Beyond Well with Sheila Hamilton

Should your next therapist be an AI chatbot?Not so fast. Ian Kreitzberg is a Puck News reporter specializing in technology and AI. He recently tried out a new app claiming to be “A Therapist in Your Pocket.”Kreitzberg talks with Sheila about the trend toward AI chatbots dispensing advice, along with its potential risks and benefits: Among the benefits: Greater accessibility, early detection, personalized treatment plans and support for therapists. Among the risks: AI does not replace human empathy, a critical component of the therapeutic relationship.It may provide dangerously inaccurate or harmful recommendations. Privacy and data security: AI is not bound by the same privacy regulations as licensed clinicians.And Algorithmic bias: All models are trained on existing data, which can reflect and amplify societal biases based on race, gender, or socioeconomic status.

Cristi Bundukamara, known as Dr. B, is a passionate mental health professional dedicated to helping others build resilience and take control of their mental well-being.Dr. B’s personal grief is as profound as her career, shaped by the loss of three children and her husband. Cristi’s practice is strengthened by decades as a psychiatric nurse practitioner, helping people overcome their most profound traumas and personal losses. In this interview, Dr. B. talks about spiritual growth from loss, cognitive behavioral therapy, somatic techniques for healing, and the use of ketamine assisted therapy.

Author Kelly Sundberg joins Sheila to talk about her new book, ’The Answer is in the Wound. Sundberg wrote the intimate essay collection after leaving an abusive marriage. She details the lasting effects of trauma and PTSD on survivors in a nonlinear method that relied on scholarship, spirituality, tattoos and journaling. For anyone who has suffered domestic abuse, intimidation or sexual coercion, The Answer is in the Wound, is one woman’s unusual path to survivorship. 

John DeGoey is a certified financial planner and portfolio manager who joins us to talk about finances and mental health. There is no greater contributor to mental health problems than lacking the basic necessities: food, shelter, clothing and comfort. John offers his thoughts on the biggest threat to our financial security and how we can begin viewing our financial security more productively.

Adolescent mental illness is spiking—and it’s not just hormones or “kids these days.” Dr. John Puls, one of the nation’s top adolescent mental health practitioners, joins Sheila to break down the real forces driving this crisis. From high-potency THC in today’s marijuana to the isolating grip of social media, from pandemic-born loneliness to the toxic influence of the “manosphere” on young men, Puls pulls no punches. If you’re a parent, guardian, or anyone who cares about the mental health of the next generation, this is the conversation you can’t afford to miss.

Dr. Dobson returns to the show to talk about child sex predators and the difficulty of prosecuting them. Dr. Dobson’s work as a forensic psychiatrist helps her understand both the mind and motivation of child sex predators. In this episode, Dr. Dobson talks
*Epstein Files
*Motivations of Child Sex Predators
*What prevents most children from coming forward
*Why child sex predators are difficult to catch in the digital age

Andrea Leeb was just four and a half the first time her father, David, sexually abused her. Her mother, Marlene, walked in to check on what was supposed to be a bedtime bath. When she witnessed her husband abusing her daughter, she didn’t throw the man out, or call the police—she crumpled to the floor and awoke with hysterical blindness. Why are the people around child sex abusers complicit? What are the tactics people use to frighten children into silence?Why does the system continue to disbelieve children when they tell the truth?And how does this case dovetail with the coverup of child sexual abuse in our country?Andrea Leeb is our guest on Beyond Well, talking about her memoir, Such A Pretty Picture

This episode is a revisit from January 2020.

Covid hadn't shut us down yet. We were still recording in a studio all together. Nobody knew about Zoom yet.

Together with Dr. Jenna LeJune and Dr. Brian Goff we honed in and hunkered down on a human emotion we all deal with. Shame.

Enjoy this blast from the past.

Many people are aware of dogs being utilized as emotional support animals for mental health conditions. But Logan Gore explains the new trend of dogs being trained as service animals for mental health conditions. Dogs are helping people with depression attend to basic hygiene and exercise. Dogs are helping people with anxiety re-establish healthy breathing and blood pressure. Logan's dog has been trained to help alleviate debilitating panic attacks.

Where do you get started? How does it work? This episode is all about Mental Health Mutts.

This is a "No Stone Unturned" episode featuring the amazing Manny Trujillo.

This episode was recorded six years ago and is just as relevant today as it was then.

Manny shares lived experience regarding the cultural and specific experience of a latino man dealing with depression and mental health. As well as some of the challenges for Latino's seeking help in the modern day.

Manny is a manager for a major power utility as well as serving as board chair to develop a medical non profit to help deliver and provide medical services for those who might otherwise not have adequate health care coverage. Serving those who are or have been marginalized by todays health care system and working to develop network of providers who can build new acumen in the area of health care that focuses on "whole person" care.

Enjoy.