Welcome back to Mentally Flexible! My guest today is Dr. Dennis Tirch. He is a clinical psychologist and Founding Director The Center for Compassion Focused Therapy. He has been described as one of the country's foremost leaders in compassion training in evidence-based psychotherapy.

Dr. Tirch is an author of 6 books and numerous peer reviewed articles on mindfulness, acceptance and compassion. He also has a rich personal history of spiritual practice that we dive into in this podcast. I was so happy to discover Dennis and his work as he has such a beautiful way of integrating eastern wisdom with western science.

In this episode we explore:

- The development of Dennis’ spiritual interests and practices
- How he navigated intense transformative experiences
- Integrating spirituality into his clinical psychology endeavors 
- The difference between challenges and agony
- How to live in the world while being spiritually awake
 -Staying compassionate in the face of immense suffering of strangers
- The value in compassionately recognizing our own hypocrisy
- Starting your inner work from where you rather than where you think you should be
- We end with Dennis leading a guided compassion focused meditation

Learn more about Dr. Tirch and the Center for Compassion Focused Therapy: http://www.mindfulcompassion.com/

Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DennisTirchPhD
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdennistirch/

Follow me on Instagram for bonus content: https://www.instagram.com/mentallyflexible/
Dive deeper into Mentally Flexible: mentallyflexible.com

Welcome back to Mentally Flexible! My guest today is James Fox, Founding Director of Prison Yoga Project. I met James several years ago when I attended one of his trainings to learn more about trauma-informed yoga and how it can be implemented in prisons. James is a pioneer in this area as he began teaching yoga to incarcerated individuals in San Quentin Prison in 2002 and ultimately founding the Prison Yoga Project. Since then James has trained thousands of teachers who have replicated PYP's methodology in 28 states and many other countries. He is also the author of Yoga: a Path for Healing and Recovery, which is available free of charge to any prisoner who requests a copy. It has now been sent to over 33,000 people.

In this episode we explore:
- The early years of Prison Yoga Project
- How James works with racial and cultural differences
- How you can make yoga trauma-informed
- How to be a witness to another's suffering
- The path of Karma Yoga
- The difference between being a helper and being of service
- James' vision for the future of prison reform

Learn more about Prison Yoga Project at https://prisonyoga.org/

If this work resonates with you, please consider donating to the cause - https://prisonyoga.org/inside-that-yoga-room/

Follow PYP on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prisonyogaproject/

Learn more about me and the podcast at https://mentallyflexible.com/

Follow me on Instagram to get bonus content: https://www.instagram.com/mentallyflexible/

The song used in this podcast is called Glimpse at Truth, off of my second EP Nowhere to Stand. Check out the full song below!
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Jjw7UEztBD8rTxIZFzsUe
Bandcamp: https://tomparkes.bandcamp.com/track/glimpse-at-truth

Welcome back to Mentally Flexible! My guest today is Paul Gilmartin. Paul is a stand-up comedian, television personality, and podcast host. He was the long time host of the TV show, Dinner and a Movie, on TBS. As a comedian he has a Comedy Central Presents special, performed on the Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and is a frequent guest on the Adam Carolla show. Paul is the host and executive producer of the very popular podcast, The Mental Illness Happy Hour - which is one of my favorite podcasts. Paul has a very powerful story of experiencing childhood trauma which manifested in depression and addiction later in life. He is now sober and has become an incredibly important voice in the mental health world through sharing his story and creating a space for others to do the same on his podcast.

In this episode we dive into:
- The relationship between humor and pain
- Paul's early experiences in therapy
- How he has processed his childhood trauma
- Going no contact with his mother
- Paul's experiences in comedy and television
- The connection between spirituality, meaning, and purpose

Learn more about Paul and The Mental Illness Happy Hour
https://mentalpod.com/
Twitter: @mentalpod
Instagram: @mentalpod

Learn more about me and Mentally Flexible
https://mentallyflexible.com/
https://www.instagram.com/mentallyflexible/

Welcome back to Mentally Flexible! In this episode I speak with Marriage and Family Therapist, Kimberley Quinlan. Kimberley specializes in the treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and other related disorders. She has previously served as the Clinical Director of the OCD Center of Los Angeles and currently runs a private practice.

Kimberley has been featured in many world known media outlets, such as LA Times, Wall Street Journal, and many of my favorite podcasts.  She is the host of her own podcast, Your Anxiety Toolkit and has an amazing instagram page full of resources that I suggest you check out. 
 
 We explore a range of topics including:
 
 - OCD and some common misunderstandings
 -  A few of the subtypes of OCD 
 - What treatment generally looks like
 - The role of self-compassion and values
 - Kimberley’s Eating Disorder history
 - What recovery looks like for her today
 - What we value most about being therapists 
 
 Learn more about Kimberley and get a ton of great free resources:

Website: https://www.cbtschool.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimberleyquinlan/?


Follow me on instagram to stay up to date on episode releases and get bonus content! https://www.instagram.com/mentallyflexible/?hl=en
You can also check out the podcast website: mentallyflexible.com
 

Welcome to episode 2 of Mentally Flexible! My guest today is Dr. Kelly Wilson. He is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Mississippi in the department of psychology. He is the author of 11 books and more than 100 articles and chapters. He is also cofounder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or ACT. If you listened to episode 1, you got to know the other cofounder of ACT, Dr. Steven Hayes. 
 
 In this conversation we dive into a range of topics including:

- the ubiquitous nature of suffering
- the cost of concealing our pain
- Kelly’s personal history of suffering
- what brings Kelly the most meaning in life today
- the connection between values and vulnerabilities 

 
Kelly is someone who inspires me immensely and I was honored to get to have this conversation. 

If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe and leave a review. This would mean a lot to me!

Follow me on instagram @mentallyflexible 

Learn more about Kelly: http://onelifellc.com/

Welcome to episode 1 of Mentally Flexible! On this episode I speak with Dr. Steven C Hayes and I couldn’t be more excited! Steven Hayes is a Foundation Professor at the University of Nevada. He is pioneer in the psychology field and has had a tremendous impact in the domain of psychotherapy. He is the author 46 books and nearly 650 scientific articles. He is a cofounder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which is the form of therapy I use with my clients. He is absolutely one of the people who inspires me most in the world and I could not be more grateful for this opportunity to speak with him.

In this free flowing conversation we cover a range of topics including:

– the value of psychological flexibility
– flow states
– psychedelics
– transcendence
– the promises and pitfalls of spiritual experiences
– our core yearning for belonging
– lying and the trap of pretense
– connecting to our inner child

To learn more about Steve Hayes you can check out his website: https://stevenchayes.com/

I also recommend checking out his popular Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o79_gmO5ppg&t=815s

If you enjoy this podcast, please subscribe, rate, and review - thanks for listening!