Behavioral Health Today

Complicated Grief & the Meaningfulness of Loss with Dr. Kathy Shear – Episode 100

At some point in all our lives, we will experience loss. The most difficult loss is the loss of someone close to us. With this loss, the landscape of our life changes and the process of experiencing and working through our grief begins. In this episode, Dr. Graham Taylor speaks with Dr. Kathy Shear, professor of psychiatry at the Columbia School of Social Work and founder and director of the Center for Complicated Grief. She shares with us the grief process, how to recognize complicated grief, and her recent research contribution and inclusion of this condition, now called Prolonged Grief Disorder, into the forthcoming DSM-V. There is life to be lived after this loss and if we can grieve in productive and growth-oriented ways, we can find a path that can allow us to continue to grow and have joy in our lives while continuing to carry and relate to the one we've lost in a very meaningful way.

 

For more information about the Center for Complicated Grief, please visit: https://complicatedgrief.columbia.edu
For more information about training, please visit: https://complicatedgrief.columbia.edu/professionals/training/
And for more information about resources on Complicated Grief, please visit: https://complicatedgrief.columbia.edu/professionals/resources-pro/

Part 2: Mental Health of Athletes & the NBA with Dr. William Parham – Episode 99

This episode resumes the conversation with Dr. Graham Taylor and Dr. William Parham the inaugural Director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) Mental Health and Wellness Department. We have not yet begun to see what real GOAT (greatest of all time) behavior looks like. If we to invest, from the beginning all of those systems early on should have a mental health and wellness component as part of their regimen. If we can look at the developmental part of it first, that athletic performance will just naturally evolve the way that it's designed to evolve. Mental health is the missing link and maximizing one's true potential.

For more information about the NBPA Mental Health and Wellness Department, please visit: https://nbpa.com/mentalwellness

Other resources provided by Dr. Parham include:
HBO Special - Weight of Gold: https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-weight-of-gold
Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6675915/
ISSP Sports Psychology Consensus document: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1612197X.2019.1570473
West by West. Memoir shedding light on mental health in the NBA: https://www.amazon.com/West-My-Charmed-Tormented-Life-ebook/dp/B004QZ9PFG
Washington Post, article One’s Mental Health in Olympic Athletes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/06/19/olympics-mental-health-simone-manuel/
Aeon Magazine Invisible Tattoos - article on childhood trauma in athletes: https://aeon.co/essays/if-trauma-can-propel-athletes-healing-can-make-them-soar
The Positive Coaching Alliance: https://positivecoach.org

 

 

Part 1: Mental Health of Athletes & the NBA with Dr. William Parham – Episode 98

Athletes are aesthetically pleasing and like the theater, it's a venue for emotional expression. However, while we fans may be enjoying their performances we get to watch, we don't often fully appreciate the degrees of pressure on elite athletes. The win-it-all mentality presents a unique concern for the mental health among athletes. In this episode Dr. Graham Taylor is joined by Dr. William Parham the inaugural Director of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) Mental Health and Wellness Department. Together they discuss the psychological demands on professional and elite athletes and strategies to support their mental health. Everybody wins when you invest in the whole person and their mental health and wellness. 

For more information about the NBPA Mental Health and Wellness Department, please visit: https://nbpa.com/mentalwellness

Other resources provided by Dr. Parham include:
HBO Special - Weight of Gold: https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-weight-of-gold
Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs) Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6675915/
ISSP Sports Psychology Consensus document: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1612197X.2019.1570473
West by West. Memoir shedding light on mental health in the NBA: https://www.amazon.com/West-My-Charmed-Tormented-Life-ebook/dp/B004QZ9PFG
Washington Post, article One’s Mental Health in Olympic Athletes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/06/19/olympics-mental-health-simone-manuel/
Aeon Magazine Invisible Tattoos - article on childhood trauma in athletes: https://aeon.co/essays/if-trauma-can-propel-athletes-healing-can-make-them-soar
The Positive Coaching Alliance: https://positivecoach.org

 

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