Therapists are People

Today’s episode is about one of the most frequently requested topics: self-care. It may be in short supply, especially for our student listeners at the end of the semester, so in this episode, you'll find some strategies to borrow and different ways of thinking about self-care!

And hold the phone, are those student voices I hear!? They sure are! On today’s show, we welcome our first guests, Abigail Logan and Phillip Spisak, both students at the University of Iowa. We think they have a lot of smart things to say about self-care!

Have a question for the therapists? Have a topic you want to hear discussed on the show? We’d love to hear from you! Send us a message here and visit our *new website* to learn more about the show!

In crisis? Contact our office directly (8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday), call CommUnity Crisis Center of Johnson County (855-325-4296), call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-8255) or call 911.

Sometimes, therapists go to therapy.  Several of the therapists on this show have been, because, you know, we're people(!?).  On today's episode, how we felt about our experiences in therapy, why we decided to go, and how it changed us as therapists and people.

At the end of 2020, the Therapists Are People team sat down to talk about all kinds of endings.  How we felt about the end of the year.  How tough (and sometimes necessary) ending relationships can be.  How the end of therapy looks.  

This episode is packed with lots of other goodies, too!  We touch on coping with burnout, healing from trauma, and losing traditions.  And what happens when your therapist is going through something you're going through?

In today’s episode, we also say good-bye to our co-host and friend Dr. Brittany Greenbaum.

The winter months are filled with changes.  Changes to our moods, changes to our activity levels, and with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging, changes to our holiday traditions.  Many of us experiences changes in our mood, but what's normal?  Do light boxes help?  The Therapists are People team shares their thoughts in today's episode.  We also cover returning home after the semester, having difficult conversations with family, and accepting changes to holiday traditions.

In this episode, Patrick makes mention of planning for holiday gatherings.  The CDC offers several recommendations to limit the spread of COVID including reducing the size and length of gatherings or foregoing them all together.  If you decide to gather this year, consider using this resource in conversations with friends and family, and commit to safety with one another by filling out this agreement.

Click here to learn more about the Light Therapy program at the University of Iowa.

Feeling anxious and uncertain?  With the U.S. presidential election on the horizon and COVID-19 cases surging, plenty of folx are trying to figure out how to make their way through a time without clear answers.  In this episode, the TAP team focuses on managing uncertainty and ambiguity.

Mental health tropes, stereotypes, and misinformation abound!  Today's episode focuses on breaking down the mental health and therapy myths that people (yes, therapists too) inadvertently buy into.

Check out these other resources related to this episode's topic:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/triggered/202005/super-ocd-the-problem-mental-health-tropes

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/triggered/201305/why-monk-stunk

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/10/31/scary-asylums-are-halloween-classic-its-time-retire-trope/

https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/not-your-damsel-in-distress#9

https://www.mindingtherapy.com/therapists-on-tv-and-in-movies/

Get to know our team in the first episode of Therapists are People!?

A question came up during the podcast asking whether the Power Rangers show was racist, in part due to the Black Ranger being played by Black actor Walter Jones and the Yellow Ranger being played by Vietnamese American actress Thuy Trang. Walter Jones has responded to this question in numerous interviews. In an interview with Afterbuzz, he stated:

“…there’s that slight confusion everybody wants to talk about, ‘You were the Black Ranger and the Black guy and the black suit, that was controversial, was it weird?’…and they go, ‘Was that prejudice?’ And I’m like, okay, first and foremost, I was a superhero, I was a role model for millions of kids around the world and so it can’t be prejudice because I was a hero, you know, but stereotypical? Maybe, a little bit.”

Jones has also spoken about the casting process for his character, which required those auditioning to combine hip hop and martial arts. He has noted in numerous interviews that originally Latina actress Audri Dubois was cast as the Yellow Ranger, but she was fired after advocating for better compensation and that is when the role was recast to Trang.

The Power Rangers creators, producers, directors, and writers have also been identified as creating an atmosphere of homophobia on the set. David Yost, the actor who played the Blue Ranger, revealed after leaving the show that he did so due to persistent harassment and intrusive questioning related to his sexual orientation. Yost, a gay man, was not out at the time he was on the show and has spoken of the impact of this experience on his mental health and coming to terms with his sexual orientation. He has since participated in the NOH8 campaign and promoted the Trevor Project.