Seasonal depression, often called “seasonal affective disorder”, can make getting through the Wintertime much more difficult. But what’s really happening in our brains and bodies when winter darkness sets in? How do our urban environments, work culture, and economic systems create the worst conditions for winter struggles. Shouldn’t we all be hibernating anyways?

In this episode, I explore the links between seasonal depression and Vitamin D, beyond simplistic explanations about light exposure, revealing fascinating connections between our environment, brain chemistry, immune function, and mental health. I’ll tell you a bit about my own experience as living in Berlin, a city with pretty minimal winter sunlight, has given me personal insight into how profoundly seasonal shifts can affect our mental and physical wellbeing.

The world needs all of us to be tuned in, feeling resilient, and able to support ourselves, our bodies, and our communities, especially right now, so let’s dive into what we can do.

LISTEN TO THE FULL EPISODE AT: DEPTHWORK.SUBSTACK.COM

In this episode:

• The medicalization of structural problems: how urban environments, work culture, and economic factors set us up for seasonal struggle

• • What science actually tells us about vitamin D’s role in brain health, immune function, and mood regulation
• • My personal experiences with vitamin D testing and its connections to autoimmunity and mental health
• • Practical strategies for feeling awake and alive during darker months

In this episode of the Depth Work podcast, I speak with clinical psychologist, professor, and author, Phil Yanos about his powerful new book "Exiles in New York City" an exploration of how institutionalization creates barriers of exclusion and banishment in urban landscapes.

Phil shares his unique journey growing up on Ward's Island near Manhattan Psychiatric Center, where his father worked as a psychiatrist. Through his research and interviews with current residents, Phil reveals how Ward's Island has become a site of profound contradiction – simultaneously rebranded as a recreational space for privileged New Yorkers while functioning as a place of exile for those deemed too "mad" to belong in mainstream society.

In our conversation we explore concrete solutions for transforming Ward's Island into a more just and integrated community, a vision that seems more possible with the recent election of Zohran Mamdani who has emphasized housing justice. We also discuss the wins and losses in mental health advocacy in recent years, what we’ve learned from working with those labeled with “psychosis” or “schizophrenia”, and what clinicians can do better.

Bio:

Philip T. Yanos is professor of psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center, City University of New York and Director of Clinical Training for the Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology at John Jay College. He is the author of "Exiles in New York City: Warehousing the Marginalized on Ward's Island" (2025) and Written Off: Mental Health Stigma and the Loss of Human Potential (2018). During his childhood in the 1970s, Yanos lived on the grounds of Manhattan State Hospital on Ward’s Island, where his father was a psychiatrist.

• Exiles in New York City: Warehousing the Marginalized on Ward's Island https://cup.columbia.edu/book/exiles-in-new-york-city/9780231212373/ 

• Exiles in the City Podcast https://rss.com/podcasts/exiles-in-the-city/

Resources:

• Find videos and bonus episodes: ⁠⁠DEPTHWORK.SUBSTACK.COM⁠⁠
• Get the book: ⁠⁠⁠Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health⁠⁠
• Become a member: ⁠⁠The Institute for the Development of Human Arts⁠⁠
• Train with us: ⁠⁠Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum

We use frameworks and concepts to protect ourselves from the discomfort of not knowing, but these very concepts, when taken for granted, can prevent us from asking the kinds of questions that will set us free. In this episode, I'm joined by philosophy of mental health scholars, Cristiano Bacchi and Giacomo Piselli Fioroni, co-hosts of the podcast "In Front of the Mirror." Together, we dive into the critical intersection of philosophy and psychiatry, exploring why slowing down to question our fundamental assumptions about mental health is not just academic exercise, but is essential for creating more humane and effective approaches. Cristiano, whose research examines authenticity and agency in mental health experiences, and Giacomo, who investigates the complex interplay between mind, world, and intersubjectivity, bring their interdisciplinary backgrounds to a conversation that challenges the dominant paradigms while remaining unafraid to tackle the big questions.

Cristiano Bacchi is a Master’s student in Clinical Psychology at the School of Psychology, University of Padua, Italy.He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Psychological Sciences and Techniques from the University of Perugia, Italy, and a Master of Arts in Philosophy and Cognitive Sciences from the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.This background allowed him to become familiar with interdisciplinary approaches to the study of the mind and the person. To put this perspective into practice, during his undergraduate studies he trained as an intern in Amniotic Therapy, a body-based group therapy for persons experiencing psychosis.His current research addresses key questions in the philosophy of mental health, including issues of authenticity and ambiguity in psychiatry, the impact of mental health narratives on the person’s sense of agency, and the role of language and metaphors in representing mental health conditions.

Giacomo Piselli Fioroni is finishing his masters at the "Berlin School of Mind and Brain", Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. In his bachelor, he studied "Philosophy and Psychological sciences and techniques" at the University of Perugia, Italy. Currently, he is looking for a doctorate program, striving for realising his dream of becoming a researcher. His current work aims at putting into communication philosophy and mental health-related disciplines. Particularly, his current work focuses on the role of folk psychology both in the theories and practice of clinical sciences, and on the relationship of first-person, second-person and third-person perspectives employed to describe and understand mental health phenomena.

Together, in 2024 they organized and taught the Projekttutorium Philosophy of Mental Health at Humboldt University.Since May 2025, they have hosted the podcast In Front of the Mirror, where they continue to explore the dialogue between philosophy and mental health. In Front of the Mirror - the podcast that bridges philosophy and mental health.

Links:

In Front of the Mirror - the English Podcast

In Front of the Mirror - Il Podcast in Italiano

Follow us on IG: @mirror_podcast_

Bacchi, C. (2024). Is it me or my delusion? Harnessing authenticity for an agential view of delusionality. Philosophy and the Mind Sciences, 5. https://doi.org/10.33735/phimisci.2024.11474

Resources:

• Find videos and bonus episodes: ⁠DEPTHWORK.SUBSTACK.COM⁠
• Get the book: ⁠⁠Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health⁠
• Become a member: ⁠The Institute for the Development of Human Arts⁠
• Train with us: ⁠Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum

I speak with sociologist Neil Gong about his book: Sons, Daughters, and Sidewalk Psychotics, which explores how mental health care in the U.S. is deeply shaped by class divides. We talk about the legacy of deinstitutionalization, how public systems rely on what he calls “tolerant containment” while elite institutions often impose surveillance and control, and the different ways each system can fail. Neil and I dig into housing-first programs, clinician burnout, and RFK’s vision for therapeutic farms. We also unpack what Neil calls the “Frankenstein monster” created by the uneasy mix of civil libertarian ideals and austerity policies. The conversation ends with reflections on political education, peer-led alternatives, and how we can hold space for complex and even opposing perspectives in the fight for better mental health systems.

In this episode we discuss:

• class comparisons in of Public vs. private mental health care models in Los Angeles
• History and impacts of deinstitutionalization
• Tolerant containment in public systems vs. surveillance in elite settings
• What we can do to improve quality of care
• RFK’s therapeutic farms and proposed health policies
• The need for peer support and user-led initiatives in mental health reform
• The “Frankenstein” fusion of civil liberties and austerity politics
• Institutional harm reduction, defunding social programs and its potential backlash
• Teaching political education

Bio

Neil Gong is assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, San Diego. He is the author of Sons, Daughters and Sidewalk Psychotics: Mental Illness and Homelessness in Los Angeles. His public commentary has appeared in venues like the Washington Post, the Atlantic, and the Los Angeles Times

Links

Neil’s Website: https://www.neilgong.com/

Book: Sons, Daughters and Sidewalk Psychotics: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo212067953.html

Resources:

• Find videos and bonus episodes: ⁠DEPTHWORK.SUBSTACK.COM⁠
• Get the book: ⁠⁠Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health⁠
• Become a member: ⁠The Institute for the Development of Human Arts⁠
• Train with us: ⁠Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum

Sessions & Information about the host: ⁠⁠JazmineRussell.com⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The DEPTH Work Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Any information on this podcast in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or any other type of therapy or medical advice.

“One reason why it can feel so hard to listen to your body is because it is not normalized to move in a variety of ways that you would want to. There are certain ways of moving that are allowed or socially accepted but others are very rare to see. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense that we don't know what our body wants or can't listen to it because we always shut it down.” - David Bantje

In this episode, I’m joined by natural movement practitioner, and my loving partner, David Bantje. In this episode, he offers a refreshing, intuitive reframe on how we can shift our relationship to movement for a more liberated , and playful life. Rather than treating movement as a chore, isolated workout, or something we only do in designated spaces, David invites us to see movement as a birthright—something our bodies crave and have evolved to do in diverse, dynamic ways. He discusses how mainstream exercise culture, with its narrow focus and rigid intensity, can leave us disconnected from the deeper intelligence of our bodies. Instead, natural movement emphasizes accessibility, variety, injury prevention, and playfulness, allowing us to reconnect and reclaim our capacity for taking risks, curiosity, and aliveness. This isn’t about perfection or discipline, but about attunement: giving our bodies the space to lead.

In this episode we discuss:

• How chronic pain and injuries "stack up" from habitual postures and sedentary lifestyles
• What natural movement is, and how it helps realign us with what our bodies evolved to do
• The limits of conventional fitness culture and why high-intensity, short bursts of exercise can do more harm than good
• The power of movement snacks—simple, frequent movements throughout the day—to support flexibility, awareness, and healing
• Movement as medicine in the context of illness, disability, and injury (including David’s experience with a herniated disc)
• Relearning how to listen to your body, even when it doesn’t communicate in language
• Why reclaiming natural movement can be a path not only to health—but to joy, agency, and freedom

Bio

David Bantje is a movement practitioner, teacher, and facilitator based in Potsdam, Germany. His interests span movement disciplines such as natural movement, parkour, dance, somatic movement, running, climbing, and their interconnections. He researches the importance of movement for our individual lives as well as our communities, how our modern societies have affected our movement habits, and ways to reconnect to our physicality and playfulness. In 2019 and 2021 he got certifications as a MovNat Natural Movement Trainer, and has since taught movement classes and workshops on various topics. Currently, he is co-hosting Monday Motion, an open community event for freely exploring movement and dance. He just started to write a Substack called "Movement Invitations".

Links

• David's Substack: https://davidbantje.substack.com/
• Katie Bowman: https://www.nutritiousmovement.com/
• Natural Movement Classes: https://movnat.com/

Resources:

• Get the book: ⁠⁠⁠Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health⁠⁠

• Become a member: ⁠⁠The Institute for the Development of Human Arts⁠⁠

• Train with us: ⁠⁠Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum⁠

Sessions & Information about the host: ⁠⁠⁠JazmineRussell.com⁠⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The DEPTH Work Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Any information on this podcast in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or any other type of therapy or medical advice.

“Your questioning and critiquing is everything that is needed for 2025 and beyond. And if or when it is construed [by the system] as as a deficiency, unprofessionalism, or ineptitude, I hope that by priming people to keep their eyes open for those responses, it can be more of a collective yawn.” - Rupi Legha

In this episode I’m joined by Rupi Legha, psychiatrist, educator, and scholar-activist—whose work radically interrogates the role of psychiatry in upholding racial injustice. Together, we explore what it means to be an anti-racist clinician in a field that silences dissent, punishes disclosure, and pathologizes defiance—especially in Black, Brown, and Indigenous folks. We talk about the emotional and ethical toll of navigating psychiatric training while attempting to stay true to liberatory values. We talk about forced restraint, overmedication, and the ways psychiatry can reinforce white supremacist ideology in both overt and covert ways. And we ask the hard questions: What is worth saving in psychiatry? What should be dismantled? What might take its place?

Also in this episode:

• deciding how much to disclose about your own lived experiences with mental health as a clinician
• what psychiatric residency training is actually like
• experiencing moral injury
• the racist and coercive practices deeply rooted in the history of psychiatry
• advice for younger clinicians
• navigating family dynamics in child crisis care
• the future of psychiatry as a profession
• anti-racist training for clinicians

Bio

Dr. Rupinder K. Legha is a double board-certified child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist, educator, and independent scholar-activist. She is the founder of the Antiracism in Mental Health Fellowship and a nationally recognized leader working at the intersection of structural trauma, racial justice, and youth mental health. Dr. Legha’s clinical and scholarly work challenges how psychiatric systems interpret defiance and distress—especially in Black, Brown, and Indigenous youth—and seeks to transform the profession through person-centered, antiracist, and liberatory care.

Links:

• Rupi’s Website: https://rupileghamd.com/
• Shield Act: https://rupileghamd.com/shieldact
• Anti-Racist Fellowship: https://edu.rupileghamd.com/fellowship-sales-page
• History of ODD Diagnosis video : https://rupileghamd.com/speaking/v/odd

Resources:

• Get the book: ⁠⁠Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health⁠

• Become a member: ⁠The Institute for the Development of Human Arts⁠

• Train with us: ⁠Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum

Sessions & Information about the host: ⁠⁠JazmineRussell.com⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The DEPTH Work Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Any information on this podcast in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or any other type of therapy or medical advice.

20% of the population is on the hypermobile spectrum and can struggle with chronic pain because of it. At the more extreme end of the spectrum is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), a genetic disorder that affects not not muscles and joints but the whole body in ongoing feedback loops. Perhaps most significantly, 80% of people with EDS have generalized anxiety. Most doctors or practitioners seeing people with vague symptoms from chronic pain, allergies, SIBO, IBS, brain fog, POTS, autoimmunity, anxiety, and more are often unaware that EDS can be the cause. Even less know about holistic ways to intervene in the cycle of dysregulation. So I spoke with a specialist in EDS, Dr. Derik Andersen to get some answers.

In this episode we discuss:

• what is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome?
• the mast cell activation and EDS cycle
• what are the symptoms and how can someone test themselves?
• why are anxiety and nervous system issues associated with it?
• research on the Autonomic Nervous System and HRV
• neurodivergence and EDS
• holistic treatment approaches
• focused shockwave therapy
• nutritional interventions
• breathwork for the nervous sustem
• what practitioners should know

Bio

Derik S. Anderson, DC, CPT, CSN is the Clinic Director of the Muscle and Joint Clinic in Northern California. He helps his patients be healthier by utilizing his education and personal and professional backgrounds. Dr. Anderson grew up wanting to help people and initially planned to go to business school to work in energy conservation. But, after a good friend’s life was positively changed by chiropractic care, he had a change of heart. His friend spent two years with horrific intestinal problems and saw over a dozen providers, but no one could help her – until she saw a chiropractor. The chiropractor knew that the vertebra and muscles around them affected the nerves that controlled the intestines. After treatment, she was no longer bed-ridden and went back to teaching, traveling and leading an active life. Dr. Anderson realized that health care was his calling and his passion for helping people was channeled into chiropractic.

Education:

• Life Chiropractic College West, Doctor of Chiropractic
• University of California, Santa Barbara, Bachelor of Arts, Economics
• Completed more than 1,000 hours of post-doctoral education
• Sports Nutritionist, Certified
• Personal Fitness Trainer, Certified
• Active Release Technique, Certified 2011
• FAKTR, Certified
• Myofascial Decompression, Certified
• Ironman® Healthcare Provider

The Clinic: https://musclejointclinic.com/

Resources:

• Dr. Jessica Eccles https://www.bsms.ac.uk/about/contact-us/staff/dr-jessica-eccles.aspx

• https://tmsforacure.org/

Links:

• Find videos and bonus episodes: ⁠DEPTHWORK.SUBSTACK.COM⁠
• Get the book: ⁠⁠Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health⁠
• Become a member: ⁠The Institute for the Development of Human Arts⁠
• Train with us: ⁠Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum

Sessions & Information about the host: ⁠⁠JazmineRussell.com⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The DEPTH Work Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Any information on this podcast in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or any other type of therapy or medical advice.

Our brains are one of the most adaptable and dynamic parts of the body. Brain injuries, however, can disrupt all facets of our lives from personality to relationships to how we move through the world. Even a minor concussion can have lingering effects to mood and executive functioning and attention that can slip under the radar. On this episode, I’m joined by a lived experiencer of traumatic brain injuries, Kayleigh Stack. She shares her story, not sparing any of the ups and downs and talks about managing pain and easing the nervous system.

In this episode we discuss:

• the lesser known impacts of traumatic brain injuries
• the importance of nervous system regulation
• types of treatments for TBI
• hyperbaric oxygen treatment
• dealing with chronic pain
• the power of story and resisting reductionist narratives

Bio

Kayleigh is an activist, artist, community steward, and medicine woman. Over the past ten years, she has orchestrated spaces for people to share recorded audios of poignant histories and stories oriented around critical social and political narratives to be presented in an Oral History Performance Initiative: The Community Storytelling Composition Project. Above all else, she believes that sharing personal stories has the power to restore humanity and resuscitate life back into one another when in need. Because “if we don’t share your stories, Who will?” (Mia Mingus 2018)

Most of her work focuses on socio-political discourse, drawing upon performance as a subversive tool to generate conversation around a particular poignant or charged subject. Her educational background spans degrees in Sociology from Hunter College, NY, Anthropology from SUNY New Paltz, NY, a Masters in Traditional Chinese Medicine at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine where she became a Licensed Acupuncturist, and Masters of Oral History at Columbia University. Professional accomplishments include getting onto the Cirque du Soleil roster of Circus artists in 2014, Dance Oral Historian Assistant in New York Public Library’s Library of Performing arts, Production Stage Manager with Roll the Bones Theatre at Dead Letter No. 9, Network Director of Zen Peacemakers International, and administration for a variety of reputable arts nonprofits. Currently she is Creative Learning Manager for the international civic production company, Forklift Danceworks. Outside of work, Kayleigh is often escaping into other worlds through reading, writing, or walking quietly in nature. Nowadays, mostly the latter.

Links

• Kayleigh’s  Linktree
• hyperbaric oxygen meta-analysis for tbi https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10072-015-2460-2 & https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/neu.2017.5225
• 
  

Resources:

• Find videos and bonus episodes: ⁠DEPTHWORK.SUBSTACK.COM⁠
• Get the book: ⁠⁠Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health⁠
• Become a member: ⁠The Institute for the Development of Human Arts⁠
• Train with us: ⁠Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum
• 
  

Sessions & Information about the host: ⁠⁠JazmineRussell.com⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The DEPTH Work Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Any information on this podcast in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or any other type of therapy or medical advice.

“Any movement that aspires to be critical must be self-critical. There is value in approaching 'critical' not as an identity, a label, or a dividing line, but rather as a mode of engagement, as a virtue of philosophical and scientific thought. Critical psychiatry, if it is to embody this virtue, can only do so by insisting that it is a 'theory in the making' and by demonstrating continuous self-criticism, questioning, re-examination, and exploration of new possibilities.”

- Awais Aftab, Conversations in Critical Psychiatry

To move beyond binaries in mental health, we must complicate questions such as: ‘to medicalize or not to medicalize?’ or ‘is it a biological or a psychological problem?’ Since psychiatrists get almost exclusively medical training, Dr. Aftab advocates for what he calls “conceptual competency,” problematizing basic assumptions about the mind and brain that can prevent clinicians from truly supporting people and safeguarding their agency. In this episode, we explore the tensions between orthodox psychiatry and its critics, the future of psychiatric diagnostics, and how learning from philosophy and neuroscience can bring fresh perspectives.

In this episode we discuss:

• conceptual competency and challenging underlying assumptions in psychiatry
• ways in which critical psychiatry/psychology could benefit from being self-critical
• how modern neuroscience can help break down old binaries
• how to decide where to intervene across bio, psycho, social factors
• ADHD as an example of complex causal factors
• childhood trauma and brain/biological changes
• why issues in broader medical disciplines apply to psychiatry
• pluralism and how can disciplines can come together
• future of diagnostics beyond the DSM era

Bio

Dr. Awais Aftab is clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University and practices as a psychiatrist in Cleveland, OH, USA. His academic, educational, and public-facing work focuses on conceptual and critical issues in psychiatry. He led the interview series “Conversations in Critical Psychiatry” for Psychiatric Times, and a book adaptation has been published by Oxford University Press. He is a senior editor for the journal “Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology.” He peer-reviewed work has been published in top psychiatric journals, he has written for the New York Times, and has been quoted in publications such as the LA Times, VICE News, and the Rolling Stones Magazine. He blogs online at his Substack newsletter Psychiatry at the Margins, which has more than 10,000 subscribers from 120 countries.(https://psychiatrymargins.com/).

Links

• Awais’ Substack

• Conversations in Critical Psychiatry book

• (mentioned) The Entangled Brain by Luiz Pessoa

Resources:

• Get the book: ⁠⁠Mad Studies Reader: Interdisciplinary Innovations in Mental Health⁠

• Become a member: ⁠The Institute for the Development of Human Arts⁠

• Train with us: ⁠Transformative Mental Health Core Curriculum

  
  

  Sessions & Information about the host: ⁠⁠JazmineRussell.com⁠⁠

  Disclaimer: The DEPTH Work Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Any information on this podcast in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or any other type of therapy or medical advice.

“One thing that I want people to understand is that if you live in America, you live in a business and you are a customer in that business.” - Thabiso Mthimkhulu

I’m really exited to have Thabiso Mthimkhulu back on the podcast for a follow up conversation. Our discussion on “Redefining Crazy” and how we think about mental health was one of the most popular episodes on Depth Work to date. In this episode, Thabiso and I talk about the roles of metaphor and symbol in the mind-body relationship in sickness and indigenous views of learning to let the body speak. He also opens up about his thoughts on the United States and his home country Eswatini. His piercing insight into the causes of division, violence, and systemic oppression in the US is a call to “remember where you come from” and your own ancestral lineages.

In this episode we discuss:

Bio:

Gogo Ndlondlo (whose given birth name is Thabiso Mthimkhulu) is an Indigenous Zulu and Swazi sangoma, from the lineage of Khuzalingezwa Emzini Wamadoda— born and raised in Hlathikhulu, Swaziland.

Gogo Ndlondo was raised in a family of healers who hold a great body of knowledge and wisdom of traditional African herbal and ancestral medicine. Gogo Ndlondo experienced his calling illness, ukuthwasa, as a young child — seeing spirits, hearing voices, time traveling, having visions, and prophetizing about the future. Gogo Ndlondo’s access to other realities and ancestral realms was affirmed within his cultural worldview, where his family and community recognized his soul calling as a sangoma— to continue practicing and carrying out this lineage of important healing medicine.

Gogo Ndlondlo spent his life in training, and is formally engaged in a multi-year apprenticeship process, under the brilliant guidance and mentorship of Gogo Dabulamandzi in the lineage of Khuzalingezwa Emzini Wamadoda — in Barberton, South Africa.

Links

@thabisoheals on IG

https://www.thabisoheals.com/

Resources:

Sessions & Information about the host: ⁠⁠JazmineRussell.com⁠⁠

Disclaimer: The DEPTH Work Podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Any information on this podcast in no way to be construed or substituted as psychological counseling, psychotherapy, mental health counseling, or any other type of therapy or medical advice.