Wrapping up a very troubling year, "Very Dark, Very Appropriate" explores why we love listening to really sad music and how this can actually be good for us. This episode's featured guest is Stacey McGuirl, musician and San Francisco based psychotherapist. Visit www.staceymcguirl.com for more.

Keep digging into the sadness with these helpful links:

Nick Cave lecture: The Secret Life of the Love Song: http://www.openculture.com/2015/04/listen-to-nick-caves-lecture-on-the-art-of-writing-sublime-love-songs-1999.html

Feeling Blue? Sad songs DO help us cope better with grief, study finds:

http://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/news/2016/march/feeling-blue-sad-songs-do-help-us-cope-better-with-grief-study-finds.aspx

Why We Like Sad Music (New York Times):

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/22/opinion/sunday/why-we-like-sad-music.html

For a special sad song play list created by Lily with input from listeners:

https://open.spotify.com/user/lilysloane/playlist/1POVR78ZnqXnrmaVfwuie2

Credits

Producer: Lily Sloane

Editorial Support: Stacey McGuirl

Music Credits

"Tough As Texas": My Side Project (download/listen on Bandcamp):

https://mysideproject.bandcamp.com/album/my-side-project

"Downprov": Richard Marchant (download/listen on Soundcloud):

https://soundcloud.com/arjuan/downprov

"Everybody Leaves": Lily&Stacey (download/listen on Soundcloud):

https://soundcloud.com/user-566886405/everybody-leaves-song

Additional Music & Sound Design: Lily Sloane

Episode photo by Marc Gautier, used under creative commons:

http://tinyurl.com/gskyzb9

Special thanks to my traveling buddies in Japan for use of our sad music conversation and everyone who pitched in their favorite sad songs for the playlist.

Please subscribe and sign up for the newsletter at www.atherapistwalksintoabar.com so you don't miss what's coming in 2017!

Ghosts. You’ve seen the movies, nervously giggled and gasped over the stories at slumber parties, or like me, cowered in your sleeping bag in the other room to avoid hearing about it. Maybe you’ve even had an encounter with something you’d call a ghost. According to a 2009 Pew Research Study, 18% of Americans say they’ve seen a ghost and 29% believe they’ve been in touch with the dead. That’s pretty significant, so in this episode, I'm gonna dig in and explore what it might all mean.

This episode features special guests, Kay Fahlstrom, Elaine Chan-Scherer, Melanie Kay Mitchell, and strangers found in Golden Gate Park.

Producer: Lily Sloane

Editorial support: Jesse Rhodes

Field support: Katy Bullick

Theme song: Topher M. Lewis (remixed by Lily Sloane)

Closing song: Stacey McGuirl

Additional music & sound design: Lily Sloane

Special thanks to Abby Volk and everyone else who listened to me ramble on about ghosts.

If I say body image, what do you think of? Stomach fat? Thigh gap? Laser hair removal? You probably think of women. And for good reason. Because women get a lot of pressure to look a certain way. But this happens to men too. And that’s worth talking about. In this episode, we’ll hone in on one aspect of men’s body image: hair loss. First, we’ll take a look inside the thriving hair loss prevention industry and then we’ll explore the underlying motivations that drive men to take drastic measures and how the world of psychotherapy might approach this differently.

This episode is a collaboration with the podcast Mannish, a show all about masculinity and gender.

Credits

Experts:

Dr. Sheldon Kabaker

Rob Schene, MFT

Molly Merson, MFT

Jordan Wolfe, LMHC

Morgan Brown

Dr. Bernard P. Nusbaum

Dr. Ron Shapiro

Produced By:

Lily Sloane & Jesse Rhodes

​

Music:

Maruumba, Man of Mystery, The Pieces Fit, Mayday in the Morning by Topher M. Lewis

Old Fashioned Auto Piano obtained via creative commons at FreeSound.org

Additional Music & Sound Design by:

Lily Sloane

Other Media:

WTF am I going bald???!!!!

Special thanks to the strangers at the bar for sharing your stories, Lucky 13 for letting us fraternize with microphones on your patio, and Shoshana Walter for your feedback.

A Therapist Walks Into a Bar Presents: A Brief Psycho-Education

There are lots of cliches about therapy, but one of the most popular...well, it’s true. We DO ask “how does that make you feel?” A lot. In this brief episode, I'll talk about why we ask and why it's important to learn how to tell the difference between thoughts and feelings.

Thank you Jesse Rhodes, Abby Thompson, Molly Merson, Talia Recht, Tiffany McLain, Dan Scharlack, Christine Hutchison, Robert Solley, Elaine Chan-Scherer, John Clark, Abby Volk, Tina Kopko, Cynthia Hoffman, Paul Ziller, and Topher M. Lewis for contributing your voices to this "minisode".

This episode was produced by Lily Sloane with editorial assistance from Jesse Rhodes.

The theme song is "Maruumba" by Topher M. Lewis and this episode also featured the song "Identical Twins" by Lily Sloane.

We All Use Something is an episode about the what, when, where, and why of our substance use and a revolutionary approach to substance abuse treatment called Harm Reduction Therapy. Most of us use something - be it drugs/alcohol, food, exercise, gambling, Facebook - to try to cope with difficult feelings. Maybe we want to feel less of something or more of something else. So how can we help ourselves manage our coping strategy so it doesn't lead to bigger problems than the ones we were trying to solve in the first place. Let's put morality and labels like "addict" aside and explore our use from a curious and compassionate lens. A lens that says, "you are the expert of your life."

Joining me is Harm Reduction expert Cynthia Hoffman, a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in San Francisco.

Credits

Produced by: Lily Sloane

Theme Song by: Topher M. Lewis

"60 Days", "All the Songs", & "Every Rise" by: Joel St. Julien from the EP Every Rise

"Feelings" by: Nina Pine and Lily Sloane

Clip from Dr. Phil show and "Friends" Theme Song used under Fair Use Act.

Come explore romantic relationships and how they can go so so wrong or feel so hard at times. But don’t worry - you’ll also get to hear about what works. From some brave souls at the bar, you’ll hear stories of single, partnered, divorcing and “it’s complicated”. We'll also hear from Dr. Robert Solley, a well seasoned couple therapist in San Francisco. Join us as we dive into adult attachment!

Produced By: Lily Sloane

Theme Song By: Topher M. Lewis

"Friends Till the End" By: Derailed Freight Train

"The End of Love" Excerpt Written and Read By: Pilar Dellano

Special thanks to The Little Shamrock and Zeitgeist in SF, The White Horse Bar in Oakland, and Three Dots and a Dash in Chicago.

Episode 1: Seeing White

Seeing White explores the process of white people waking up to white privilege, how this process impacts people of color, and what white people can do to be better allies against racism and oppression. This episode features interviews with Zara Zimbardo and Allegra Lucas (more information and resources at www.atherapistwalksintoabar.com) and people I found at my neighborhood bar.

Produced By

Lily Sloane

Music

"Maruumba" by Topher M. Lewis

"Piles of Flesh" by Crown of Fog

Additional Music by Lily Sloane

Special Thanks

Tom and the other people who were brave enough to let me interview them at the bar. The Little Shamrock for letting me co-opt a table for a couple of hours. Ryan Krickow, Karen Smillie, Tiffany McClain, and Marielle Berg for support, guidance, and feedback. ​