Psychiatry & Psychotherapy Podcast

In this episode, I interviewed Carl B. Gacono, PhD, who is an expert in the areas of criminal psychopathology, behavior, and treatment. We dive into understanding and acknowledging the distinct differences between psychopathic and non-psychopathic patients and how their assessment with the PCL-R and Rorschach aid in their management and treatment. We also discuss how understanding transference and countertransference is essential when interacting with these difficult patients. Link to Blog. Link to Resource Library.

In this episode of the podcast, we introduce borderline personality disorder (BPD). We discuss its history, nomenclature, epidemiology, etiology, and diagnosis while providing perspectives from clinicians regarding the treatment of individuals with BPD. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.25 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

On this week's podcast, I interview Jason Smith, Psy.D., A.B.P.P., Chief Psychologist at a prison in the United States, and Ted B. Cunliffe, Ph.D., who is a clinical and forensic psychologist at a private practice in Florida. Together, along with Carl B. Gacono, Ph.D., ABAP, they have written the book Understanding Female Offenders, researching how female offenders' psychopathic behaviors present differently than in males and how we can address biases we may have in order to identify, assess, and treat these women. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this episode, we will be going over a book every therapist and psychiatrist should read, Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning." Being in the trenches with our patients, we see so much pain and suffering and potentially undergo vicarious trauma ourselves through their suffering. The question, "What is the meaning of life?" often comes up in such a context. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In today's episode of the podcast, we'll be continuing our deep dive into duloxetine, a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). In this second part, we'll be covering the approved indications and off-label uses of duloxetine. By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Michael Cummings, Dr. Annabel Kuhn, and Dr. David Puder discuss akathisia, the horrible and all too common side effect of psychiatric medications. Subsequently, we go through definitions, history, mechanism, how to rate it, and treatment. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.25 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In the last episode, we talked about the first two stages of the hero's journey. In this episode, I will focus on the path of the hero as it specifically applies to mental health professionals. I will discuss exactly what those are and how these are areas in our core being that simply cannot be faked. The areas we will be discussing require the hero (us) to develop and mature at the core of our being, to embody these things, and to be fundamentally transformed. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.25 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In today's episode of the podcast, we will be doing a deep dive into duloxetine, a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). In part one of this two-part series, we will cover the history of SNRIs as well as mechanisms of action, cytochrome P450 issues, side effects, and contraindications to consider when prescribing duloxetine and this class of medications. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.25 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

There are several disorders so branded with taboo, stigma, and legal consequences that they are almost never diagnosed and very little research has been done on them. These patients are literally seen by every specialty, often without knowing it, and without a good solution. I am hoping this podcast brings awareness to this important topic and gives providers insight into the power of empathy in helping these patients. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

"The Hero's Journey" entails several predictable steps of leaving and returning transformed. Striving towards one's heroic possibilities and unfolding one's potentials is deeply pleasurable. Realizing that our narratives can be seen as part of a journey can encourage these pleasurable aspirational attempts and reframe hardships. This concept of The Hero's Journey is something I use often in my practice and find very useful. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

With the background from part 1 in mind, in part 2, we review the modern era of research exploring the treatment of various psychopathology. The results for these studies begin to elucidate the various effects individuals experience with psilocybin. The benefits are potentially impressive, however, there are significant limitations that are noteworthy. Psilocybin therapy is just coming out of its nascence and it is useful to have a critical view of the research coming out to avoid pitfalls in the future. By listening to this episode, you can earn 2.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

The basis of cognitive behavioral therapy is that we should put our thoughts on trial and not just believe them. CBT works by digging into the foundation of our thinking patterns so we can rewire the patterns that are messed up. On this week's episode of the podcast, I speak to Dr. David Burns M.D. about cognitive behavioral therapy. He's the author of several industry-leading books on the subject, including Feeling Good and Feeling Great. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

Psilocybin has been increasingly part of western consciousness. As the scientific community explores its therapeutic use and safety in controlled settings, there are a lot of people outside of that community who are passionate advocates for its recreational use. If we are to be knowledgeable about this subject, it is useful to know the sources that our patients are getting their information from, the history of its use, and what we currently know about its safety. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

We are privileged to be joined by Dr. Steven Hayes for this podcast. Dr. Hayes is a psychologist with a remarkable academic career. He is the author of a number of seminal papers and pioneered Relational Frame Theory (RFT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

There are medications that worsen cognitive function and all mental health providers should be aware, and work on optimizing sensorium. In this episode, we'll cover a spectrum of sensorium disruptions and medications that you need to look out for. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this last episode of the Big Five personality model series, we are going to focus on extraversion which is the positive emotion dimension associated with gregariousness, charisma, enthusiasm, assertiveness, and social ability. By listening to this episode, you can earn 2 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this episode, we continue our discussion on the Big Five. We will do a deep dive into agreeableness discussing it's sub facets: trust, straightforwardness, altruism, compliance, modesty, and tender-mindedness. We will also discuss the strengths and weaknesses of having high trait agreeableness. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In Conscientiousness Part 1 we explored the sub-facets of conscientiousness, summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of each. For completeness, we will provide sources for that material as well as brief summaries of those sources. Today, in Part 2, we will focus largely on conscientiousness in daily life, psychopathology, and therapy. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this podcast, we discuss openness, the third of five in our podcast series looking at the domains within the Five Factor Model of personality. We look at how openness is defined, its heritability, and its effects on physical health, personal attributes, psychopathy, pharmacotherapy, and therapeutic techniques. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this episode, we continue our Big Five Personality Traits series by doing a deep dive into Conscientiousness. We'll look into studies that show how low conscientiousness increases mortality rate as well as positive aspects of high conscientiousness. We also explore the 6 domains, genetic factors, and different life stages of conscientiousness. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.25 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this episode, we review studies on strength training, exercise, and depression from the last 2 years. It is well known that any form of exercise is beneficial for people with depressive symptoms, with strength training being most effective. Strength training can be both a treatment for patients with depression and a protective mechanism against the onset of depression. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In part 2 if the Big Five series we talk about how medications, such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), psychotherapy, and exercise can make an impact. Trial studies of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have shown promise in the treatment of neuroticism. We also discuss the possible benefits of neuroticism. Studies have shown that neurotic people may outperform their stable counterparts in a work context. This "healthy neuroticism" may exist when the effects of neuroticism and conscientiousness interact. By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

Netflix has recently come under fire for its release of the French film "Cuties." While critics have praised the movie for exploring themes of the oversexualization of children, audience members are consistently appalled at the provocative situations that the 11-year-old characters are put through. In this episode, I discuss our culture's saturation with the oversexulization of children in media with Maddie Ulrich B.S., Randy Stinnett, Psy.D., ABPP, and Caroline Osorio M.D. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.25 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this episode, Dr. Cummings and I discuss forensic pedophilia and the sexualization of children in our society. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In today's podcast, we discuss the Big Five personality traits, focusing on neuroticism and how it fits into this set. We then explore each of the six domains of neuroticism and the research of how it manifests in other parts of one's life and affects relationships. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In today's episode of the podcast, we'll be doing a deep-dive into nortriptyline, a lesser-talked about medication in psychopharmacology. We'll cover a little about the history of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) as well as the characteristics, side-effects, and indications to consider when prescribing this class of medication. By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns have seemed to foster a "sub-epidemic" of suicidality and deteriorating mental health. Suicidal thoughts have spiked across every demographic due to the loss of connection to usual psychosocial supports, normal activities, and in a lot of cases, jobs, leading to significant financial stress. These stressors compound and massively impact the mental resiliency of everyone reached by this pandemic. Link to Blog. Link to Resource Library.

If you are a medical student or someone studying for a big exam, this episode is for you. We will first discuss the mental roadblocks that prevent students from performing at their top potential for exams. We also break down and outline some effective study strategies, and provide a sample day-by-day study plan for any 2nd year medical student preparing for the USMLE Step 1 exam. Finally, we have also created a 3-step challenge all students can follow. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

On this episode of the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast, we continue our conversation with geriatric psychiatrist, Dr. Osorio, to talk about retirement—specifically, how to retire well and happy. She recently published a book for people in this transition: Stop Freaking Out About Retirement By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog.

Understanding disorganized attachment as medical professionals is important because some patients have experienced trauma, or 2nd generation influences of trauma, which leads to this issue. As we continue to explore disorganized attachment and how we can help patients with this attachment style, it's important to remember that this information provides the foundation for why empathy, connection, and emotion mirroring is vital in psychotherapy and psychiatry. Dr. Puder is joined by Dr. Kuhn for this part 2 episode. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

When people dissociate, it means they feel disconnected from their body. They feel fear and dread, sometimes feeling completely frozen. As mental health professionals, understanding disorganized attachment gives us appreciation and understanding for the necessity of empathy, attunement and deeply understanding the experience of another. In this episode, Dr. Puder is joined by Dr. Annabel Kuhn to discuss disorganized attachment. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this final part of the free will series, we take a look at the relationship between the concept of free will and mental health. Is free will altered in those suffering from schizophrenia? How is well-being related to free will? Thinking about these questions and the rise of neuroessentialism within psychiatry allows us to recognize the influence of our environment on our decision-making. The debate is far from settled, but a belief in free will clearly affects daily life and the practice of psychiatry. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

This is the second episode in our Free will series. In this episode, we will describe some definitions of free will, explore determinism (the opposite of free will), cover some quotes by famous authors on the topic, and break down some statistics, and studies about it. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

On this episode of the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast I have a conversation with Matthew Hagele, a soon to be 4th year medical student with a masters in bioethics. We will talk about the history, the why, and the cultural importance of free will. We will examine the implications of free will on mental health. This is the first of a three part series. We hope they provide interesting application information for your own practice. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

Join Dr. Danielle Hairston and Dr. Puder on a discussion of recent events. Dr. Hairston has served as the Black Psychiatrists of America Scientific Program Chair since 2016. She is also the American Psychiatric Association Black Caucus' Early Career Representative. She is the residency director at Howard University. She has a Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry Fellowship. Dr. Hairston has also had the opportunity to speak nationally and internationally about the impact of racial trauma and culture on mental health. She is a contributing author to the recently published book, Racism and Psychiatry: Contemporary Issues and Interventions. Her interests include consultation-liaison psychiatry, resident education, minority mental health, cultural psychiatry, and collaborative care. By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

On this episode of the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast, we talk about meaning, and how it relates to suicide. This is part 3 of a series of podcasts on suicide. If you haven't listened to the first two episodes, they are here: Suicide Epidemiology, Risk Factors, and Treatments Genetics and Environmental Factors in Suicide By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

As the economy continues to shut down during COVID-19, people are growing more concerned about work and finances. Even if the virus is miraculously contained in the next few months, the economy will still be reeling from the damage of the lockdown. As psychiatrists, we are concerned about the increases in mental illness from the lack of employment and a potential increase in suicides. In this episode, we begin to look at past studies on the links between economic disaster and the subsequent rates of depression and suicide, and what we might be able to do to help. By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

On this week's episode of the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast, I interview Dr. Daved Van-Stralen. During this season of COVID-19, Van-Stralen is focusing on the unique stresses on the healthcare system. How can the healthcare system improve the way that things are currently being done? How can people handle stress and the stress of seeing multiple deaths, exposure to the disease, and increased hours? By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In the US, people do not talk about death often or even acknowledge their own mortality. Instead, we act as if we just work hard enough we can do anything, even refuse the grim reaper. In this episode, we wrestle with the current issues created by COVID-19. Join us as we think more about death and the necessity to have conversations around it. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In a previous episode, we covered COVID-19 and its effect on mental health. In today's episode of the podcast, we will be covering COVID-19 from the medical perspective with regards to its effect on the brain as well as treatment options, their side effects and special considerations. By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

On this week's episode of the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy podcast, I interview Scott D. Miller, Ph.D. and Daryl Chow, Ph.D., authors (along with Mark A. Hubble, Ph.D.) of Better Results. Better Results is a book that sums up thirty years of research to demonstrate what clinicians can reliably do to improve therapy results by personal and professional development. Link to Blog.

Stress and anxiety are going to be very common during this time. In one study of Wang et al, 2020 they found that in China, 53.8% of the respondents to a survey rated their psychological impact as moderate-to-severe and 28.8% had moderate to severe anxiety, 16.5% had moderate to severe depressive symptoms, 8.1% had moderate to severe stress levels. By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this week's episode, we sat down with Shawna Chan, Mona Mojtahedzadeh, M.D., Salman Otoukesh, M.D., David Puder, M.D. and discussed different aspects of mental health in humans bravely facing cancer. Below is a link to the notes which go beyond the podcast episode in content and depth and hopefully equips you to have more empathy, compassion and knowledge. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

This week I interviewed Dr. Joel Weinberger and Dr. Valentina Stoycheva who recently published the book "The Unconscious: Theory, Research, and Clinical Implications ." We discussed their book and even their unconscious reasons for writing a thrilling, deep dive into the unconscious. This book was graduate level in detail, deep, thoughtful, articulate, sometimes very theoretical, and definitely worthy of reading and contemplating. By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.75 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

Catatonia is a severe motor syndrome. It is a secondary response to an underlying illness that requires quick diagnosis and treatment. There are many different things that lead to catatonia, so finding out the underlying cause is very important. In this episode, Dr. Cummings and I discuss the history, diagnosis, and treatment of catatonia. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this short episode of The Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Podcast, I interview Dr. Cummings, a forensic psychiatrist, on the topic of the correlation of mental illness and violent crime, and what causes violent crime. I start out with reviewing some studies and then subsequently interview Dr. Cummings, a leading psychiatrist at one of the largest forensic psychiatric hospitals in the United States. By listening to this episode, you can earn 0.5 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this episode, David Puder, M.D. and Michael Cummings, M.D. discuss the history, uses, and side effects of Valproic Acid which is a mood stabilizer for various conditions including: Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, and Borderline Personality Disorder. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

In this episode, Dr. Puder talks about the importance of therapeutic alliance in the psychiatric interview, emphasizing the need for a strong therapeutic alliance in order to help patients with psychosis continue their medication. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

Therapy is an intensely focused relationship that involves acceptance, trust, unconditional positive regard, hope, attunement, tolerance, and mending empathic strains and ruptures. There is also emotional contagion between a therapist and patient, with transference and countertransference. On this week's episode, I talk about how attachment theory can be a powerful predictor in helping someone move forward past trauma and develop attachment to their therapist in a healthy and therapeutic way. By listening to this episode, you can earn 1 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.

What is intelligence? Why is IQ controversial? In this week's episode Nelson Horsley (a 4th year medical student) and David Puder, M.D. discuss the IQ - if it is a predictor for a successful life, and what things can predict or influence IQ. By listening to this episode, you can earn 2 Psychiatry CME Credits. Link to blog. Link to YouTube video.