Clinical psychology PhD candidate, Jason joins the pod to talk about the impact of internalized racism, his research on self-damaging behaviours (things like self-harm, binge eating, substance use), and his experiences growing up Asian in Canada.

We touch on the concept of minority stress, how badly informed we are on the impact of racism on many health outcomes, and how important it is to participate in research! 

If you're eligible, I highly encourage you to reach out to participate in this important study.

The RISE-C study is currently recruiting people who (1) are 16 years or older, (2) reside in Canada, (3) identify as Indigenous, Black, or a person of colour, (3) have been treated differently because of their race, and (4) who habitually do things (or have strong urges) that are not in their best interests (e.g., binge-drinking, engaging in eating disorder behaviour,  suicide ideation, or deliberate self-harm).

If you are interested in participating in the study, you can complete the pre-screening survey using this link: https://uwo.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a8BHB591h11CmUe 

Support the show

If you want to support the show, dive deeper into the world of super feeling and for tons of bonus content please consider subscribing to the Super Feeler patreon page. 

Click here to register for The Super Feelers Club (the peer support group) 

If you are needing mental health support or someone to talk to, please connect with your local crisis line or call or text 988 in Canada or the US or find a local line

Don't forget to follow us on social media (@thesuperfeeler) and subscribe to our podcast for new episodes and updates. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews mean the world to us! 

Thank you for listening! 

Dr. Maggie Flynn is a Doctor of Occupational Therapy specializing in psychiatric care. She explores how sensory-based interventions can transform our understanding and support for people engaging in non-suicidal self-injury (aka self harm) and those living with BPD. 

Together, we unpack the history and evolving role of occupational therapy in psychiatric settings, including how sensory modulation and planning for specific sensory activities throughout one's day can support emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and limit behaviours like self-harm. 

Maggie shares innovative perspectives on understanding self-harm through the lens of unmet sensory needs, challenging common assumptions and stigma often faced by people with BPD.

Check out the Skills Lab follow up email about self-soothing to get lots of ideas and resources made by Super Feelers for Super Feelers. The email includes Maggie's full slide deck! 

Support the show

If you want to support the show, dive deeper into the world of super feeling and for tons of bonus content please consider subscribing to the Super Feeler patreon page. 

Click here to register for The Super Feelers Club (the peer support group) 

If you are needing mental health support or someone to talk to, please connect with your local crisis line or call or text 988 in Canada or the US or find a local line

Don't forget to follow us on social media (@thesuperfeeler) and subscribe to our podcast for new episodes and updates. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews mean the world to us! 

Thank you for listening! 

Ciaran is a crisis response worker and a Director with the Canadian Mental Health Association. 

They have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and are 6 years sober. Previously they had received a BPD diagnosis, one that their mother also shares. 

We chat about the internalized stigma of recieving a BPD diagnosis - especially working in the mental health field, as well as the importance of truly listening people who are in distress. 

We also talk about the importance of housing first and the impacts of homelessness on wellness. 

Learn more about the Canadian Mental Health Association

Read an article that Laurie wrote for the World Association on Psychosocial Rehabilitation

Support the show

If you want to support the show, dive deeper into the world of super feeling and for tons of bonus content please consider subscribing to the Super Feeler patreon page. 

Click here to register for The Super Feelers Club (the peer support group) 

If you are needing mental health support or someone to talk to, please connect with your local crisis line or call or text 988 in Canada or the US or find a local line

Don't forget to follow us on social media (@thesuperfeeler) and subscribe to our podcast for new episodes and updates. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews mean the world to us! 

Thank you for listening! 

Marsha McAdam is a recipient of the esteemed Churchill Fellowship in which she traveled the world to better understand the experiences of people living with borderline personality disorder and those who treat and care for them. 

We discuss her own personal journey with BPD, the impact mentalization-based therapy has had on her life and what she learned along her journey through the UK, USA and Austrelia. 

We highlight the inadequacies of emergency care for individuals with BPD, the evolving work around young people with BPD, and the importance of hearing a wide range of voices whenever we're trying to advocate for change.  

You can read Marsha's Churchill report here.

Support the show

If you want to support the show, dive deeper into the world of super feeling and for tons of bonus content please consider subscribing to the Super Feeler patreon page. 

Click here to register for The Super Feelers Club (the peer support group) 

If you are needing mental health support or someone to talk to, please connect with your local crisis line or call or text 988 in Canada or the US or find a local line

Don't forget to follow us on social media (@thesuperfeeler) and subscribe to our podcast for new episodes and updates. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews mean the world to us! 

Thank you for listening! 

Dr. Shannon Sauer-Zavala (@self-made.personality) is a clinical psychologist and the co-developer of a new personalized treatment for borderline personality disorder called BPD Compass.  This self-guided workbook is grounded in cutting-edge personality science and has demonstrated promising results in clinical trials.

We talk through the data behind this new treatment, how it compares to existing evidence based treatments like DBT, MBT, and TFT, and how BPD Compass may help with existing treatment access issues. 

*** PLUS WE'RE DOING A GIVEAWAY! ***

From August 1st - September 1st 2026 if you follow @thesuperfeeler and @self.made.personality on Instagram and tag a friend in the giveaway post you'll be entered in to win a free copy of the BPD Compass workbook and some Super Feeler goodies! 

PLUS for 10 bonus entries you can give a 5 start rating to the BPD Compass Book on Amazon and the Super Feeler podcast on Apple Podcasts (links in bio) - just send us a screenshot so we know it's you! 

Winners will be announced in early September! 

******

BPD Compass is available at major booksellers, and you can find it at your local bookshop here or if there aren't any local options you can order from Amazon here. 

Shannon's website is www.shannonsauerzavala.com

And if you wanted a deep dive on the alternative model of personality disorders listen to the Super Feeler episode with Dr. Steven Huprich!

Support the show

If you want to support the show, dive deeper into the world of super feeling and for tons of bonus content please consider subscribing to the Super Feeler patreon page. 

Click here to register for The Super Feelers Club (the peer support group) 

If you are needing mental health support or someone to talk to, please connect with your local crisis line or call or text 988 in Canada or the US or find a local line

Don't forget to follow us on social media (@thesuperfeeler) and subscribe to our podcast for new episodes and updates. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews mean the world to us! 

Thank you for listening! 

Tess Gecha is a doctoral researcher who is studying siblings experiences of those with personality disorder and their personal growth. We discuss the intergenerational transmission of personality disorders and how mentalization and other interventions may support families impacted by BPD and other personality disorders.

Study details - please share with anyone who may want to participate! 

The University of Houston Developmental Psychopathology Lab is looking for participants for an online research study about personal growth in siblings of individuals with personality disorder.

You are eligible to participate if you are fluent in English, 18 years of age or older and the sibling of someone with personality disorder.

You will complete one online questionnaire (takes roughly 30-40 minutes) and have the option to enter a raffle to win one of one hundred $20 Amazon gift cards (can be applied to countries outside the U.S.).

Want to participate? Click here

Questions? Email us at [email protected]

Support the show

If you want to support the show, dive deeper into the world of super feeling and for tons of bonus content please consider subscribing to the Super Feeler patreon page. 

Click here to register for The Super Feelers Club (the peer support group) 

If you are needing mental health support or someone to talk to, please connect with your local crisis line or call or text 988 in Canada or the US or find a local line

Don't forget to follow us on social media (@thesuperfeeler) and subscribe to our podcast for new episodes and updates. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews mean the world to us! 

Thank you for listening! 

Violet was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder at 15 years old and it changed her life. We explore how that diagnosis happened, the family dynamics that contributed to her escalating challenges and the impact of COVID-19 on her mental health.

Support the show

If you want to support the show, dive deeper into the world of super feeling and for tons of bonus content please consider subscribing to the Super Feeler patreon page. 

Click here to register for The Super Feelers Club (the peer support group) 

If you are needing mental health support or someone to talk to, please connect with your local crisis line or call or text 988 in Canada or the US or find a local line

Don't forget to follow us on social media (@thesuperfeeler) and subscribe to our podcast for new episodes and updates. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews mean the world to us! 

Thank you for listening! 

Dr. Glauco Valdivieso is a psychiatrist from Lima, Peru and joins the pod to share insights into the treatment of borderline personality disorder in Latin America. Topics include cultural and age influences to treatment and diagnosis, regional differences in stigma, available treatment approaches, and exciting upcoming work in the region. 

You can follow Glauco on Instagram at @dr.valdivieso.psiquiatria

Support the show

If you want to support the show, dive deeper into the world of super feeling and for tons of bonus content please consider subscribing to the Super Feeler patreon page. 

Click here to register for The Super Feelers Club (the peer support group) 

If you are needing mental health support or someone to talk to, please connect with your local crisis line or call or text 988 in Canada or the US or find a local line

Don't forget to follow us on social media (@thesuperfeeler) and subscribe to our podcast for new episodes and updates. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews mean the world to us! 

Thank you for listening! 

Caroline rejects the whole notion of anyone having a disordered personality which is exactly why I reached out to her to chat with me on the show. 

Sure, there are lots of things we disagree on - but there's actually far more we do agree on despite me finding tons of value of having a BPD diagnosis. 

Together we explore the complexities of labelling, Caroline's experience discovering she had autism all along, and the impact of significant trauma at the hands of psychology professionals.

We discuss tons of controversies including: 

1. Do personality disorders exist?
2. Are we overdiagnosing people with things like autism, ADHD and BPD?
3. Does the way DSM criteria are defined make sense?
4. AND MORE! 

If anything I hope this conversation inspires you to talk with someone who holds different opinions, because that's how we stop the strong divisions causing the world to crumble. 

Support the show

If you want to support the show, dive deeper into the world of super feeling and for tons of bonus content please consider subscribing to the Super Feeler patreon page. 

Click here to register for The Super Feelers Club (the peer support group) 

If you are needing mental health support or someone to talk to, please connect with your local crisis line or call or text 988 in Canada or the US or find a local line

Don't forget to follow us on social media (@thesuperfeeler) and subscribe to our podcast for new episodes and updates. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews mean the world to us! 

Thank you for listening! 

Dr. Alec Miller is the co-creator of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) and the co-author of DBT Skills in Schools among many other books (see links below). We chat about the impact Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) can have on children, youth and families and how this kind of treatment would have saved me and my family from years of trauma and crisis. 

We explore how DBT skills can be introduced earlier in life—not just in therapy, but in schools and at home—to support emotional regulation, reduce risk, and build a life worth living from a young age.

Dr. Miller shares practical insights for parents, educators, and clinicians, emphasizing the importance of validation, structure, skills and positive reinforcement over punishment.

This episode highlights the need for addressing emotion dysregulation and suicidality as a family unit - rather than focusing just on the "patient".

We discuss many different programs and resources in this episode. Here's a list of the main ones linked: 

• Access Psychology Foundation
• Cognitive and Behavioral Consultants, LLP
• DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents (book)
• DBT Skills in Elementary Schools: Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving in Grades K-5 (DBT STEPS-E) (book)
• DBT Skills in Schools: Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (DBT STEPS-A) (book)
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Suicidal Adolescents (book)
• The Anxious Generation (book) 
• Why We Sleep (book)

Support the show

If you want to support the show, dive deeper into the world of super feeling and for tons of bonus content please consider subscribing to the Super Feeler patreon page. 

Click here to register for The Super Feelers Club (the peer support group) 

If you are needing mental health support or someone to talk to, please connect with your local crisis line or call or text 988 in Canada or the US or find a local line

Don't forget to follow us on social media (@thesuperfeeler) and subscribe to our podcast for new episodes and updates. Your subscriptions, downloads, and reviews mean the world to us! 

Thank you for listening!