The PsycHoe Podcast

Joined, once again, by Christopher DeFranco, clinical mental health professional, we conquer the topic of LGBTQIA+ and cover a list of ambiguities when it comes to proper etiquette. We start by breaking down the acronym to make it more digestible for the general public and go into detail about the I, the A, and the Plus. What do all of these letters encompass and how can we be confident and fully embody the expression of our desires?

Gender labels are important and we go into why this is, but it's important to note that it's not as simple as a google search. In other words, labels are for "me" to know. They provide clarity for individuals who struggle with understanding their own desires, not for others to be able to stick you in a box and call it a day.

How do we be respectful of people who might not fit into gender norms? What even IS gender? And how can we be even more inclusive and integrate these marginalized populations? Tune in to get your questions answered.

To find more, follow the link to my website: https://thepsychoe.com

As we all know, social isolation has taken a toll on all of us. Some feel this more than others depending on locality, and then there are those who are easily forgotten who truly suffer from the social distancing protocols. 

Currently, hospice patients are allowed zero outside contact and very limited contact with nurses, doctors, and other health professionals. Their loved ones are suffering as well, and are probably experiencing a gamut of emotions ranging from anger to helplessness. 

My dear friend, Robert Osmand, joins me today to share the strange situation he found himself in to shed light on just how heartbreaking this is for a large portion of our population. 

Do you find yourself to be the person cling onto as a rock when the storm hits? Well, you're not alone. Tune in for some like-minded thoughts, and walk away with tools to address this experience in order to extend love to the ones who need it most, including yourself. 

Follow the link below to read more into the science of neurochemicals that are naturally produced in our brains in response to stress and how they provide a world of benefits for our health.

https://thepsychoe.com/blog/the-importance-of-social-interaction-and-the-covid-19-effect/ 

Music: Face In It by @fallenforautumn on Instagram

Today, we were joined by Christopher DeFranco, a Clinical Mental Health Counselor. Christopher started out his career by establishing his place in the community and practicing school-based and in-home therapy with low-income individuals. From there, he worked with Inpatient Hospitals for high acuity individuals that struggle with suicidality, personality disorders, psychosis, and chemical dependency. Currently, he works out of private practice with a particular focus on specialized populations that include: developmental and communication disorders, veterans and those who suffer from complex trauma and PTSD, Sexual dysfunctions and paraphilias, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

In Part-One, we cover the identifying traits associated with someone who might be struggling with personality disorders, such as Anti-Social PD (sociopathy) and Borderline PD (narcissism). Like for instance, these individuals might experience patterns of unstable relationships with their families, friends, and loved ones; often swinging from extreme closeness and love (idealization) to extreme dislike or anger (devaluation).

Now, it’s important to remember that personality disorders fall on a spectrum. Even if there is someone who is acting these characteristics out, it’s detrimental to their growth to self-diagnose them with, for example, “sociopathy”; And just because they exhibit this type of behavior, does not mean that they are broken. Phrases, such as, “You’re a [sociopath/psychopath]”, are at best an uneducated, uninformed guess; At worst, it can cause this person to feel attacked and then become defensive. These words could be classified as buzzwords, and are typically used to justify our own decision-making process.

Now, this is a good time to elaborate on Reality-Based Therapy—one of Christopher’s most effective, yet controversial, treatment modalities. You would think that Reality-Based Therapy is practiced amongst most therapists, because if they’re not analyzing the reality of your situation, what are they analyzing? Well, Christopher confronts these questions with the professional discernment of when and how to incorporate this into a session. Essentially, he asks his clients to own their thoughts, decisions, and emotions, empowering them to make the changes necessary to get to a more comfortable place in order for them to thrive more fully.

Please see below for resources available to individuals struggling with anything above:

National Institute of Mental Health: www.nimh.nih.gov

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): www.nami.org

HelpWhenYouNeedIt.Org over 350,000 listings for social services, mental health, substance use, legal and financial assistance.

Psychology Today offers a national directory of therapists, psychiatrists, therapy groups and treatment facility options

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention provides referrals to support groups and mental health professionals, resources on loss, and suicide prevention information (+1 888-333-2377)

The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides 24/7 crisis intervention, safety planning and information on domestic violence (+1 800-799-7233)

The Suicide Prevention Lifeline connects callers to trained crisis counselors (+1 800-273-8255)

Pop Your Cherry!'s are meant to stimulate free thought and incite conversations with your peers about topics that don't normally come up around the dinner table. In this segment, I'm asking you to think about what your attachment style is. Keep in mind, our attachment styles alter depending on who we are with, but are initially developed between ourselves and our main caretakers growing up. 

Mental health professional, Scott Smith, combines the benefits of hypnotherapy and EMDR to treat his clients. We discuss the effectiveness of these modalities and what they're best used for. Scott also worked with the sex offending population for 18 years developing programs of rehabilitation and provides us with some insight into this extremely misunderstood population.

You can see more about what he does on his website at

https://pfdovercounselinghypnosis.com

and by visiting his PsychologyToday profile

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/scott-allen-smith-trophy-club-tx/123060

More platforms for listening can be found on my website at

https://thepsychoe.com

and on my linktree

https://campsite.bio/thepsychoe

Just 2 minutes out of your day. In this week's Pop Your Cherry, I'm asking my listeners to define their sexuality and look at the influential factors that help decide it's unique makeup. 

A brief introduction of who I am and the direction of this podcast.