Meet Rebecca Christ, LMSW, MPA | Professional Speaker, Trainer & Facilitator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rebecca Christ, LMSW, MPA and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rebecca, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
Be ThySelf shares real-life accessible skills for supporting individual and community well-being. We support individuals, businesses & their teams to develop a mindful, holistic approach to wellness.

As a Social Work professor, I started “Be ThySelf” to bring some of what I do in the classroom to my larger community. I am on a mission to spread the word about how a holistic & “trauma-informed” approach can elevate how we conduct business, engage in healthcare and social services, and even in our personal self-care routines.

“Trauma” can feel like a heavy word, and it simply describes how our bodies respond to an overwhelming experience. Allopathic/westernized medicine used to think this was only reserved for battlefields – but now we know that trauma affects people in all communities. Whether we address it or not, chronic stress and trauma impact the people around us. Be ThySelf aims to support individuals and organizations in building a more holistic, trauma-informed approach to well-being.

This summer, we launch our *Trauma-Aware* Self-Care Support Kit, Vol. 1!

The Support Kit will be a *no-cost* resource, providing simple tools to help support your nervous system, including video recordings, guided practices, and journal prompts. You can sign up to receive the support kit & other free wellness resources on our website: BeThySelf.org

We also offer Stress Management Courses, Wellness at Work Coaching Groups, Professional Skills & Continuing Education Courses on the larger community level.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My approach blends clinical social work training, mindfulness-based stress reduction, and the latest evidence-based practices in holistic wellness.

For the last 15 years, I have followed a passion for public service. From direct social work practice and community advocacy to macro-level work in the federal government and higher education sectors.

I am a faculty member at Arizona State University’s School of Social Work’s Integrative Health Initiative (IHI), teaching since 2014. The IHI program is focused on teaching health practitioners how to treat the whole person using holistic, mindful, and integrative approaches.

Last year on 2/22/22, we founded “Be ThySelf,” a teaching and coaching service focused on providing training & support to create a mindful, holistic, and trauma-informed approach to well-being. My intention with Be ThySelf is to share the same skills I teach in the University setting with the larger community – providing people with real-life tools for managing stress and practicing holistic self-care.

When we first purchased the LLC for Be Thyself last year, I had been experiencing worsening daily migraine attacks, vertigo, all-over body pain, and extreme sensory sensitivity.

I was diagnosed with Chronic Migraine disease & Visual Snow Syndrome and was initially put on medication that gave me terrible mental and physical reactions – it was horrible!

We had just started a business about wellness & mindful embodiment skills, and it seemed the universe was asking me to put these skills to the test. I could no longer ignore my neurological issues, and I had to face how disabling they had become.

So… I went “under the blanket” – I took a year and prioritized my health as I have never done before. I kept telling myself to trust the flow – that this dream of Be ThySelf was a seed underneath the soil, germinating as I healed my body and spirit.

With the help of my family and friends and an incredible holistic healthcare team – I am grateful to report that my life looks a lot different today than it did one year ago.

While there is currently no “cure” for Migraine disease or Visual Snow Syndrome, I now have much better tools for managing my symptoms. Hallelujah!

Over the last year and a half, amid my healing journey, I also had the privilege to help build several new undergrad and graduate courses at Arizona State University focused on integrative health modalities. Watching the next generation of professionals open to the power of mindfulness and holistic wellness has been a gift. This work has kept my fire burning for the ways that Be ThySelf will continue to share these skills with the larger community.

My healing journey has reinforced the importance of holistic, integrative healthcare & having accessible tools for managing stress, trauma, and pain. Now, more than ever, I want to share these same tools with my community!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We love to be outside – so we would check out Papago Park, take a trip to the Botanical Gardens, and go for a walk at Dreamy Draw.

To eat – we would enjoy the incredible Chapen Thai Restaurant, My Slice of the Pie Pizza, and the Middle Eastern Bakery & Deli!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The strongest memory comes to mind with this question – in February 2022, I was crying at my desk, overwhelmed and unsure if I could make my dream of “Be ThySelf” a reality. My spouse walked in and gave me the best pep talk, helped me make space for myself & see that I could build this vision in a way that made sense to me – it was exactly what I needed to go forward, and shortly after, we purchased the “LLC.” Without my spouse’s support on that day and so many of the days before and after, none of this would have come to be!

Website: BeThySelf.org

Instagram: instagram.com/be.thy.self

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/bethyself

Youtube: youtube.com/@BeThySelf

Other: linktr.ee/be.thy.self

Image Credits
(1st photo) – Estevan Bellino at Built From Scratch Studios (photos 2-5) – Crystal Hernandez, Humans in Bloom Project