Brighten Up Podcast

Feb 04 2025 12 ep. 49 mins

Brighten Up Podcast artwork

What is the most impactful factor in one's life? FAMILY! The things you like, the habits you form — or don't form 😏, and the personality you have are all heavily influenced by your family.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Donna Kuo is on a journey to explore the various ways to improve family mental health and well-being! Forget all the phony pop-psychology and embrace an attitude of constant growth and learning by hanging out to listen to talks with professionals of various fields that relate to all things mental health!

Health & Fitness Society & Culture Education

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

Faith and Family Wellbeing: Improving Relationship Culture with Religion

Feb 04 2025 43 mins

For comments, questions, and positive vibes, TEXT US! New year, new season, new YOU! What better place to start positive change than to reflect upon and assess your family culture? In this episode, Donna chats with Fr. Chris Looby, pastor of three parishes in upstate New York (and podcaster!). He shares daily reflections on his weekday mass readings through his podcast to make his

The Pink Battlefront: The Role of Community in Surviving Breast Cancer

Nov 26 2024 42 mins

For comments, questions, and positive vibes, TEXT US! The old African proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child" is widely known, but is enough attention paid to the power of community in overcoming family hardships? Of all the difficulties the family unit faces, few are as daunting as a breast cancer diagnosis. There is a great deal to be hopeful of on a medical front, but the

Virtual Frontier: Video Gaming & Teenage Boys

Oct 01 2024 32 mins

For comments, questions, and positive vibes, TEXT US! Frontiers are often characterized as unknown territory because of the lack of knowledge there is to them. The same rings true for the video game industry. It has only been a short time since children began growing up with them. Those that did are adults and little is known about their long-term effects. Even less is known about

You Are Not Alone: Let's Talk about Prevention

Sep 23 2024 42 mins

For comments, questions, and positive vibes, TEXT US! It cuts across economic status, it affects all age groups, and it touches so many lives. . . It is suicide. It is such a heavy discussion, yet such a dire one. Brave spaces are needed for brave people to talk, to reach out, to de-stigmatize. September is Suicide Prevention Month, so Donna sat down with a local leader making a la

Rising Invisible Threat: Cybersecurity for Senior Citizens

Jul 01 2024 41 mins

For comments, questions, and positive vibes, TEXT US! Have you heard of Pig Butchering Scams? Long gone are the days of "Nigerian Princes" seeking our bank info to park their money in exchange for a monetary gift for us. Online scams have become far more sophisticated today, from copycat websites to simple clicks of a random link received via text or email. Senior citizens are amon

Fammelly is What You Make it

May 27 2024 54 mins

For comments, questions, and positive vibes, TEXT US! WARNING: Laughter and Joy are contagious in this episode! Donna sits down with one of America's favorite families — The Donnellys! No, seriously. What started as a humble attempt to showcase a daughter's gymnastic prowess on YouTube quickly became a wildly successful channel with over 390 million views and counting! They don't

Beyond The Spectrum: Autism as more than a Disorder

Apr 29 2024 64 mins

For comments, questions, and positive vibes, TEXT US! Donna wanted to do something special on the Brighten Up Pod for April, the month internationally recognized as Autism Acceptance Month. The topic is near and dear to her, so she wanted to provide greater insight, inspiration, and hope for families affected by it and all who wish to know more about the world of autism. In this ep

The Neurodiversity Among Us: Adult Females and Autism

Apr 24 2024 60 mins

For comments, questions, and positive vibes, TEXT US! Neurodiversity means "Our society benefits from multiple different neurotypes in various ways", says Dr. Stacy Greeter, Brighten Up's guest in this month's episode. As part of Autism Acceptance Month in April, Donna has a compelling conversation with Dr. Greeter, discussing various components of autism and neurodiversity. The pr

The Rise of Eating Disorders

Mar 25 2024 57 mins

For comments, questions, and positive vibes, TEXT US! In the past five years, Eating Disorders have more than doubled among people younger than 17 and the trajectory of this development seems to be getting worse. In this episode, Donna speaks to Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Debra Gill, so she may share her expertise on Eating Disorders, disordered behaviors, and health management. Th

Think with your Gut! Your Brain on Food

Feb 25 2024 65 mins

For comments, questions, and positive vibes, TEXT US! Clinical Nutrition expert Ashley McIntyre joins Donna on a deep dive. . . into the belly of the beast! All jokes aside, what goes into your belly affects your brain, your wellness, and more importantly, your daily emotional state — way more than you expect! Ashley brings her rich expertise to elevate our knowledge and provides