Mental Health & Connecting with The Present MomentMental Health & Connecting with The Present Moment
A Quest for Well-Being
Therapist Samantha Maderer shares how mindfulness, simplified living and art therapy can help people relate differently to anxiety, depression and trauma. The conversation focuses on presence, language, and finding small, practical ways to ease suffering in everyday life.
47:18•26 May 2026
Mental Health, Mindfulness and Art: Staying Present with Samantha Maderer
Episode Overview
- Mental health is a spectrum that touches everyone, and therapy can be a supportive space rather than just a medical intervention.
- Attachment to stories, desires and future projections often intensifies human suffering, while mindfulness helps loosen that grip.
- Changing language from fixed identities (“I am anxious”) to experiences (“I’m experiencing anxiety”) can shift how people relate to their symptoms.
- Art therapy and storytelling give people ways to process trauma, create meaning and even find beauty in difficult experiences.
- Simplifying life, limiting overstimulation and spending still, phone-free time in nature can support a calmer, more present mind.
“Without that self-consciousness, I did not have suffering.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This conversation on *A Quest for Well-Being* zooms in on mental health, mindfulness, and the art of staying with the present moment, in a way that feels both gentle and very real.
Florida-based therapist and art counsellor Samantha Maderer chats with host Valeria Teles about what mental health means today, especially after Covid showed how “everyone is capable to be somewhere on the spectrum of mental health.” Samantha links much of human suffering to our “attachment to our stories and desires and projections in the future,” drawing on Zen Buddhism and Taoism to describe a softer, more accepting way of being.
You’ll hear her describe a silent meditation retreat where, for a brief time, “I was not having that type of self-consciousness. And without that self-consciousness, I did not have suffering.” From there, she connects mindfulness to everyday therapy work: sitting with sensations, noticing thoughts without fighting them, and gently coming back to the moment again and again. Samantha also talks about rewriting personal narratives, especially for women with complex trauma.
Language matters: shifting from “I am an anxious person” to “I’m experiencing anxiety right now” opens space for choice and change. Art therapy becomes a powerful tool here, turning painful experiences into images and objects that clients can process, share, and even find beauty in. There’s plenty on overstimulation too—phones, busyness, constant doing—and the relief that comes from simplifying life, gardening, time in nature, and letting boredom reappear as a friend rather than an enemy.
If you’re interested in sobriety, trauma healing, or just calming a noisy mind, this conversation offers a calm, grounded look at how mindfulness, creativity, and a slower pace can support a clearer, more present life. What small step could you take today to give your mind a bit more quiet?
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