Ep. 145 - How to Keep Going When Life Falls Apart with Andrea Niestas

Ep. 145 - How to Keep Going When Life Falls Apart with Andrea Niestas

From The SPIRAL UP Podcast with Dr. LaChelle Wieme by Dr. LaChelle Wieme

July 15, 2026 · 42 min · Season 2 · Episode 145

About this episode

Andrea Niestas shares her journey of resilience and recovery after facing a life-threatening health crisis.

Andrea Niestas spent 20 years helping people through the worst mental health crises of their lives. Two years ago she became the patient, and everything she knew about resilience got tested from a hospital bed she wasn't sure she would leave. A medication change she couldn't afford spiraled into septic shock, a coma, and surgery that removed most of her colon. She woke up unable to move, talk, or even point to letters on a board. What pulled her out wasn't a breakthrough or a miracle. It was one decision, made on purpose, that things could get better. We get into why hopelessness keeps people stuck, how gratitude becomes the first clue that change is possible, and why we tend to move more from pain than from pleasure. It applies whether you are fighting for your life or just tired of settling for fine. The question Andrea started asking herself in that hospital bed that flipped her from "why did I even survive this" into something that finally moved her forward Why gratitude has nothing to do with rose colored glasses, and the small shift that gets your brain hunting for hope instead of collecting proof that it's hopeless The three word framework Andrea now teaches that carried…

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Host: Dr. LaChelle Wieme

Guest: Andrea Niestas

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