Stay ConnectedThe Think Act Be podcast features conversations about finding happiness, peace, and connection. Clinical psychologist Seth Gillihan talks with his guests about ways to nourish your mind, body, and spirit.
For one-on-one sessions with Seth Gillihan: sethgillihan.com/1-1-sessions
For individual psychotherapy (in CA or DC) with Joel Minden: cbtchico.com
My guest this week is Dr. Joseph Luciani, author of a book called Unlearning Anxiety & Depression: The 4-Step Self-Coaching Program to Reclaim Your Life. Joe and I explored some of his background in more depth-oriented psychology, especially a Jungian approach where we explore symbols and dreams and archetypes, and his transition to a more action-oriented style.
We got into some pretty interesting territory, especially about the spiritual implications of psychotherapy. As Joe said, if we truly learn that we can handle whatever life throws at us, everything changes. That's good news, of course, because you can handle any challenge, just like you have already to make it this far.
My guest this week is clinical health psychologist Dr. Mark Weisberg. We talked about his specialty in clinical hypnosis, and how it can make treatment more effective. I’m sure you’ve heard of hypnosis, but the way Mark uses it might be different from the images that come to mind when we hear the word. We talked about using it to help treat stress, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, and other conditions.
My guests this week are Devon Hase and Craig Hase, authors of the new book, How Not to Be a Hot Mess. These two have a way of making the principles of mindfulness and Buddhism relevant and easy to understand. As you’ll hear, we discussed many points of intersection in how they and I think about mindfulness, and the need for additional practices besides simply being present and open.
We talked a lot about “waking up from the dream” to more fully inhabit our lives, what Buddhism has to say about our sex lives, and the importance of bringing ritual into our lives. I think you’ll find a lot here that’s useful.
My guest this week is Ilene Smith, author of the recent book, Moving Beyond Trauma: The Roadmap to Healing from Your Past and Living with Ease and Vitality (affiliate link). If you’ve been through a trauma—and most of us have—then this is a conversation for you. Ilene shared her expertise on how we can use the body to help us heal from traumatic events. If you’ve read anything by Peter Levine or maybe Bessel van der Kolk’s book The Body Keeps the Score (affiliate link), you’ll recognize a lot of what we talk about.
One thing I really appreciated exploring with Ilene was how CBT and body-focused trauma treatment can fit together. Ilene also shared about her own trauma experience, and how her background in the techniques she describes helped her to recover. You’ll definitely want to hear about that.
My guest this week is Bridgit Dengel Gaspard, therapist and author of the forthcoming book, The Final Eighth (affiliate link). We discussed something that I’m guessing all of us can relate to at some point in our lives: Why is it that we often make a lot of progress toward our goals, and then we stall out in the home stretch?
Maybe it's buying a house, starting a business, starting a family, writing that book—whatever it is, we might even get seven-eighths of the way there. And then we hit a wall.
The insights Bridgit offers might surprise you. To me they were new ways of looking at things, especially at our multiple inner selves and the various roles they play as we move toward our biggest goals. I think you’ll also find our discussion on our Inner Critic helpful, including a demonstration Bridgit gave, with me as her willing subject.
My guest this week is Dr. Michael Lovell, president of Marquette University. Michael is deeply committed to trauma-informed care in the city of Milwaukee (where Marquette is located), and to addressing the persistent racial disparities in our society. He’s been outspoken about his own history of childhood trauma, and is using the pain of his past in his efforts to serve others.
That’s something I see so often in my clinical work—that our own struggles can be transformed into a way to help those who are suffering. I’ve certainly found that in my own life, too. Sometimes we might think, “I can’t help others, because I have so much pain myself.” But it’s for exactly that reason that we’re prepared to make a difference in someone else’s life. The pain we experience seems to carve a deeper well in us, and gives us more we can draw from and offer to others.
My guest this week is Sarah McCafferty. As you’ll hear, Sarah is passionate about issues of justice and equality. We focused on issues of race, in light of the developments in our society in recent weeks.
I don’t know about you but I was really reluctant to talk about race, because I was afraid I would say the wrong things, as I mentioned on a recent episode. Sarah has some really helpful things to say about moving through that fear, and why joining the conversation is so important—and no less so for White people.
If you can relate to the fear that keeps us silent, I hope you find this discussion helpful. As we hear others taking a risk and speaking up, it might get easier to do the same ourselves.
I was grateful to be talking in this episode with someone who’s comfortable around issues of race, racism, and the ongoing legacy of slavery and inequality in the US. I also appreciated how frankly Sarah spoke about love—the kind of love that moves us through fear, to something better on the other side.
My guest this week is Worthy Stokes, author of The Daily Meditation Book of Healing: 365 Reflections for Positivity, Peace, and Prosperity. I got so much out of this discussion with Worthy. She had a near-death experience a few years ago that opened her eyes to the full reality of who she is. A lot of what I love about her perspective is that she fully values all parts of our experience—our bodies, our minds, our spirits, our souls—the full range of what it means to be a human. We talked about allowing ourselves to be deeply human. We explored ways to manage anxiety. And we thought a lot together about what it means to heal. Does it mean that we have to regain complete physical functioning? Or is there a kind of full healing available even when we continue to struggle with symptoms? Toward the end of our conversation, she offered a simple but powerful listening exercise.
My guest this week is Ashley James. We had planned to focus on anxiety in this episode, which we did spend a good bit of time talking about. But we also talked a lot about general health and nutrition, and the important role of diet in our physical and mental health.
This is a topic that’s gotten a lot more attention in recent years. For some reason it was quite controversial for a long time to suggest that what we put in our mouths could affect our minds and spirits, and could contribute to conditions like anxiety and depression. But now that the research studies are being done, we’re starting to realize how important diet can be—not just for our physical health, but for our overall well-being.
We also talked a lot about the body’s stress response and the release of cortisol through the HPA axis, and of adrenaline through our sympathetic nervous system (our body’s fight-or-flight stress system). And in the second half of our discussion, Ashley offers a simple technique that can lower anxiety and turn down the stress response.
My guest this week is Robert Dilenschneider, author of the recent book Decisions: Practical Advice from 23 Men and Women Who Changed the World (affiliate link). Bob had some really important things to say about this moment we find ourselves in, with the many problems we’re facing. A global pandemic, economic turmoil, and now the pain and upheaval following the deaths of George Floyd and other Black men and women in the US at the hands of the police.
These events have compelled all of us to take a closer look at the inequality and racism we may have taken for granted. So what Bob says here is really important. He asserts that each of us needs to take responsibility for the good and the bad in society. And we need to take personal responsibility for addressing societal problems. I hope you get a lot out of this episode.
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