Where Life, Sports and Medicine Intersect!
Aug. 1, 2022

The Growth that Takes Shape from Self-Awareness with Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

Have you ever visualized yourself in a counseling setting? How does the idea of getting therapy make you feel? We live in a world where asking for help is a bit challenging. In some cases, the thought of seeking therapy is considered an undesirable...

Have you ever visualized yourself in a counseling setting? How does the idea of getting therapy make you feel?

We live in a world where asking for help is a bit challenging. In some cases, the thought of seeking therapy is considered an undesirable idea. However, we must understand that everyone requires a helping hand sometimes, particularly as we go through various struggles in life. We need to be self-aware, open, and honest about our own mental health. 

We should allow ourselves to seek therapeutic assistance, not necessarily because we have a mental illness but rather because we experience struggles. Likewise, we encounter difficult challenges that we are unable to handle on our own.

Dr. Mina Ratkalkar is a clinical and forensic psychologist by training. She is the founder and CEO of New Spark Therapy where she is a sex and relationship specialist and therapist. Her objective is to assist people in reclaiming happiness and abundance in their life.

In this special episode with Dr. Mina Ratkalkar, we'll learn about the difficulties a doctor faces in her quest to achieve her dreams. She is guiding us in the direction of that self-awareness that would motivate us to move forward and achieve personal growth.

“Many people want to come to someone that they can feel comfortable with and that when they start to speak in a certain way, they're not being judged because of their cultural differences, or they know that when they say a certain thing that you'll know exactly what they mean and not look at them like they have two heads.” Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

 

Topics Covered:

(00:00:00)  Introduction + Episode Snippet

(00:00:13)  Introducing our special guest, Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

(00:00:33)  Advertisement: Zero Gravity Skin: a leader in the aesthetic device market. Visit www.zerogravityskin.com and use my code: DRDERRICK30 to receive 30% off your purchase.

(00:01:39)  The transition from Forensic psychology to Entrepreneurship: Who is  Dr. Mina Ratkalkar?

(00:07:51)  Good relationship with Mentor: You don't always know what kind of person or leadership style you're working with until you do it.

(00:08:57) Therapy shouldn’t be taboo: Seek help when you need it!

(00:11:33) Learn to be more comfortable with being uncomfortable: How does self-awareness relate to personal development?

(00:15:24)  Community Accountability: You can just be real with people.

(00:16:09)  The tension of meeting others' expectations:  “I have to do the tried and true”

(00:17:00)  The tension of meeting others' expectations: The pressure to be exceptional in some way.

(00:21:07)  How do you help somebody release themselves from others' expectations?

(00:21:16)  Advertisement: Sabre Bats, the training bat that will take you to your next swing. Go to https://www.sabrebats.net to know more.  

(00:25:32)  Motivation under pressure: Stress makes you have that drive to perform and prepare

(00:30:05)   I didn't sign up for this mentality: How do you overcome that?

(00:31:14)  Figuring out what matters to you: What do you value?

(00:34:18)  Flexibility, Autonomy and Growth: What led you to starting your own practice company?

(00:37:25)  Final TimeOut with Dr. Mina Ratkalkar: How do you advise someone who finds themselves in need of therapy?

 (00:38:06)  Trust your gut: Nobody knows you better than you

 (00:41:43)  Connect with Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

 

Key Takeaways:

“Mentors are busy people, either working toward tenure or they are tenured and can be hard to reach. Some people are really hands-on. Some people are really hands off and you don't always know till you start. What kind of person or leadership style are you working with? You don't know what it's like working with somebody until you do it. ”–Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

“Personal growth can absolutely include the way you show up in your relationships, in your friendships at work. So often personal growth is very much, "I need to do this", or "I need to eat better.”–Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

“You don't find yourself miles away from your center. You slowly drift away and many times that's because you don't have somebody holding you accountable. Everybody needs somebody to hold them accountable. ”–Dr. Derrick Burgess

“I've noticed that people beat themselves up when they're mentally not where they wanna be, or they're not meeting their goals in either the timeline or the way that they think they should be. ”–Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

“Being the first person to graduate high school goes to college and the fact that when she said she wanted to be a dentist, she felt like she had the whole pressure of the neighborhood on her back because she had to show everyone what was possible because no one else had seen it. And she knew that if she could do it and achieve it, other people would know that it was possible.”–Dr. Derrick Burgess

“One affirmation that we do in our house is "I'm at peace with my past", I'm preparing for my future and I'm enjoying every moment of my presence because if you are not, if you're looking towards the future or if you're looking back, you can't be present and you can't enjoy what you're doing now.”–Dr. Derrick Burgess

“When we don't really care about something and we're not really stressed out about it then we're not driven to do something.”–Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

“Acceptance is different than just tolerating something. Acceptance is accepting what is happening, just recognizing this is reality. This is where we are accepting also that you don't feel great about it.”–Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

“When I see other people with my same credentials, getting cushy jobs with stock options or working at a hospital with all kinds of paid time off like, it's certainly tempting. But I'm making this decision to work for me because these things matter and it does make other options just take up less real estate in my mind.”–Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

“First of all, I encourage people to listen to their gut that if they know something isn't right, they've lived in their body, in their mind for their whole lives. Nobody knows you better than you. So trust your gut. If you know that you're not feeling your best.”–Dr. Mina Ratkalkar

 

Connect with Dr, Mina Ratkalkar:

Website: https://newsparktherapy.com 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/minaratkalkar 

Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/MinaRatkalkar 

 

Connect with Dr. Derrick Burgess:

Website: https://www.drderrickthesportsdr.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drderrickthesportsdr/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TimeOut.SportsDr

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/derrick-burgess-72047b246/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHGDu1zT4K_X6PnYELu8weg

Email: thesportsdoctr@gmail.com

Mina RatkalkarProfile Photo

Mina Ratkalkar

Licensed Psychologist & Founder

Dr. Mina Ratkalkar is a licensed psychologist, LCSW, and founder of New Spark Therapy, a mental health practice specializing in working with diverse adults and relationships. Dr. Ratkalkar is a certified sex therapist who is passionate about helping people find connection and happiness however they choose. She enjoys educating and presenting for a wide variety of audiences on consent and communication about sex. Her other specialty is forensic psychology where she serves as an expert witness focusing on trauma, sexuality, and evaluation for courts.