Fresh off a 12-day psychiatric hospitalization, I’ve got stories to tell and stereotypes to dispel. I discuss how I came to voluntarily admit myself, getting covid and being quarantined for 8 days, medical gaslighting, and self-harming to avoid discharge. I also share what hope I’ve been able to find since getting out and where my focus is as I’m adjusting to being home again.

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – online pdf version;

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – buy the manual from a Black-owned book store!

Instagram: @pat.radical.therapist

Instagram: @liberatorywellnessnetwork

Instagram: @asma.therapist

Instagram: @ismatu.gwendolyn

Instagram: @decolonizingtherapy

TikTok: @gigistherapyworld

The Future is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes, and Mourning Songs by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

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More resources are available at https://therapize.joygerhard.com/

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Are we noticing a trend? I'm noticing a trend. Acceptance continues to be the most useful skill while also being the one I'm least reliable to use. Here we are again with another opportunity to practice: while I'm having an episode of extreme pain after a treatment that was supposed to stop the extreme pain from happening. Judgements, feelings, and urges ABOUND.

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – online pdf version;

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – buy the manual from a Black-owned book store!

Emotion Regulation Handout 11 - Figuring Out Opposite Actions;

Distress Tolerance Handout 1 - Goals of Distress Tolerance;

Distress Tolerance Handout 5 - Pros and Cons;

Distress Tolerance Handout 10 - Overview: Reality Acceptance Skills;

Distress Tolerance Handout 11 - Radical Acceptance;

Distress Tolerance Handout 11A - Radical Acceptance: Factors That Interfere;

Distress Tolerance Handout 11B - Practicing Radical Acceptance Step by Step;

Distress Tolerance Handout 14 - Half-Smiling and Willing Hands

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More resources are available at https://therapize.joygerhard.com/

Please rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen.

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Note: a version of this episode was uploaded on Aug 14, 2025 (1 hr, 8 minutes long). I have deleted that recording and replaced it with this one (1 hr, 1 minute long). You'll hear why in this episode.

I’m back from a 2-year hiatus and (wouldn't you know it) shame is still kicking around. I give a “summary” of all that’s gone on since last I’ve posted. I’ve got updates on the remodel, searching for a job, my living situation, and relationships. I’ve also learned that I have a very sticky brain and obsessively worry about causing harm to others. I discuss some of the helpful suggestions my therapist gave me re: using mindfulness and not engaging in obsessively seeking proof that I’m not harming the folks around me.

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – online pdf version;

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – buy the manual from a Black-owned book store!

Mindfulness Handout 4 – Taking Hold of Your Mind: “What” Skills

Mindfulness Handout 5 – Taking Hold of Your Mind: “How” Skills

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More resources are available at https://therapize.joygerhard.com/

Please rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen.

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Recorded on Oct 18, 2023

This is a deviation from my normal content, but a genocide warrants it. Part 4 of a 4-part series, this episode focuses on what is and isn't antisemitism, shares the perspective of some Jewish folks, and ends with the most important voices in the room: Palestinians in Gaza. Rather than me talking about therapy skills (or even talking all that much period), I've collected videos, posts, websites from dozens of Instagram accounts, TikTok accounts, news outlets, non-profits, etc. that have helped inform my understanding of what's going on in Gaza. Palestine must be free.

Youtube video of this episode

Spreadsheet of all references in this episode

Links of ways to take action

Public tool kit

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More resources are available at https://therapize.joygerhard.com/

Please rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen.

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Recorded on Oct 17, 2023

This is a deviation from my normal content, but a genocide warrants it. Part 3 of a 4-part series, this episode focuses on white supremacy and the United States' complicity in the Israeli genocide against Palestinians. Rather than me talking about therapy skills (or even talking all that much period), I've collected videos, posts, websites from dozens of Instagram accounts, TikTok accounts, news outlets, non-profits, etc. that have helped inform my understanding of what's going on in Gaza. Palestine must be free.

Youtube video of this episode

Spreadsheet of all references in this episode

Links of ways to take action

Public tool kit

———

More resources are available at https://therapize.joygerhard.com/

Please rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen.

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Recorded on Oct 17, 2023

This is a deviation from my normal content, but a genocide warrants it. Part 2 of a 4-part series, this episode focuses on propaganda and how to identify misinformation. Rather than me talking about therapy skills (or even talking all that much period), I've collected videos, posts, websites from dozens of Instagram accounts, TikTok accounts, news outlets, non-profits, etc. that have helped inform my understanding of what's going on in Gaza. Palestine must be free.

Youtube video of this episode

Spreadsheet of all references in this episode

Links of ways to take action

Public tool kit

———

More resources are available at https://therapize.joygerhard.com/

Please rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen.

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok

Like what you hear? Support me and this podcast on Patreon.

Recorded on Oct 16, 2023

This is a deviation from my normal content, but a genocide warrants it. Part 1 of a 4-part series, this episode focuses on the historical context of Israel's colonialization of historic Palestine. Rather than me talking about therapy skills (or even talking all that much period), I've collected videos, posts, websites from dozens of Instagram accounts, TikTok accounts, news outlets, non-profits, etc. that have helped inform my understanding of what's going on in Gaza. Palestine must be free.

Youtube video of this episode

Spreadsheet of all references in this episode

Links of ways to take action

Public tool kit

———

More resources are available at https://therapize.joygerhard.com/

Please rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen.

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During this episode, I’m pretty annoyed at the experience of doing therapy and I’m not shy about showing it. So I observe and describe what it feels like to do exposure therapy. In listening back to the main recording, I have an epiphany: part of what makes exposure so painful is that I’m judging my own thoughts as I’m having them. And like a bull in a China shop, I wreak a lot of havoc on myself without meaning to. Join me as I peel back the layers of my judgements.

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – online pdf version;

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – buy the manual from a Black-owned book store!

Mindfulness Handout 5 – Taking Hold of Your Mind: “How” Skills;

• Nonjudgementally;

Emotion Regulation Handout 6 – Ways to Describe Emotions;

Distress Tolerance Handout 11 – Radical Acceptance;

Distress Tolerance Handout 15 – Mindfulness of Current Thoughts;

Tiktok: video from @ayandastood

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More resources are available at https://therapize.joygerhard.com/

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It’s post-exposure processing time while climbing stairs! After doing exposure to traumatic invalidation, I know enough to know that I need to practice acceptance to something, but I’m not sure what that something is. It takes some venting and meandering to home in on the facts – which include my feelings. I also come up with a coping thought to use in the future.

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – online pdf version;

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – buy the manual from a Black-owned book store!

Emotion Regulation Handout 11 – Figuring Out Opposite Actions

• Anger;

Distress Tolerance Handout 11 – Radical Acceptance;

Distress Tolerance Handout 11A – Radical Acceptance: Factors That Interfere;

Distress Tolerance Handout 11B – Practicing Radical Acceptance Step by Step;

Treating Trauma in Dialectical Behavior Therapy: The DBT Prolonged Exposure Protocol (DBT PE) by Melanie S. Harned, PhD, ABPP

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More resources are available at https://therapize.joygerhard.com/

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I'm observing some surprising behavior from a couple former partners and feeling absolutely ill over it. I practice some observe and describe to figure out what I'm feeling, chat with my wise mind a bit, and ultimately practice opposite action to the guilt that comes up when I'm communicating boundaries.

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – online pdf version;

DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets – buy the manual from a Black-owned book store!

Mindfulness Handout 1A – Mindfulness Definitions;

Mindfulness Handout 3 – Wise Mind: States of Mind;

Mindfulness Handout 4 – Taking Hold of Your Mind: “What” Skills;

Mindfulness Handout 5 – Taking Hold of Your Mind: “How” Skills;

Emotion Regulation Handout 5 – Model for Describing Emotions (alternate version: E Wheel);

Emotion Regulation Handout 7 – Overview: Changing Emotional Responses;

Emotion Regulation Handout 10 – Opposite Action;

Emotion Regulation Handout 11 – Figuring Out Opposite Actions;

Wise Mind Venn diagram - my version

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More resources are available at https://therapize.joygerhard.com/

Please rate, review, and subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen.

Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok

Like what you hear? Support me and this podcast on Patreon.