responsibilities and happiness, these episodes will give you the tools to move forward. Every conversation is rooted in compassion and empowerment. Listeners are reminded that healing doesn't happen all at once—it unfolds step by step. By tuning in, you'll gain strategies for improving your mental health, tips for integrating self-care into your daily routine, and inspiration to embrace your worth and potential. Most importantly, you'll be reminded that even in uncertainty, you can navigate life with confidence, courage, and creativity. Whether you're dealing with burnout, recovering from a difficult season, learning how to release limiting beliefs, or simply seeking a little inspiration and motivation, the Open Heart Healing Podcast is here to remind you of your value. This is a community for those who believe in growth, resilience, balance, and the power of starting fresh. Life may not always be easy, but with an open heart, you can learn to navigate the journey with greater ease, compassion, and joy. 🌐 Learn more at www.openhearthealingpodcast.com 📲 Connect with Vesta on Instagram: www.instagram.com/vlhurlbutt2023 Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • 81: Happiness is a Decision
    Jan 26 2026

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    Zulma Beatriz Williams, LCSW, also known as The Swearing Therapist, joins the conversation to share her powerful journey through trauma, immigration, cancer survival, mental health recovery, and radical self-trust. Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Zulma immigrated to the United States at 31, earned her social work degrees later in life, and became fully licensed after surviving breast cancer, abusive relationships, depression, and suicidal ideation.

    As the founder of Dragonfly Therapy Services, Zulma specializes in trauma therapy, anxiety, and depression, bringing an honest, no-bullshit approach to mental health that resonates deeply with people who are tired of being talked down to. Now living by the ocean in Panama, she speaks about resilience, healing, and honoring the internal warrior—not as a victim story, but as a lived truth.

    This episode explores mental health healing, trauma recovery, immigrant resilience, and how real talk, self-compassion, and courage can help people reclaim their power and live with purpose—no matter what they've survived.

    Find her on Instagram here.

    Book a consultation here.

    Listen to her podcast! Keeping it Real with Zilma, The Swearing Therapist

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    49 mins
  • 80: Being with Emotions, Not Battling Them
    Jan 18 2026

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    Sylvia Wolfer. Across different stages of her life, Sylvia Wolfer experienced profound and sudden loss, including the deaths of her parents and two brothers. For years, she lived with unprocessed grief—appearing functional on the outside while internally bracing for impact, governed by grief triggers and a constant sense of threat. Everyday experiences like reading, sitting in cafés, or trusting a calm day felt impossible.

    When her older brother died in a car accident years later, this moment became a turning point. Through neuroscience, mindfulness, emotional literacy, and mindful movement (Pilates), she began to understand grief not as something to "get over," but as something that can be lived with—without losing more of one's life to pain.

    Today, Sylvia's work focuses on helping others develop awareness, presence, and supportive daily practices so grief has space, but not total power. In this episode, she reframes grief as a human, navigable experience—one that can lead to steadiness, agency, and a deeper connection to life rather than ongoing survival mode.

    Reach her here.

    The Mindful Body by Ellen Langer

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    55 mins
  • 79: From Trauma to Triumph
    Dec 25 2025

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    Adriene Caldwell is a force of resilience, healing, and truth. As a former foster youth—a group of whom less than 3% attend college and 20% later enter the U.S. prison system—Adriene defied every statistic and expectation. Her life story, marked by profound trauma including abuse, sexual assault, homelessness, untreated mental illness, and foster care brutality, is not shared for shock value, but to offer real, grounded hope to anyone fighting their way out of darkness.

    Her book Unbroken carries one of the most extensive trigger warning lists you'll ever see, reflecting the depth of what she survived: emotional and physical abuse, pedophilia, extreme poverty, bulimia, violence, suicide, incest, and the drowning death of a child. Yet within that darkness is a fierce, unyielding light—a determination not just to survive but to thrive. Adriene's story reveals what it truly means to reclaim your life, your voice, and your future, even when the world refuses to play savior.

    This episode is gripping, vulnerable, and deeply human. It challenges listeners to look beyond labels of "trauma" and "brokenness" and witness the extraordinary strength it takes to rise again. Adriene's message is clear: no matter how cruel life can be, there is always hope—and healing is possible.

    Get more Adriene here!

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    48 mins
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