Behavioral Health Today

Teaching Trauma-Responsive Practices with Ragan Schriver, PsyD, MSW – Episode 97

Being trauma-responsive means that we can recognize that the person that’s coming to see us has lived very difficult situations, but there are huge strengths in that. We as therapists want to join arms and walk with them to collaborate on their issues and strengths to help them grow. On today’s podcast, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Ragan Schriver, PsyD, MSW. Ragan is an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Tennessee’s College of Social Work and director of the MSW program. In their certification program, Ragan teaches his students about trauma-informed and trauma-responsive practices. Together, Graham and Ragan discuss the experiences of teaching students to actively respond to an individual’s struggle, the relational aspects of therapy, defining trauma in the curriculum with students, and working through a strengths-based perspective.

For more information about the University of Tennessee and its Social Work Program, please visit: https://www.csw.utk.edu/
If you have any questions related to the certificate program, the process of earning a certificate, the content, or concerns, please contact Dr. Ragan Schriver at rschriv1@utk.edu

Weaving EMDR into Therapy with Wendy Byrd, LPC, LMFT – Episode 96

We know that at its best talk therapy, regardless of the theoretical approach being utilized is typically limited in helping folks fully process through and let go of trauma. But, what about those times when, as therapists, we find ourselves working with a patient that seems to be stuck in their treatment process, due to experienced trauma? Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an approach we can utilize to help patients accelerate the information, processing other traumatic events, and developing more truth-based assessment and understanding of the event and themselves. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor is joined by Wendy Byrd, LPC, LMFT, and president of the Board of Directors for EMDR International Association (EMDRIA). Wendy has over 15 years of experience in working with trauma and together Graham and Wendy discuss the incorporation of EMDR woven into the therapeutic process.

 

For more information about EMDR International Association (EMDRIA), please visit
https://www.emdria.org

For more information about Wendy Byrd and her private practice, please visit:
https://www.wendybyrd.com

For more information about Connected Heart Therapy, please visit:
https://connectedheart.net/therapy/

Part 2: Children’s Mental Health & Preparing for the Fall Semester with Jerry Barone – Episode 95

This episode resumes the conversation with Dr. Graham Taylor and Jerry Barone of Effective School Solutions (ESS). Together they discuss key aspects of self-care in teachers and administrators, the confidence needed for a safe environment for our children, and practical strategies to help navigate students back into the school year. As we reenter schools this fall semester we encourage parents, teachers, and administrators to promote a familiar routine, master competency to show kids confidence, practice mindfulness, and use genuine validation, but then envision how we will rise out of this.

For more information about Effective School Solutions, please visit:
https://www.effectiveschoolsolutions.com/

Read articles on Thought Leadership, please visit:
https://www.effectiveschoolsolutions.com/thought-leadership

If you are in a Crisis and need help, please call:
SAMSHA National Disaster Distress Helpline 1-800-985-5990 or by texting TalkWithUs to 66746
Reach a crisis counselor by texting the Crisis Text Line, text HOME to 741741
Help prevent suicide with the National Suicide Prevention 24/7 Lifeline, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Part 1: Children’s Mental Health & Preparing for the Fall Semester with Jerry Barone – Episode 94

There's no better place than to address mental health issues from our point of view than at school where children can be surrounded by teachers and leaders. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Jerry Barone from Effective School Solutions (ESS) about children’s mental health and preparation for the fall semester. Together they discuss the prevalence rates in children’s mental health, services, and the best practices available to the school to address the needs of students, and finally the warning signs that parents and teachers should be aware of. During the COVID-19 pandemic, research is suggesting that depression, anxiety in the youth demographics. This is a good time for teachers to be getting back and putting their focus on students to recognize signs and symptoms. Let’s do things to enhance the environment and keep kids in the classroom.

 

For more information about Effective School Solutions, please visit: https://www.effectiveschoolsolutions.com/

Read articles on Thought Leadership, please visit:

https://www.effectiveschoolsolutions.com/thought-leadership

If you are in a Crisis and need help, please call:
SAMSHA National Disaster Distress Helpline 1-800-985-5990 or by texting TalkWithUs to 66746
Reach a crisis counselor by texting the Crisis Text Line, text HOME to 741741
Help prevent suicide with the National Suicide Prevention 24/7 Lifeline, please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Clinician Series: Inner-Work for the New Trauma Therapist with Guy Macpherson Ph.D. – Episode 93

Special Offer for BHT Listeners: Save 40% OFF Inner-Work for New Trauma Therapists Course with promo code TRIADGUY. Learn More at: https://the-trauma-therapist-project.teachable.com/p/inner-work-for-the-new-trauma-worker

What the patient needs most is the ability to be themselves, but for them to see themselves, as therapists, we need to know ourselves fully first. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor continues the discussion with Dr. Guy Macpherson, clinical psychologist, creator of the Trauma Therapist Project, and the host of the Trauma Therapist Podcast, about the Inner-Work for the New Trauma Therapist Course and the importance of understanding your journey and bringing that awareness into session. This course will walk practitioners through a personal discovery process to help give them as therapists a sense of who they are. The goal to empower therapists to believe who they are is enough but getting there can be very challenging within the context of working with someone who’s been impacted by trauma. “It's about being a human being with another human being”.

 

For more information about Trauma Therapist 2.0, please visit:
https://the-trauma-therapist-project.teachable.com/p/trauma-therapist-2-0-1

For more information on the Trauma Therapist Podcast, please visit:
https://www.thetraumatherapistproject.com/podcast

For more information about The Inner Work for New Trauma Therapists, please visit: https://the-trauma-therapist-project.teachable.com/p/inner-work-for-the-new-trauma-worker

Early Career Experiences in Cultivating Authenticity with Guy Macpherson Ph.D. – Episode 92

Special Offer for BHT Listeners: Save 40% OFF Inner-Work for New Trauma Therapists Course with promo code TRIADGUY. Learn More at: https://the-trauma-therapist-project.teachable.com/p/inner-work-for-the-new-trauma-worker

As therapists, we are our own greatest tool. But how does one come about becoming their own best tool? And what personal components go into the cultivation of this therapeutic self? And what does this inner work look like? These questions and professional development are particularly relevant for those of you listening on today's podcast that are early-career practitioners, cultivating clarity about your why in coming into this field, identifying your strengths, and doing your own inner work, such that you can bring authenticity presence and courage to your therapy. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Dr. Guy Macpherson, clinical psychologist, creator of the Trauma Therapist Project, and the host of the Trauma Therapist Podcast, about the importance of authenticity and defining your role in the healing process.

If you’re working with people who have been impacted by trauma, working in this area alone is very challenging. The Trauma Therapist Project is creating a community and safe space for trauma therapists to care for each other, share their experiences, and encourage each other.

 

For more information about Trauma Therapist 2.0, please visit:
https://the-trauma-therapist-project.teachable.com/p/trauma-therapist-2-0-1

For more information on the Trauma Therapist Podcast, please visit:
https://www.thetraumatherapistproject.com/podcast

For more information about The Inner Work for New Trauma Therapists, please visit: https://the-trauma-therapist-project.teachable.com/p/inner-work-for-the-new-trauma-worker

 

Promoting W.E.A.L.T.H. in Melanated Communities with Alethea Glave – Episode 91

We, as therapists, have an opportunity to educate and challenge people to the conscious and unconscious aspects of racism. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Alethea Glave, LCSW, about therapy specifically addressing mental health in underserved and underrepresented communities. Together they discuss the importance of creating a safe space and being intentional on normalizing and decolonizing therapy, helping clients recognize the other dimensions to their mental health, understanding history and recognizing they systemic issues, and ways to grow and promote W.E.A.L.T.H. principles (worth, esteem, awareness, love, tuning, and healing). If we, as therapists, can have that trust in the relationship together, and this is a safest place a client can have, we can invite them to get uncomfortable and challenge the ideas and their contributions to racism.

For more information about Alethea Glave and Melanated Counseling, please visit: https://www.melanatedcounseling.com
For more information about Alethea’s work with Coordinated Behavioral Care (CBC), please visit: https://cbcare.org

Or the innovative Pathway Home Program, please visit: https://cbcare.org/innovative-programs/pathway-home/
For more information about Mental Health specifically for black communities or for information and resources, please visit: https://mhanational.org

For more information about Shawna Murray Browne, please visit: https://www.shawnamurraybrowne.com

Part 2: Psychedelic Therapy with Saj Razvi, LPC – Episode 90

Psychedelic substances can provide a powerful experience that can be turned into significant therapeutic benefits. In this episode, we conclude this two-part series on Psychedelic Therapy with Saj Razvi, LPC Director of Education at the Psychedelic Somatic Institute (PSI). Together Graham and Saj continue their conversation with a focus on the therapist’s role in the psychedelic psychotherapy process, who might best benefit from this type of therapy, and the successful outcomes seen in patients ranging from resilience, better coping strategies, decreased anxiety and depressive numbing symptoms. There is a brilliance to what we can access with the psychedelics in a supportive, guided place where this pathway to our secondary consciousness can be accessed and allow this healing to take place.

For more information about the Psychedelic Somatic Institute, please visit: https://www.psychedelicsomatic.org
For more information about Psychedelic Therapy, download the PSIP White Paper here: https://www.psychedelicsomatic.org/white-paper
For more information about Psychedelic Therapy in process, please watch videos available at: https://www.psychedelicsomatic.org/resources
For more information about Psychedelic Therapy and Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind, please visit: https://michaelpollan.com/books/how-to-change-your-mind/
For more information about Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and Imperial College London, please visit: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/r.carhart-harris

Part 1: Psychedelic Therapy with Saj Razvi, LPC – Episode 89

For some patients with complex or treatment resistance trauma, standard therapeutic approaches can’t cross over into the realm where trauma is held. But what if there was a way to access this healing place and address this pathway to the center of where their trauma is held? In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor is joined by Saj Razvi, LPC, Director of Education at the Psychedelic Somatic Institute (PSI).  Saj’s primary focus is on the wide-scale adoption and accessibility of psychedelic therapy through training therapists to work with cannabis and ketamine-assisted therapy in private practice settings. In this two-part series, we discuss what is psychedelic therapy, the various substances that are being used, and why we utilize psychedelic therapy to access the trauma underneath the secondary consciousness to promote healing.

For more information about the Psychedelic Somatic Institute, please visit: https://www.psychedelicsomatic.org
For more information about Psychedelic Therapy, download the PSIP White Paper here: https://www.psychedelicsomatic.org/white-paper
For more information about Psychedelic Therapy in process, please watch videos available at: https://www.psychedelicsomatic.org/resources
For more information about Psychedelic Therapy and Michael Pollan's book How to Change Your Mind, please visit: https://michaelpollan.com/books/how-to-change-your-mind/
For more information about Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and Imperial College London, please visit: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/r.carhart-harris

 

Psychopathology and the Study of Violent Crime with Dr. Gary Brucato – Episode 88

It’s important to understand that the reason we must go to these dark places, such as violent crime, is in the interest of prevention of future crime. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor is joined today by Dr. Gary Burcato, clinical psychologist, researcher, and author in the areas of violence, early psychosis, and other serious psychopathology. Gary is also the writer of The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence and Modern Violent Crime co-authored by Dr.Michael Stone. Together Graham and Gary define what evil is, understanding the horror attached to violent acts, and understand the psychological implications of what they're doing, and what's driving it. Gary talks about the development of the 22 Category Scale of Evil that looks at the factors in a person’s life as a spectrum to better understand the behavior behind the acts of violence and how this scale is being used in assisting with the capture and prevention of future violent crimes. And finally, they discuss the trends in violent crime and the reasons behind the shift from serial killings to mass murder.

For information about Dr. Gary Burcato’s book with Dr. Michael Stone, The New Evil: Understanding the Emergence and Modern Violent Crime, please visit: https://www.amazon.com/New-Evil-Understanding-Emergence-Violent/dp/1633885321
For more information about The Anatomy of Evil, written by Dr. Michael Stone, please visit: https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Evil-Michael-H-Stone/dp/1591027268
For more information about The Anatomy of Motive, written by John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker, please visit: https://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Motive-John-Douglas/dp/0671023934
For more information about Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives by Dr. Ann Burgess, John Douglas, and Robert Ressler, please visit: https://www.amazon.com/Sexual-Homicide-Patterns-Motives-Paperback/dp/0028740637
For more information about Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of Psychopaths Among Us, by Dr. Robert Hare, please visit: https://www.amazon.com/Without-Conscience-Disturbing-Psychopaths-Robert/dp/B004IY5IGK/ref=asc_df_B004IY5IGK/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=343221129552&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13656532010536227013&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9014965&hvtargid=pla-304918604761&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=67797266103&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=343221129552&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13656532010536227013&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9014965&hvtargid=pla-304918604761
And finally, for more information about The Mask of Sanity: An Attempt to Clarify Some Issues About the So-Called Psychopathic Personality by Hervey Cleckley, please visit: https://www.amazon.com/Mask-Sanity-So-Called-Psychopathic-Personality/dp/1626549664/ref=asc_df_1626549664/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312039018893&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15171351114125700793&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9014965&hvtargid=pla-423268207409&psc=1

 

Successful Long-Term Recovery & Peer Support with Emily Grossman – Episode 87

Recovery is a beautiful process where you build a happy, successful life and you come out the other side of your mental health struggles as the best version of yourself. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Emily Grossman, the Director of Training at Coordinated Behavioral Care, on her journey with mental illness. Her story begins at the age of 18 and through many stressful events, her life’s trajectory was threatened by institutionalization. Her persistence and ultimate recovery finally led her to become a Peer Specialist. Together, Emily and Graham discuss the learned skills, strategies, and treatments for her successful long-term recovery and Emily’s transition to a Peer Provider position with lived experience helping others with their recovery journey to teach them how to live successful lives. Emily’s story is an inspirational one, that those with mental illness can, through recovery, reach their fullest potential.

 

For more information about Emily Grossman, please visit: https://www.emilygrossman.net

For questions, please reach Emily Grossman at: info@emilygrossman.net

For more information about Peer Support Specialists, please visit: http://www.cdsdirectory.org

For more information about Coordinated Behavioral Care (CBC), please visit: https://cbcare.org/

Thursday is the New Friday with Joe Sanok - Episode 86

How many days each week are you working? Three five, maybe six. And how many hours are you putting in on average? 30, 40, or 50 hours a week? Would you say that you've achieved and are living the proverbial work-life balance you want? In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Joe Sanok on this new book Thursday is the New Friday, and shares with us how we can take charge of and create our work-life balance. Together Joe shares his new book and the evidence-based methodology and ways to doing the work that matters the most, how to be intentional to your self-care, customizing your situation to be more productive and balanced, and strategies to think to approach your business model that might free up more time to have a balanced life.

 

For more information about Thursday is the New Friday, please visit:

http://thursdayisthenewfriday.com

Get the Bonus Presale Offer! For a limited time, you can receive bonuses when you preorder 5+, 10+, or 25+ books. You can learn more at: http://thursdayisthenewfriday.com

Learn more about Joe Sanok and his new book Thursday is the New Friday, please visit: https://joesanok.com

The Epidemic within the Pandemic with Lauren Conaboy – Episode 85

We know that mental illness is a significant part of our lives as a nation, one in five adults are going to experience a mental health illness each year. Roughly 10% of people are going to experience a major depressive episode this year, and 20% of people will experience an anxiety disorder. In this episode Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Lauren Conaboy the Vice President of National Policy at Centerstone, a not-for-profit health system specializing in mental health and substance use disorder treatments. Through her advocacy, Lauren has directly influenced the passage of several bills including passing legislation to create the nation’s first ever three-digit dialing code for suicide prevention or mental health emergencies, as well as directly influencing several provisions of the 2018 support act, a bill designed to combat the nation’s opioid crisis.

If you are in crisis, please call the national suicide prevention lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). (+1 for military or veterans)

For more information about Centerstone call 1-877-HOPE (4673)-123 or by visiting: www.centerstone.org

Challenging the Telemental Health System with Bea Arthur – Episode 84

The needs for telemental health have not been greater than right now, but problems exist with access to therapy as well as the equitable treatment of the employed therapists. The Difference is causing a shift in the teletherapy industry. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor sits with award-winning entrepreneur and Columbia University-trained psychotherapist Bea Arthur. She is the CEO of The Difference, a telemental health service created for accessible, affordable, and anonymous therapy, but with a different business model giving the working therapist equitable benefits and pay. Together, we talk about the importance of equity and access to therapy, issues of sustainability in private practice, and the industry shift The Difference seeks to provide for the future of universal mental health access.

For more information about The Difference, please visit: https://thedifference.co/

To request a demo of The Difference, please visit: https://thedifference.co/#modal

If you’re interested in learning more about working with The Difference, please visit: https://thedifference.co/careers/

Connect with The Difference:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDifferenceAI/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedifferenceai
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.difference.co/

To learn more about Bea Arthur, please visit: https://www.beaarthurtherapy.com/

 

Overcoming a Legacy of Low Achievement with Dr. Shaana Berman – Episode 83

Students of color educated in high poverty urban schools have traditionally experienced low achievement. However, there are some high poverty schools serving large concentrations of students of color that achieve high levels of academic performance. What if we can identify these systems and structures in the high achievement schools that have been shown to produce a positive impact on academic performance by facilitating effective strategies in the classroom and within the school itself? To address this topic, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Dr. Shaana Berman about her dissertation, Overcoming a Legacy of Low Achievement: the systems and the structures in a high performing high poverty, California elementary school. 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. She has extensive training in early childhood and special education applied behavioral analysis, developmental assessment, curriculum, design, IEP, and training teachers to deliver effective instruction to diverse populations of students.

For more information about Dr. Shaana Berman, please visit: https://metamindmagic.com

Or email directly at shaana.berman@gmail.com

Connect with Dr. Shaana Berman on Facebook, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/doctorshaana/