The Broken Brain

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 [email protected], 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.

I am privileged this episode to have been able to have a conversation with Ana-Maria Leonte, who plays Dasha Promenti in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Ana-Maria talks about this role and her life as an actress, model, and tech expert. She also discusses her passion for advocacy and humanitarianism, working with charities dedicated to equality and world peace, such as Generation Success and Peace One Day. If you are anything like me you will find her own story as compelling as any part of the new Star Wars movie. Make sure to check out Generation Success for their event on March 8th. Big thanks to Chris Revill of the Lets Chat with Revill and Friends Podcast for helping me to get into contact with Ana-Maria Leonte, and of course super-Star-Wars-Expanded-Universe sized thanks to Ms. Leonte for the generous contribution of her time to speak with me today.

Chris Revill of the Let's Chat with Revill and Friends Podcast returns to the show to vent and talk about the scandal that recently affected Brain Training giant Lumosity. We use this as a springboard to chat about pop neurology, brain training, our mutual dislike of positive affirmations, cure-alls in mental health, feeling your feelings, and of course (with us) an overdose of tangents and pop culture references...although I think we avoid any super hero references this time...

I give my take on a news story from last week all about a certain MRA website's jackass founder proposing pro-rape rallies across the world, and a certain Savoy Howe of the Toronto Newsgirls Boxing Club using her brilliance and courage to fight back. Originally I came across this story on nymag.com from writer Jessica Roy, and you should read her stuff.

Narcissism is a chronic and damaging form of self obsession. Ranked as one of the Personality or Trait Disorders by the DSM 5, NPD or Narcissistic Personality Disorder is an ongoing unhealthy survival strategies for life. Even though it can lead to obnoxious, self destructive, or even dangerous behavior. Far from the psychological death sentence that many people think it is, PD is subject to treatment and success, especially if the individual has awareness of their condition. Mike, Lee, and Dwight discuss these things and more on today's episode of The Broken Brain!

In the film Avengers 2: Age of Ultron, the characters are mostly superheroes who have magical, technological, or otherwise comic book enhanced powers. Despite this the main characters frequently refer to themselves as "monsters," throughout the story. We use this film as a backdrop to talk about self confidence and its relationship to self doubt. We all ride this balance constantly, and the direction we lean can determine our day-to-day choices. Michael Denniston from the War Machine vs War Horse to add some narrative, storytelling, and movie expertise to the discussion.

Answering listener questions with Lee Messersmith. We tackle your questions about PTSD, why some are more prone to it than others, how to handle people who think that Mental Health Diagnosis are fake, and (GULP) whether or not we have favorite clients. Want to hear your questions answered on the show? We do this whenever we have enough questions, so send them to us on Twitter @breakabrain or email me directly at [email protected]

Blaine Hickman, LCSW, trains the Aspire group on individual and family therapy with LGBTQ individuals who struggle with either personal, family, or societal pressure related to issues of religious belief. Blaine is a specialist in the area of Depression & Anxiety related to faith crisis, religious intolerance, or personal rejection and shame related to sexual orientation, particularly with the LDS (Mormon) population. You can read his blog at http://somestufftoread17.blogspot.com/

David Hart, PhD candidate, researcher, and podcaster joins us to talk about modern trends in addiction research. David is a teacher, psychology student, researcher, and the creator and host of the Pop Culture Case Study Podcast. Join us for a great rollicking good time, which is also our secret bonus addiction themed episode for January!

Jamelia Hand is an expert in addiction, particularly in the medication assisted treatment of addiction. You may not be aware, but there is a debate ranging hard and fast in the world of addiction about whether or not medication can (or should) be used to help wean away from chronic substance abuse. Jamelia was kind enough to talk with us and give us her take on the subject. This is the first episode in January, so therefore it is our monthly Addiction themed episode.

It's the Christmas & Holiday Episode! Michael Denniston, host & creator of the War Machine vs War Horse Podcast, joins me to discuss Frank Capra's amazing classic "It's a Wonderful Life." We talk about the psychological and storytelling elements and why this movie continues to touch our hearts all the way from the 1940s, as well as pondering why Nick the Bartender was such a dick without George Bailey. Transitional music for this episode was provided by Brian Steckler, with excerpts from his remix of the song "Auld Lang Syne." Check out his YouTube channel: BrianSteckler.

One of our Group Practice CEU (Continuing Education Unit) trainings, this ones by a real life Legal-Slinging Lawyer! Charles Ahlstrom is a Family and Divorce Attorney who taught us a whole bunch about Protective Orders, their pros and cons, ups and downs.

Jenna Miller is a Genetic Counselor. "What the hell is that?" you may ask. turns out not only is that a good question, but one that leads to a fascinating conversation! Jenna came to my attention through an article she wrote for the New York Times, and was kind enough to come on the show and talk about this exciting intersection between medical and psychological counseling.

Shira Goldberg, host of The Addiction Show, an awesome Youtube sensation, dropped by my Google HangOut line to record a podcast and a YouTube show for The Broken Brain. This one is all about staying sober over the holidays, a time with all the trappings & trimmings of a good relapse. We talk about both celebratory and comfort-based relapse, and ways to avoid the pitfalls of drug or alcohol use. Enjoy this one as audio or video (on our YouTube Channel).

It's an all-cast call for the Broken Brain, as former and frequent guests share what makes them grateful this year, around the US Thanksgiving Holiday. Non Wells of Joy Sandwich also drops by to discuss the deeper meaning and application of gratitude.

Panel of therapists watching A Nightmare on Elm St and talking about the nature of fear, what is scary, why do we like it...etc! This episode is also the debut of Ivan Rameriz, our sound engineer, as a guest.

Online workshop simelcast to the iTunes and the YouTube feed. Review of the DBT skill in interpersonal effectiveness known as DEAR MAN...it's an acronym people!

Mike Fitch presents the monthly CEU credit for Aspire, a group of therapy professionals. He talks about obstacles and strategies for bonding effectively with children. Mike has over 15 years of clinical practice, and is a former supervisor and in-home family therapist for the Utah Department of Child Protection. He is also a frequent co-host on our very own podcast!