The Affirming Minds Podcast

In this episode of The Affirming Minds Podcast, Shaina Siber, LCSW sits down with Brandi Herring, LMHC — co-founder and CEO of Cymbiose AI, a culturally responsive, HIPAA-compliant AI assistant built by clinicians, for clinicians.

Together, they explore what it looks like when therapists don’t just adapt to systems — but help design them.

This conversation covers:

Ethical AI in mental health and why clinician leadership matters

Bias, cultural responsiveness, and diagnostic clarity

Turning documentation into a clinical and professional asset

Moving from clinician to founder — even without a tech background

If you’ve been curious about AI but cautious about ethics, privacy, or impact on care, this episode offers a grounded, clinician-centered perspective on how technology can support — not replace — human-centered therapy.

Cymbiose AI supports clinicians with documentation, cultural and structural insights, supervision tracking, and CE recommendations — all designed to strengthen care quality while reducing administrative burden.

Brandi Herring: @brandithetherapist

Cymbiose AI: @cymbioseai  Cymbiose AI

**Want CE/CEUs for this episode?**

Earn continuing education credit for this episode here: https://www.affirmmentalhealth.com/courses/bef7dce9-2244-44ad-bd43-8014ba89ee86   

Looking for more? Explore our convenient, affordable CE bundles or browse our full library of podcast courses, on-demand webinars, and live virtual trainings at affirmmentalhealth.com.  

  Why is behavior change so hard—even when we genuinely want to change?

In this episode of The Affirming Minds Podcast, we explore how survival wiring, unconscious patterns, and longevity science shape habit formation and behavior change. Drawing from behavioral science, psychodynamic psychology, and emerging healthspan research, this conversation examines why willpower alone rarely works—and what supports sustainable, values-aligned change instead.

Shaina is joined by Laura Elorza Isaza, Clinical Psychologist, to discuss autopilot living, discipline vs. motivation, shame-free approaches to habit change, and how understanding unconscious processes can help individuals design behaviors that support long-term mental and physical well-being.

Mental Health Edit (Non-CE Episode)

📄 FREE Guide: Podcasting for Therapists
https://www.canva.com/design/DAG8ibvnb3k/wc9YVR0csvGvsvDgZRWRaQ/view 

Thinking about starting a podcast as a therapist or clinician? This episode offers a realistic conversation about podcasting, creativity, sustainability, and lessons learned from building a therapist-led show.

🎙️ Guest: Tobin Richardson, creator of Save the Therapist

🎧 Save the Therapist Podcast & Platform
https://savethetherapist.com 

🎓 Live Training: Ethical Decision-Making for Public-Facing Therapists
Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1977913650974 

Perinatal OCD on Screen with Little Disasters Author Sarah Vaughan

In this episode of The Mental Health Edit, Shaina Siber, host of The Affirming Minds Podcast, speaks with Sarah Vaughan, bestselling author of Anatomy of a Scandal and Little Disasters, about perinatal obsessive-compulsive disorder, maternal mental health, and why accurate media representation matters far beyond the therapy room. Little Disasters—now a limited series streaming on Little Disasters—offers a rare, thoughtful portrayal of intrusive thoughts, shame, avoidance, and institutional response, and Sarah generously reflects on how her experiences of motherhood informed both the novel and its screen adaptation.

Watch: https://www.paramountplus.com
Read: Little Disasters: A Novel: Vaughan, Sarah: 9781501172229: Amazon.com: Books (or your preferred bookseller)

Learn more about AFFIRM Mental Health: https://www.affirmmentalhealth.com  

**Want CE/CEUs for this episode?**

Earn continuing education credit for this episode here: https://www.affirmmentalhealth.com/courses/7fb731ff-f13a-4fcc-bc18-9fd6730be3e5  

Looking for more? Explore our convenient, affordable CE bundles or browse our full library of podcast courses, on-demand webinars, and live virtual trainings at affirmmentalhealth.com.  

As mental health knowledge increasingly moves beyond the therapy room and into public-facing spaces—social media, podcasts, blogs, and newsletters—therapists are navigating new ethical terrain.

In this episode of The Affirming Minds Podcast, host Shaina Siber, LCSW is joined by licensed psychologist and DBT expert Dr. Kiki Fehling for a thoughtful conversation about what it means for therapists to show up publicly with integrity, clarity, and ethical care.

Together, they explore how public-facing psychoeducation can expand access, reduce stigma, and counter misinformation—while also examining ethical considerations around visibility, self-disclosure, confidentiality, political expression, and professional identity. Rather than offering rigid rules, this episode invites clinicians into a more reflective, values-driven approach to public engagement.

**Want CE/CEUs for this episode?**

Earn continuing education credit for this episode here: https://www.affirmmentalhealth.com/courses/73071727-aaa2-42a5-9b68-2c7b0d9a6ccd 

Looking for more? Explore our convenient, affordable CE bundles or browse our full library of podcast courses, on-demand webinars, and live virtual trainings at affirmmentalhealth.com.  

Today we explore how Internal Family Systems (IFS) and attachment theory intersect—and why this integration offers such powerful clinical clarity. We discuss how early attachment experiences shape protectors, how authenticity gets exiled in favor of connection, and what it looks like to build a secure internal attachment between Self and parts.

If you’d like an IFS foundation first, listen to Episode #35 with Kendall Hart.

In this special Mental Health Edit episode of The Affirming Minds Podcast, host Shaina Siber, LCSW speaks with the brilliant Megan Gallagher, the Oslo-based, American-born writer behind All Her Fault — the #1 show on Peacock and a breakout hit that blends psychological suspense with piercing social commentary.

Megan’s adaptation of Andrea Mara’s novel delivers a propulsive, twist-heavy thriller while unearthing deeper themes: the mental load of parenthood, weaponized incompetence, gendered blame, disability representation, caregiving, and the quiet emotional burdens that shape family life.

If you love psychologically rich storytelling — or you’re a therapist who wants to explore how mental health shows up in the stories we consume — this conversation is essential.

Megan Gallagher is an acclaimed screenwriter known for bold, emotionally grounded, character-driven thrillers. Her work includes:

Watch All Her Fault on Peacock Explore CE-eligible podcourses at affirmmentalhealth.com

Follow @affirmmentalhealth on Instagram for updates

If you loved this episode please follow, rate, and share with fellow clinicians and pop-culture enthusiasts. Your support helps expand thoughtful, nuanced conversations about mental health in media.

**Want CE/CEUs for this episode?**

Earn continuing education credit for this episode here: https://www.affirmmentalhealth.com/courses/e0c9c08f-969f-4f55-9a46-318112be6d8b 

Looking for more? Explore our convenient, affordable CE bundles or browse our full library of podcast courses, on-demand webinars, and live virtual trainings at affirmmentalhealth.com.  

  In this episode of The Affirming Minds Podcast, host Shaina Siber, LCSW sits down with Dr. Teresa Hsu-Walklet — clinical psychologist, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Founder of S.P.E.A.K. (A Supportive Place for Empowering Asian Americans & Kin) — to explore the growing mental-health crisis among Asian American teens.

Dr. Hsu discusses the historical and cultural context that shapes Asian American mental health — from early immigration and Japanese internment to the Vietnam War and the 2020 surge in anti-Asian hate during COVID-19. She shares how these systemic and generational experiences of trauma continue to influence today’s youth and why culturally responsive interventions are critical for prevention and healing.

We dive into her groundbreaking new resource, The Asian American Teen’s Mental Health Workbook, and the community-based work of S.P.E.A.K., which empowers Asian American families and providers through education, destigmatization, and research-driven advocacy.

**Want CE/CEUs for this episode?**

Earn continuing education credit for this episode here: https://www.affirmmentalhealth.com/courses/221c6ae9-7c7e-4e42-a6ef-9143509dbd1c 

Looking for more? Explore our convenient, affordable CE bundles or browse our full library of podcast courses, on-demand webinars, and live virtual trainings at affirmmentalhealth.com.  

Infertility affects an estimated 1 in 6 people worldwide, yet remains one of the least explored topics in clinical education. In this episode of The Affirming Minds Podcast, Shaina Siber-Sanderowitz, LCSW, sits down with Hilary Hovis, LCSW to unpack the emotional and psychological dimensions of infertility and IVF treatment—and how therapists can offer informed, compassionate care to clients navigating these deeply personal experiences.

Hilary brings both professional expertise and lived experience to the conversation. She specializes in helping women and non-binary clients explore the intersections of body image, disordered eating, and reproductive grief, and her insights illuminate what it means to hold space for grief, hope, and identity shifts when the body becomes the site of uncertainty.

**Want CE/CEUs for this episode?**

Earn continuing education credit for this episode here: https://www.affirmmentalhealth.com/courses/893bf010-c6d9-4161-907f-7f358e7d93fb 

Looking for more? Explore our convenient, affordable CE bundles or browse our full library of podcast courses, on-demand webinars, and live virtual trainings at affirmmentalhealth.com.  

  In this episode of The Affirming Minds Podcast, host Shaina Siber, LCSW sits down with Alyssa Scarano, LPC, NCC, founder and Clinical Director of The Collective Therapy & Wellness, to explore how family pain and protection get passed down through relationships—and how therapy can interrupt those cycles.

Grounded in the frameworks of Bowenian Family Systems Theory and Attachment Theory, the conversation looks at how early family roles like caretaker, peacekeeper, or over-functioner often repeat across generations. Shaina and Alyssa unpack what it means to notice these patterns, develop differentiation, and create new ways of relating that align with our values rather than our survival instincts.

This episode offers a clinically rich, compassion-driven lens for therapists and anyone interested in understanding how healing within relationships can begin to transform entire family systems.