CIIS Public Programs

Carol Queen has been on the frontlines of the sex-positivity movement since the 1970s. A cultural sexologist, author, and co-founder of San Francisco’s Center for Sex & Culture, Carol is a long-time advocate for sexual health and pleasure. In this episode, Sex Therapist and CIIS Sex Therapy Certificate Program Lead Zoe Sipe joins Carol for a lively conversation exploring the state of sex in 2021.

This episode contains explicit language and, as the title suggests, discussions of sex. It was recorded during a live online event on June 9, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

Psilocybin has been decriminalized in many cities in the United States and most recently has been approved for use in psychotherapy in the state of Oregon. In the latest studies, psilocybin has shown efficacy for patients suffering from depression, addiction, and end-of-life distress.

In this episode, clinician and CIIS professor Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold has an illuminating conversation with UCSF psychiatrist Brian Anderson on the benefits, risks, and therapeutic applications of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on May 6, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

The stress, conflict, and crises of the outer world are a signal: the time has come to awaken your inner shaman. However, you don’t need to be initiated into concealed mysteries to answer the call from Spirit. Internationally renowned shamanic teacher Marcela Lobos teaches us how to use the maps offered by the shamanic Medicine Wheel and the hero’s journey to activate our inner wisdom and live a self-realized existence of discovery, healing, and wholeness.

In this episode, CIIS faculty and psychologist Susana Bustos has a conversation with Marcela about her life, her work, and her latest book: Awakening Your Inner Shaman: A Woman's Journey of Self-Discovery through the Medicine Wheel.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on May 14, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

As the climate changes, many therapists have been helping patients with a relatively new diagnosis that has a variety of names: eco-anxiety, climate anxiety, climate despair, eco-despair, and eco-grief.

No matter what you call it, many of us are feeling the same things and asking ourselves, and each other the same question. With ecosystems failing all over the planet, is there any reason for hope?

In this episode, author and CIIS professor Craig Chalquist is joined by ecotherapist Linda Buzzell for an inspiring conversation about tackling our climate anxiety by cultivating eco-resilience.

This episode contains mentions of suicide, abuse, and trauma. It was recorded during a live online event on April 14, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

The American Dream as it has been defined for more than a century is about the well-paying job, the nuclear family, and upward mobility. But what both clouds and defines that dream is the distance between us, our neighbors, and that we, our communities, are defined by the dichotomy of winners and losers. What has been lost in many people’s day to day and in the larger American Dream is the key element that helped many of us to succeed in the first place—community.

In this episode, author and activist Mia Birdsong is joined by CIIS Director of Diversity and Inclusion Rachel Bryant for a conversation on reclaiming family, friendship, and communities. Sharing insights from her book, How We Show Up, Mia highlights how we can return to our inherent connectedness to find strength, safety, and support in vulnerability and generosity, in asking for help, and in being accountable.

This episode contains some explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on April 22, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

MDMA is currently in phase three of clinical trial research studies for the treatment of trauma in the United States, Canada, and Israel.

In this episode, clinician and CIIS professor Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold has a conversation with Israel-based MAPS clinician-researcher Keren Tzarfaty on the benefits and therapeutic applications of MDMA assisted psychotherapy. Keren and Gisele go deep into the nature of the psychedelic experience, the principles that guide the therapeutic work, and the new paradigm this study offers to treatment of PTSD and to psychotherapy in general.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on April 6, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

SCHEDULE UPDATE

New episodes of our podcast will now be released every other Thursday. If you are a subscriber, the next episode after this one will appear in your feed and on ciispod.com on June 17th. To be sure you never miss an episode, find us and subscribe by searching for "CIIS Public Programs" in your preferred podcast app.

We know our planet is in trouble and we’re seeing direct effects on human heath as a result. It’s estimated that we have fewer than 60 harvests left in our world’s soil and that our oceans will be 70 percent more acidic in just 30 years. These aren’t doomsday prophecies—this is our realistic future if we don’t act now.

Author and policy expert Erin McMorrow believes that we can heal our planet by restoring our natural connection with the Earth and the divine feminine. Through her work and her writing, Dr. McMorrow teaches us how to transform ourselves, our socioeconomic systems, and the environment that sustains us by aligning with the natural cycles of the Earth.

In this episode, Dr. McMorrow is joined in a conversation with renegade economist Della Z Duncan. They discuss Dr. McMorrow’s book, Grounded, in which she explores both the ecological and spiritual basis of our existing climate crises as well as wisdom and tools to initiate a transformation to save our soils and our souls.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 24, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

As the effects of aggressive policing and mass incarceration harm historically marginalized communities and tear families apart, how do we define safety? In a time when the most powerful institutions in the United States are embracing repressive and racist systems that keep many communities struggling and in fear, we need to reimagine what safety means.

In this episode, community leader and lawyer Zach Norris is joined in a conversation with CIIS professor and restorative justice expert sonya shah about how we can shift our mindset and embrace a new vision for public safety that overturns more than 200 years of fear-based discrimination, othering, and punishment.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 23, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

CONTENT ADVISORY - This episode contains mentions of violence and death by suicide.

Healthy boundaries. We all know setting healthy boundaries can help us to achieve work/life balance, cope with toxic people, and enjoy rewarding relationships. But what does “setting healthy boundaries” really mean? How can we successfully express our needs without offending others?

In this episode, licensed counselor and relationship expert Nedra Glover Tawwab is joined in conversation with licensed psychologist Elizabeth Markle. They discuss Nedra’s book, Set Boundaries, Find Peace in which she shares techniques to identify and express our needs clearly and without apology while unravelling the root problems behind codependency, power struggles, anxiety, depression, burnout, and more.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 31, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.

Most of us understand grief as sorrow experienced after a loss—the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, or a change in life circumstance. According to author and Buddhist end-of-life caregiver, Breeshia Wade, grief is bigger than what’s happened to us, larger than a reaction to a one-time event. It is something that is connected to what we fear, what we love, and what we aspire to.

Drawing on stories from her own life as a Black woman and from the people she has midwifed through the end of life, Breeshia connects sorrow not only to specific incidents, but also to the ongoing trauma that is part and parcel of systemic oppression. She broadens the mainstream conception of grief to explore its intersections with race, gender, social justice, and trauma.

In this episode, licensed clinical psychologist Bree McDaniel has a conversation with Breeshia about her life, her work, and her latest book, Grieving While Black: An Antiracist Take on Oppression and Sorrow.

This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on March 18, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com.

You can also watch a recording of this and many more of our conversation events by searching for “CIIS Public Programs” on YouTube.