This week the docs are concerned about trends in how stimulant medication is discussed and used without prescriptions, so we consulted the research. We discuss the actual effects of the medication, investigate whether they will improve your grades, your intelligence, or your problem-solving abilities, the implications for mood, and what all this means for people at different stages of life.

Research

Ilieva, I. P., & Farah, M. J. (2013). Enhancement stimulants: perceived motivational and cognitive advantages. Frontiers in neuroscience, 7, 198. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2013.00198

Arria, A. M., Wilcox, H. C., Caldeira, K. M., Vincent, K. B., Garnier-Dykstra, L. M., & O’Grady, K. E. (2013). Perceived academic benefit is associated with nonmedical prescription stimulant use among college students. Addictive Behaviors, 38(3), 2038–2043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.12.011

Weyandt, L. L., White, T. L., Gudmundsdottir, B. G., Nitenson, A. Z., Rathkey, E. S., De Leon, K. A., & Bjorn, S. A. (2018). Neurocognitive, autonomic, and mood effects of Adderall: A pilot study of healthy college students. Pharmacy, 6(3), 58. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmacy6030058

The Times 2/2/26 https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/40-percent-stanford-undergraduates-claim-disabled-sw99r3k8c

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Today the docs welcome Dr. Monika Sharma, who has spoken and written about her experience as the owner of a group psychotherapy practice participating in insurance networks. She discusses the particulars and behind-the-scenes details of being in-network therapists, including insurance audits, clawbacks, coding, diagnoses, and more. We end on a hopeful note with some new legislative efforts aimed at addressing the underlying dynamics that lead therapists to leave insurance networks.

Our guest today: Monika Sharma, PsyD is a psychologist, hypnotherapist, and life coach specializing in burnout recovery and midlife transitions. She is the former owner of a group psychotherapy practice, NVision You, which she chose to close at the end of 2024 after her own experience with burnout. Dr. Sharma is now back in solo practice to work more intentionally, sustainably, and provide her clients with more personalized care.

https://sharmapsych.com/

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/09/therapists-health-insurance-bill/

https://projects.propublica.org/why-i-left-the-network/

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This week, the docs tackle a deceptively big question: what even is therapy? The duration of therapy in many ways depends on what the point of it was in the first place. Is it treatment? Personal growth? Life improvement? We dig into the ethics of long-term therapy, the incentive structures that can make clients (and clinicians!) uneasy, how therapists can support a thoughtful and ethical termination, and signs that you may have gotten what you can from a particular therapy experience.

And yes, this should go without saying, BUT if you are at risk of hurting yourself or someone else, don’t quit therapy!

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This week the docs are in it to help you find a good therapist. Where should you start? How do you know who’s a good fit? Does the brand of therapy matter? When you reach out, does no one call you back? We have ideas. Also discussed: dogs and zoomies, books we’re reading right now, favorite biopics and memoirs, why you should go to the movies, and Whitney is working on a couple upcoming podcast topics, including how mental illness is co-created within cultures and the history of the DSM.

Some therapist directories:

Psychology Today

American Board of Professional Psychology

American Academy of Pediatric Neuropsychology

PSYPACT Directory

International OCD Foundation

National Eating Disorders Association and National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

The Secular Therapy Project

The Jewish Therapist Collective

American Association of Christian Counselors

Muslim Therapist Directory

VA National Center for PTSD

National Child Traumatic Stress Network

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The docs are enjoying a casual new years episode, filled with predictions for the next year based on our shared expertise and sometimes vibes. We consider a different model of making resolutions, discuss what actually works in behavior change, lean into the seasons, dream up some new business opportunities (we’re feeling entrepreneurial), embrace authenticity and in-person events, and look at other trends we’re seeing in mental health. Thanks for listening. We can’t wait to share new episodes in 2026!

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The docs are stoked this week to have as our guest Dr. Dean McKay! Our second guest ever and another extremely accomplished psychologist. Dr. McKay is a board-certified clinical psychologist working in both research and clinical practice, and his work focuses on anxiety, OCD, disgust, and the treatments for these conditions. We discuss where newer treatments fit (or don’t fit) in the historical foundations of psychotherapy, a couple of particular examples of pseudoscience that has crept into therapy practice, why this is happening in recent years, and some advice for individuals who want to find good treatment that based in science.

Dean McKay, PhD, ABPP, is Professor of Psychology at Fordham University. He has edited 23 books and published over 375 journal articles and book chapters. Dr. McKay is a licensed psychologist in NY, CT, and MA, and board-certified by the American Board of Professional Psychology. His expertise is in anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, the role of disgust in psychopathology, and professional issues in the delivery of science-based psychological interventions. Most recently, his work has shifted to focus primarily on the challenge of antisemitism and identity-based discrimination in the medical and mental health systems.

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The docs this week have tons to say about this article recently published in The Atlantic about rising rates of mental health disability accommodations in college. We talk ADHD, anxiety, depression, testing and assessment, the ADA and functional impairment. We’re snowed in and stir crazy from the extreme temps and ready to discuss this emotionally loaded issue.

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This week, the docs take a closer look at masking, also known as camouflaging, an experience often linked with autism and a frequent topic across social media. But is masking limited to autism, or can it also show up in other mental health conditions, like OCD? We unpack the research on OCD and autism, exploring how the two overlap, how they differ, and why so many people see themselves reflected in posts about masking, regardless of their diagnosis or lack thereof. We discuss how masking can shape everyday life and offer perspectives that invite more self-compassion, reflection, and curiosity around masking and mental health.

References (selected studies discussed in the episode): Evans et al., 2024 (masking & mental health); Zhuang et al., 2023 (systematic review of camouflaging); Khudiakova et al., 2024 (meta-analysis on camouflaging and mental health); Long et al., 2024 (autism–OCD interplay); Alaghband-Rad et al., 2023 (camouflaging in adult autism).

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This week the docs are pretty confused about a recent internet meme going around, probably because of their advanced age. We take a scenic tour of the history of meme theory and how internet trends reflect aspects of our psychology.

Mentioned in this episode:The Meme Machine by Susan Blackmore

Research by Berger & Milkman: What makes online content go viral?

Other research:

What message features influence the intention to share misinformation about COVID-19 on social media? The role of efficacy and novelty

Dissecting the meme magic: Understanding indicators of virality in image memes

Social media and morality

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We’re talking all our favorite brands, brands, brands, brands. This week the docs do a deep dive on the origins of psychotherapy. We look at how different forms of therapy emerged in the 20th century, the assumptions underlying different therapeutic approaches, and what you might expect depending on the style of treatment your therapist uses. It’s a solid, if slightly “informal” (as Mary Berry would say) history lesson. We save the most recent trends in therapy for a future episode. And at the end we revisit our social media pledges and how it went trying to change our scrolling habits.

Mentioned in this episode:

Desperate Remedies by Andrew Scull

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