Dr. Marcia Sirota MD hosts Ruthless Compassion

Dr. Robert Barrett has spent much of his life studying behaviour, group dynamics, and organizational culture and is the author of the bestselling book Hardwired: How Our Instincts to Be Healthy Are Making Us Sick. His primary focus is on why we do the things we do and the underlying forces that shape our lives. This intriguing theme has taken Robert to some of the world’s most fascinating research and work environments. Dr. Barrett has traveled to rural Nigeria to interview recruiters and leaders of death squads on how they indoctrinate fighters, he helped build Canada’s first ever Patient Safety Officer program for Canadian hospitals, lectured on intercultural negotiation to NATO officers deploying to Afghanistan, and was lead researcher on a unique program designed to investigate ways to mitigate astronaut crew conflict in space for future Mars missions. Robert’s work on motivation and team dynamics is also supported by 13 years as an elite athlete. Robert has written for the Huffington Post and has appeared more than 50 times on national television and radio. He is the recipient of 13 major academic awards and is a human factors expert with over 17,000 hours of flying experience. His most recent work – and the theme of his book Hardwired – is to understand the growing disharmony between our slow evolutionary adaptation and our rapidly changing world, and why this underlying friction is now one of the most critical determinants of our behaviour and health.

You can find Dr. Robert Barrett online...

Website

Twitter: @drrobertbarrett

Originally Published 11/11/21

Nya Abernathy, founder of The Dignity Effect, is a public educator, curriculum designer, and peacemaker focused on social-emotional learning and living for adults. Her aim is to help people reconnect with themselves and others with grace, accountability, and hope.

You can find Nya online...

Instagram: @thedignityeffect

Website

Originally Published 10/28/21

Julie Lythcott-Haims believes in humans and is deeply interested in what gets in our way. Her work encompasses writing, speaking, mentoring, and activism. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the anti-helicopter parenting manifesto How to Raise an Adult which gave rise to a popular TED Talk. Her second book is the critically-acclaimed and award-winning prose poetry memoir Real American, which illustrates her experience as a Black and biracial person in white spaces. A third book, Your Turn: How to Be an Adult, has been called a “groundbreakingly frank” guide to adulthood. Julie is a former corporate lawyer and Stanford dean, and she holds a BA from Stanford, a JD from Harvard, and an MFA in Writing from California College of the Arts. She currently serves on the boards of Common Sense Media and the Black Women’s Health Imperative, and on the advisory board of LeanIn.Org and Parents magazine. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her partner of over thirty years, their itinerant young adults, and her mother.

You can find Julie online...

Twitter: @jlythcotthaims

Instagram: @jlythcotthaims

Facebook: Julie Lythcott-Haims

Website

Originally Published 10/14/21

Michael Ungar, Ph.D., is a Family Therapist and Professor of Social Work at Dalhousie University where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience. His ground-breaking work is recognized around the world for its emphasis on how to use the theory of resilience to increase both individual and community agility during crises, with numerous communities, organizations and businesses adopting his concept of resilience as a negotiated process that enhances people's wellbeing when facing adversity. Dr. Ungar has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on the subject of resilience and is the author of 17 books for mental health professionals, researchers and caregivers. These include Change Your World: The Science of Resilience and the True Path to Success, a book for adults experiencing stress at work and at home, and Multisystemic Resilience: Adaptation and Transformation in Contexts of Change, an open access edited volume with contributors from a dozen diverse disciplines ranging from epigenetics and psychology to architecture and computing science. His blog, Nurturing Resilience, can be read on Psychology Today's website.

You can find Dr. Ungar online...

Website: www.michaelungar.com

Twitter: @MichaelUngarPhD

Originally Published 09/30/21

Raymond Van Gobel is Mr Rayz, a kids entertainer and educator with heart on a mission to help kids find their courage and be brave! He also has managed bipolar affective disorder for over 22 years and has learned mental health strategies and ways to courageously battle mental illness with its challenges. He was recently on the board of OBAD.ca ( The organization for bipolar affective disorder) where he is on the team of peer group support specialists, the leading mental health peer group in Alberta. Ray make his home in Calgary and is a divorced single father to three fast growing kids in middle school and high school.

You can find Raymond online...

`Instagram: @mrrayz

Originally Published 09/16/21

Robert Hawke is a comedian, author and speaker. Rob honed his storytelling and comedic skills with The Second City Comedy Troupe. He has shared in a Canadian Comedy Award and Gemini Award Nomination for Best Writing in a Comedy Series. Robert creates riveting virtual keynote presentations that give audiences immediately usable tips and tools to build resilience in these ridiculous times. Rob wrote the books Kicking Cancer's Ass: A Lighthearted Guide To The Fight Of Your Life and Doing Happiness: Uncovering The Hidden Benefits Of Feeling Good. He lives in Peterborough with his terrific wife and ridiculously small dog.

You can find Robert online...

Twitter: @RobertHawke

Website

Originally Published 09/02/21

Carlita Victoria is a Raleigh, North Carolina native, she attended The University of NC at Greensboro (BFA Dance Performance & Choreography, K-12 Dance Education). A committed mental health advocate, Carlita founded Darkness RISING Nonprofit for Black mental health to create a safe space and mental health resources for the Black community. National Tour: Chuck Davis & The African American Dance Ensemble, MADAGASCAR LIVE: CHINA, Industrial: Glee Project Promo featuring Darren Criss. (Lead Singer) Regional: THE COLOR PURPLE (Nettie), DREAMGIRLS (Lorrell Robinson), HAIRSPRAY (Little Inez/Dynamite), ROCK OF AGES (Justice), DISNEY’S ALADDIN (Regional Premiere), Urban Bush Women (Apprentice). Carlita is an active performer, certified personal fitness instructor, and mental health advocate.

You can find Carlita online...

Instagram: @darknessrisingproject

Instagram: @itscarlitav

Twitter: @darkriseproject

Twitter: @itscarlitav

Facebook: @darknessrisingproject

Website

Originally Published 08/19/21

TESS BRIGHAM (MFT, BCC), dubbed the 'Millennial Therapist' by CNBC, is an expert psychotherapist, certified life coach, and public speaker. She specializes in helping millennials discover their unique life path in order to go out into the world and make an impact. Tess' acclaimed one-on-one coaching empowers young adults to gain the confidence they need to create their dream life through concrete and actionable steps. Tess is a vital resource for those who may be feeling stuck, uninspired, or uncertain by where they are in life. She has written the Quarter Life Crisis Handbook, and also works with parents in helping them "launch your millennial". Her keynote speeches and workshops include topics such as: millennials in the workplace and parenting your millennial children. She's worked with companies including: General Assembly, The Bar Method, Newport Academy, and Better Up, to name a few. Based in San Francisco, California, Tess has over 15 years of experience helping thousands of people find their purpose, develop their confidence, and create a life they're excited about living. Her work has been featured in Oprah Magazine, ThriveGlobal, HuffPost, Thought Catalog, Insider, Yahoo! News, Bustle, NBC, Real Simple, and more.

You can find Tess online...

Instagram: @tess_brigham

Twitter: @mftTess

Website

Originally Published 07/08/21

As CEO of MI, I am committed to supporting my team in building digital tools that empower better living and faster healing. We blend science and design with internally developed technology that remotely and objectively measures mind and body data (typically via computer vision enabled psychobiometrics). By partnering with medical and academic institutions around the world, we rigorously interrogate the efficacy of our products through multi-centre randomised controlled trials. Our commitment of using science to ensure our tools work and are tailored to suit each individual means you can trust a MI product is the most effective product for you, no matter where you live or who you are. Until 2017, I was a Principal Investigator of the Zurich Neuroscience Centre where my laboratory at the Psychiatry Hospital focused on understanding molecules and neural circuits that give rise to the motivation to explore. This work was a continuation of a discovery I made in 2009 while completing my PhD at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto in the lab of Prof. John Roder. We discovered a molecular link between environmental exploration and spatial learning, and in doing so observed an active role for the hippocampus in motivational behaviour. These results were recently extended by my lab and the labs of others to reveal roles of cortical and subcortical inputs to the hippocampus in novelty-driven exploration, research made possible by recent advancements in optogenetics in the freely behaving animal in combination with wireless electrophysiology, PET and fMRI. Together, this avenue of research has shed light on the mechanisms underscoring the intimate relationships between exploration, efficient learning and cognitive disease. At the circuit level, the importance of curiosity for healthy living may parallel the beneficial effects of mindfulness that MI delivers to its customers through the product AmDTx.

Originally Published: June, 24 2021

Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University. She teaches and writes about food politics, the role of the food industry in food choice, and how the Coronavirus pandemic affects food systems.

You can find Marion Nestle online...

Website