The Broken Brain

Latest Episodes:

Prince's Death, Overdose Risk, Addiction Apr 30, 2016

Show notes

Dr. Calli Estes, the Addictions Coach, is the founder of the Addiction Academy and a friend of the show. She joined me today to talk about the news regarding the death of cultural icon and rock star Prince. We discuss addiction, the risk of overdose, and how shame, indulgence, and denial of the problem risk people's lives.

Effects of Fear shown in the movie "Signs" Apr 27, 2016

Show notes

Michael Denniston (of the War Machine vs War Horse Podcast) has joined us before and will join us again, but never before has he joined us to discuss M Night Shyamalan and how everyone pretends they didn't love all his movies once upon a time.

The emotion of Fear plays a large role in the lives of everyone. In the movie Signs, we are shown a story of an alien invasion, in which the real villain seems to be fear and an ongoing loss of faith by the main character. We discuss, riff, joke, and ponder the implications of this story as it relates to fear, narration, and the logical survival mechanism of hitting an alien with a baseball bat.

Ask A Therapist 5: Relationships, Interventions, Sex Drives, & Lee's Oilcan Guitar Apr 19, 2016

Show notes

Mike Fitch & Lee Messersmith, the OG Broken Brain Gang join for an ask a therapist segment, with newcomer and therapist intern Chris Tittle!

We talk about more than just Lee's new guitar, which is made out of an oilcan. We answer listener questions about relationships, incompatible sex drives, and some parenting stuff.

Get your questions to our AskATherapist segment through twitter @breakabrain, email dwighthurst@gmail.com, or tweet #AskATherapist and we will assemble our panel. Listeners like this sort of thing so we plan to do an AskATherapist panel once per month on the show.

Trauma Therapy with Guy Macpherson Apr 12, 2016

Show notes

Guy Macpherson is the founder of the Trauma Therapist Project a fellow podcaster, and an expert on early childhood mental illness, trauma, and somatic sensory psychotherapy. He joins me today to discuss pointers for therapists learning to deal with trauma, the prevalence of trauma within mental illness, and treatment techniques.

I can already tell Guy will be a good friend of the show, hear his first Broken Brain interview right here, right now. Also give him a listen on his podcast, The Trauma Therapist Podcast, and check out his website and FaceBook Group.

Myths About Addiction & Article by Jenev Caddell, PsyD Apr 06, 2016

Show notes

It's our addiction look, at the top of this wonderful month of April. What better way to start it than by reading an article by author, psychologist, and relationship expert Jenev Caddell!

In her article "Busting 5 Common Mythes About Addiction," Dr. Caddell captures some dangerous and important misnomers about substance use, abuse, and dependance. I review 3 out of the 5 myths (go read the rest yourself lazybones) and add my own thoughts and insights for your education and enjoyment.

Have a good start to April!

Online Therapy with Clay Cockrell Mar 28, 2016

Show notes

Clay Cockrell of the Online Counseling Podcast and Walk and Talk Therapy return to our show to discuss his new search database for online therapists. In creating this new service and hosting his own podcast Clay has done a TON of research into Online Psychotherapy, the newer type of telehealth in the mental health industry.

Clay is the founder of Walk and Talk practice, a form of outdoor counseling he practices in Central Park, NY. He is also a pioneer in the field of online counseling. He is offering a discount for therapists who are listeners of The Broken Brain Podcast and wish to list themselves in his Online Therapist Database. Give this episode a listen for the special sale code.

Rebuilding Life After Divorce with Arianna Jeret Mar 23, 2016

Show notes

Arianna Jeret, relationship expert, frequent guest and friend of the show, returns to discuss the idea of "rebuilding," a life following divorce. We discuss whether or not the concept of rebuilding is accurate or helpful, the components to emotional pain following a break up, flexibility vs rigidity in communication, and many other parts of relationships, marriage, and divorce.

Follow Ariana on YourTango or The Good Men Project!

Self-Confidence: Clinical Considerations Mar 17, 2016

Show notes

We have been focusedon self confidence a LOT lately on the Broken Brain, and I found this recording of Mike Fitch and I discussing the clinical elements of confidence, what role it plays, and how mental illness can impact it.

We discuss the differences between self-esteem, self-worth, and other forms of self-lovin' (self-loving for oyu search engines out there).

Sex Offender Treatment with Candice Christiansen Mar 13, 2016

Show notes

Talking to Candice at Namaste Center for Healing, we were planning to do some nonsense throw away discussion about another topic, but we landed on talking about treatment for individuals with sexual offenses, pedophiliac desires, and compulsive sexual thoughts.

Candice operates a preventative treatment program for those with invasive, unwanted sexual desires towards children. This is a difficult and controversial topic within the world of treatment, so give us a listen as we take a stab at it.

The DBT PLEASE Skill Mar 09, 2016

Show notes

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy addresses increasing emotional stability, and the PLEASE skill is a viable part of increasing yours! This podcast mini episode comes from the audio to the YouTube Video on The BrokenBrain Podcast channel on YouTube.