Beyond Well with Sheila Hamilton

This is a ReVisit we recorded for Dry January in 2022.Many people are curious about what would happen if they stopped their drinking habit. Whether it's one glass of wine, or several cocktails a night, Dry January is gaining in popularity as people test the limits of their personal sobriety. What if you made the one biggest mistake of your life while under the influence? How do you rebuild a life without alcohol in a culture built around drinking? Angela Teuscher's story of drinking while parenting is riveting and serves as a cautionary tale for other parents.

This show is a revisit from 2021. But, it applies today.What if 2024 is the year you could really make the changes in your life? Dr. Jim Polo talks about the steps that are  necessary to make resolutions effective, and whether  psychology behind procrastination.

Sheila Hamilton interviews Manna  Abraham, a former CFO and trauma mentor who created the EMPR method, to discuss trauma-informed practices. Manna shares her background as a chartered accountant and CPA, and explains how her experiences working with diverse teams across different cultures led her to develop her own method for helping high performers lead with inner peace. Corporate America doesn’t often talk about how to release stored tension, outdated stories, or behaviors that are plaguing today’s leaders. Manna Abraham’s work embodies healing beyond talk therapy.

Dr. Leslie Dobson, an expert on forensic psychology, has spent her career at the intersection of mental health, the legal system, and people who have been accused of crimes and behavior. She studies and attempts to understand people like Nick Reiner, who is accused of murdering his parents.

Dr. Dobson offers timely, salient advice for families living with a violent, aggressive, or disturbed teenager or adult.

Blaming Loved ones. Part Two.

For decades, families have often been seen as part of the problem when a loved one is in psychiatric crisis. Parents and relatives are sometimes blamed — implicitly or directly — for their child’s or family member’s distress. But many clinicians and researchers are rethinking that narrative, recognizing the ways systems, stress, and biology all play a role, and that families can be essential allies in healing.

Today we’re talking with two leaders who have each worked to reshape how we think about collaboration and compassion in psychiatric care.

Dr. Stuart Ablon, Director of Think:Kids at Massachusetts General Hospital and a leading voice in collaborative problem solving, has focused on moving from blame to understanding in how we approach challenging behaviors.

John Puls, a psychotherapist and clinical director with extensive experience in inpatient and family-centered treatment, has written and spoken about systemic change in psychiatric care and how clinicians can better partner with families rather than pathologize them.

Blaming loved ones, Part 1.

For decades, families have often been seen as part of the problem when a loved one is in psychiatric crisis. Parents and relatives are sometimes blamed — implicitly or directly — for their child’s or family member’s distress. But many clinicians and researchers are rethinking that narrative, recognizing the ways systems, stress, and biology all play a role, and that families can be essential allies in healing.

Today we’re talking with two leaders who have each worked to reshape how we think about collaboration and compassion in psychiatric care.

Dr. Stuart Ablon, Director of Think:Kids at Massachusetts General Hospital and a leading voice in collaborative problem solving, has focused on moving from blame to understanding in how we approach challenging behaviors.

Dr. John Puls, a psychotherapist and clinical director with extensive experience in inpatient and family-centered treatment, has written and spoken about systemic change in psychiatric care and how clinicians can better partner with families rather than pathologize them.

Holidays

This is a revisit to a show we did in 2019.

Dr. Jenna LeJeune and Dr. Brian Goff talk about navigating the holiday season, and dealing with internal and external stress.

It is a very organic discussion as it just "happened" while we were still rolling audio from another show. We took the conversation as a gift and used it as a show... it's the season of gift giving and receiving after all.

Enjoy.

Todd Weatherly is a therapeutic consultant at StuckerSmithWeatherly, and the host of the podcast, Head Inside Mental Health. What is a therapeutic consultant and why is it so important for families navigating mental health crisis to have access to someone who understands the mental health system, different modalities of treatment, and what the right form of care is for someone who is resisting treatment.

Dr George Bonanno joins us again to talk about his book, The Other Side of Sadness, What the New Science of Bereavement Tells Us About Life after Loss. Bonanno’s research on grief mirrors his work on trauma, and argues that all of us, even those enduring sadness and profound loss, possess a surprising ability to be resilient.

Dr. George Bonnano is professor of clinical psychology and director of the Loss Trauma, and Emotion lab at Columbia University. In The End of Trauma, Bonanno argues that most of what we think we understand about trauma is wrong. It is not nearly as common as we think, and people are overwhelmingly resilient to adversity. Prepare for a conversation that may overturn everything you thought you know about PTSD and how people respond to hardship