Transcripts

We continue the conversation on Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) with Dr. Mindy Solomon on Emotion Coaching Skills.

Dr. Adele LaFrance shares skills from Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) to help parents and caregivers handle big emotions effectively.

An interview with best selling author, Lori Gottlieb, about how to edit our unhelpful narratives so we may grow in our relationships, lives, and well being.

Jill, Yael, and Debbie talk all about values!

In this episode, Diana Hill and Debbie Sorensen bring it back full circle to chatting over coffee about their time together as friends, co-authors and co-hosts. Listen in to learn how they continue to apply ACT strategies to their lives and where Diana Hill is headed on her new podcast Your Life in Process.

Dr. Margaret Chisolm, professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins, talks with us about mental illness, stigma, and pathways to flourishing.

According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, since 2000, the United States has experienced over 700,000 deaths due to drug overdose. Addiction and substance use disorders are at the root of this enormous loss, and about half of people who struggle with substance use disorder will experience some mental health disorder during their life. And vice versa—many individuals struggling with mental health disorders also struggle with various forms of addiction.

Carl Erik Fisher, author of The Urge: Our History of Addiction, has expertise in law, ethics, and policy related to psychiatry and neuroscience. His personal struggle with addiction in combination with his professional expertise converges to help us understand the forces that have shaped addiction throughout our history. On this episode of POTC, Carl and Yael discuss the social contingencies and historical contexts that lead to addiction, substance use disorder, and co-morbid mental health issues. Join us in this episode to learn more about commonly held beliefs about addiction, prescribers’ blind spots to certain medications, and much much more!

Listen and Learn:

Yael and Debbie discuss the importance of contextualizing human behavior

How society tends to neglect the historical context of addictive behaviors (and why it’s so important to overcome this neglect)

The issues that come with treating addiction differently than other mental health disorders

Practical advice for clinicians and patients working with co-morbid addiction and other mental health disorders

Carl provides insights on how addiction has been weaponized to serve corporations and politicians

An important, historical example of what happens when scientists and researchers rigidly adopt a particular view (read: biases) but find information that conflicts with that view

The expert-approved definition of harm reduction

Carl answers commonly held beliefs about addiction (e.g., is addiction a brain disease?)

How Carl, a practicing psychiatrist with an in-depth knowledge of the history of addiction and mental health, approaches prescription by balancing values, change, and harm reduction 

Things consumers should know about prescribers’ blind spots to certain medications

Carl’s personal story of addiction and recovery

What to consider when balancing evidence- and RCT-based treatments with clients’ individuality and choices

Practical advice for helping those who are in denial of their substance abuse problem

Resources: 

Read Carl’s book, The Urge: Our History of Addiction! 

Check out Carl's recent New York Times piece, Why It's misleading to call addiction a disease

Listen to Carl’s podcast, Flourishing After Addiction! 

Read RAND reports on drug policy research, prescription drug abuse, and substance abuse

Grab your copy of all our favorite books at bookshop.org/shop/offtheclockpsych.

Check out Debbie, Jill’s, Yael, and Diana, websites to access their offerings, sign up for their newsletters, buy their books, and more!

About Carl Erik Fisher:

Carl Erik Fisher (USA), psychiatrist and author of The Urge: A History of Addiction, New York, May 24, 2021. Photograph © Beowulf Sheehan

Carl Erik Fisher, M.D., is an addiction psychiatrist, bioethics scholar, and author of The Urge: Our History of Addiction. He is an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University, where he studies and teaches law, ethics, and policy relating to psychiatry and neuroscience. He received his B.A. in Music (vocal performance) and Biology from the University of North Carolina, his M.D. from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and completed psychiatric residency at Columbia University. He then completed fellowship training in forensic psychiatry in the Columbia/Cornell Residency in Psychiatry and the Law. Carl’s scholarly work addresses the role of neuroscience and psychiatry in society,

Dominic Packer talks with Jill about the power of shared identity to impact human thought, feeling, and behavior.

In this episode, Dr. Lembke and Diana redefine addiction, discuss its consequences, and provide practical advice on addressing it in all its forms.

As we venture into the New Year, many of us are striving to reach new goals and maintain resolutions. It's easy to default to focusing solely on succeeding or attaining those goals, striving to feel the “high” that accompanies that success. But this kind of approach can unwittingly interfere with healthy and sustainable success.

Brad Stulberg, author of The Practice of Groundedness, has dedicated his career to understanding and fostering a healthier, more sustainable model of success. An expert in organizational behavior and public health, Brad suggests that constantly striving for and focusing on reaching the peak is neither a healthy nor sustainable way to actually reach it. In this episode of POTC, Brad and Yael discuss healthier methods of feeling the “highs” that accompany success. Listen in to this episode where we redefine “peak performance”, get in touch with your “lows”, and discover tip that work to remain grounded as you journey towards success in 2022 and beyond!

Listen and Learn:

Yael and Diana discuss groundedness and striving

The mental health journey Brad endured while writing his books

Brad’s expert definitions of groundedness and success

The core values guiding Brad’s work

How principles from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy can help you engage in more grounded behavior

Practical advice for developing a healthy association with your ego (even in harsh or toxic environments)

The relationships between non-duality and groundedness

Important differences between vulnerability and performative vulnerability in social media and digital spaces

Expert-approved tips for building nurturing communities that foster ongoing health and sustainability, accessing alone time, and balancing the two

Brad’s personal experience with groundedness and fatherhood

Resources:

Read Brad’s books, The Practice of Groundedness: A Transformative Path to Success That Feeds--Not Crushes--Your Soul and Peak Performance: Elevate Your Game, Avoid Burnout, and Thrive with the New Science of Success! 

Check out Brad’s coaching practice and online platform, The Growth Equation, dedicated to defining and attaining a more fulfilling and sustainable kind of success

Read this New York Times article discussing social media following and book sales

Brad's article from Outside Magazine that shares his personal story with how a stress expert manages mental illness

Grab your copy of all our favorite books at bookshop.org/shop/offtheclockpsych.

Check out Debbie, Diana, Yael, and Jill’s websites to access their offerings, sign up for their newsletters, buy their books, and more!

About Brad Stulberg:

Brad Stulberg received his undergraduate (organizational behavior) and graduate (public health) degrees from the University of Michigan. He is an avid strength trainer, reader, and outdoor enthusiast and does almost all of his best thinking in the gym, while reading, or on the trail. Brad’s books are The Practice of Groundedness and Peak Performance. They have sold more than 250,000 copies and have been translated into more than 20 languages. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wired, New Yorker, Forbes, GQ, Time, and more. He is also a contributing editor at Outside Magazine, where he writes a regular column on the science and art of sustainable success. In his coaching practice he works with executives, entrepreneurs, physicians, and athletes on their performance and overall well-being. He is also co-creator of The Growth Equation, an online platform dedicated to defining and attaining a more fulfilling and sustainable kind of success.

Related Episodes:

Episode 102. A Liberated Mind with Steven Hayes

Episode 122. Taking in the Good with Rick Hanson  

Episode 193. Heal Unhealthy Striving with Diana and Yael 

Episode 196. The Neuroscience of Marketing with Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman