Doyle Smith, Angel Prater, and Michael Sorenson devote their lives to caring for people who are suffering from psychological distress. Smith runs Dual Diagnosis Anonymous, Prater is an intentional peer support national trainer and Sorenson is the business development director for Cedar Hills Hospital. In this interview, you'll hear specific techniques for moving beyond the isolation and fear of Covid19.

Our conversation with Erin Khar was recorded before the COVID19 pandemic but it speaks to an already existing crisis in our country, the opioid epidemic. Erin's brilliant memoir explores her fifteen-year-battle with opiate addiction and the very nature of why people do drugs, often to medicate other underlying mental health disorders. Her writing is clear-eyed, factual and cognizant of her own privilege as Erin finally wound her way to health.

Dr. Jim Polo talks about the unique barriers to effective mental health treatment faced by black Americans. Racial trauma is key to understanding the black experience.

Dr. James Polo joins the team at Beyond Well, with a background as a general physician, as a child psychiatrist, and as a general psychiatrist. Dr. Polo brings over 20 years of experience and previously served as Chief Medical Officer and senior psychiatric physician for Western State Hospital in Washington. He led development and oversight of psychiatric services in various military hospitals, served at the Pentagon as the Health Policy Advisor to the Secretary of the Army. He helped orchestrate complex care delivery for a children’s health care network in Washington state. In this interview, Dr. Polo talks about one of the most powerful experiences that helped him understand the complex forces of addiction and the depth of psychological struggle in family structures.

We are #turningoverthemic to #BlackVoices, including Domonique Debnam, an advocate and marketing executive for Brand Jordan at Nike in Portland, Oregon. Domonique shares her personal experiences growing up in one of the whitest cities in America and how the worldwide protests against police brutality have changed everything for Domonique personally and her hopes for the future.

Andrew Solomon says of depression, "Listen to the people who love you. Believe that they are worth living for even when you don't believe it. Seek out the memories depression takes away and project them into the future. Be brave; be strong; take your pills. Exercise because it's good for you even if every step weighs a thousand pounds. Eat when food itself disgusts you. Reason with yourself when you have lost your reason.”  This is a conversation with one of America's renowned writers, thinkers, and advocates about the less reported health impacts of Covid19; the epidemic of depression, and the self-reported increase in anxiety caused by loneliness, job insecurity, and fears of the future.

Doyle Smith, Angel Prater, and Michael Sorenson devote their lives to caring for people who are suffering from psychological distress. Smith runs Dual Diagnosis Anonymous, Prater is an intentional peer support national trainer and Sorenson is the business development director for Cedar Hills Hospital. In this interview, you'll hear specific techniques for moving beyond the isolation and fear of Covid19.

Zach Carothers talks about his interior work during Covid19, taking time to pay attention to his mental health, and putting down roots in the Portland area for the first time. The PTM Foundation is also advocating for indigenous peoples who have been severely impacted by the spread of Covid19. Carothers is clear-eyed about the challenge of a pandemic. "We will not be the same people coming out of this that we were going in," Carothers says." But, we have the chance to create what's next. And that's, exciting."

Dan Ryan reflects on the similarities between the HIV/Aids crisis and Covid19, including a lack of adequate testing, discrimination against people who contracted the virus, disinformation, and a worldview awareness that viruses can be deadly. Ryan also says the experience deepened him as a human being and set him on a path of deep spiritual exploration.

Dr. Jenna LeJeune is helping couples navigate tricky territory during the quarantine. How do you help someone who is experiencing extreme distress? Dr. LeJeune offers compassionate, evidence-based solutions.