The Broken Brain

Jeri Young Returns to tell us more about Imposter Syndrome!  Jeri talked about Imposter Phenomenon on a recent episode of The Broken Brain, this is a recording of her providing more information to a team of therapists, in the Aspire Network. Although she touches on a lot of the same areas, she also goes into how to decrease the anxiety and depression associated with this dynamic, and tells us a bunch of helpful things about self-care. Watch for her next upcoming episode about Mind-Body techniques to defeat Imposter Syndrome! Links: Second Wave Feminism video (Jeri opens with this) About Women by Lisa Alther & Francoise Gilot Beyond Happiness: The Upside of Feeling Down (January 2016 issue of Psychology Today by Matthew Hutson) 

Happy Father's Day from the Broken Brain!  Dave Hart from Pop Culture Case Study returns to talk with me about being a dude. We discuss the complex psychological issues inherent to being a man in our culture, and our impressions of the psychological impact of the documentary "The Mask You Live In." by the Representation Project. Check out the documentary on Netflix or Amazon, and follow their Facebook page for ongoing discussion about this important topic. Follow Dave on Twitter, and listen to his podcast people! 

Bernadette & Andrew Peirce are a wonderful couple who do a movie podcast (the AB Film Review), and are just fun and cool people. We got together to discuss the dynamic of psychological burnout, a condition that affects physical and mental health, as well as the economy. Andrew has worked in the Veterinary Nursing industry, and Bernie has provided addiction recovery and crisis stabilization services within Mental Health Treatment facilities. They are both acutely aware of the reality of mental health and burnout needs upon individuals and society. We discuss stigma of mental health treatment, acceptance of self, finding an outlet, and avoiding falling off the cliff of burnout.   

Dave from Pop Culture Case Study rejoins the show to talk addiction recovery, a specialty of his.  We tackle the difficult but vital issue of building (or rebuilding) social support in sobriety maintenance. Addiction has many costs, but a big one is the damage it does to our family and friendship relations. And few things are as helpful to recovery from addiction than a healthy support system. We talk about experiments with RATS, finding new friends, repairing existing relationships, and allowing for a damaged sense of delayed gratification.  Quick links from our talk: check out Refuge Recovery, the HAMS network, and Meetup.com (or any of the social meet-up sites).  Make sure to check out Dave's show, especially his latest few episodes about The Nice Guys, and X-Men movies.

My friend Jeri joins the podcast to discuss Imposter Phenomenon, and the genesis of that term within psychotherapy. Imposter Phenomenon has been used since the 1970s and is a name for a specific type of anxiety and intellectual self-doubt. Jeri Young is a friend, a colleague, and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in Mind-Body Bridging, Chronic Pain management, and a bunch of other cool stuff.  ALSO, you should totes click on this sentence to READ this cool paper about Imposter Phenomenon by Clance & Imes.

Arianna Jeret (author and relationship expert) & David Hart (Podcaster, Addiction Therapist, and Doctoral Candidate) join me to answer some of the listener's questions. We talk about online articles that "diagnose" celebrities, watching out for online experts without training (and how to spot real professionals), and getting medical advice for psychological conditions. Specifically we are glad to see questions from the online group Podcast Party addressed in this episode.  Keep your questions coming! Tweet them @breakabrain or with the hashtag #AskATherapist, or email me directly at dwighthurst@gmail.com

Joe Capozzi is an actor, and is the writer & producer of the short film "Confession," directed by his wife, Angelique Letizia-Capozzi. Confession is a 15 minute film telling the story of Joe's experience beginning his recovery from persistent sexual molestation from a Catholic Priest. Joe shares his full story and the story of how he used his artistic skills as a therapeutic outlet and a method of raising awareness of abuse and recovery. Joe's film is a gripping and realistic depiction of anxiety, PTSD and invasive suicidal thoughts. Confession does an effective and tasteful job of depicting the abuse process, from grooming to the terrible aftermath. His experience in therapy and with his family is a great example for survivors of abuse everywhere.  Big thanks to Joe,and to Chris Revill of the Lets Chat! with Revill and Friends Podcast for introducing us, and making this interview possible. 

Buck Black is the Trucker's Therapist, or at least that is one of his specialties. Buck is a LCSW who provides online and in-person therapy with on-the-road truckers who might otherwise never get to see their therapist. He is also a certified sex therapist and a general practitioner in the community of Lafayette, Indiana. Lucky for me, and you (the listeners), he is also a spirited, energetic, and delightful human being.  Being delightful, Buck is also involved as a volunteer with a host of community organizations, including St Christopher's Fund (a medical and support fund for truckers and their families) and the group Women in Trucking. 

Raney Mills Keiley rejoins us after her long sabbatical to field your questions. Mike and I assist by making dumb jokes as she answers your questions about tricky family communication with a needy or controlling parent, and whether or not therapists are emotionally bulletproof enough that we are impervious to freaking out. Plus we fondly recall the time she made us make tinfoil statues of ourselves in an Art Therapy group.  Make sure to ask your questions for our panels of therapists at #askatherapist on twitter, or tweet at me @breakabrain, or just shoot me an email at dwighthurst@gmail.com.  

Dr. Calli Estes, the Addictions Coach, is the founder of the Addiction Academy and a friend of the show. She joined me today to talk about the news regarding the death of cultural icon and rock star Prince. We discuss addiction, the risk of overdose, and how shame, indulgence, and denial of the problem risk people's lives. 

Michael Denniston (of the War Machine vs War Horse Podcast) has joined us before and will join us again, but never before has he joined us to discuss M Night Shyamalan and how everyone pretends they didn't love all his movies once upon a time.  The emotion of Fear plays a large role in the lives of everyone. In the movie Signs, we are shown a story of an alien invasion, in which the real villain seems to be fear and an ongoing loss of faith by the main character. We discuss, riff, joke, and ponder the implications of this story as it relates to fear, narration, and the logical survival mechanism of hitting an alien with a baseball bat. 

Mike Fitch & Lee Messersmith, the OG Broken Brain Gang join for an ask a therapist segment, with newcomer and therapist intern Chris Tittle! We talk about more than just Lee's new guitar, which is made out of an oilcan. We answer listener questions about relationships, incompatible sex drives, and some parenting stuff.  Get your questions to our AskATherapist segment through twitter @breakabrain, email dwighthurst@gmail.com, or tweet #AskATherapist and we will assemble our panel. Listeners like this sort of thing so we plan to do an AskATherapist panel once per month on the show. 

Guy Macpherson is the founder of the Trauma Therapist Project a fellow podcaster, and an expert on early childhood mental illness, trauma, and somatic sensory psychotherapy. He joins me today to discuss pointers for therapists learning to deal with trauma, the prevalence of trauma within mental illness, and treatment techniques.  I can already tell Guy will be a good friend of the show, hear his first Broken Brain interview right here, right now. Also give him a listen on his podcast, The Trauma Therapist Podcast, and check out his website and FaceBook Group.

It's our addiction look, at the top of this wonderful month of April. What better way to start it than by reading an article by author, psychologist, and relationship expert Jenev Caddell! In her article "Busting 5 Common Mythes About Addiction," Dr. Caddell captures some dangerous and important misnomers about substance use, abuse, and dependance. I review 3 out of the 5 myths (go read the rest yourself lazybones) and add my own thoughts and insights for your education and enjoyment. Have a good start to April!   

Clay Cockrell of the Online Counseling Podcast and Walk and Talk Therapy return to our show to discuss his new search database for online therapists. In creating this new service and hosting his own podcast Clay has done a TON of research into Online Psychotherapy, the newer type of telehealth in the mental health industry. Clay is the founder of Walk and Talk practice, a form of outdoor counseling he practices in Central Park, NY. He is also a pioneer in the field of online counseling. He is offering a discount for therapists who are listeners of The Broken Brain Podcast and wish to list themselves in his Online Therapist Database. Give this episode a listen for the special sale code. 

Arianna Jeret, relationship expert, frequent guest and friend of the show, returns to discuss the idea of "rebuilding," a life following divorce. We discuss whether or not the concept of rebuilding is accurate or helpful, the components to emotional pain following a break up, flexibility vs rigidity in communication, and many other parts of relationships, marriage, and divorce.  Follow Ariana on YourTango or The Good Men Project! 

We have been focusedon self confidence a LOT lately on the Broken Brain, and I found this recording of Mike Fitch and I discussing the clinical elements of confidence, what role it plays, and how mental illness can impact it.  We discuss the differences between self-esteem, self-worth, and other forms of self-lovin' (self-loving for oyu search engines out there).

Talking to Candice at Namaste Center for Healing, we were planning to do some nonsense throw away discussion about another topic, but we landed on talking about treatment for individuals with sexual offenses, pedophiliac desires, and compulsive sexual thoughts.  Candice operates a preventative treatment program for those with invasive, unwanted sexual desires towards children. This is a difficult and controversial topic within the world of treatment, so give us a listen as we take a stab at it. 

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy addresses increasing emotional stability, and the PLEASE skill is a viable part of increasing yours! This podcast mini episode comes from the audio to the YouTube Video on The BrokenBrain Podcast channel on YouTube. 

Happy International Women's Day! Check out Google's video about living our dreams and empowering women all over the world. Listeners to the Broken Brain will be familiar with my ideal for equal rights for all people and my feminist philosophy, but I wanted to spend a few minutes plugging this international empowerment day and to encourage you to spend at least some time today reading tweets under the hashtag: #somedayiwill on Twitter.