Jedi Counsel

Heads Up From Your Friends at Jedi Counsel: This episode has lots of SPOILERS.

This week, we recorded a podcast episode after seeing A Star Is Born. We opened up with some fun facts about the movie and then chatted about our overall impressions of it. Next, we discussed the depictions of mental health issues including alcohol/substance use problems and suicidal behavior in the film. We reviewed the diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders and noted which ones were exhibited in the film. Then, we talked about suicidal behavior within the frameworks of the interpersonal theory of suicide and three-step theory of suicide. We concluded with encouragement to seek help if needed and to reach out to people who you’re worried about – there is hope. Please see below for links to more information about the topics in the show and thank you SO much for listening! You can follow Jedi Counsel on Twitter. If you like what you hear, please rate and review us on iTunes and tell a friend! Thank you!

For More Information (in order of appearance rather than importance):

Fun Facts:

The movie included Anthony Ramos of Hamilton fame. He also appeared in this mini-musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda that was written for This American Life: 21 Chump Street.

Suicide Prevention Information & Resources:

USA Today Article on Suicide

Huffington Post Article on Suicide

Risk Factors for Suicide

Interpersonal Theory of Suicide

Three-Step Theory of Suicide

Warning Signs

How to Help Someone Who is Suicidal

Previous Episodes on Substance Use Disorders:

Episode 50: Substance Use-Related Myths with Dr. Keith Donohue

Episode 110: Discussing Addiction with Dr. Ted Bender

We spoke to Dr. Sanjay Srivastava, a Professor of Psychology, about his research on personality and social dynamics, personality tests, the podcast he co-hosts (The Black Goat), and his blog (The Hardest Science). First, he told us about the interesting pathway that led him to where he is today. Next, we talked about the appeal of popular personality tests (e.g., the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) and how they differ from personality tests that researchers typically use (e.g., the Big Five Inventory). We then discussed the substantial contributions that Paul Meehl has made to the field of psychology and his wisdom about psychological science. We concluded by talking about The Black Goat podcast and the importance of the open science movement in psychology. We enjoyed recording this episode, and we hope you enjoy listening to it! Thanks so much for tuning in!

For more information:

You can read Dr. Srivastava’s blog, check out his lab website and podcast, and follow him on Twitter.

You can learn more about measuring the Big Five personality domains here and find out more about your own personality here. The Black Goat podcast episode on personality testing is available here.

You can learn more about open science here and the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science here.

You can read and re-read Paul Meehl’s writing here and watch or listen to some of his lectures here. Here are some of the articles mentioned in this episode:

* Dr. Srivastava’s blog post about Meehl’s (1990) Appraising and Amending Theories paper

* Why I Do Not Attend Case Conferences

* Clinical Versus Actuarial Judgment

* Taxometric Methods

While we’re here chatting about Meehl’s work, here are a few more of Katie’s favorites:

* Construct Validity in Psychological Tests

* What Can the Clinician Do Well?

You can follow Jedi Counsel on Twitter. If you like what you hear, please rate and review us on iTunes and tell a friend! Thank you!

Katie spoke to Dr. Jack Arnal, an Associate Professor of Psychology and Zombie Science Instructor, about how he uses pop culture to teach college classes. First, he talked about the interesting pathway that led him to cognitive psychology and the similarities between teaching and stand-up comedy. Next, he shared how he got involved with the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science. Then, we discussed Dr. Arnal’s first-year college seminar on Doctor Who and Metacognition (including explanations of concept mapping, semantic networks, and a variety of evidence-based studying approaches). We concluded with a discussion about the ways that pop culture can be a useful tool in education (e.g., by contributing to transfer of learning).  If you like what you hear, please consider leaving a review on iTunes or telling a friend about us. Thank you so much for listening!

For more information:

Dr. Jack Arnal’s website and Twitter page

Dr. Arnal’s Doctor Who and Metacognition blog post

Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science

The Learning Scientists website

You can follow Jedi Counsel on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

We spoke to Dr. Joshua Grubbs, an Assistant Professor of Psychology, about his research on behavioral addictions (e.g., compulsive sexual behavior, gambling), narcissism, and religious beliefs. First, he told us about the interesting pathway that led him to clinical psychology. Next, he shared how his observations led him to fascinating scientific questions and nuanced answers about the nature of self-perceived pornography addiction. Then, we discussed how Dr. Grubbs has used Motivational Interviewing and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help clients live authentic, healthy lives. We concluded with the importance of the Open Science movement for clinical psychology and commentary on the accuracy of fictional depictions of narcissism and behavioral addictions. We learned a lot making this episode, and we hope you enjoy listening to it!

For more information:

Check out Dr. Grubbs’ website and follow him on Twitter.

Learn about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Motivational Interviewing.

Learn about Open Science.

Read Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas.

You can follow Jedi Counsel on Twitter and like us on Facebook. Thanks so much for listening!

Note: This episode includes discussion of drug use, self-harm, and overdose deaths.

 

We invited Dr. Ted Bender, the CEO of Turning Point at Addiction Campuses, to talk to us about his expertise in the treatment of substance use disorders. The episode included an overview of the risk factors and consequences associated with addiction. We discussed the opioid epidemic and the types of actions necessary to fight it effectively. We also talked about topics that are regularly in the news, such as fentanyl (a pain medication with high risk for addiction), Narcan (a nasal spray that reverses opioid overdoses) and Suboxone (used for medication-assisted therapy in harm reduction treatment models). We discussed the challenges faced by people struggling with addiction and how treatment is individually-tailored for patients at Turning Point at Addiction Campuses. Dr. Bender concluded with a message of hope and encouragement to view addiction through a non-stigmatizing lens. If you like what you hear, please consider leaving a review on iTunes or telling a friend about us. Thank you so much for listening!

 

For more information about topics discussed in this episode:

 

You can follow Dr. Ted Bender on Twitter and learn more about Turning Point at Addiction Campuses here.

 

You can read the full obituary for Madelyn Linsenmeir here.

 

You can learn more about Dialectical Behavior Therapy here.

Dr. Gina Hiraoka is a clinical psychologist with expertise in mental health treatment for veterans.* In this episode, we discussed misconceptions about treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (e.g., short-term vs. long-term decisions related to avoidance and exposure). Next, we talked about Crazy Rich Asians and Dr. Hiraoka’s experiences with (lack of) representation growing up. She told us about the term hapa (meaning part-Asian and/or Pacific Islander) and shared her thoughts on some of the controversy surrounding Henry Golding being cast in the film. We concluded with some discussion of Hamilton and Phillipa Soo being cast as Eliza Schuyler Hamilton. We learned a lot from Dr. Hiraoka and hope you enjoy this episode! Thanks so much for listening!

 

*All of Dr. Hiraoka’s opinions are her own and do not reflect those of her employer/the federal government.

 

You can follow Dr. Gina Hiraoka on Twitter: @QueenGina511

You can learn more about The Hapa Project by Kip Fulbeck here: https://kipfulbeck.com/the-hapa-project/

For more information about posttraumatic stress disorder and its treatment, check out this website: National Center for PTSD.

You can check out more Hamilton psychology stuff from us here:

Dueling Personalities: The Psychology of the Hamilton-Burr Conflict

10 Hamilton Quotes for Therapists

 

We are part of the Geek Therapy network. If you like our show, please consider rating and reviewing us on iTunes. Thank you!

Note: This episode includes discussion of sexual assault.

We invited Associate Professor and Clinical Psychologist, Leonardo Bobadilla, back to talk about his expertise in restorative justice for cases of sexual violence. The episode included an overview of a blog post he wrote titled Restorative Justice and the #MeToo movement: The Kavanaugh hearings as a case study. We first discussed research related to the decision to report sexual assault. Next, we talked about a range of risk factors associated with committing sexual assault and how this knowledge can be used to prevent it. Dr. Bobadilla then described historical and current applications of restorative justice. We discussed the challenges faced by scientists and others who work in this field. Dr. Bobadilla concluded with thoughts about the dangers of viewing people as all good or all evil and the benefits of nuanced, individualized systemic responses to sexual violence. If you like what you hear, please consider leaving a review on iTunes or telling a friend about us. Thank you so much for listening!

Show Links:

More from Dr. Leonardo Bobadilla

Aggression Blog: Using Science to Reduce Violence

Jedi Counsel Podcast Episode on the Assessment & Treatment of Paraphilic Disorders

Resources for Sexual Assault Survivors

RAINN (Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network)

Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapy

National Center for PTSD

Information on the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse

Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers

American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists

Information on Restorative Justice

Centre for Justice & Reconciliation

Information about the U.S. Criminal Justice System

Serial: Season 3

The Marshall Project

More Information about the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised

Can a Test Really Tell Us Who’s a Psychopath?

Creator of Psychopathy Test Worries About Its Use

 

We invited Dr. Jonathan Corbin to talk to us about his expertise in memory research. We first asked Dr. Corbin’s thoughts on media claims about Dr. Ford’s allegations. He described current scientific knowledge about how memory works, including explanations of flashbulb memories, eyewitness testimony, false memories, repressed memories, and best practices for asking people about events that occurred long ago. Dr. Corbin also explained how the context for memory influences the way it is assessed (e.g., clinical vs. legal vs. everyday settings). We discussed depictions of memory in fiction (e.g., Memento) and then concluded with Dr. Corbin’s thoughts about the questioning of Dr. Ford by the Senate panel. You can learn more about Dr. Corbin’s work on his website: http://www.jonathancorbin.net/ and by following him on Twitter: @JonathanCorbin2.

 

For more information, here are links to topics mentioned in the episode:

How to Get the Kavanaugh Hearings Right by Dr. Anita Hill

Kavanaugh Bears the Burden of Proof by Benjamin Wittes

Memory researchers who were mentioned: Drs. Loftus, Simons, Brainerd

Resources for Sexual Assault Survivors

We spoke to Dr. Andrea Letamendi, who is a clinical psychologist and the Associate Director of Mental Health for Residential Life at UCLA. In addition to her work helping college students with their mental health needs, she also admirably shares scientifically accurate mental health information with the public. She does this through co-hosting an amazing Batman podcast (The Arkham Sessions) and an awesome Star Wars podcast (Lattes with Leia), through her writing on Under the Mask and an inspiring TEDx talk, and through other public speaking appearances. We spoke to Dr. Letamendi about how she got interested in clinical psychology, what it’s been like sharing her personal experiences with imposter syndrome with the public, and how she embraces her identity as a geek in her work. Dr. Letamendi also told us about her experience consulting with Gail Simone on the New 52 Batgirl series and having a therapist comic book character named after her. We concluded with discussion of Dr. Letamendi’s future projects. We hope you enjoy listening to this episode – we had a lot of fun recording it!

 Check out more of Dr. Andrea Letamendi’s work at her website: http://www.underthemaskonline.com/ and on Twitter: @ArkhamAsylumDoc .

** due to some Skype connectivity issues, some of the sound quality varies a bit in the second half of the episode. Although the quality wavers, the content does not!

Hi folks! For suicide prevention month, we decided to take the week and chat just a bit about suicide. We started off by talking a bit about how we got involved in suicide prevention research and then talked about some of the causes of suicide and Dr. Thomas Joiner’s interpersonal theory of suicide. We finished up by responding to a question about how you can help a friend who you think might be suicidal that was submitted by friend of the pod Murray.

In this episode we discussed several important people working to help understand and prevent suicide including (in no particular order) Dr. Thomas Joiner, Dr. Michael Anestis. Dr. Joy Cox-Anestis, Dr. David Klonsky, Dr. Mathew Nock, Dr. Mitch Prinstein, Dese’Rae L. Stage, and Rudy Caseres. Please check out the work that these many wonderful people are doing for very worthwhile content.

For more information on suicide, please visit the American Psychological Association’s reference sheet here: http://www.apa.org/topics/suicide/index.aspx or the National Institute of Mental Health’s reference sheet here: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-faq/index.shtml. If you or someone you know is at risk for suicide, please call 1–800–273–TALK (8255), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Links to topics mentioned in the show:

Klonsky & May (2015)’s The Three-Step Theory (3ST): A New Theory of Suicide Rooted in the “Ideation-to-Action” Framework

Joiner’s Why People Die By Suicide

Joiner, Van Orden, Witte, & Rudd’s The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide: Guidance for Working with Suicidal Clients

Rudy Caseres’ No Restraints

Dese’Rae Stage’s Live Through This Project

Suicide Prevention Social Media

Van Orden et al. (2010)’s The Interpersonal Theory of Suicide

Jonathan Singer’s Social Work Podcast

Nock & Prinstein’s A Functional Approach to the Assessment of Self-Mutilative Behavior

Suicide Prevention Information & Resources

Mike Anestis’ work on Guns & Suicide