Beyond Well with Sheila Hamilton

Dr. Jim Polo talks about somatic disorder; characterized by an extreme focus on physical symptoms— such as pain or fatigue — that causes major emotional distress and problems functioning. You may or may not have another diagnosed medical condition associated with these symptoms, but your reaction to the symptoms is not normal. What to do when the body goes offline due to psychological suffering.

Ivan Maisel is well-known as one of the country's experts on college football. But the terrain of grief was something he'd never explored in-depth until the suicide of his son, Max. Maisel's memoir, 'I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye', gives voice to the hundreds and thousands of families who have lost someone to suicide and explores in intimate detail the journey one takes in order to accept grieving as an act of love.

Emotional Intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions. While emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, those who possess the inborn characteristics of EI have more meaningful relationships, excel in most work situations, and report easier times managing the complexities of work/life balance. How do you learn to understand, interpret and respond to the emotions of others if you lack emotional intelligence? Dr. Jim Polo weighs in.

Post-traumatic growth describes the positive psychological change experienced due to struggling with highly challenging, highly stressful life circumstances. Many people who have gone through traumatic experiences relate how the experience deepened their beliefs, relationships, or spiritual understanding. Dr. Jim Polo talks about whether post-traumatic growth is possible during the pandemic and what we can do to be open to the possibility.

During the course of researching, producing, and reporting on this series, Sheila Hamilton's nephew died, presumably of an overdose.  Dr. Jim Polo talks about the complicated grief created by the death of an addict.

How do you begin to get help for a person who is addicted to a substance? Where do you turn for evidence-based, trauma-informed care? Fora Health's Kevin Mahon and Nerissa Heller detail the steps involved in in-patient, outpatient, and remote treatment, along with the pathways to coverage.

The pandemic has been difficult for people in recovery. There has been a thirty percent increase in deaths by opioids and a sharp uptick in the number of people who are using substances to cope with the isolation, pain, and loneliness of quarantine. Dr. Amit Shah talks about the public response to the epidemic and why one person who believes in the person's recovery can make a difference.

Dr. Eowyn Rieke is a primary care physician who saw how the opioid epidemic was overshadowing any kind of preventative care she could offer her patients. She specializes in the treatment of addiction and offers her patients medications to help treat the addictions. In this episode, Dr. Rieke breaks down addictions by substance and details the evidence for using medications to help treat various addictions.

Dr. Paul Conti is a board-certified Psychiatrist and the Author of Trauma: the Invisible Epidemic. Imagine, if you will, a disease―one that has only subtle outward symptoms but can hijack your entire body without notice, one that transfers easily between parent and child, one that can last a lifetime if untreated. According to Dr. Paul Conti, this is exactly how society should conceptualize trauma: as an out-of-control epidemic with a potentially fatal prognosis. Dr. Conti discusses the role of trauma in addiction and substance use.

Kelly Williams Brown is the NYTimes bestselling author of Adulting, a charismatic and charming redhead whose manners and signature dresses evoke another kinder century when people's manners were still intact. Kelly is also a person who attempted suicide after the worst 700 days of her life. We can be polar opposite things, whipsmart and suicidal, not doing well and extremely talented, hopeful, and perseverating around all of our failures. Kelly talks openly about how the wrong medicine and a string of failures led her to the very worst thing and how folding small stars into tiny shapes (and other crafts) saved her life.