You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist: Recent Episodes
Stephanie Winn
You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist is a podcast for seekers, dreamers, and questioners that intimately explores the human experience. Your host, Stephanie Winn, distills years of wisdom gained from her practice as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She invites guests from a broad variety of disciplines and many walks of life, including researchers, writers, artists, healers, advocates, inventive outliers, and creative geniuses. Together, they investigate, illuminate, and inspire transformation - in the self, relationships, and society. Curious about many things, Stephanie’s uniquely interdisciplinary psychological lens tackles challenging social issues while encouraging personal and relational wellness. Join this journey through the inner wilderness.
Today we embark on a profound journey exploring the challenges of parenting a child experiencing Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD). Alan and I delve into the emotional rollercoaster that parents often experience when their child exhibits signs of ROGD, including stress, pain, and confusion, before embarking on Alan’s experience pursuing psychedelic treatment for complex PTSD to alleviate the secondary impact of his trauma symptoms on his family. Alan shares his transformative experience with meditation, the relationship between meditation and spirituality, how spirituality can provide solace and guidance during challenging times, and how meditation can help parents build emotional confidence. We also delve into the connection between psychedelics and meditation in the context of healing and personal growth, Alan shares how insights uncovered during his psychedelic journeys inform how he navigates ROGD parenting. For those interested in this therapeutic path, we provide practical (not medical) advice on using psychedelics safely and effectively, addressing matters of harm reduction, micro dosing and guided journeys, along with important do's and don'ts of set and setting. Drawing parallels between the dynamics of cults and certain aspects of the transgender movement is a crucial part of today's discussion where emotional and psychological traits can make individuals vulnerable to both. This week’s episode offers a comprehensive investigation into the challenges parents of ROGD children face, the role of trauma, and the transformative power of meditation and psychedelic therapy. Thank you for joining us!
In our discussion today, I mentioned some recently aired episodes of Some Kind of Therapist:
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Awakening Beyond Transition with Laura Becker
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Cat Cattinson on Reclaiming Her Voice After Detransition
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To Suffer Well: Detransition, Psychedelics, and Faith, with Torren Danowski
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Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans: Gigi & Josie
Along with some other podcasts that offer great tools for mindfulness like “Waking Up” with Sam Harris which can be found here.
Or if you’re interested in learning more about psychedelics, check out the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, here.
I also mentioned some great books in this episode including, “The Collapse of Parenting” by Leonard Sax and “Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers” by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté MD, both of which can be found in my bookshop!
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
You can now watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use promo code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. nowaybackfilm.com Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Human trafficking is a hot button issue, and the question of whether so-called “sex work” can ever be empowering for women looms large in the culture wars today. But what is the reality of the sex industry for those who have survived it? How does it impact their most intimate relationships, and what are the ripple effects on relationships at large? Oftentimes it's those closest to us that can hurt us most, and nowhere is this more true than in the lived experience of women who’ve navigated the fraught landscape of domestic abuse, trafficking, and sexual exploitation. This week, Michelle Kelly shares her story of survival and healing, shining a light on the more common, yet dangerous and sometimes deadly practices surrounding the sex trade. Like many things in life, even sex trafficking can sneak up on people in moments of vulnerability. In this episode, we address the impact of pornography on sexuality, the link between the queer movement and the sex industry, along with Michelle’s personal story and activism. Is selling sex ever empowering for women? And what do therapists need to know in order to help women who have survived it?
Michelle Kelly is a bestselling author and sexual violence and exploitation survivor, writing about feminism, the sex trade and trauma healing. Find her writing on Substack.
Michelle’s twitter should be active again in September, so you’ll be able to follow her soon @MKellyWrites
Michelle’s book, “Eyes Wide Open,” is available via this Amazon affiliate link or in my bookshop! I also mentioned the book, “The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups” by Leonard Sax. You can find that via this Amazon affiliate link or in my bookshop as well. Sales from both help support my work. Thank you!
If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline toll-free hotline, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at 1-888-373-7888 to speak with a specially trained Anti-Trafficking Hotline Advocate. Support is provided in more than 200 languages.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
You can now watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use promo code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. nowaybackfilm.com Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Today, anonymity presents a unique opportunity to hear a medical student and Navy veteran's perspective on how institutional capture has impacted the military and medical campuses. As a historically progressive person, Sarah shares shocking anecdotes of ways that policies aimed at promoting social justice are harming the effectiveness and efficiency of our national institutions, as she discovered during her experience within the Navy and a west coast medical school.
Sarah is a Navy veteran, certified paramedic, and third year medical student. She obtained her paramedic license at age 19, and soon after she joined the Navy where she worked at a stateside clinic, on a forward-deployed aircraft carrier, and in a remote overseas Naval hospital. After honorably discharging, she returned home and was accepted into medical school in 2020. She plans to graduate in 2025 and specialize in emergency medicine. Today’s episode is available here and on my Twitter, @sometherapist.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
You can now watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use promo code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. nowaybackfilm.com Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
When your child says they are trans, where can you go for guidance, support, or advocacy? How do families navigate current trends in the counseling and medical fields and get children the help they need without submitting to a path of lifelong medicalization? On today’s episode, I am joined by two moms who have undertaken a challenging journey through gender ideology in order to help parents by providing resources to families affected by gender affirming care policies around the world.
Gigi Larue is proud to serve as the West Coast Intake Coordinator for Our Duty Group. This non-profit aims to provide support to parents of trans identifying youth. In December of 2020, Our Duty Group staged the first gender clinic protest at CHLA in Los Angeles. This organization evolved from 5 people standing in the rain to over a hundred in Anaheim at the AAP by October 2022. Our Duty Group’s message is getting out there and the world is waking up to this emergent medical scandal. Josie is a co-founder of the organization Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT).
For related work and resources, please visit: Parents of ROGD Kids
New Book, “Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans: Tales from the Home-Front in the Fight to Save Our Kids” available 08/14/2023! Be on the lookout for it in my bookshop with the proceeds being donated to Genspect!
Josie mentioned Abigail Shrier’s book, “Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters,” which is available in the “Gender, Sexuality, and Hormones” section of my bookshop!
A colleague was mentioned in this episode, Stella O’Malley. Be sure to check out her podcast - Gender: A Wider Lens!
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
You can now watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use promo code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. nowaybackfilm.com Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Brace yourself! This week we are discussing female anatomy, the pressures that women face to change their bodies, personal trauma, and what it takes to change the culture surrounding women’s reproductive care. In one of my more blush-worthy conversations to date, activist Jessica Pin fills us in on how she learned the hard way that medical professionals are woefully uneducated on female anatomy. In a quest to solve this problem, she began sending emails that would one day turn into a nonprofit.
Jessica Pin is the CEO of Sexual Health Equity Project, a nonprofit to address medical neglect of female genital anatomy. She advocates for inclusion of detailed clitoral anatomy in medical literature and curricula, training standards for vulvar procedures, and correction of medical misinformation about vulvas. She has gotten 12 major medical textbooks, 2 top anatomy apps, and multiple online resources to update their content, and more to promise future updates. She has also published a cadaveric study with plastic surgeons, convinced OB/GYNs to publish a cadaveric study, and effected changes in OB/GYN and plastic surgery board certification, standardized consent forms, and residency curricula. She holds a degree in Biomedical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. She has been featured in The New York Times, in Scientific American, in The New Scientist, and on The Daily Show.
You can follow Jessica on Twitter or Instagram
In this episode I mention previous episodes of Some Kind of Therapist:
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James Lindsay on Psychological Warfare
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Simon Esler on Cut: Daughters of the West
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
You can now watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use promo code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. nowaybackfilm.com Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Dating in the modern world has changed drastically with dating apps, swipe culture, loosened norms, a cultural divide, and a political ideology coloring the landscape of human values. There’s no wonder why it’s so difficult to find a trustworthy long term partner with these detrimental trends becoming increasingly wide-spread. How can survivors of domestic violence and emotional abuse learn to trust again, and avoid falling into the same traps with new dating partners? This week, Dina McMillan shares her perspective to help women gain the confidence to trust their gut feelings and know their worth.
Dr. Dina McMillan is a social psychologist and internationally published author, public speaker and training facilitator with a B.A. from Hunter College in New York and an M.A. and doctorate from Stanford University in California. Dr. McMillan is best known for her groundbreaking work in domestic violence prevention. Since 2020, Dr. McMillan has also offered a comprehensive anti-bias program that directly addresses racism and issues that create friction and social division. Dr. Dina McMillan currently lives in Brisbane, Australia.
You can find Dina’s work on her website, or listen to her pod, Unmasking the Abuser, on Spotify, or find her on Twitter.
If you’re interested in Dina’s book, Fascination with the Devil: Why Women Love Emotionally Dangerous Men, or her chapter in Cynical Therapies, please visit my bookshop!
Also, see Dina’s Ted talk here and Meg Jay’s incredible talk here.
We mentioned an organization Dina and I are involved in, Critical Therapy Antidote.
Some previous episodes came up in this discussion as well: 51. Wokeness Versus the Counseling Profession with Christine Sefein and 57. The Antidote to Critical Therapy with Dr. Carole Sherwood
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
Watch our medical ethics film, NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Watch it online or on DVDs starting July 2. Learn more at NoWayBackFilm.com. Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
In a world of deception, how can we accurately discern what is true, real, good, and right? I had the pleasure of consulting one of America’s sharpest modern intellectuals for guidance. James Lindsay delivers a working education of the psychological warfare that plagues our modern social and online environments. Drawing inspiration from his background in fields as disparate as martial arts and mathematics, James helps us identify and defend against the myriad ways psychological warfare permeates the culture around us. Tune in as James helps us find a roadmap on the journey to a free thinking society.
Dr. James Lindsay is an American-born author, mathematician, and professional troublemaker. Dr. Lindsay has written six books spanning a range of subjects including religion, the philosophy of science, and postmodern theory. He is a leading expert on Critical Race Theory, which leads him to reject it completely. He is the founder of New Discourses, a political commentator, mathematician, and conspiracy theorist.
In this episode, we mentioned several books including James’s co-authored work with Peter Boghossian, “How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide.” and “The Marxification of Education: Paulo Freire's Critical Marxism and the Theft of Education,” We also mentioned, “Art of War,” by Sun Tzu. Each of these are available via these Amazon affiliate links or in my bookshop!
In our discussion, James also mentioned some of his recent podcast episodes on New Discourses including “This is How you Fight and Defeat the Woke” and “How to Prevent Revolutions.”
Finally, I mentioned an educational podcast, Huberman Lab, that discusses the benefits of ice baths. Find “Using Deliberate Cold Exposure for Health and Performance,” here.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
Watch our medical ethics film, NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Watch it online or on DVDs starting July 2. Learn more at NoWayBackFilm.com. Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
With Conservatives being largely ostracized in contemporary American culture, where can they go to solve personal issues? As a therapist, it’s important to me that people of all walks of life are able to access mental health services, regardless of their politics. However, in recent years, the field of psychology has been influenced by notions of social justice that have resulted in politically left leaning therapists refusing to provide services for conservative patients — or, perhaps worse, attempting to use the therapeutic relationship to exert undue influence on vulnerable patients. This week's discussion with Soad Tabrizi touches on this issue of countertransference by analyzing how therapeutic competencies have been compromised by ideological narratives that tarnish the foundational principles of the therapeutic process.
Soad Tabrizi is a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) with a deep passion for integrative mental health. In her career, Soad has had the privilege of working with various individuals, families, couples, adolescents, addicts, codependents, geriatrics, students, and inmates in a diverse range of internships in the criminal justice system, hospitals, agencies, and schools. Shortly after graduating in 2010, she established her private practice.
Today, her private practice operates exclusively through Telehealth. Soad holds certifications as an Addiction Specialist from Western Seminary and as a Psychological Autopsy Investigator (Suicidologist) from the American Association of Suicidology. Additionally, she is a Reiki Master trained through the International Center for Reiki Training. In her holistic approach to therapy, Soad works with the whole person, incorporating energy work and offering a unique perspective as an intuitive healer. Her sessions aim to align clients' outward behaviors with their core beliefs, fostering growth and transformation. Soad is licensed in eight states: California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Florida.
Born in Iran and raised in the Bay Area, CA (Silicon Valley), Soad now lives with her husband in Orange County, CA. You can find Soad on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram all under the handle @soadtabrizi. Soad has also published her first journal that aims to help individuals create a healthy habit in processing their thoughts, feelings and behaviors through journaling. Her journal, “It’s Me” can be found here or at my bookshop!
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
Watch our medical ethics film, NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Watch it online or on DVDs starting July 2. Learn more at NoWayBackFilm.com. Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
My old friends forage for medicinal mushrooms and mineral resins, and concoct customized herbal tinctures for their clients. Today, I had the delight of interviewing them about their adventures in tonic herbalism. So, what exactly is Tonic Herbalism? Well, according to DJ and Jenny Ankenbrandt, tonic herbalism is so ancient that it precedes Taoism. A select number of time-tested plants and fungi are identified as tonics through thousands of years of safe, beneficial usage. But how effective are these herbs in treating physical and mental health? DJ describes his personal brush with chronic pain and how he has navigated addiction to western medication, along with the experiences of his clients regarding gut and immune system health by ingesting these “intelligent foods.”
DJ Ankenbrandt is a Classical Chinese Tonic Herbalist & custom formulator who works with clients and small businesses to create optimal daily wellness protocols for enhanced health and longevity. He is the founder and visionary behind Cintamani Tonics, and has over 15 years of experience sharing the wisdom of earthen essences with the world. DJ custom tailors unique and potent formulas with ancient tonic extracts to help his clients resolve a myriad of health concerns. DJ runs Cintamani Tonics alongside his amazing wife and business partner, Jenny Ankenbrandt. Jen is a mycologist and self-trained herbalist who manages many aspects of the Cintamani Tonics Apothecary and website. She is also the graphic artist behind all the product designs. Together, they make an incredible team that helps thousands of people worldwide access the wisdom and benefits of plants, and achieve enhanced levels of vitality. You can follow DJ and Jenny’s work on Twitter @CintamaniTonics
Visit these websites for more information on Tonic Herbalism: Wildamericanshilajit.com and CintamaniTonics.com
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
Watch our medical ethics film, NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Watch it online or on DVDs starting July 2. Learn more at NoWayBackFilm.com. Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Is therapy dead? Can it be revived? How can we move forward? What are the virtues and pitfalls of alternatives to therapy, like coaching or wellness related practices? Typically, therapists go to graduate school and complete postgraduate internships and exams to develop a particular set of psychological tools to address mental illnesses that many of us are faced with. But Bizzie has done something truly unique; she is the first person not licensed as a clinical therapist to have created a therapeutic program for mental health professionals.
It’s common for relationships to have what Bizzie calls “Symbiotic Dysfunction” whereby the attraction pattern might be opposite, creating triggering and potentially toxic relationships. What can we do to battle this seemingly inherent trait? Do some couplings require some kind of polarity to ignite a relationship? And how therefore do children get socialized by their parents from the viewpoint of Bizzie’s Break Method?
Bizzie Gold is a Behavior Strategist, author, speaker and creator of Break Method, an NASW accredited program for mental health professionals and an online program to help clients rapidly rewire the emotional response system. She has been a featured workshop presenter and speaker at some of the most prestigious wellness institutes including Omega Institute, Kripalu and 1440 Multiversity. Gold has also appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, TODAY, E!, Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post among others to discuss her unique approach to rapid emotional repatterning that has garnered widespread Hollywood and media praise. You can follow Bizzie on Twitter or Instagram @BizzieGold. Learn more about the Break Method on her website, or sign up for her program here.
You can access a PowerPoint on Bizzie’s training to “Escape the Paradigm”.
Are you interested in Rewiring your brain? Bizzie provides the resources to do so in “The Self Study”
Recently, Bizzie had me on her podcast, The Modern Good, in an episode titled, “A Captured Profession,” which you can view here.
In this episode I mentioned the book, “Hold On To Your Kids” by Gorden Neufeld and Gabor Maté which you can find in my bookshop or by visiting this Amazon affiliate link.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
Watch our medical ethics film, NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Watch it online or on DVDs starting July 2. Learn more at NoWayBackFilm.com. Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
As we discuss often on this podcast, “gender affirming care” can appeal to trauma survivors as an enticing way out of pain. Some of these people go through the entire process of medical intervention only to find themselves pursuing detransition. This week I am joined by Torren Danowski, a detransitioner who found himself in this exact situation. Torren and I discuss his unique story from his struggle with gender dysphoria, and his adventure with psychedelics, to the place of faith, religion, ministry and church in his life. Torren reminds us of the deeper work it takes to truly discover one’s identity, and urges listeners to align your journey first with learning how to suffer well.
Torren Danowski is a detransitioned man living in Philadelphia. He attempted transition twice in his early 30s after struggling with gender most of his life. But once he realized that his gender dysphoria was actually the symptom of something deeper, he began addressing that deeper issue, and saw the pain of gender dysphoria begin to subside. Torren was involved in Libertarian politics and ran for Pennsylvania State Representative in 2022. He has since stepped away from politics and is seeking a career change, moving from corporate America to exploring counseling, psychology, and theology. You can follow Torren’s work on substack.
In recent months, Torren has indicated that these books have been a great influence on him during his journey.
"The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel van der Kolk
“The Divine Conspiracy Bible Study Participant’s Guide: Jesus’s Master Class for Life" by Dallas Willard
"Try Softer" by Aundi Kolber
"Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It’s Impossible to Be Spiritually Mature, While Remaining Emotionally Immature" by Peter Scazzero
Gender Dysphoria Alliance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs9lzh9l9wc&t=5s
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
Watch our medical ethics film, NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Watch it online or on DVDs starting July 2. Learn more at NoWayBackFilm.com. Follow us on Twitter @2022affirmation or on Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.
Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, plus other perks TBD.
Get your first month free with promo code GRANDFATHER; after that, it's only $8/month. Check it out at somekindoftherapist.locals.com.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Is it possible to fall in love over the internet? Today I welcome two very special guests about to welcome their first baby, whose love story began on Twitter. This was my first time interviewing a couple, and it was utterly delightful. Zach Elliott and Cynthia Breheny of The Paradox Institute join me this week to delight us with their love story, touch us with the personal experiences that directed them to this work, inspire us with methods to assist in healing families, and guide us as to how to protect and consider the long term needs of children while providing comprehensive education and care for them.
What has Cynthia learned about the needs of gender dysphoric youth from her own experiences of struggling with, and recovering from, hatred of her female body? How exactly are children impacted by “gender affirming care” in the current culture? Are they perhaps empowered by pitting parents against medical professionals? Are they vulnerable to harm as a result of that support? How exactly do we address the needs of children while acknowledging and recognizing the rightful concerns of parents?
Zach Elliott is an author of two books on sex and gender and the producer of 20+ animated videos on sex differences. His fascination with the biology of sex and desire to learn and educate led him to create the Paradox Institute in January 2020. Cynthia Breheny is a digital artist, animator, and author. Her lifelong experience with gender dysphoria and her professional design skills provide her with unique abilities to communicate sex and gender concepts. Together, they developed a pamphlet on the myths of “gender affirming care.” Additionally, Zach has a YouTube channel for the Paradox Institute where he posts audio essays, thoughtful video responses and animated videos. You can follow Zach on Twitter, along with Cynthia to stay up-to-date on their latest works.
You can find Zach’s book, “The Gender Paradox: Discrimination and Disparities in the Postmodern Era,” and Alan Gordon’s book which I mentioned in today’s episode, “The Way Out: A Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven Approach to Healing and Chronic Pain” in my bookshop!
In my discussion, I mentioned a recent episode of the Some Kind of Therapist podcast: 47. The Scapegoated Body: Transition Regret in Psychotherapy with Bob Withers
I also mentioned a substack, Parents with Inconvenient Truths about Trans (PITT) that you can access here.
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When you entrust a therapist with your personal struggles, you expect her to see you as a unique individual, and greet you with non-judgmental curiosity. The last thing anyone wants in their counseling relationship is to be treated prejudicially, stereotyped on the basis of their immutable characteristics, or made to feel guilty for the color of their skin. And yet, to students like Leslie, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that that is exactly what is being taught in graduate programs.
Therapy is a place you hope to be able to work through shame; learn to see your foibles with compassion; and internalize your locus of control, while releasing any undue sense of responsibility for issues you may have been scapegoated for. It is also ideally a process that helps cultivate peace, understanding, and perspective when dealing with people you find challenging. And in therapy, we expect to learn to recognize and correct for distorted ways of thinking that amplify our stress. Unfortunately, according to Leslie and whistleblowers like her, many modern counseling programs do just the opposite.
Listen as Antioch University whistleblower, coach, and founder of the Radical Center Leslie Elliott describes the disturbing series of events that unfolded over the past two years. We explore ethical dilemmas and differences of opinion in how people in our field are conceptualizing complex matters such as “social justice,” victimhood, “allyship,” gender, the role of the therapist, politics and activism, racism and “anti-racism,” cultural competence, stereotyping, neutrality, individuality, and responsibility.
Leslie Elliott is a holistic wellness coach in Washington State who works with clients from a person-centered, existential perspective, taking into account the whole person: mind, body, and spirit. She earned a BA in Psychology in 2008 and went straight to law school in 2009. During her second year of law school, she decided a legal career was not for her and went back to the drawing board.
Leslie spent the next several years raising her 4 children and working part-time in the field of natural medicine before returning to higher education, enrolling in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Master’s program at Antioch University in 2019. There she had the opportunity to learn and improve counseling skills and therapeutic approaches, but also encountered something deeply disturbing: the usurpation of traditional therapy values by Critical Social Justice ideology.
Near the end of her Master’s coursework, she took a leave of absence after her courses began requiring students to sign a Social Justice “civility pledge.” Frustrated in her attempts to communicate her concerns to the university, she decided to go public in October of 2022 and expose how ideology is corrupting the fields of mental health and higher education.
Undeterred from her work, Leslie began her coaching practice in late 2021, working in a non-clinical setting that allows her to use her counseling skills and her passion for natural health to support her clients. She works with individuals and families, and areas of interest include but are not limited to: life-span, aging, and fertility issues; parent coaching; spiritual growth and integration; technology and pornography addiction recovery; infidelity trauma and recovery; gender confusion and detransition; ADHD; institutional abuse & “DEI” discrimination; medical abuse trauma; and more.
Leslie’s consulting practice, The Radical Center
Leslie’s blog, The Radical Center on Substack
Leslie’s YouTube channel, The Radical Center on YouTube
Leslie’s GiveSendGo legal fund
In this episode, I mentioned Jonathan Haidt’s work; in particular, his book “The Righteous Mind.” You can find that in my bookshop, or purchase it directly from this Amazon Affiliate link.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
At times it seems that the institution of marriage is crumbling. Yet a happy, trusting, long-term intimate relationship is one of life’s greatest joys, and the ideal environment for raising well-adjusted children. People who are happily married live longer, healthier, and more financially successful lives. Fortunately, it is possible to develop the tools to build lasting and fulfilling relationships. Dovid Feldman, LPC has dedicated his career to teaching these tools so that marriages can start strong — and stay that way.
In this conversation, we discuss the essential values and virtues that form the building blocks of lasting love, as well as tools for rekindling intimacy when it has been dampened. Dovid brings his traditional Jewish values, while I bring my evolutionary psychology lens. Together we explore what men and women need from their significant others; how to protect relationships from resentment and mindsets that keep love thriving amidst the pressures of children and career.
Dovid Feldman is a Licensed Professional Counselor and founder of Building Great Marriages, a private practice dedicated to helping couples recreate lost intimacy.
After working with hundreds of couples, Dovid decided to share his marriage wisdom, inspiration and guidance on Twitter, and has built a large following since 2017. His website, dovidfeldman.com, hosts dozens of articles, classes and podcasts on creating a long-lasting and loving marriage, as well as showcasing his guest appearances on many other relationship-oriented programs.
Happily married for 30+ years, Dovid, his wife, and their six wonderful children reside in Chicago, Illinois.
Check out more of Dovid’s resources at DovidFeldman.com. Follow Building Great Marriages on YouTube and @dovidfeldman Twitter.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
“Why don’t you just detransition?” Corinna Cohn is tired of fielding this question, but gracious enough to address it with me on today’s episode. Corinna has lived as a transsexual woman for his entire adult life, and is over it. But the effects of cross-sex hormones and body modification surgeries cannot be reversed. In another frank and, at times, graphic discussion on the state of gender and sexuality in clown world, today we explore questions such as: is “detransitioner” the right word? How about victims of gender medicine, or survivors of gender malpractice? Given the facts that humans cannot actually change sex, and these medical procedures are experimental and often go horribly wrong, can postoperative transsexuals actually engage in pleasurable and painless sex? How on earth is this stuff getting sold to people when it causes so much damage? What do people expect from “transition?” Is there such a thing as “true trans?” What does Corinna think of the idea that “adults should be able to do whatever they want?” Does the existence of an underground market for niche body modification mean that doctors have an obligation to take a “harm reduction” approach and provide such “services” above-ground, and if so, should taxpayer dollars cover it? Finally, we address how Corinna manages to find joy, pleasure, and fulfillment, and review some listener Q&A’s from Twitter.
Corinna Cohn writes about life having undergone the process of gender transition as a teenager in the 1990s and co-hosts Heterodorx podcast. Corinna’s writing has appeared in Quillette and the Washington Post.
Corinna Cohn and Nina Paley co-hosted Stephanie’s guest appearance on Heterodorx in Episode 75, Stephanie Winn is Some Kind of Therapist.
In this episode Stephanie mentioned Steven Pressfield’s book, The War of Art. You can find that book on Amazon or in Stephanie’s bookshop.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Ten years ago, at the tender age of 21, Brian needed professional help. He’d been severely bullied as a child, and the messages his father modeled about masculinity didn’t help Brian understand himself or accept his homosexuality. As a tormented young adult, Brian turned to drugs and pornography in futile efforts to escape his depression. A good therapist would have recognized that Brian had a lot to unpack, and made it a priority to help him get off of the drugs that were clearly wreaking havoc on his health and mental clarity. Unfortunately, Brian didn’t have a good therapist; he had… a “gender therapist.”
Brian’s therapist didn’t challenge his drug use, unpack his internalized homophobia, or address his childhood trauma. Instead, she led him deeper into the delusion that he was really a woman trapped in a man’s body, an idea he had gotten from pornography during a very dark time in life. She made dangerous and destructive false promises that taking cross-sex hormones would magically resolve his drug addiction and suicidal ideation. She told him that his body’s own natal hormones were “poison.” Brian even felt that his therapist instilled a sense of urgency, indicating that if he didn’t transition as quickly as possible, he would feel worse, and that taking these life-altering medical steps was the only way to remedy his despair.
Social and medical transition were never right for Brian. He was simply a gay man with depression, trauma, and addiction issues, who was overwhelmed by his problems, and didn’t know what narrative to ascribe to them other than what people on the internet led him to believe during a particularly dark time. He knows this now, and has a good therapist, thank heavens. But a year after making the decision to detransition, his body is still in the process of ridding itself of pregnancy-high levels of female hormones.
Today’s episode addresses the painful topic of gender malpractice. Brian is one of numerous people I have interviewed on this show who has been horrendously mistreated by the mental and medical health professionals that were responsible for his care. If you’re familiar with my work then you know I am passionate about this issue. What you may not know is that I am actively working on developing other resources for detransitioners like Brian. I’d like to direct you to a few resources on my blog.
I am currently in the early stages of writing one of the first self-help books for survivors of gender malpractice. It’s tentatively titled, The Detransition Survival Guide. And the way I’m writing this book is one letter at a time, through corresponding in writing with people like Brian. I invite survivors of gender malpractice to vent to me, in writing. Their raw, honest messages then serve as prompts for me to respond to in the most helpful way I can muster, and their feedback on how my responses impacted them will further help me in refining the messages that will end up in the book. Each of these letter exchanges are posted on my blog as I write them. I’ve had a few survivors of gender malpractice take me up on this, and more are on the way. I’m trying to write at least one letter per week on average. You can find these letter exchanges, as well as more information about the book project, on my blog, at sometherapist.com/read.
There’s another important resource for detransitioners on my blog as well. I recently posted an article on this, How to File a Complaint About the Fraudulent ‘Gender-Affirming’ Therapy That Harmed You. If you have been harmed by so-called “gender affirming therapy,” and have thought about filing a complaint with your former therapist’s licensing board, please check this article out. It will walk you through everything you need to know in order to take action.
If you have been harmed by gender malpractice and are interested in a letter-writing exchange, feel free to write to me at hello@sometherapist.com. I’ll send you a contract to clarify expectations, making sure for example that you understand this is not a substitute for therapy, and then we can get started with writing each other. I do sometimes take a while to get back to people, but I will eventually write back.
Please check out these projects and more resources for survivors of gender malpractice on my blog at sometherapist.com/read.
Now back to Brian’s episode. At times we go into graphic detail, so this episode may not be suitable for all listeners. This is heavy stuff to listen to, but I hope that Brian’s courage in opening up so candidly is helpful to anyone who can relate to his experience, or who cares about the issues impacting people like Brian. As always, thank you for listening.
Brian is a native Californian who had the misfortune of getting wrapped up in drug abuse and gender ideology in his early 20s. Upon getting off drugs, Brian realized he was not trans, and learned to accept himself as a gay male. Brian has decided to speak out about his experience, in the hope of saving somebody from making the same mistakes. You can follow him on Twitter @BriWag91.
The therapist who mistreated Brian has a YouTube channel called The Transition Channel.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Before he reached 40, Corey was told he had a 27% chance of surviving stage 4 prostate cancer. Up until this point, he had been pushing through grueling 15-hour days in the film industry, despite his body’s painful attempts to alert him that something was wrong. Corey’s cancer crisis finally forced him to face deeply ingrained habits of people-pleasing, overwork, and self-neglect that he attributes to factors dating back to childhood.
Corey followed Winston Churchill’s timeless wisdom: “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” He learned to get through three years of misery, 15 minutes at a time. Through the process, he transformed his “emotional source code,” learned to say no, prioritized his wellbeing for the first time in his life, and came home to his body.
Corey also discovered a revolutionary new treatment called Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB), invented by Dr. Eugene Lipov, said to reset the nervous system after periods of "high allostatic (stress) load.” He felt that the SGB treatment helped him recover from the PTSD symptoms induced by his battle with cancer.
Now cancer-free, Corey is back in action as a writer and cinematographer. He re-entered the world with a newfound commitment to being authentic, and soon discovered that the behavior of “woke progressives” in his community felt anything but, sparking a new phase of his creative career in which he speaks openly and honestly about the hypocrisy he sees in so-called socially progressive communities, such as Portland, Oregon, where we both reside.
This episode includes verbal details of medical suffering, and may not be suitable for all listeners.
Corey Drayton is a British-American fine artist, writer, producer and cinematographer, with 23 years in motion pictures across four continents, including work for Rolling Stone, WELT and The Times of London. He was notable crew on Academy Award Winner The Cove, The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg and the upcoming The Invisible Machine. Corey featured opposite Peter Boghossian in the independent docuseries The Woke Reformation. In it he leveled his fusion of Perecian observation and Gonzo-style immersive critique — learned from longtime friend Hunter S. Thompson — at the problem of wokeness in the film industry. He is a frequent guest on TNT Radio, a contributor to Alternate Current Radio and a regular in The Boiler Room.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Jayme knows better than most people what’s like to feel “born in the wrong body,” and to be treated differently. Born premature with cerebral palsy, she had to grow up quickly, managing the pain, limitation, inconvenience, and treatment of her disabling illness. At puberty, she discovered she was same-sex attracted as well. Then came what she describes as “sex dysphoria,” a persistent feeling of deep discomfort with her female body, and a desire to be seen and treated as man.
Jayme now lives and thinks of herself as a man, and those closest to her support this identity. She feels that social transition has helped her mental health. So why would Jayme talk to a biological realist like me? As we explore in this conversation, Jayme’s unique experiences of exclusion and discrimination, based on her disability, have cultivated a deep appreciation for human connection in its many forms, as well as a thick skin for tolerating viewpoint diversity. She also takes personal responsibility for how gender dysphoria affects her, rather than asking the world to change for her. Furthermore, as someone who has been affected by medical problems since day one, Jayme does not take health for granted. She shares many of my concerns about how gender is treated in today’s healthcare industry, and having done her research, she has chosen not to undergo medicalization.
Listen as Jayme vulnerably and courageously shares her unique perspective derived from having learned how to thrive in spite of extraordinary hardship. This episode contains discussion of suicide, and may not be suitable for all listeners.
A note about language: I entered this conversation knowing little about Jayme, and so I stepped delicately, initially using the term Jayme uses to describe herself, “transsexual.” It eventually became clear to me that Jayme has not chosen to undergo any hormones or surgeries to mimic the appearance of the opposite sex. I would therefore not use the term transsexual, in retrospect, as I reserve that term to describe people who’ve undergone such medical experiments. Rather, I would describe Jayme as a gay woman living with gender dysphoria. In stepping delicately, I also initially used the gender neutral pronouns “they/them” when talking with Jayme about herself. I understand it is Jayme’s preference to be called he/him, as social transition has been her way of managing dysphoria. I appreciate Jayme’s willingness to build bridges between people with different worldviews, including people like me, who avoid the use of “identity”-based pronouns and stick to classical language that accurately reflects biological sex.
As with much of my work, there’s something in this episode to upset everyone... except those who appreciate an earnest attempt at bridging worlds; respect the vastness of the human experience; and don’t need to agree on everything in order to find value in someone else’s perspective.
Jayme is a writer, speaker, and advocate. Jayme’s blog, Self-Made Renegade, addresses disability and gender issues. You can follow Jayme on Twitter @jayme_speaking.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Abortion is a fraught issue many people can hardly step near without turning red. I’m pro-choice, while my colleague, Robin Atkins, LMHC, is pro-life. Yet we’re not at each other’s throats. What’s our secret?
The magic happens when we lead with what we agree on: that people need to get better at having nuanced, respectful dialogues about contentious issues. As professional communicators who spend many of our waking hours helping vulnerable people explore different subject matter, who better than Robin and I to give it a go?
In this raw, nuanced, and sobering deep-dive, we examine the many facets of the issue of abortion, including conflicts of values such as care, safety, sanctity, compassion, protection, liberty, welfare, and bodily autonomy. We explore the needs of women and children, and the various ways in which these can be seen as at odds versus in harmony with one another. We explore existential dilemmas, including the meaning of life and when it begins; our understanding of sentience; our valuation of human and non human life forms; and our relationship with death. We talk explicitly about sexual assault and other situations involving trauma and violation of consent. Robin also bravely shares how her personal experience of traumatic abortion affected her views. And we illuminate how therapists can compartmentalize our own politics and morals while helping clients make choices that suit their own worldviews.
Robin Atkins is the chair of the mental health subsection of AAPLOG. As a licensed mental health counselor, Robin has been in practice for over 15 years with a specialty in reproductive issues (including infertility, high-risk pregnancy, traumatic birth, postpartum depression and anxiety, perinatal hospice and palliative care, pregnancy loss, infant loss, adoption, and abortion) since 2015. Robin received her BA in Philosophy and BS in Psychology from Middle Tennessee State University. While growing her family, Robin completed her MA in Professional Counseling from Liberty University and obtained licensure in the state of Indiana.
Robin’s personal experiences with pregnancy and loss formed her passion for walking alongside women, men, and families experiencing complications during reproductive journeys. Robin opened her private practice, Charis et Veritas, in 2015 and began speaking on topics related to mental health and reproduction including perinatal hospice and palliative care, mental health complications after abortion, and post-abortive healing. Robin completed her Deeper Still retreat in 2019 to further her own healing from abortion.
You can follow Robin on Twitter @truthagape.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Karl Marx famously declared religion to be “the opiate of the masses,” implying we’d be better off without it. But can human beings really live without a religion of any kind? Perhaps when we try to suppress the spiritual instinct so innate to our humanity, it doesn’t disappear altogether; rather, it gets channeled unconsciously into cultish behaviors and modes of thought where we least expect them to show up.
In this intellectually rigorous discussion, I meet with writer and New Hampshire state legislature candidate Mike Belcher to discuss his heady piece, “A Resolution to Declare Marxism a Religion.” Mike explains what he means by “Marxism,” including an overview of related philosophers Hobbes, Rousseau, and Hegel, and why he believes Marx's seemingly outdated philosophy is alive and well today. He argues that social Marxism manifests not only as progressivism, structural determinism, applied postmodernism, idea laundering, and queer theory, but also in everyday, implicit aspects of the culture at large. We discuss the quasi- and pseudo- religious elements of these belief systems; their roles in psychological warfare and institutional capture; and Mike’s case for why making the religious aspect explicit is essential for maintaining separation between church and state.
Along the way, we explore important moral, ethical and philosophical questions. Do words create reality? Is there such a thing as “the right side of history?” What do virology and meme theory have to teach us about the spread of ideas? How does one bolster their “psychological immunity?” How do we engage in “re-moralization?” And how can we reclaim the time-tested virtues of grace, forgiveness, and redemption in a ruthless social climate?
If you’ve been following the work of James Lindsay, Helen Pluckrose, Peter Boghossian, and their ilk, you’re not going to want to miss this conversation.
Mike Belcher lives in Wakefield, New Hampshire, where he is running for political office as a State Representative. He has been a paramedic, heavy industry laborer, and teacher. He now writes on philosophy, politics, religion, current events, and law at his Substack: A Path Through. You can follow him on Twitter @mikebelcher14.
In this conversation, Mike referenced his draft legislation criminalizing destruction of minors sex organs, and a refutation of Postmodern relativism.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Take 20% off your entire purchase of nourishing superfood beverages at Organifi with code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
When our egos become entrenched in our views, life becomes stale, growth stagnates, and we lose out on valuable perspectives. Ada Akpala has made it part of her daily practice to challenge her pre-existing assumptions, as well as those of other people. She brings respect, curiosity, and discernment to her mission of providing a different voice and challenging the narrative. In this conversation, we explore big questions about race, culture, identity, responsibility, success, personal development, adversity, and what makes for a good life. Why is it scary to have our viewpoints challenged? And how can we build a culture that encourages people to evolve?
Ada Akpala is a writer at The Different Voice Initiative and host of the podcast, Challenge the Narrative. Born in Nigeria, she now resides in the United Kingdom. She specializes in debunking sensationalist and inaccurate narratives about current and historical events, particularly in regard to race. She believes that we are the rulers of our own life and refuses to accept the victimization culture that has been sold to so many, particularly black people. She focuses on creating content that combats the victim mentality and empowers black people and others. You can follow her on Instagram @itsadaakpala or on Twitter @ada_akpala.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
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Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
When did it become okay to hate someone based on the color of their skin — as long as that skin is the color deemed the acceptable one to hate? More concerningly, when did it become okay for therapists, of all people, to openly endorse such race-based animosity?
I invite clinical psychologist Andrew Hartz to explore how ideology has intruded into the practice of psychotherapy, posing ethical issues and threatening the integrity of our field. We discuss the barriers faced by many people in need of appropriate therapy for issues that do not fit “woke,” or critical social justice, narratives. Where does a white-skinned survivor of racially motivated violence go for trauma therapy when they have legitimate reasons to fear that a professional might merely school them on their so-called privilege? Where can a man seeking to integrate his masculinity go in a world where masculinity is too often written off entirely as toxic?
As colleagues, we explore clinical issues we suspect are at play. Has the world increasingly normalized a climate of dysfunctional social and emotional patterns once considered psychopathological, as in Cluster B personality disorders? How do we, as therapists, help people work through psychological defenses such as splitting, projection, negative attention-seeking, and reaction formation when these are considered customary by the world around them?
Finally, we answer a listener question from a therapist-in-training, and explore: where do we go from here?
Andrew Hartz, Ph.D. is a professor of clinical psychology at Long Island University in Brooklyn and a psychologist in private practice in New York City.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Half of our listeners are in the US and more than a quarter are in the UK, while the news on gender matters is rapidly evolving in both countries. So the time is ripe for a check-in with a gender critical therapist friend “across the pond,” James Esses.
Last year, James was on track to become a therapist when his masters’ program expelled him for expressing concerns about the impact of gender ideology and medicalization on youth. He is now taking the issue to court, and spends his free time further advocating for caution and common sense in the treatment of gender confused youth.
In this collegial conversation, James and I touch on recent events in the UK — the Tavistock GIDS, Stonewall, Mermaids, Cass Report, Maya Forstater, Allison Bailey, and the Gender Recognition Act — as well as US news including the Biden Administration’s destruction of Title IX. We discuss the myth of the “trans toddler,” affirmative vs. exploratory therapy, how therapists’ worldviews impact treatment, self care for gender wars burnout, and what I call the Narrative of Pathology versus the Narrative of Depathology. We answer tickling as well as thought-provoking listener questions. Finally, we explore the questions: how do we heal from this as a society, and where do we go from here?
James qualified and practiced as a Criminal Defense Barrister before holding a number of senior roles in the UK Civil Service, including Head of Policy at the Crown Prosecution Service and Head of Strategic Legislation at the Home Office. He is a trainee psychotherapist and co-founder of Thoughtful Therapists, a group of clinicians and trainee clinicians with concerns about the impact of gender ideology on counseling and therapy. James engages in advocacy, both written and oral, on the topics of sex, gender and free speech – particularly in relation to the medicalization of children and the wider cultural, health, legal and political implications. He has been featured in articles within mainstream newspapers, including the Telegraph and the Mail. He has appeared on TalkRadio, GB News and numerous podcasts, including Triggernometry and the New Culture Forum. He also writes for the online publication, Spiked.
James is currently involved in high-profile litigation, following expulsion from his Masters’ degree in psychotherapy, after speaking out about the medicalization of children. He is suing his university course provider and therapeutic regulatory body for discrimination based on his beliefs and has crowdfunded over £100,000 towards his case from public donations. Please consider donating to his crowdfund.
Follow James on Twitter @JamesEsses & Thoughtful Therapists @ThoughtfulTs.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Ollie had no history of childhood gender dysphoria. But he was lonely, nihilistic, troubled by a legacy of intergenerational trauma he hadn’t yet unpacked, and reckless with his health. In his 20’s, toxic social influences exploited this vulnerability, in combination with Ollie’s guilt over being a man in the #metoo era, naturally fluid gender expression, and increasingly radical political worldview. Several of Ollie's peers offered their opinion that he was trans. One day, an acquaintance asked an unsolicited question: "you're trans, right?" and he thought, "that makes sense.” Thus began several years of living an exhausting and regrettable lie that eventually fell apart, taking many aspects of his belief system with it.
Now 34, his heart is healing and his worldview has matured. Ollie wants to have a family with the love of his life, but cross-sex hormones have permanently ruined his fertility. Yet the clinicians - psychiatrist, endocrinologist and general practioner - who enabled this expressed no remorse when confronted.
Listen as Ollie bravely shares intimate details of his story that breaks and warms the heart all at once. This is one of the most touching conversations I’ve had on the podcast to date, and I am honored to be able to share it with you.
Oliver Davies is an Australian man born in regional Victoria and now living Melbourne. He lives with his partner and two high-maintenance dogs. Oliver is passionate about history, computing, childhood development, and spirituality. He identified as a trans woman from January 2015 to early 2021.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
British psychoanalyst Marcus and his wife Susan were among the first whistleblowers at the Tavistock Centre’s Gender Identity Development Service program. Together, Marcus and Susan wrote the book Gender Dysphoria: A Therapeutic Model for Working with Children, Adolescents and Young Adults.
On July 28, 2022 - between this episode’s recording on June 13, and its release on September 5 - the Tavistock GIDS center was ordered to close by Spring 2023. This news came in the wake of the findings of the Cass Review, in which Dr. Hilary Cass systematically evaluated the clinic’s treatment protocols and found them unsafe. Marcus and Susan are part of the reason that Dr. Cass began her review.
In this conversation, Marcus and I discuss the Tavistock’s long history of ignoring these alarms that have finally reached a turning point. We discuss appropriate, evidence-based, non-invasive approaches to treating gender-related distress, and how these compare with the politicized, experimental, invasive, practices that have become the norm. Marcus expresses his concerns about crucial lacks: of checks and balances, follow-up, honest conversations about suicide risk, and data on long-term outcomes. And we explore concepts from psychodynamic theory, such as the role that projective identification and the splitting off of cognitive dissonance play in power struggles between adolescents and the adults who care for them.
Marcus Evansis a British psychoanalyst, author, and one of the first whistleblowers at the Tavistock GIDS clinic. Before retiring from the NHS, he was first a psychiatric nurse and then an adult psychotherapist in the NHS for 40 years. Marcus has a particular interest in the application of psychoanalytic thinking in mental health settings. He was a founding member of the Fitzjohn’s service for the treatment of patients with severe and enduring mental health issues and personality disorders, and a clinical lead in the adult and adolescent services for five years. He is the author of three books: Making Room for Madness in Mental Health; Psychoanalytic Thinking in Mental Health Settings; and Gender Dysphoria: A Therapeutic Model for Working with Children, Adolescents and Young Adults, which he wrote in conjunction with his wife Susan Evans.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
How can a culture obsessed with mental health be so unwell? Dr. McFillin and I explore the problems of diagnostic expansion and over-medicalization; secondary gain from identifying as ill; and the pathologization of normal human emotions. We discuss how evidence-based practices can be valuable, even as we challenge the flaws riddling the medical model of psychology. And we share practical knowledge about health, evolutionary psychology, and resilience to adverse experiences.
Dr. Roger K. McFillin is a Licensed Psychologist, Executive Director of the Center for Integrated Behavioral Health, and host of the podcast “Radically Genuine.” Dr. McFillin has extensive experience and expertise in Cognitive Behavioral Therapies. He is Board Certified in Behavioral and Cognitive Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology and a Diplomate of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy in Philadelphia PA. He earned his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, where he was the recipient of the Deans Award for Academic Excellence. Follow him on Twitter @DrMcFillin, or Instagram or TikTok @RadGenPod.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Growing up without a father can leave voids to fill. Like so many other disadvantaged young people, Adam and I both struggled in our searches for meaning, safety, wisdom, and a healthy understanding of masculinity. In this interview, we exchange hard-won perspectives from our process of striving, confronting the problems with identity politics in the process. How does the victim mentality fail even those who have truly experienced hardship?
Adam B. Coleman is the author of “Black Victim To Black Victor“, as well as an op-ed writer, public speaker, host of “A Good Faith Space” Twitter Spaces show, and the founder of Wrong Speak Publishing. Adam was born in Detroit but raised in a variety of states throughout America. He writes openly about his struggles with fatherlessness, homelessness, and masculinity.
He is always questioning the world around him, even if they are uncomfortable questions to ask. He strongly believes that we should all have the ability to speak freely and is now advocating for people who feel voiceless to be heard. He is attempting to help change the narrative and the way we discuss cultural narratives by being honest, humble, and resolute. His articles have been published in The New York Post, Newsweek, The Post Millennial, Human Events, The Federalist, Unherd, ScoonTV, Free Black Thought & Human Defense Initiative. He has also appeared on FOX News, Newsmax, The Hill’s “Rising”, Sky News Australia and numerous podcasts.
Follow Adam on Twitter @wrong_speak. Find his book, Black Victim to Black Victor, on Amazon.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
We evolved to take time-saving mental shortcuts. Split-second snap judgments can even save lives. But what are the pitfalls and drawbacks of such heuristics?
Can we really see things as they are, or do we see them only through the filters our modern-day tribes have taught us to look through? If a concept is popular, does that mean it’s correct—or could it be merely contagious? What makes an idea viral, and what protects our mind’s psychological immune system from Trojan horse-styled invaders? And how can assuming we’re wrong help us get closer to the truth?
In this thought-provoking interview, Gurwinder and I explore numerous topics related to the fallibility of human cognition and emotional reactivity: logical fallacies and cognitive distortions; Richard Dawkins’ meme theory and Gad Saad’s concept of the parasitic mind; empathy versus theory of mind; evolutionary psychology; modern day internet tribalism; scapegoating; the perception and quarantining of “dangerous” ideas; us-versus-them thinking; the safety-versus-freedom dichotomy, and other values clashes; how reckoning with cognitive dissonance helps us grow; the limits of knowledge; the dark side of compassion; attentional blindness; the Karpman Drama Triangle; Error Theorists versus Conflict Theorists; propaganda; Twitter bans and how to avoid them; how deliberate ignorance can be a skill worth cultivating; plus, Web 3 and the future of the internet.
Whether you enjoy heady, mind-expanding conversations, or just love a good British accent, you’re not going to want to miss this one.
Gurwinder Bhogal is a writer, programmer, and social media influencer based in the UK. His blog about the interplay between psychology and technology can be found at https://gurwinder.substack.com. Follow him on Twitter @G_S_Bhogal for epic mega-threads on cognition.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Lisa K Swallow is the co-founder and Executive Director of Crossing Party Lines, Inc., a national nonprofit dedicated to reducing toxic polarization by creating open dialogue between Americans with dissimilar political views. In this interview, she shares a wealth of wisdom derived from helping hundreds of people heal the political divide in their families and communities, exploring insights and tools derived from mindfulness, relational neurobiology, Nonviolent Communication, and Moral Foundations Theory.
Trained in Nonviolent Communication (NVC), Lisa hadn't considered bringing her work into the political arena until 2016, when politics became personal. That year, a long-awaited reunion with a conservative cousin turned contentious as soon as conversation became political, which it did regardless of what topic they chose. Then, on the second day of her visit Lisa thought to apply her active listening skills and the conversation shifted from toxic to respectful.
On returning to her home in Portland, Oregon, Lisa set about identifying the specific skills that lead to civil, productive political conversations. She learned that the key to talking across differences lies in cultivating a curious, open mind and listening to understand why another person’s views make sense for them. Her nonprofit, Crossing Party Lines, provides two crucial services: workshops teaching the concepts and skills and weekly facilitated meetings where members can practice those skills.
Her work is rooted in NVC, inspired by the work of John and Julie Gottman and Stephen Stosny, and draws from cognitive science, neurobiology, and evolutionary psychology. Her workshops emphasize mindfulness, active listening, clear boundaries, and understanding the unspoken contracts at play in any conversation.
Lisa has written two books on the subject: her memoir, No One Was Listening, and a workbook, Yes, You can Talk Politics, which makes it possible for anyone, anywhere, to learn the skills for listening and talking across differences.
Find Lisa at www.LisaKSwallow.com. Learn more about Crossing Party Lines at Crossingpartylines.com. Follow CPL on Twitter @crosspartylines or Instagram @crossingpartylines.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: Thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
A lifelong learner, heterodox thinker, and self-taught dabbler in many disciplines, Michael D. C. Bowen brings a wealth of wisdom on the many worlds he has traveled through. After building his career in data engineering and raising his family, he decided to undertake a “martial education” by joining the citizens’ police academy and being trained as a first-responder. What have his life experiences taught him about the process of becoming a fully self-actualized human being?
Michael David Cobb Bowen is a writer, data engineer, and entrepreneur. He helped found Free Black Thought, Rights Universal, and the Conservative Brotherhood. Bowen considers himself a wry Stoic and tactical epistemologist. He has been published in Newsweek and was a regular NPR contributor as well as a host at Cafe Utne. His online writing projects on political, cultural and philosophical subjects reach back over 23 years. His latest project, Stoic Observations, focuses on matters of knowledge & power, global frameworks, information theory, and the practical aspects of moving from philosophy to philosophy. His mission is to document the journey of finding the true value of Western Civilization through Socratic dialogue.
Follow Michael on Twitter @mdcbowen. Read more about him at mdcbowen.info and check out his blog, Stoic Observations, at mdcbowen.substack.com
Follow Free Black Thought @freeblckthought & visit www.freeblackthought.com
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Share this episode with a friend, or on social media. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
AD INFO:
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
Music: our theme song is “Half Awake” by Joey Pecoraro. Used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
Production: DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
During his career working in acute mental health facilities, Benjamin helped people in psychotic states. His professional and personal curiosities led him to developing a unique passion for interpreting and exploring dreams. Benjamin is one of those rare gems who’s calm and collected in a crisis, and comfortable exploring the edges of sanity. He believes his autism has aided him in developing his unique skillsets with logic and curiosity. In this episode, we explore the edges of the known, including hallucinations, misophonia, dementia, fantasy, substance abuse, autism, and parts work.
Benjamin Davidson (aka “The Dream Wizard”) is a psychological professional. After over 20 years experience in mental health, he now offers eclectic dream analysis through Dreamscapes Podcasts, available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. He also curates, edits and sells historical dream literature.
WEBSITE:
~ https://BenjaminTheDreamWizard.com
BOOKS:
~ https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B08Y69ZSTW
PODCAST (multiple platforms):
~ iTunes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/dreamscapes-podcasts/id1540849884
~ Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/3zkpNkshZwEHBoPBa0VKqd
~ etc.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
~ Twitter https://twitter.com/WizardBenjamin
~ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BenjaminTheDreamWizard/
~ Locals https://benjaminthedreamwizard.locals.com/
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
PRODUCTS: To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
MUSIC: special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
PRODUCTION: thanks to Eric and Amber Beels at DifMix.com
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
AD INFO:
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
Music: our theme song is “Half Awake” by Joey Pecoraro. Used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
Production: DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Michelle always knew she was different. As a child, she was socially awkward, and got picked on. She never felt comfortable dressing or acting like other girls. Receiving a professional diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder was an important step in her process of coming home to herself with acceptance and understanding. But the explanation didn’t come soon enough to prevent her from getting lost down the wrong path in her search for the missing narrative. In the process, she was harmed both physically and psychologically.
Like so many vulnerable, neurodivergent young adults, in her early 20’s, Michelle turned to the internet for comfort, distraction, belonging, and knowledge. That’s where she was introduced to the concept of questioning one’s gender, and therefore began to question her own. The advice of strangers; the sense of community that she found online and in a trans support group; and a complex ideology that fed her intellect, all led her down the path of cementing a trans identity and deciding to pursue medical procedures that were both irreversible and experimental.
Michelle identified as transgender for a period of ten years, during which time she was prescribed testosterone and underwent two medically unnecessary surgeries (mastectomy and hysterectomy). Seven years after being prescribed testosterone, at nearly 30 years of age, she was diagnosed with Autism, ADHD, and post-traumatic stress. She detransitioned a few years later.
Now 34, Michelle considers writing to be her primary passion in life. She is currently working on her first book, but in the meantime, she blogs about her post-transition experiences on her Substack, "Some Nuance, Please."
somenuanceplease.substack.com
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
AD INFO:
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
Music: our theme song is “Half Awake” by Joey Pecoraro. Used with gratitude and permission. www.joeypecoraro.com
Production: DifMix.com
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
As two quirky, strong-minded women who have built our careers on the edges of consciousness, Jessie and I compare notes on our personal and professional experiences with giftedness and sensitivity. What are the unique challenges neurodivergent youth must overcome? How do “abstract-intense” people learn to own our eccentricities while building on our strengths? And how can an over-excitable nervous system lend itself toward a healthy passion for protecting one’s principles?
Jessie Mannisto is the founder and editor in chief of Third Factor, a magazine and community for creative, free-thinking individuals trying to chart their unique paths through life. It's grounded in Kazimierz Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration, which emphasizes the process of sorting out one's authentic values and living with increasing integrity. Formerly a leadership analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency and Google Policy Fellow, Jessie chose to pursue self-employment as an editor and analyst to allow her maximum flexibility for her entrepreneurial and creative work. www.thirdfactor.org
Twitter: @ThirdFactorMag and @jlmannisto
In this interview I mentioned three books: A Hunter-Gatherer’s Guide to the Twenty-First Century by Heather Heying and Bret Weinstein; The Righteous Mind by Jonathan Haidt; and Hold On To Your Kids by Gabor Maté and Gordon Neufeld. All of these, as well as many other excellent books, are now available on my website at sometherapist.com/bookshop.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST. Be sure to check out my shop for wellness products, books and more.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Many people are curious about psilocybin assisted therapy, but the illegal status of all hallucinogens in the United States makes it difficult to find accurate information. Enter Jonas: a former social worker who now facilitates healing retreats in Jamaica, where psychedelics are legal.
In this episode, Jonas shares his wealth of wisdom, derived from research and experience, on this intriguing yet taboo topic. We geek out on all things psychedelic: neuroscience, healing, peak experiences, self-actualization, self-transcendence, direct religious experiences, myths vs. facts, set and setting, contraindications, confronting our deepest fears, MDMA treatment of PTSD, and finding peace with death. I truly could not have found a more qualified, eloquent, informative, and otherwise downright delightful guest to educate us on this topic. If I do say so myself, this episode is well worth a listen!
In addition to facilitating retreats, Jonas Rosen hosts the YouTube channel Cosmic Consciousness. He brings his background in counseling and social work, as well as an abundance of research, into his advocacy and healing work.
To learn more about Jonas, visit his website here: https://innervisionpsychedelics.com/
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
AD INFO:
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
I recently emerged victorious from a harrowing battle and successfully defended myself against false allegations of “conversion therapy.” Part of how I got through the stress of it all was envisioning that some day I would be able to use my story to encourage and inspire others. But what I couldn’t have imagined was that I’d share it with the illustrious Helen Joyce.
Under any other circumstances I would have loved to interview Helen. But in this conversation, she actually interviewed me, in the hopes that my story could help her organization demonstrate to UK officials how including “gender identity change efforts” in its "conversion therapy bans” could backfire.
So today, this is my story: where I started off; my experiences as a gender-affirming therapist; what brought me around to seeing matters differently; why I decided to take a stand against gender ideology and medicalization; how I found the courage to share my views publicly; who targeted me, and why; how I defeated them; and what I want lawmakers around the world to understand about these proposed “conversion therapy bans” (hint: they’re not what they seem.)
This is a very timely conversation, so I bumped it to the front of the queue and am publishing it right away. I hope to have Helen back another time to discuss her own ideas. But for now, I really appreciate this opportunity to share my story with Helen, and the world. If I do say so myself, this is an important conversation for therapists, governing bodies, lawmakers, those seeking therapy, and anyone who cares about the treatment of gender issues in today’s society.
Helen Joyce is author of “TRANS: When Ideology Meets Reality”, published in July 2021 by OneWorld and in paperback since May 2022. A Times of London and Spectator book of the year, it is a UK and Amazon top ten bestseller. It received rave reviews in publications ranging from the Telegraph to the New York Times, and endorsements from, among others, Daniel Dennett (“A sane, humane book”), Lionel Shriver (“Utterly unintimidated by extremist orthodoxy”) and Richard Dawkins (“Thoroughly researched, passionate and very brave”). Helen now works as Director of Advocacy for Sex Matters, a human-rights organization that campaigns for sex-based rights. Her journalism can be found on her website: thehelenjoyce.com.
You can purchase Helen's book here.
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Jane is a treasure trove of wisdom who I initially discovered through the transformational, participatory, experiential Systemic Constellations workshops she facilitates locally at her farm in Oregon. In this interview, she shares her insights into the wisdom of the body, the social brain, personal agency, roles and relationships, and systemic change.
Jane Peterson, PhD is the founder of the Human Systems Institute, Inc. She has traveled the world engaging in transformational work at both group and individual levels. She facilitates and teaches Systemic Constellations, an embodied, relational approach to change. Her workshops and private consulting sessions facilitate somatic healing of the relational structures we are embedded in.
Find Jane and her offerings at www.human-systems-institute.com
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
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When we are fully present in our bodies and know how to trust our inner guidance, we gain the confidence to navigate any of life’s ups and downs. In this interview, Amy and I explore values and virtues, boundaries versus barriers, the wisdom in our sense perceptions, the concept of inner authority — and why you might want to shift your focus from feeling better to being a better feeler.
Amy Sousa, MA, holds degrees from NYU, Tisch School of the Arts, and the Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has 20 years theater education experience, with 15 years in the teaching in NYC public schools teaching peer mediation, conflict resolution, anger management, self esteem building, and literacy using theater engagement. She also served as the Education Director at small regional theater in WA state.
Amy's graduate and post graduate doctoral work focused on the creative imagination and ecopsychology as a basis for building embodied awareness. She is currently a women's rights activist, educator, & facilitator whose work focuses on embodiment, boundaries, intuition, instincts, & sense perceptions as an internal authority building practice.
For more about Amy follow her on Twitter or Instagram @KnownHeretic, on YouTube, and on her website https://www.littleredreverberations.com
For more information email her at amy@littleredreverberations.com
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
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As an adolescent, Helena identified as trans. But high doses of testosterone led to such extreme mood swings that she was hospitalized twice — yet none of the professionals on her team ever questioned what she was doing to her body, or why.
In this powerful and courageous interview, detransitioned woman Helena Kerschner shares her inside view on the fantasy versus reality of trans — the hopes and dreams she pinned onto a new identity, compared to the harsh realities she discovered from trying to live as a man. She unpacks the complex psychosocial factors she now sees contributed to her discomfort with being female, and how her therapist let her down by failing to see her true needs. She tells us about giving up the sunken cost fallacy, making up for lost time, and the arduous process of picking up the pieces of a shattered false identity to find out who she truly is.
Wise beyond her years, Helena Kerschner is an outspoken advocate for her fellow detransitioners, victims and survivors of gender medicine. You can follow her on Twitter @lacroicsz or read her blog at lacroicsz.substack.com.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
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Cindy caught my attention when she appeared as a contestant on Netflix’s Baking Impossible. With the help of her engineer teammate Taylor, they dreamed up delightfully decorated, edible, functional machines and landscapes — and then brought them to life. The team had an infectiously positive energy and sky’s-the-limit attitude that inspired viewers around the world.
It’s not every day you come across a person who dreams so big, shines so brightly, and is willing to take such leaps of faith. I wanted to know: how does someone like Cindy become, well, someone like Cindy?
As it turns out, Cindy credits her childhood and ancestral trauma for sparking her creativity as a coping mechanism and fostering the unrelenting anti-fragility that has made her so resilient. In this fun and upbeat interview, Cindy reflects on the legacy of her Asian culture, forgiving her parents, embracing the fantasy world as a healthy escape, and harnessing her ADHD hyperfocus as a superpower.
Follow her on Instagram or Etsy @cindyslittlecakery or visit her shop at www.cindyslittlecakery.com
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
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Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Dirk was raised in a scholarly family, but become curious about the inner worlds of people with 300-word vocabularies. A former special education teacher now working in tech, he remains a lifelong learner, and has become curious in recent years about the subject of intelligence. How did it become so fraught, and why is it necessary to discuss anyway? What can IQ accurately measure and predict — and what can it not? And, as an out-of-the-box thinker, what blind spots does he see on both the political left and right?
In one of the first episodes I ever recorded, I had the pleasure of interviewing my old friend Dirk Van Leeuwen. You can follow him on Twitter @diabloneruda.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
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Dr. Rhoberta Shaler has spent her career helping the partners, exes, adult children and siblings of relentlessly difficult people. In this episode, she shares a lifetime’s worth of wisdom on what she calls "hijackals" — people who hijack relationships for their own purposes and then relentlessly scavenge them for power, status and control. What distinguishes emotional abuse from normal communication differences? How do we label a problematic behavior pattern without playing armchair psychologist? How can we draw healthy boundaries that balance compassion for others with compassion for ourselves? And how can we find happiness within while also seeking it in relationships?
The Relationship Help Doctor, Rhoberta Shaler, PhD, is the host of Save Your Sanity Podcast: Help for Toxic Relationships. She offers one-on-one consultations, e-courses, books, and the Emerging Empowered online community. You can find her at forrelationshiphelp.com.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
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To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
How did a mild-mannered academic scientist find himself a target of vitriol amidst unexpected controversy? In this episode, Colin Wright tells us what he learned from ants and spiders about human social behavior, personality and groupthink. What compelled this fair-minded researcher to dedicate his career to debunking ideological myths? In a world at war over the question of how we should define sex, what does a biologist have to say — and why does it matter?
Colin Wright is an evolutionary biologist known for his work at Quillette Magazine and collaborations with the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism. He founded Reality’s Last Stand, a publication dedicated to providing weekly news, articles, and other content about gender ideology and the science of sex differences. He is currently working toward publishing his first book. You can find Colin at RealitysLastStand.com or follow him on Twitter @SwipeWright.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
AD INFO:
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
When her impressionable 10-year-old daughter claimed to be transgender, Jennifer recognized it as a cry for help, and did everything in her power to understand the issue. With the help of her therapist, family, and community, Jennifer was able to identify and provide the type of support her daughter truly needed. Today, Jennifer’s daughter accepts herself just as she is, and doesn’t want the medical alterations so many parents fear could damage their children’s health permanently. Listen as Jennifer shares her insights about what helped her family.
Along the way, we discuss ethical issues in therapy and education. What is the Karpman Drama Triangle? Why is it important that therapists watch out for our own savior complex? What psychological motives might someone have for adopting a certain narrative or identity? And why is it such a problem that “conversion therapy” has been redefined?
Jennifer co-founded Partners for Ethical Care. She hosts and produces The Witness Podcast, in which volunteers read anonymous stories of children and families who have been affected by gender identity, including parents and detransitioners. They welcome hearing from others as well, including teachers and doctors. If you have a story to share, or a question to ask, get in touch: support@partnersforethicalcare.com. You can also follow Jennifer and PEC on Twitter @ethical_care.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
AD INFO:
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
Jake and I are therapists from wildly different backgrounds. When I’m hiking waterfalls in the lush Pacific Northwest, Jake is shooting guns in the Nevada desert. Yet, as it turns out, we see eye-to-eye on a surprising number of things. Why is it important for therapists to check for cultural biases in the least likely places we might think to look? When does “supportive” therapy become counterproductive? And how can therapists help our patients not need us anymore? Then, Jake clears up myths and misconceptions about guns and gun owners.
Jake Wiskerchen is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and clinical supervisor who formerly chaired the Nevada Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors. He hosts two podcasts: Noggin Notes, and Guns and Mental Health. He founded Zephyr Wellness and partners with Walk the Talk America. You can find his counseling work at zephyrwellness.org, firearms awareness advocacy at wtta.org, or follow him on Twitter @jakewisk.
Relevant Links:
Documentary: A Conversation About Guns And Mental Health With Walk The Talk America
wtta.org/love
zephyrwellness.org
nogginnotes.com/podcasts
Twitter: @zephyr_wellness
Twitter: @walkthetalkus
Twitter: @thenogginnotes
IG: @walkthetalkus
IG: @zephyrwellness
IG: @nogginnotes
FB: Walk the Talk US
FB: Zephyr Wellness
FB: Noggin Notes
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
AD INFO:
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off my new podcast than with a guest who embodies two of my favorite traits: self-compassion and courage. Author and educator Sarah Peyton is a gentle guide and a wise woman who has walked into the belly of the beast, taking her mindfulness practice into the prison systems. Together, we explore: how do we engage in earnest self-reflection without wallowing in shame? Why is it important to embrace unpleasant emotions such as anger? What is the connection between disgust and morality? Why does naming our emotions tame them? What is an “unconscious contract?” How can boundaries help with overwhelm? What is a “healthy no?” What distinguishes good stress from bad stress? And how can we develop the capacity to form secure attachments with others as adults, even if we lacked them as children?
Sarah Peyton, Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication, constellation facilitator and neuroscience educator, integrates brain science and the use of resonant language to heal trauma and nourish self-warmth with exquisite gentleness. She teaches and lectures internationally, and is the author of the book “Your Resonant Self: Guided Meditations and Exercises to Engage Your Brain’s Capacity for Healing." Her newest books from W.W. Norton, The Your Resonant Self Workbook, and Affirmations for Turbulent Times, are now available for sale at your on-line bookseller. Find her at SarahPeyton.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @resonantself, Instagram @sarahpeytonauthor, Facebook @empathybrain, or YouTube.
Purchase Sarah's book, Your Resonant Self, here.
If you enjoyed this conversation, please rate & review it on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also head over to my YouTube channel, subscribe, like, comment, & share there as well.
AD INFO:
To get $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover visit EightSleep.com & enter promo code SOMETHERAPIST.
Be sure to check out my shop. In addition to wellness products, you can now find my favorite books!
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★
