The Good Enough Psychiatrist

What does it look like to build a career in psychiatry that extends beyond the traditional clinical setting?

In this episode of The Good Enough Psychiatrist, Chris and Ross welcome Dr. Jennifer Reid, a board-certified psychiatrist, award-winning educator, podcast host, and author, to explore the many paths a career in psychiatry can take.

Drawing on her experiences in private practice, academic medicine, podcasting, and publishing, Dr. Reid shares insights into building a multifaceted professional life. Together, we explore how interests evolve throughout a career, how different professional roles can complement one another, and what it means to pursue opportunities that align with your personal values and passions.

We also discuss the growing role of psychiatrists in public education and media, including the challenges and rewards of translating complex psychiatric concepts into accessible conversations. Dr. Reid reflects on creating A Mind of Her Own, writing her book Guilt Free: Reclaiming Your Life from Unreasonable Expectations, and navigating the creative process alongside clinical responsibilities.

Finally, we consider practical advice for trainees and early-career psychiatrists interested in exploring writing, teaching, entrepreneurship, and other professional opportunities while maintaining balance and avoiding burnout.

Key Topics

• ​Building a career beyond traditional clinical psychiatry
• ​Navigating private practice and academic medicine
• ​Developing a multifaceted or portfolio career
• ​Finding professional fulfillment through creative pursuits
• ​Podcasting and public-facing mental health education
• ​Communicating psychiatric concepts to broader audiences
• ​Writing and publishing a book
• ​Balancing professional interests and personal wellbeing
• ​Recognizing opportunities and learning when to say no
• ​Mentorship, networking, and professional development
• ​Advice for psychiatry residents and early-career psychiatrists

About Our Guest

Dr. Jennifer Reid is a board-certified psychiatrist, award-winning educator, and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the creator and host of A Mind of Her Own, a podcast and Substack publication exploring mental health and psychiatry, and the author of Guilt Free: Reclaiming Your Life from Unreasonable Expectations. Her career spans private practice, academic medicine, public education, and publishing.

Resources Mentioned

• ​A Mind of Her Own — Podcast and Substack by Dr. Jennifer Reid
• ​Guilt Free: Reclaiming Your Life from Unreasonable Expectations — Dr. Jennifer Reid

The Good Enough Psychiatrist explores the human side of psychiatry, medical training, and professional growth through conversations about connection, meaning, clinical care, and the experiences that shape our lives inside and outside of medicine.

What does it mean to become a parent while navigating the demands of medical training?

In this episode of The Good Enough Psychiatrist, Chris and Hesham explore the experience of having a child during residency—from deciding when to start a family to navigating parental leave, returning to work, and finding balance between professional and personal responsibilities.

We discuss the many considerations that go into planning for parenthood during medical training, including demanding schedules, finances, career transitions, and access to family support. We also explore the emotional complexities of stepping away from training, the guilt that can accompany parental leave, and the challenges of returning to clinical work while adjusting to life with a newborn.

Beyond the logistics, we reflect on how becoming a parent reshapes relationships, priorities, and identity. How do you make meaningful time for your child while maintaining your relationship with your partner? Where does personal time fit when so much of your day is already spoken for? And how do you navigate the competing demands of being a physician, partner, parent, and individual?

Finally, we consider how parenthood may change the way clinicians understand and care for children and families. From attachment and child development to empathy and family dynamics, we explore the ways lived experience can inform clinical practice.

Key Topics

• Deciding when to have a child during residency
• Family planning and career considerations in medical training
• Pregnancy, parental leave, and residency scheduling
• Navigating guilt and expectations around taking time off
• Returning to clinical work after having a child
• Balancing parenthood, partnership, and professional responsibilities
• Maintaining relationships and personal wellbeing
• Finding time for yourself while raising a child
• How parenthood changes identity and priorities
• The impact of parenthood on working with children and families
• How residency programs can better support physician parents

Through this conversation, we explore the joys, challenges, and unexpected lessons of becoming a parent during training—and what it means to grow both as a clinician and as a person.

The Good Enough Psychiatrist explores the human side of psychiatry, medical training, and life through conversations about connection, relationships, identity, and the experiences that shape who we become inside and outside of medicine.

What does it actually feel like to finish residency after years of training—and then immediately become the new person again?

In this episode of The Good Enough Psychiatrist, Ross talks with Chris about graduating from psychiatry residency and beginning fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Chris reflects on the unusual experience of fast-tracking from residency, from applying and interviewing for fellowship to ranking programs, planning a cross-country move, and saying goodbye to the people and places that defined residency.

Together, we look back at the emotional highs and lows of training: the moments that built confidence, the experiences that changed how we think about patients, and the relationships that helped make difficult stretches manageable. We also explore the complicated emotions that can accompany graduation—the excitement and relief, but also grief, uncertainty, and the loss of an identity and community that took years to build.

Finally, we look forward. What is it like to go from feeling established in residency to starting over as a fellow? Chris shares his hopes for becoming a child and adolescent psychiatrist, building a new community, and defining success in fellowship beyond simply completing another stage of training.

Topics discussed include:

• Fast-tracking from psychiatry residency into fellowship
• Applying, interviewing, and ranking fellowship programs
• Saying goodbye to residency and moving across the country
• The emotional experience of graduating from medical training
• How residency changes your identity
• The highs, lows, and relationships that shape training
• Becoming comfortable with uncertainty as a psychiatrist
• Starting over as a new fellow
• Transitioning into Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Finding community after relocation
• What residency takes from us—and what it gives us
• Redefining success in the next stage of training

Research discussed:
We also consider research on transitions in medical training and what these major professional milestones can mean for physician identity, wellbeing, and development.

PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41284528/

The Good Enough Psychiatrist explores the human side of psychiatry and medical training—the relationships, transitions, uncertainties, and experiences that shape who we become as clinicians and as people.

In this episode of The Good Enough Psychiatrist, we reflect on some of the most memorable sessions and conversations from the APA Annual Meeting. From emerging treatments to career development and the future direction of the field, we discuss the ideas that challenged our assumptions and sparked our curiosity.

We explore innovations in interventional psychiatry, including ketamine, deep brain stimulation (DBS), vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), and stellate ganglion block (SGB), and consider what these treatments may mean for patients with treatment-resistant conditions. We also discuss the growing interest in metabolic psychiatry and Christopher Palmer’s “Brain Energy” framework, which proposes new ways of understanding the relationship between mental and physical health.

Beyond clinical topics, we reflect on lessons about mentorship, leadership, networking, and career development. From choosing a first job to finding mentors and building a professional identity, we share practical advice that resonated with us as trainees preparing for the next phase of our careers.

Most importantly, we discuss what conferences like APA can offer beyond the lectures: opportunities to connect with colleagues, explore new ideas, and remember the broader community that exists within psychiatry.

Topics discussed include:

* Highlights from the APA Annual Meeting

* Stellate ganglion block for PTSD

* Ketamine for treatment-resistant depression and suicidality

* Deep brain stimulation for OCD

* Vagus nerve stimulation for depression

* The future of interventional psychiatry

* Christopher Palmer’s Brain Energy theory

* Metabolic approaches to mental health

* Mentorship and leadership development

* Academic and career pathways in psychiatry

* Job searching and contract negotiation

* Networking and making the most of professional conferences

* Lessons we’re bringing back to training and clinical practice

Whether you’re a trainee, early-career psychiatrist, or simply interested in where the field is headed, this episode offers a glimpse into the ideas, conversations, and questions shaping the future of psychiatry.

The Good Enough Psychiatrist explores the human side of psychiatry, training, and professional growth through conversations about connection, meaning, clinical care, and lifelong learning.

Welcome back to The Good Enough Psychiatrist.

In this episode, we're joined by Eric Wagner, a psychiatry resident and founder of Fortifying Wellness, an integrative psychiatry practice in Colorado. Together, we explore the role hobbies play in helping us maintain balance, build community, and stay connected to ourselves throughout training and beyond.

Using coffee as our starting point, we discuss how a simple hobby can become a source of connection—with family, friends, colleagues, and even patients. We reflect on how hobbies evolve throughout medical training, what happens when we lose touch with activities that bring us joy, and why cultivating interests outside of medicine may be essential for long-term wellbeing.

Eric shares his path into psychiatry, his interest in integrative approaches to mental health, and his journey toward launching a private practice. We also dive into the surprisingly nuanced world of coffee, from brewing methods and bean selection to the rituals that transform a daily beverage into a meaningful practice.

Topics discussed include:

Eric's path into psychiatry

Launching Fortifying Wellness Integrative Psychiatry

Building a career in Colorado

The role of hobbies in maintaining wellbeing

How coffee became a passion and source of connection

Relationships built through shared interests

The intersection of hobbies and patient care

Preserving identity outside of medicine

Coffee brewing techniques, equipment, and experimentation

Finding meaning and community through everyday rituals

We also discuss recent research examining coffee consumption and health outcomes, including cognitive function, dementia risk, and cardiovascular health.

Studies Mentioned

Zhang Y, Liu Y, Li Y, et al. Coffee and Tea Intake, Dementia Risk, and Cognitive Function. JAMA. 2026;335(11):961–974.

Wong CX, Cheung CC, Montenegro G, et al. Caffeinated Coffee Consumption or Abstinence to Reduce Atrial Fibrillation: The DECAF Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2026;335(4):317–325.

About Our Guest

Eric Wagner is a psychiatry resident and founder of Fortifying Wellness, an integrative psychiatry practice in Colorado. His interests include lifestyle psychiatry, integrative mental health care, physician wellbeing, and helping individuals build sustainable foundations for long-term wellness.

The Good Enough Psychiatrist explores the human side of psychiatry, training, and life through conversations about connection, meaning, relationships, and the experiences that sustain us both inside and outside of medicine.

For this episode of The Good Enough Psychiatrist, we’re joined by our co-resident Luke, an MD-PhD, researcher, and avid drummer, for a conversation about relationships and the many ways connection shapes our lives.

Relationships influence who we become, how we navigate challenges, and how we find meaning both inside and outside of medicine. Together, we explore how friendships, romantic partnerships, mentorship, and shared interests sustain us through the demands of psychiatric training and adulthood.

Luke reflects on his path to psychiatry, the role important relationships have played in his life, and how connection evolves over time. We discuss long-standing friendships, maintaining relationships across different stages of training and life, balancing a romantic partnership during residency, and the unique value of having people who have known us through different chapters of our lives.

We also explore how relationships help us weather difficult moments, process setbacks, and stay grounded when the demands of training feel overwhelming.

Topics discussed include:

* Luke’s journey into psychiatry

* The role of relationships in career and life decisions

* Romantic partnerships during residency

* Friendships across different stages of training

* The value of lifelong friendships

* Hobbies, music, and community-building

* Maintaining meaningful connections as adults

* Sources of support during difficult times

* How relationships sustain us through the challenges of medicine

The Good Enough Psychiatrist explores the human side of psychiatry, training, and life. Through conversations with colleagues, mentors, friends, and guests, we examine the relationships, experiences, and values that help us stay connected to what matters most.

Guest Bio

Luke is an MD-PhD trainee, psychiatry resident, researcher, and avid drummer. His interests include psychiatry, neuroscience, music, and the role of relationships in shaping identity, resilience, and wellbeing.

Note: We apologize for any inconsistencies in audio quality during this episode. We are continuing to improve our recording setup and appreciate your patience as we grow the podcast.

In this season opener of The Good Enough Psychiatrist, we explore connection, the idea of a holding environment, and what keeps us grounded through the demands of psychiatry and everyday life.

What does it mean to feel held—by our work, our relationships, and the world around us?

In this episode, we reflect on how connection sustains us through the emotional realities of psychiatry training and life more broadly. We move between the personal, professional, and societal, exploring what reminds us of what truly matters when things feel uncertain or overwhelming.

We discuss how connectedness shows up across different areas of life, including relationships, family, work, hobbies, grief, mental health, and being part of a larger community. This conversation sets the tone for the podcast: an honest, human look at psychiatry, training, and the experience of caring for others.

Future episodes will expand on these themes through conversations with guests and deeper reflections on meaning, relationships, and the human side of medicine.

Follow The Good Enough Psychiatrist for ongoing conversations about psychiatry, mental health, and connection.

In the first episode of The Good Enough Psychiatrist, two psychiatry residents reflect on why they chose psychiatry and why they felt compelled to start this podcast. They discuss the emotional complexity of psychiatric training, the tension between being a clinician and being human, and the unspoken experiences that come with residency. This conversation sets the tone for a podcast focused not just on psychiatric knowledge, but on the lived experience of practicing psychiatry.

Welcome to The Good Enough Psychiatrist.

In this introductory episode, Chris and Ross share the story behind the podcast and explore what drew them to psychiatry. They discuss the fascinating question of human behavior, the power of therapeutic relationships, and the diverse tools psychiatrists use to help patients—from psychotherapy and medications to advocacy and neuromodulation.

They also explore something that is rarely talked about openly: the emotional underbelly of psychiatric training. Residency can bring uncertainty, self-doubt, awe, and ethical tension—especially when navigating involuntary treatment, patient autonomy, and the responsibilities of clinical care.

Throughout the conversation, they introduce the “good enough” framework—an idea rooted in being present, responsive, and emotionally available rather than striving for impossible perfection.

This episode sets the foundation for the podcast: honest conversations about psychiatry, training, and the human side of medicine.

Arrival Fallacy in Medical Education
https://students-residents.aamc.org/medical-student-well-being/arrival-fallacy-medical-education-and-pursuit-happiness

Future episodes will include:

• Personal stories from psychiatric training

• Conversations about the emotional experience of practicing psychiatry

• Interviews with mentors, co-residents, and leaders in the field

• Discussions of clinical topics through a humanistic lens

• Occasional deep dives into psychiatric research and theory

  
  

  Have a question, story, or topic you'd like us to discuss?

  We’d love to hear from you. Reach out and be part of the conversation. Email us at [email protected].

  Also available on Apple Music and Substack.