The D Spot

Dr. Kenneth J. Doka is a Professor Emeritus at the Graduate School of The College of New Rochelle and Senior Vice-President for Grief Programs for the Hospice Foundation of America. He is one of the authors of the text, Dying & Death: Life & Living and is also a prolific author.

Dr. Doka was elected President of the Association for Death Education and Counseling in 1993. In 1995, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Work Group on Dying, Death, and Bereavement and served as chair from 1997-1999. He's been awarded many accolades by this society as well.

Dr. Doka has keynoted conferences throughout North America as well as Europe, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. He participates in the annual Hospice Foundation of America Teleconference and has appeared on CNN and Nightline. In addition, he has served as a consultant to medical, nursing, funeral service, and hospice organizations as well as businesses and educational and social service agencies. Dr. Doka is an ordained Lutheran minister.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

- Different types of grief, and how they depend on their relationship with the person they lost.

- How culture affects the way grief is experienced and expressed.

- The disenfranchisement of grief when it is not taken seriously by others.

Connect with Dr. Kenneth Doka:

Website: http://drkendoka.com/

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://danamcneil.com/

Therapy Package: www.therapygetaway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDanaMcNeil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanamcneil/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-mcneil/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiGMC8VeLRMFl8FN9MYFSg

Judy Herman is a therapist that inspires executive women with resistant spouses to unlock the power of their authentic selves in order to live peaceful, purposeful, & positive lives without regret.

She provides keynote addresses seminars and workshops for companies that support women in leadership while honoring authentic work relationships and cultures. Her clinical and personal experiences enhance her work as an executive coach providing skills and resources that change organizations and family trees.

Judy K. Herman is a counselor, speaker, and author of Beyond Messy Relationships: Divine Invitations To Your Authentic Self.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

- Managing differences in relationships without trying to control another person.

- Strategies we can use to create an emotionally safe space between two people.

- Learning to accept ourselves and our partners unconditionally in order to foster healthy relationships.

Connect with Judy:

Website: https://www.judycounselor.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judykherman/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judykherman/

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://danamcneil.com/

Therapy Package: www.therapygetaway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDanaMcNeil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanamcneil/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-mcneil/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiGMC8VeLRMFl8FN9MYFSg

Estela Bobadilla is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Founder of the Alba Center. as She has served the Latinx community for the past 15 years. As a bilingual and bi-cultural therapist, she understands the challenges that many of her clients encounter in their daily lives. She specializes in working with native Spanish speakers, First-gen Latinx, and the LGBTQA+ community.

Estela is a certified Jungian Analyst who incorporates dream work when working with clients. The anatomy of the psyche recognizes the cultural psyche as an important aspect of the unconscious. Through the understanding of the psyche, she helps people who are experiencing depression, anxiety, cultural issues, mood disorders, relational issues, and identity formation.

Estela also works with couples with intimacy problems and helps her clients reconnect as a couple in meaningful ways. She helps couples recover from affairs and infidelity, sexual disorders, parenting, separation, and divorce.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

- How the Latinx community views self-care, and how this can conflict with pursuing individual happiness.

- How bicultural couples may have different levels of acculturation, and how this can impact their relationship.

- How to interpret dreams involving ex-partners, and what this may mean for the dreamer's current relationship.

Connect with Estela:

Website: https://alba.center

Twitter: https://twitter.com/albacentersd

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://danamcneil.com/

Therapy Package: www.therapygetaway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDanaMcNeil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanamcneil/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-mcneil/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiGMC8VeLRMFl8FN9MYFSg

Farnaz Safaei is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist with a Master's degree in Clinician Counseling from Point Loma Nazarene University. She has experience working with adults and adolescents with severe mental illness in an Intensive Outpatient Program at Sharp Mesa Vista Hospital. Throughout her career, she has supported individuals, families, and couples in skill acquisition to increase their coping skills in managing mood, achieving life goals, and creating long-lasting relationships. She is an Iranian immigrant and provides therapy in Farsi with a special understanding in Middle Eastern culture and dynamics.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

- The different reasons people might seek out couples therapy, which may be different than what is commonly assumed.

- The stigma around mental health in some cultures, and how that may impact people's willingness to seek help.

- The different ways that therapists can provide reassurance to clients about confidentiality and privacy.

Connect with Farnaz:

Website: https://www.sdrelationshipplace.com/

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://danamcneil.com/

Therapy Package: www.therapygetaway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDanaMcNeil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanamcneil/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-mcneil/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiGMC8VeLRMFl8FN9MYFSg

Sara Focht is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the Clinical Director at The Relationship Place. Sara is trained in and utilizes the Gottman Method for couples therapy. She has substantial experience in working with couples who want premarital counseling, rebuilding trust and connection after betrayals, and learning to change patterns of high conflict. Sara is passionate about breaking down the stigma of what it means to go to therapy and supports a diverse community of couples, military families, LGBTQIA+, ethical non-monogamy, and intercultural relationships.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

- Creating shared meaning in a relationship to have something to rely on.

- Breaking stigmas about non-traditional relationships and helping those people through normal relationship struggles.

- The role of the therapist in helping couples navigate difficult conversations.

Connect with Sara:

Website: ​​https://www.sdrelationshipplace.com/

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://danamcneil.com/

Therapy Package: www.therapygetaway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDanaMcNeil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanamcneil/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-mcneil/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiGMC8VeLRMFl8FN9MYFSg

Savannah Schwenning is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She received a master's degree from Alliant International University. Her experience began working in a rehabilitation facility with individuals in recovery from substance abuse where she provided individual therapy, group, and family sessions.

Savannah currently works at The Relationship Place where she provides couples therapy, individual therapy, and family therapy sessions. She supports couples by using The Gottman Method, which has become a therapy modality that prevails at the practice. She brings a client-centered and optimistic approach to therapy, where sessions are tailored to each unique individual and couple.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

- How to be intentional in conversations with your partner when you learn the tools you need in therapy.

- The importance of being mindful of your partner's needs while knowing your own boundaries.

- Strengths in communicating versus reactionary emotional responses.

Connect with Savannah:

Website: https://www.sdrelationshipplace.com/meet-our-team/about-savannah-schwenning/

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://danamcneil.com/

Therapy Package: www.therapygetaway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDanaMcNeil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanamcneil/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-mcneil/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiGMC8VeLRMFl8FN9MYFSg

Sabrina Manriquez is a clinician working with The Relationship Place working to assist couples and individuals in creating a more fulfilling life. After working with youth in crisis and seeing how parental dynamics can completely shift the household experience, Sabrina set out to work towards creating change within a family system that could better serve future generations. Sabrina currently sees individuals and couples setting out to better themselves and seeking to meet the “best version of themselves”.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

- Learning about making a difference in youth crisis.

- The changing landscape of relationships since the COVID-19 pandemic.

- The healing processes of couples in therapy, especially working through betrayal.

- Creating spaces where difficult conversations can happen safely.

Connect with Sabrina:

Website: https://www.sdrelationshipplace.com/meet-our-team/about-sabrina-manriquez/

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://danamcneil.com/

Therapy Package: www.therapygetaway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDanaMcNeil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanamcneil/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-mcneil/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiGMC8VeLRMFl8FN9MYFSg

Samuel Guntner is an associate therapist at The Relationship Place in San Diego. His area of focus is on men's mental health, and he currently practices the Gottman method for couples. He is originally from the greater Los Angeles area. In his free time, he loves skateboarding, record collecting, and visiting art museums.

He became interested in therapy after working as an art instructor for people with developmental disabilities. He realized that he was good at helping people empower themselves and achieve their goals. He also realized that he had severe anxiety that he wasn't acknowledging. Guntner's research focuses on men and intimate connection. He believes that men often have a difficult time expressing their emotions. He tries to help men understand their emotions and how to express them in a healthy way. If a couple is having difficulty communicating, Guntner recommends that they try couples therapy. He believes that couples therapy can help improve relationships and help people understand their emotions.

In this episode, you will learn the following:

- How men process and express anxiety differently than women

- The importance of emotional expression in relationships

- How to use journaling and other tools to help men become more emotionally involved

Connect with Sam:

Instagram: @samgtherapy

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://danamcneil.com/

Therapy Package: www.therapygetaway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDanaMcNeil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanamcneil/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-mcneil/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiGMC8VeLRMFl8FN9MYFSg

Jennifer Gunsaullus, PhD, is a sociologist, international intimacy speaker, and a relationship & communication coach, and the author of From Madness to Mindfulness: Reinventing Sex for Women. Dr. Jenn has presented two TEDx Talks, co-hosts the podcast Sex Talk with Clint & the Doc, and has over 1.7 million views on her In the Den with Dr. Jenn YouTube series.

Here is what to expect on this week’s show:

- Vulnerability with sexuality.

- Working with female pleasure and tying it to what it means to be a woman.

- Unlearning societal sigmas around feminity and sexuality.

- Gaining comfort with discomfort.

Connect with Jennifer:

Website: https://www.drjennsden.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.gunsaullus

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/drjennsden

Twitter: https://twitter.com/drjennsden

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjennsden/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjennsden/

Sex Talk with Clint & the Doc (podcast): https://www.drjennsden.com/podcast

From Madness to Mindfulness: Reinventing Sex for Women (book): https://tinyurl.com/y3lrq6o6

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://danamcneil.com/

Therapy Package: www.therapygetaway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDanaMcNeil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanamcneil/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-mcneil/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiGMC8VeLRMFl8FN9MYFSg

Martha Kauppi is a marriage and family therapist, educator, author, speaker, and AASECT-certified sex therapist and supervisor. She has a lifelong career in health and sexuality and is a senior trainer of the Developmental Model of Couples Therapy. Martha trains therapists all over the world to work more effectively with relational intimacy challenges and sex issues. She is the author of the groundbreaking new book Polyamory: A Clinical Toolkit for Therapists (and Their Clients).

Here’s what to expect on this week’s show:

- Working in midwifery and family counseling through health education.

- Defining polyamory and what that means in terms of commitment and fidelity.

- Common mistakes in exploring polyamory in relationships.

- Communicating effectively while navigating the hard parts.

Connect with Martha:

Website: www.instituteforrelationalintimacy.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/martha.kauppi

Instagram: instagram.com/martha_kauppi/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/institute-for-relational-intimacy/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MarthaKauppiLMFTIRI

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://danamcneil.com/

Therapy Package: www.therapygetaway.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrDanaMcNeil/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdanamcneil/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-dana-mcneil/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTiGMC8VeLRMFl8FN9MYFSg