On this episode, Fanicy Sears, a licensed mental health professional, and Dave Barnhart, a pastor and associate licensed counselor, joined me for a deep dive into the world of psychedelic-assisted therapy. Fanicy shares her inspiring journey into the realm of psychedelic medicine, sparked by her experience caring for her mother with cancer. She highlights the groundbreaking benefits of ketamine in treating PTSD and depression. Dave opens up about his life-changing experience with psilocybin and his quest for deeper training in this emerging field. Together, they explore the unique mechanisms of various psychedelics, their safety protocols, and the critical role of preparation and integration. This insightful conversation blends science, personal transformation, and holistic healing, showing how these therapies are shaping the future of mental health care.

Rev. Dr. David Barnhart, Jr. is an Associate Licensed Counselor at Behavioral Sciences of Alabama under the supervision of Paul Bakke, LPC-S. He earned his M.Div from Candler School of Theology in 1997, his Ph.D. in religion from Vanderbilt University in 2004, and a Masters of Counseling from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 2023. He’s a Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide and is trained in Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy through Polaris Insight Center. He is enthusiastic about the intersections of physical, mental, social, and spiritual health. You can reach Dave through email at [email protected], or call Behavioral Sciences of Alabama: 256-883-3231.

 Fanicy H. Sears, LPC-S, LMFT, NCC is the owner, of eMotion Therapy in Birmingham, AL.  She is a certified Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapist, Board Certified Telemental Health Therapist and Psychedelic Integration Therapist. Her goal as a trauma therapist and psychedelic integration therapist is to help individuals who experience treatment resistant mood disorders and complicated grief obtain relief and rediscover a new sense of normalcy. She provides Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy, a therapeutic approach that utilizes ketamine (a physician prescribed anesthetic) to help rebalance the brain and accelerate the therapeutic process through psychedelic integration. eMotion Therapy specializes in EAP Counseling Services, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Family Therapy, Telemental Health, Critical Incident Response, Grief Counseling and Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. eMotion Therapy also provides bilingual counseling services to Spanish speaking individuals & children. If you are interested in scheduling a consultation, please visit https://emotiontherapy.clientsecure.me to request an appointment.

My guest in this episode is Dr. Elizabeth Graves, Ph.D., LCMHC-S. Elizabeth is a private practice therapist in Asheville, NC, where she works with persons with life-threatening illnesses, terminal illness, or those suffering complicated bereavement, grief, and loss. Most recently, she spent 10 years in academia training clinical mental health, marriage and family, college, and school counselors while maintaining her small private practice. Prior to that, she spent 10 years working with children and adolescents in rural Appalachian schools, and over 5 years as a child/adolescent/family therapist in a psychiatric hospital, and crisis mental health assessment specialist in the emergency department, and as a therapist in a community mental health center for adjudicated adolescents. 

 Her research focus areas are:  a.) factors that foster resilience in survivors of child sexual abuse and trauma, b.) intersections of counseling and spirituality, c.) factors that influence mastery of clinical skills, and d.) meaningful end of life. Her current professional practice includes: counseling/therapy, spiritual direction offerings for individuals/groups, Soul Collage groups, licensure supervision, death doula/end of life planning, and Motivational Interviewing trainings for professionals working with adolescents and marginalized populations.

 Among many topics we discussed:

·      Death doulas’ role of transitioning out of this world.

·      Acorn theory

·      Bowing to your journey [we get really vulnerable]

·      David Whyte’s poem: Well of Grief

Erin Leon is a trauma-informed movement teacher and a health and life coach for Highly Sensitive People (HSPs). She utilizes the power of movement via dance and yoga to guide clients to reconnect with and return home to their bodies, especially after experiencing trauma.

Erin’s coaching and movement classes empower clients to slow down and listen closely to the needs of their body and sensitive nervous system in each moment. Her style of teaching focuses on breath awareness, gentle movements, and moments of pause to turn inward.

Erin is an avid journaler and writer as well. You can access her free journal called Me Here Now which helps you increase gratitude, presence, and self-love. She also has a journal for purchase, Journal Into the Self: A Self-Love Guide for Sensitive Souls.

To find out more about Erin or her offerings, please visit emindmove.com.
Instagram: @eMindMove

In this episode Matt sat down with Mallori DeSalle to discuss the use of applying therapeutic humor in the helping relationship, and in life! Mallori is a licensed therapist, member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers and Certified MINT Trainer. Mallori is also on faculty at Indiana University, and a Humorist. She is truly an true expert on integrating humor to make the conversations go a little bit smoother. She is well-known for sparking curiosity in both the young and young-at-heart, and you'll hear from activities used in this episode that she sparked curiosity in Matt. 

Mallori works with people all over the world.  Her passion for creating a lasting impact led her to the public health field and for the past 15 years she has worked at Prevention Insights, a center within the School of Public Health at Indiana University, Bloomington.  She has served on the Board of Directors for the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor and in 2021 she became a TEDx speaker. 

You can learn more about Mallori by visiting her website: https://malloridesalle.com/

Link to The Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor: https://www.aath.org/

In this episode Matt McKenzie sat down with Dr. Stan Steindl to discuss compassion focused therapy (CFT), compassion fatigue, the role of compassion in the spirit of motivational interviewing (MI), and a few other key factors regarding compassion.

Dr. Stan Steindl. Stan is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice at Psychology Consultants Pty Ltd, and an Adjunct Professor at the School of Psychology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. He is also co-director of the UQ Compassionate Mind Research Group. Stan has over 20 years of experience as a therapist, supervisor, trainer and researcher, and works with clients from motivational interviewing and compassion focused therapy perspectives. Stan has authored Compassion in a T-Shirt: The First 35 Scripts (2020) and The Gifts of Compassion: How to Understand and Overcome Suffering (2020). Stan is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers.
 
You can learn more about Stan by visiting his website: https://www.stansteindl.com/