Untying Knots: Minds and Souls Untethered

This week, I sit down again with Mercedes Samudio to discuss X-Men 97's second season.

Mercedes Samudio is a licensed clinical social worker, bestselling author, international speaker, and visionary entrepreneur. She works with parents around the world in developing a healthy parental identity with her revolutionary Parental Identity Development Model and incorporating her Shame-Proof Parenting philosophy to help reduce the shame parents experience as they raise healthy children. Mercedes is also trained in trauma-informed modalities which she uses in her work with parents to help them heal the past traumas that can influence the ways parents interact with themselves and their children. Outside of her professional life supporting parents, Mercedes is married to her best friend and soulmate and they live in sunny Sothern California with their 3 fur kids (2 cats and a dog). You can learn more about her work at http://shameproofparenting.com

Developmental Trauma Training Institute: https://www.dtti.co/

Note: While this episode discusses the pandemic, the skills we discuss in this episode are applicable to stress in all areas of life.

On this rebroadcast, I chat with ellow Brainspotter Alexis Overstreet about her training and work in Trauma and Tension Release Exercises (TRE). We talk about how they hae used it to address Pandemic Stress, the Brain/Body Connection, and mental health as a Person of Color.

Links:

https://metaspacecounseling.com

On this rebroadcast, I chat with Brain Ragas, is the Director of the SF Aids Foundation program Black Brothers Esteem, which serves Queer Black Men within the community and those who are living with HIV. We talk about this type of work, the need for it, and a number of the challenges facing Queer Black men in the San Franscisco area. Listen and share. Link: https://www.sfaf.org/programs/black-health/

This week, I sit down with creators Jadzia Axelrod and Michael Varrati to continue discussing Four Seasons of Fear: A Year of Queer Horror.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stackeddeckpress/fourseasons-of-fear-a-year-of-queer-horror

Four Seasons of Fear: A Year of Queer Horror is an all-LGBTQ+ horror comics anthology from award-winning publisher Stacked Deck Press. It features horror stories from queer perspectives that draw inspiration from holidays and seasonal activities. Four Seasons of Fear will feature work from over two dozen all LGBTQ+ comics creators, including such notables as Josh Trujillo, David Booher, and Wilfred Santiago. Filmmaker and podcaster Michael Varrati and cartoonist Tara Madison Avery will be handling editing duties on this project. Stories in Four Seasons of Fear will be based on popular holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Halloween, some slightly less celebrated ones such as May Day, Juneteenth, and Rosh Hashanah, and seasonal events such as going back to school. The book will be a full-color, standard comics size paperback projected to be roughly 200 pages in length. Contributors include: • Tara Madison Avery • Jadzia Axelrod and Rye Hickman. http://jadziaaxelrod.com • Christianne Benedict • David Booher and Sean Peacock • Jose Cardenas and Pupa Michi • BJ Colangelo• Dave Davenport • Richard Fairgray • Chandra Free and Stephen Emond • Casey Gilley • Viktor T. Kerney and António Brandãu • Mac Maclean • Jon Macy • Ajuan Mance • Wilfred Santiago • Sonya Saturday • William O. Tyler • Michael Varrati and Brendan Haley • Alina Wahab

Links:

Year of the Goat: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/567850/the-year-of-the-goat

Saturday the 14th: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/405700/saturday-the-14th

Friends of Dorothy: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/494229/friends-of-dorothy

This week, I sit down with creators Sonya Saturday and Tara Avery to talk about the queer horror comic anthology Four Seasons of Fear: A Year of Queer Horror and other projects they're working on.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stackeddeckpress/fourseasons-of-fear-a-year-of-queer-horror

Four Seasons of Fear: A Year of Queer Horror is an all-LGBTQ+ horror comics anthology from award-winning publisher Stacked Deck Press. It features horror stories from queer perspectives that draw inspiration from holidays and seasonal activities. Four Seasons of Fear will feature work from over two dozen all LGBTQ+ comics creators, including such notables as Josh Trujillo, David Booher, and Wilfred Santiago. Filmmaker and podcaster Michael Varrati and cartoonist Tara Madison Avery will be handling editing duties on this project. Stories in Four Seasons of Fear will be based on popular holidays such as Christmas, Easter, and Halloween, some slightly less celebrated ones such as May Day, Juneteenth, and Rosh Hashanah, and seasonal events such as going back to school. The book will be a full-color, standard comics size paperback projected to be roughly 200 pages in length. Contributors include: • Tara Madison Avery • Jadzia Axelrod and Rye Hickman. http://jadziaaxelrod.com • Christianne Benedict • David Booher and Sean Peacock • Jose Cardenas and Pupa Michi • BJ Colangelo• Dave Davenport • Richard Fairgray • Chandra Free and Stephen Emond • Casey Gilley • Viktor T. Kerney and António Brandãu • Mac Maclean • Jon Macy • Ajuan Mance • Wilfred Santiago • Sonya Saturday • William O. Tyler • Michael Varrati and Brendan Haley • Alina Wahab

Links:

The Year of the Goat: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/567850/the-year-of-the-goat

Saturday the 14th: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/405700/saturday-the-14th

Friends of Dorothy: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/494229/friends-of-dorothy

Queers at the Table: https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/Q/Queers-at-the-Table

https://sonyasaturday.substack.com/

This week, I sit down again with Dr. Jonathan Lassiter to continue our conversation about relationships.

Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, Ph.D. is a polymath who utilizes psychology, writing, and dance to help others heal and thrive. His roles include licensed clinical psychologist, holistic wellness and relationship coach, professor, author, public speaker, and choreographer. As a public intellectual, Dr. Lassiter has been featured on television, radio, podcasts, and print such as PBS, Sirius XM, and The Hill. Dr. Lassiter is the award-winning co-editor of Black LGBT Health in the United States: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. This book received the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association's Achievement Award. It is the first and only text to focus solely on Black LGBT Americans' holistic health. He is currently working on his f irst sole-authored book that will explore contemporary issues of race and mental health in the United States. In addition, Dr. Lassiter has published numerous articles in academic journals and lay publications, presented his choreographic work in prestigious showcases in New York City, and provided psychological services to clients in medical centers across the country. Formerly, Dr. Lassiter is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rowan University, Founder and Chief Psychology Officer at Lassiter Health Initiatives, co-host of Fly on the Wall on YouTube, and Artistic Associate at The Black Acting Methods Studio. His social media info is below:

http://www.jonathanmlassiter.com

Twitter: @lassiterhealth

Instagram: @lassiterhealth

This week, I sit down with Dr. Eric FitzMedrud, author of The Better Man, to talk about existential crises, humanism, and responses to the current state of the world.

Eric FitzMedrud is a therapist specializing in relationship and sexual issues in the San Francisco Bay Area. His specialty is helping men improve their sex lives by learning to regulate their emotions, removing sexual entitlement, and honing their sexual consent and negotiation skills. FitzMedrud is a member of the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists. He has been published in an academic book and academic journal and has spoken at multiple conferences. He has also trained therapists and taught many graduate courses in psychology. FitzMedrud has a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. He is polyamorous and bisexual, and lives with his wife of twenty-three years and his life partner of six years in San Francisco's East Bay area, California.

This week, I sit down with Dr. Jonathan M. Lassiter to talk about his new book How I Know White People Are Crazy.

Jonathan Mathias Lassiter, Ph.D. is a polymath who utilizes psychology, writing, and dance to help others heal and thrive. His roles include licensed clinical psychologist, holistic wellness and relationship coach, professor, author, public speaker, and choreographer. As a public intellectual, Dr. Lassiter has been featured on television, radio, podcasts, and print such as PBS, Sirius XM, and The Hill. Dr. Lassiter is the award-winning co-editor of Black LGBT Health in the United States: The Intersection of Race, Gender, and Sexual Orientation. This book received the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association's Achievement Award. It is the first and only text to focus solely on Black LGBT Americans' holistic health. He is currently working on his f irst sole-authored book that will explore contemporary issues of race and mental health in the United States. In addition, Dr. Lassiter has published numerous articles in academic journals and lay publications, presented his choreographic work in prestigious showcases in New York City, and provided psychological services to clients in medical centers across the country. Formerly, Dr. Lassiter is Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rowan University, Founder and Chief Psychology Officer at Lassiter Health Initiatives, co-host of Fly on the Wall on YouTube, and Artistic Associate at The Black Acting Methods Studio. His social media info is below:

http://www.jonathanmlassiter.com

Twitter: @lassiterhealth

Instagram: @lassiterhealth

This week, I sit down wtih Dr. David Grand to discuss Brainspotting. We talk about what brainspotting is and how it works with relational therapy; the meaning of neuroexperiential and how it relates to brainspotting; and the frameworks we use to be effective in our brainspotting.

David Grand, PhD is the developer of Brainspotting, the groundbreaking relational brain-body, mindfulness-based method. He is the author of Brainspotting: The Revolutionary New Therapy for Rapid and Effective Change and the co-author of This is Your Brain on Sports. Dr. Grand is involved in humanitarian activities with survivors of 9/11, Katrina and Sandy Hook/Newtown. He has accomplished breakthroughs in performance and creativity with Brainspotting Sports Work and Brainspotting Acting Coaching. Dr. Grand is the playwright of his 9/11 play I Witness and the filmmaker of the documentary Come Hell or High Water. Dr. Grand has been widely featured in the media including The NY Times, NBC National News, The Discovery Channel, CNN, MSNBC, Sports Illustrated and Sirius Radio.

Links:

https://brainspotting.com/

https://brainspotting.com/my-eye-opening-experience-with-brainspotting-therapy/

This week, I sit down with Mercedes Samudio to discuss the new Marvel show "Wonderman."

Mercedes Samudio is a licensed clinical social worker, bestselling author, international speaker, and visionary entrepreneur. She works with parents around the world in developing a healthy parental identity with her revolutionary Parental Identity Development Model and incorporating her Shame-Proof Parenting philosophy to help reduce the shame parents experience as they raise healthy children. Mercedes is also trained in trauma-informed modalities which she uses in her work with parents to help them heal the past traumas that can influence the ways parents interact with themselves and their children. Outside of her professional life supporting parents, Mercedes is married to her best friend and soulmate and they live in sunny Sothern California with their 3 fur kids (2 cats and a dog). You can learn more about her work at http://shameproofparenting.com