Thoughts on Record: Podcast of the Ottawa Institute of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

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Please see "Forgive For Good" by Dr. Fred Luskin for a full treatment of "unenforceable rules" as covered in the podcast.

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For many mental health consumers, the first step towards seeking help is a visit to their family doctor. Moreover, research suggests that up to 2/3rds of visits to the family doctor are actually for mental health concerns – even if the original presenting complaint is for a physical symptom.  In this episode Dr. Tomy Thomas, MD sits down with OICBT psychologist Dr. Pete Kelly, C.Psych to discuss mental-illness through the lens of family medicine.  He discusses common presentations of mental illness seen by family doctors, outlines his thinking around prescribing practices, illustrates his vision of how to best form a collaborative treatment relationship with a client, provides tips for clients seeking mental health services from their primary care physician, discusses ways to enhance the relationship and communication between family physicians and mental health specialists including psychologists and psychiatrists and considers how the inevitable stresses and challenges of life must be integrated into the conceptualization of mental illness.  Dr. Tomy Thomas, MD is a family physician who practices in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.      

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Misophonia is relatively common but not often discussed psychological experience in which an individual has an exaggerated (and sometimes extreme) emotional response (ranging from irritability to anger) to the bodily sounds of others.  Common triggers include sounds related to eating and breathing.  In this episode OICBT psychologist Dr. Mandisa Peterson outlines the cognitive-behavioral conceptualization of misophonia, common characteristics and clinical features, treatment using CBT and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy techniques.  Featured is a phone-in from Dr. Peterson’s husband who is affected by misophonia where he describes his experience as a person affected by misophonia and how he effectively navigates this on a day-to-day basis.  

 Dr. Peterson completed her Pre-doctoral Residency at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre. She provides psychodiagnostic assessments as well as individual and group therapy treatment for diverse adult populations. Her primary approach to therapy is cognitive behavioural and she has experience and training in a number of evidence-based approaches, including dialectical behaviour therapy, mindfulness, and acceptance and commitment therapy. She is dedicated to establishing a safe and open therapeutic environment and working collaboratively with clients to meet their individual needs. Dr. Peterson’s practice focuses on individuals experiencing a wide range of psychological issues, including: mood (including depression and bipolar disorder), anxiety disorders, trauma-related disorders, health and disability related issues, grief and loss, chronic pain, and adjustment disorders. She has a particular interest and experience working with posttraumatic stress and forensic issues (addictions, anger, ADHD). She is involved in the supervision of doctoral students in clinical psychology. She is also committed to continuing program development and evaluation in the community in an effort to develop more effective and accessible mental healthcare programs.

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For many people, the term “psychedelics” conjures up images of hippies tripping through the Summer of Love, Timothy Leary, strange and mystical spiritual experiences, street drugs with a high likelihood of generating “insanity” and maybe even a Pink Floyd concert.  While psychedelics are certainly powerful compounds that must be approached with a high degree of caution, the potential for psychedelic compounds such as psilocybin to augment the effectiveness of psychotherapy is an area of intense clinical and research interest among organizations such as Johns Hopkins University as well as the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).  Ms. Stacey Kosmerly, MA, Ph.D.  and Dr Pete Kelly, C.Psych, explore this topic in-depth while considering the features of emergent protocols for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, the potential underlying neurobiological mechanism of psychedelic compounds, the role psychedelics may play in accessing difficult emotions and traumatic experiences, parallels between mindfulness and psychedelic experiences as well as associated dangers and risks associated with use of psychedelic compounds.  Please note that this podcast is for general information only and that psychedelics are powerful compounds that can cause serious mental health difficulties in some individuals.  Discussion of the potential clinical utility of these compounds is not an endorsement of or suggestion to employ these compounds.            

Stacey Kosmerly, Ph.D is a Clinician (Supervised) at OICBT.  She completed her pre-doctoral residency in clinical psychology at the OICBT. She has a MA in Applied Psychology from Laurentian University. Ms. Kosmerly uses primarily a cognitive behavioural approach to therapy. She has also received training in emotion focused therapy (EFT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and she draws from these approaches when appropriate. Ms. Kosmerly is involved in the OICBT’s Adult Attention Deficit Disorder Intensive Assessment Program, the Dialectic Behavioural Therapy (DBT) Program, and the Virtual Reality Program.