The Spin Cycle

Season 3 opens with this episode featuring Claire Bidwell Smith, author, grief counselor and Anxiety Sister. Join us as we discuss grief, anxiety, motherhood, daughterhood, great books and techniques for managing both anxiety and grief. Claire's latest book, Anxiety: The Missing Stage of Grief can be found wherever books are sold. We highly recommend that book as well as her memoir, The Rules of Inheritance, for anyone who has ever lost someone they loved.

In this episode--the last in Season 2--our listeners are our guests! Join Abs and Mags as they answer your questions about all things anxiety and beyond...

Join Abs and Mags for a chat with psychotherapist and former Buddhist monk Donald Altman about all things mindfulness. His new book, Reflect, is a wonderful guided journal and, for our listeners, can be purchased at a substantial discount using the code REFLECTSISTERS at https://www.pesi.com/store/detail/26448/reflect.

Meet our new BFF Achea Redd--author, mental health advocate, wife of an NBA star and mom of two. Founder of Real Girls F.A.R.T., Achea, aka "Keys," is smart, compassionate and so much fun. She is also willing to share really painful stuff in the name of de-stigmatizing mental health issues. Join us for this very special episode in which we tackle some really tough subjects with unflinching honesty and, of course, lots of laughs.

In this episode, Abs and Mags are joined by licensed mental health counselor Shiri Macri who is an expert in meditation and mindfulness based stress reduction(MBSR). Shiri explains how meditation affects the brain, including how it can reduce anxiety and tells us how to begin a meditation practice. She also shares her own story as both a breast cancer survivor and Anxiety Sister.

In this episode, Jeff Fink, Founder of Go Fetch Wellness, drops by for a chat about his own experience with persistent mental illness and how getting his Golden Retriever, Earl, started him on a path to healing. We also talk about Jeff's mission to educate about and advocate for the integration of animals into mainstream mental health treatments and what you can do if you are interested in getting involved.

We all know how hard it can be to find the right medication and the right dosage to treat depression(and anxiety)--in fact, for many of us, the whole process can take years to get it right. In this fascinating episode, Dr. Sagar Parikh, professor of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Depression Center, talks with Abs and Mags about a recent study he conducted on using genetic testing to allow doctors to personalize the prescription process, thus making it easier for doctors to "get it right" more quickly (and with much less suffering for the patient). Joining the conversation is Carmala Walgren, Depression Sister for 50 years!! who believes using GeneSight, one of the available pharmacogenetic tests, has literally saved her life.

In this episode, Abs and Mags chat with Jessie Gill, RN--aka, the Marijuana Mommy--about all things cannabis including CBD oil. We cover everything you've always wanted to know about how marijuana and/or CBD can help with anxiety, depression and chronic pain.

In this episode, Abs and Mags talk about Illness Anxiety Disorder (IAD)--what it is and how to manage it.

In this episode, Abs and Mags talk about driving phobias and how to treat them.