Behavioral Health Today

Part 2: Crush Your Test Anxiety with Dr. Ben Bernstein – Episode 210

This episode resumes our conversation with Dr. Graham Taylor and his guest Dr. Ben Bernstein. In our last episode, we discussed the causes for performance anxiety, the various levels of anxiety, how stress can affect us, how to reclaim our locus of control, and the power of breath to control our physiological effects against anxiety. We’ll resume our talk today by discussing how to regain your equilibrium and focus. These are skills that can replace old habits that we've developed but interfere now with our learning process and cause unnecessary anxiety. These skills can be taught, and people can reclaim some of these things that can really help them be successful and reach their potential.

 

For more information about Dr. Ben Bernstein’s website B Your Best Performance Coaching, please visit: https://www.drbyourbest.com
For more information about Dr. Bernstein’s Crush Your EPPP Online Course or Crush Your Test Anxiety Online Course, please visit: https://courses.drbyourbest.com
For more information about Crush Your Test Anxiety by Dr. Ben Bernstein, please visit: https://www.drbyourbest.com/product/crush-your-test-anxiety/

Part 1: Crush Your Test Anxiety with Dr. Ben Bernstein – Episode 209

In preparing for licensure and certification exams most of us typically prepare the same old way we did throughout our educational process, utilizing the same old study process that got us through and doing our best to manage our stress, our anxieties, and our fears. But what if there had been a way for us to not just become better test takers, but to have a way to have crushed our test taking fears and anxieties? In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Dr. Ben Bernstein. Ben is a psychologist, teacher, and performance coach whose career has spanned 40 years in education, psychology, and the arts, including coaching in such diverse settings as psychiatric hospitals, prisons, primary schools, and universities. Ben is the author of three books, A Teen’s Guide to Success, Stressed Out! For Parents, and Crush Test Anxiety: How to Be Calm, Confident, and Focused on Any Test. Together Ben and Graham discuss the causes for performance anxiety, the various levels of anxiety, how stress can affect us, and how to reclaim our locus of control. We will resume this conversation in our next upcoming podcast.

For more information about Dr. Ben Bernstein’s website B Your Best Performance Coaching, please visit: https://www.drbyourbest.com
For more information about Dr. Bernstein’s Crush Your EPPP Online Course or Crush Your Test Anxiety Online Course, please visit: https://courses.drbyourbest.com
For more information about Crush Your Test Anxiety by Dr. Ben Bernstein, please visit: https://www.drbyourbest.com/product/crush-your-test-anxiety/

3HQ Approach to Realizing Your Fullest Self with Hilary DeCesare – Episode 208

Is your life being lived in line with your design? Are you living a relationship with your most authentic and genuine self? Are you working towards aligning your values and your passions in such a way that you realize your fullest self and the potential that lays within you? In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Hilary DeCesare. Hilary is an award-winning business expert, esteemed author, and pioneer of female powerhouses in Silicon Valley. Hilary is the founder of ReLaunch Co. and widely recognized for her work in neuropsychology as it relates to business and life. She has been selected as AlwaysOn’s Top 25 Women in Tech to Watch in 2010, 2011, 2012 and was honored with the 2010 DEMOgod Award, and 2012 Golden Bridge Women Founder of the Year Award. Hilary has been featured on ABC’s hit TV series Secret Millionaire, where she shared stories of people who have overcome difficult circumstances. Her insights have been seen on NBC and mentioned in The Huffington Post, The Hallmark Channel, and Fox. Together Hilary and Graham discuss the challenges of transitioning in midlife, the tune-in process using the head, heart, higher-self (3HQ) approach, commitment to change, identifying and transforming your limiting beliefs, and connecting with your higher self to reignite your personal power.

 

For more information about Hilary DeCesare and The Relaunch Co., please visit: https://therelaunchco.com
For more information about Hilary’s international bestselling book Relaunch Spark Your Heart to Ignite Your Life, please visit: https://www.therelaunchbook.com
To take the entrepreneur quiz, please visit: https://therelaunchco.com/3hqquiz/
For more information about The Relaunch Co. courses, please visit:  https://www.therelaunchcocourses.com
Connect on Instagram at thereleaunchco, or visit: https://www.instagram.com/therelaunchco/

Shifting Your Breath to Create Calm with Todd Steinberg – Episode 207

We typically take about 23,000 breaths per day. Most of the time we do so unconsciously, and for the most part we get by. But what if there is a way to breathe better, more consciously, such that we can increase the control we actually have over our bodies, like being able to calm our nervous system, reduce our stress hormones, lower our heart rates, decrease our blood pressure, lower our anxiety, and reduce our stress levels, improve our sleep and our focus, increase our peace of mind, and extend our lifespan. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Todd Steinberg. Todd is the president of Komuso Design, a wellness company and maker of The Shift, a necklace device that slows your exhale to calm your nervous system. Komuso Design was created in 2017 with the simple intention of providing people with a new tool to access peace of mind. Their mission is to become the architect of fashion wellness and transform lives in the process. Together Graham and Todd discuss the creation of Komuso Design and the thinking behind their breathing device The Shift, the research behind the benefits of breathing, and the techniques to breathing better.

 

For more information about Komuso Design, please visit: https://www.komusodesign.com
To contact Todd, please email todd@komusodesign.com
Finally, for more information about Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art by James Nester, please visit:  https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/breath-book

Healing Power of Binaural Beats with Wayne Altman – Episode 206

Music can help you take charge of your mood. In this episode, Dr. Erin Elmore speaks with Wayne Altman.Wayne is an entrepreneur and founder of Melody Clouds. After suffering from tinnitus and looking for relief to all the noise experienced because of this illness, Wayne became aware of binaural beats. Because of the frequencies of binaural beats, he can give himself a respite from the noise. From this experience Wayne has created Melody Clouds, a subscription relaxation website and app with over 8,000 hours of Solfeggio, Binaural Beats, Guided Meditation, and audiobooks all designed to relax and educate its subscribers. Together Erin and Wayne discuss how music can help with healing, sleep, and relaxation, the healing power of binaural beats, and how Melody Clouds can be a helpful tool to transform your mood.

 

For more information about Melody Clouds, please visit: https://melodyclouds.com/
If you would like to contact Wayne Altman, please email: waynealtman@melodyclouds.com

The Post-Pandemic Development Gap in Early Childhood with Dr. Shaana Berman – Episode 205

In this post-pandemic environment, students have dealt with trauma. They have dealt with a lot of familial instability and security. Because of this, children are coming into school developmentally stunted and not ready to learn. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Dr. Shaana Berman.  Shaana is a board-certified Behavior Analyst with over 20 years of experience, working directly with children who have autism and other conditions that impact behavior and learning. Together Shaana and Graham discuss the developmental gaps and behavior in early childhood, the importance of school as a safe space for children can get their needs met, evaluating student’s readiness to learn, issues pertaining to the absence of social interaction, and other ways to support students. There is hope that we can heal. If we can understand the residual leftovers from this pandemic and find ways we can cultivate a readiness to learn, there is an opportunity within both the school and the family systems to help kids catch up.

 

For more information about Dr. Shaana Berman, please visit: https://metamindmagic.com
Connect with Dr. Shaana Berman on Instagram @metamindmagic, or  visit: https://www.instagram.com/metamindmagic

Holistic Coaching, Ayurvedic Medicine, & Your Life Purpose with Vish Chatterji – Episode 204

When we are aligned with our inner calling that's when things begin to flow. Things come to us because there's an openness. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Vish Chatterji. Vish provides holistic life coaching for executives and small business owners on how to create personalized daily routines in nutrition, exercise, scheduling, and sleep to nurture fulfilling work, joy, and life harmony. Vish is the author of The Business Casual Yogi: Take Charge of Your Body, Mind, and Career which teaches how to create micro-rituals for optimal health and leadership success. Together Graham and Vish discuss the parallels between yoga wisdom and coaching wisdom, how a coach becomes a facilitator for the coachee’s innate wisdom, the process of walking clients through their path toward greater awareness, and the importance of our connection to our true selves. The ultimate karmic test is when a challenge comes your way, and when you can just sit through it, you’ve passed that test and that challenge won’t happen again.

 

For more information about Head & Heart Insights, please visit: https://www.headandheartinsights.com

To learn more about The Business Casual Yogi by Vish Chatterji, MBA & Yogrishi Vishvketu, Ph.D., please visit: https://businesscasualyogi.com

Connect with Vish on social media:

• On Instagram at Business Casual Yogi, or visit: https://www.instagram.com/thebusinesscasualyogi/
• On LinkedIn, please visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vish-chatterji-b3b2681/
• On Facebook at Business Casual Yogi, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/businesscasualyogi
• On YouTube at The Business Casual Yogi, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJZQxBbwd6SaRR9y0aUmoLw

Radical Emotional Acceptance with Dr. Alex Wills– Episode 203

What if our painful, uncomfortable emotions are actually our best friends and they're there to help us? How would life be different? How could life be better? In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Dr. Alex Wills. Alex is a board-certified psychiatrist and author of Give a Fuck Actually, Reclaim Yourself with the 5 steps of Radical Emotional Acceptance. Alex is a graduate of the Sackler School of Medicine and completed his residency and fellowship training in Hawaii with additional training from Columbia University. He is the owner of Perma Mental Health, a private psychiatric practice with offices across Idaho. Alex’s clinical days are spent using the Radical Emotional Acceptance method to help patients heal from issues ranging from past traumas to interpersonal struggles in their marriages. Give a F*CK, Actually is based on that experience. Together Graham and Alex discuss the concept of radical emotional acceptance, creating that shift in mindset that we can learn from our painful emotions, and the five steps outlined in the book of radical emotional acceptance process.

 

For more information about Give a F*CK, Actually by Alex Wills, please visit: https://radicalemotionalacceptance.com

For more information about the Give a F*CK official store, please visit: https://radicalemotionalacceptance.com/shop

 

Men’s Health, Depression, and Male Suicide with Dr. John Ogrodniczuk– Episode 202

There's about 30,000 people committing suicide in the U.S. each year. If we took a full airplane, 300 people, that's a hundred airplanes per year going down. That's 52 weeks. That's two planes per week going down. And no one's saying this is alarming. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Dr. John Ogrodniczuk. John is the founder of HeadsUpGuys, a leading online resource for supporting men with depression. John is also a Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Psychotherapy Program at the University of British Columbia, one of North America’s largest medically based psychotherapy training programs. He’s also past president of the North American chapter for the Society for Psychotherapy Research. His research focuses on a wide variety of topics including men’s mental health, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and personality disorders, which has led to more than 300 publications. He also maintains a private practice through Optimum Life Consulting. Together Graham and John discuss the creation of HeadsUpGuys, the impact of suicide and overwhelming statistics on male suicide, the signs and symptoms that lead to suicide ideation, the need to reconceptualize masculine socialization and importance of mental health literacy. We know that suicidal ideation is transient. So, if we can get support to men to help them through these transient periods when they feel disconnected, we can help them turn things around and get them a path to a better life and give them hope.

 

For more information about HeadsUpGuys, please visit: https://headsupguys.org

To watch Josh’s story of recovery on HeadsUpGuys, please visit: https://headsupguys.org/depression-suicide-video-story/

Take a self test to get a better sense of the symptoms of depression, please visit: https://headsupguys.org/mens-depression/self-check/

If you are a Friend or Family and would like to learn how to support someone with suicide ideation, please visit: https://headsupguys.org/for-supporters/

If you would like to find a therapist, please visit: https://headsupguys.org/depression-tips/find-a-therapist/

Treating Chronic Pain with Pain Reprocessing Therapy with Dr. Jaimee Arnoff – Episode 201

For many suffering from chronic pain it is challenging to re-trust your body, but with Pain Reprocessing Therapy it is possible to explore that sensation and welcome it. In this episode, Dr. Erin Elmore speaks with Dr. Jaimee Arnoff. Jaimee is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in CBT and Pain Reprocessing Therapy. She brings 10 years of both clinical and lived experience to her work, treating children, adolescents, and young adult clients who experience anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. In her own journey of chronic pain, Jaimee was diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia and Fibromyalgia, in addition to multiple other conditions that cause inflammation and related nerve pain. Together Erin and Jaimee discuss using Pain Reprocessing Therapy to create new neural pathways that promote safety within the body, the common challenges experienced by those living with chronic pain, steps to reprocessing pain, and the success of PRT with clients as a complement during their pain journey.

 

For more information about Jaimee and BFF Therapy, please visit: https://www.bfftherapy.com

For more information about Pain Reprocessing Therapy and finding a directory of PRT certified therapist, please visit: https://www.painreprocessingtherapy.com

For more information about Pain Reprocessing Theray and the Pain Psychology Center, please visit: https://www.painpsychologycenter.com

Finally, for more information about Flowly, the biofeedback app, please visit: https://www.flowly.world

Clinicians Series: Parental Tips to Communicating with Your Teen with Michael Klinkner, LCSW – Episode 200

Today, we’re celebrating our 200th episode of Behavioral Health Today! In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Michael Klinkner. Michael is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 22 years of experience helping children, adolescents, and adults in therapy. Michael has specialty training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Neurolinguistic Programming. Currently, Michael is working with Evolve Counseling in Arizona where he treats a variety of issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma, and ADHD, focusing primarily on children, teen, and adolescent populations. Together Graham and Michael discuss the current pressures of teens, how to have tough conversations, connecting with your child by building routines into your day, a foundation for your child’s consumption of social media, and the importance of family values and the discussion of those as a family system. All behavior is communication, but if we can give them a different way to do it by coaching the parents up and tooling them, we can see changes actually occur.

 

For more information about Michael Klinkner and Evolve Counseling, please visit: https://www.evolvecounselingaz.com

Connect with Michael on Instagram at michael_klinknercouseling, or visit: https://www.instagram.com/evolvecounseling_AZ/

Finally, connect with Michael on Facebook at michaelklinknercounseling, or visit: https://www.facebook.com/michaelklinknercounseling

Applying Motivational Interviewing & Understanding Our Biases with Marya Wright, LCSW – Episode 199

Our social landscape in our environment contributes to the biases that we hold. So self-examination work is really important to understand yourself so you can understand others in a deeper empathetic way. The spirit of motivational interviewing can be used in such a way that can lower barriers of the systems that we work in as to interface with clients, support the clients where they're at, and find a way to curate change that will be longstanding. In this episode, Dr. Erin Elmore speaks with Marya Wright, LCSW. Marya is a nationally distinguished social worker, consultant, international trainer, and facilitator with experience in organizational leadership, child welfare services, and curriculum development. She is the President and CEO of Wright Community Services, LLC, a company that strives to empower system-involved families through awareness, services and education while also providing consultation, training, and system specific facilitation to agencies that services these communities.

 

For more information about Marya Wright Consulting, please visit: https://www.maryawrightconsulting.com

For more information about Wright Community Services, and their community resources and storefront, please visit: https://www.wrightcommunityservices.com

For more information about Motivational Interviewing in Social Work Practice by Melinda Hohman and contribution by Marya Wright, please visit: https://www.maryawrightconsulting.com/press-room

For more information about the article White Supremacy by Tema Okun, please visit: https://www.dismantlingracism.org/uploads/4/3/5/7/43579015/okun_-_white_sup_culture.pdf

Maintaining Your New Year’s Resolution Using Motivational Interviewing with Pam Pietruszewski, MA – Episode 198

How are people most motivated? They're motivated by feeling invested, having that engagement, being in the same head space as the person helping them and having their thoughts considered. In this episode, Dr. Erin Elmore speaks with Pam Pietruszewski, MA. Pam has more than 30 years’ experience designing and implementing programs to integrate behavioral health and primary care services. Her work includes the program Getting Candid: Framing the Conversation Around Youth Substance Use Prevention funded by the CDC, and DIAMOND, a depression care management program that received the 2010 Gold Award from the American Psychiatric Association. Pam holds a master’s degree in counseling and psychological services and is a member of the national Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). Together Erin and Pam discuss the spirit of motivational interviewing, the power of reflective listening, change talk, and how to use motivational interviewing to maintain your new year’s resolutions. The normal natural evolution of any self-improvement is tracking the small steps along the way. And Motivational Interviewing helps facilitate that.

 

For more information about Motivational Interviewing, please visit: https://www.thenationalcouncil.org/service/motivational-interviewing/

For more information about The Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainings (MINT), please visit: https://motivationalinterviewing.org

For more information about National Council for Mental Wellbeing, please visit: https://www.thenationalcouncil.org

Part 2: Moral Opportunity and Engaging with Your Societal Position with Brian Lowery – Episode 197

This episode resumes our conversation with Dr. Graham Taylor and his guest Brian Lowery. In our last episode, we asked what if we could change the word privilege into something different that wasn’t so reactionary, and defined privilege as aspirational, almost virtuous opportunities, that strives for collective transcendence. We discussed how defensiveness and the feelings of guilt, shame, and avoidance toward our privileges deprives us of a richer life. And how appropriately identifying our privileges will direct our actions to steward our lives in creating a better world. And lastly, we discussed what a more just and equitable world would look like, allowing differences between people to contribute to society and their natural talents to flourish because of equitable access. And how in modern times, we should have a minimal level of life quality. We’ll resume our talk today by discussing societal organization and the collective production of social goods. It’s important to remember the way things are, are because we’ve structured it this way. We live in the society that we’ve created. So, if we conditioned it, we could recondition it to something better.

 

For more information about Brian Lowery and his podcast Know What You See, please visit: https://www.knowwhatyousee.com

For more information about Selfless by Brian Lowery and his new book, please visit:https://www.harpercollins.com/products/selfless-brian-lowery

For more information about articles and other media content by Brian Lowery about race, equity, and privilege, please visit: https://www.knowwhatyousee.com/media-page

For more information about Brian Lowery and Stanford Graduate School of Business, please visit: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/brian-lowery

Part 1: Moral Opportunity and Engaging with Your Societal Position with Brian Lowery – Episode 196

If you could change the word privilege, given its recent incendiary tendency, so that it wouldn't be so reactionary, what word would you choose that might invite and allow a conversation between folks that might be a little more inviting, a little bit more engaged, and a little bit more inclusive? In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Brian Lowery. Brian is a professor of Organizational Behavior and a Social Psychologist by training at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Brian is driving an initiative to shape enlightened and purposeful leaders for a diverse society. Brian’s research examines the operation of racial attitudes below the threshold of consciousness and the perception of inequality. He has been published in major scholarly journals such as the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Law and Human Behavior. Together Graham and Brian discuss how identifying privilege can direct our actions and provides an opportunity to improve ourselves and our community. They discuss how defensiveness and the feelings of guilt, shame, and avoidance towards privilege deprives us of a richer life. And lastly, they discuss what a more just and equitable world would look like and how in current times, we should have a minimal level of life quality. We will resume this conversation in our next upcoming podcast.

For more information about Brian Lowery and his podcast Know What You See, please visit: https://www.knowwhatyousee.com

For more information about Selfless by Brian Lowery and his new book, please visit:https://www.harpercollins.com/products/selfless-brian-lowery

For more information about articles and other media content by Brian Lowery about race, equity, and privilege, please visit: https://www.knowwhatyousee.com/media-page

For more information about Brian Lowery and Stanford Graduate School of Business, please visit: https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/brian-lowery