CIIS Public Programs

Being a healer today often means navigating complexities and challenges. Healers of all modalities can feel sidelined, underfunded, or delegitimized within a Western capitalist framework. In this episode, licensed psychologist and CIIS faculty Elizabeth Markle talks with somatic psychotherapist, author, and podcaster Laura Mae Northrup about her latest book, Radical Healership, in which Laura offe...

Over the past 17 years, queer autistic author and educator Nick Walker has played a key role in the emergence of the neurodiversity paradigm—a framework for scholarship, practice, and social justice work where treating human neurocognitive variations such as autism, dyslexia, and ADHD as medical disorders is understood to be a form of systemic oppression along the same lines as the pathologizing o...

Despite the undeniable fact that Indigenous communities are among the most affected by climate devastation, Indigenous science is very rarely found in mainstream environmental policy or discourse. Environmental scientist, advocate, and author Jessica Hernandez introduces and contextualizes Indigenous environmental knowledge and proposes a vision of land stewardship that heals rather than displaces...

For years, Mark Epstein kept his beliefs as a Buddhist separate from his work as a psychiatrist. But as he became more forthcoming with his patients about his spiritual learning, he was surprised to find many were eager to hear more. The divisions between the psychological, emotional, and the spiritual were not as distinct as one might think. In this episode, Dr. Epstein is joined by CIIS professo...

Renowned certified Gottman therapist and author Elizabeth Earnshaw offers a culturally tuned-in, LGBTQIA+ friendly approach, and an accessible guide to healing relationships and creating enduring intimacy for unmarried and married couples in her work and writing. In her latest book, I Want This to Work, Elizabeth shares her expertise and presents for today’s generation the most effective and prove...

Psilocybin mushrooms have been used for hundreds, likely thousands of years. Currently, more than 65 universities in North America and Europe have been approved for clinical studies ranging from treating depression and Alzheimer’s to addiction. Psilocybin has clearly risen to the forefront of medical research. In this episode, renowned mycologist and medical researcher Paul Stamets provides an ill...

Through his yoga teaching and writing, Jacoby Ballard explores the intersections of yoga, capitalism, cultural appropriation, and sexual violence. He offers a queer-centered, fully embodied, and equity-rooted practice with meditations and sequences for processing and healing from trauma both individually and in community. In this episode, queer, transgender, autistic author and educator Nick Walke...

Apela Colorado is a traditional cultural practitioner and Indigenous scientist dedicated to creating a bridge between Western thought and Indigenous worldviews. In her latest book, Woman Between the Worlds, Dr. Colorado invites us to explore how Indigenous wisdom resonates in modern life while lovingly teaching us to honor its power, beauty, and potential. In this episode, CIIS faculty Susana Bust...

The evidence of consistent correlations between planetary alignments and world events as seen through the lens of archetypal astrology can provide us with a much-needed context for our time. Understanding both the cyclical patterns and the historical trends that preceded our current moment can help us engage with greater consciousness and skillful intelligence the powerful forces now active in the...

Experienced mindfulness teacher Kaira Jewel Lingo provides accessible advice on navigating difficult times of transition by drawing on Buddhist teachings on impermanence to help us establish equanimity and resilience. In this episode, CIIS Integrative Health Studies professor Megan Lipsett talks with Kaira Jewel about her teaching and her latest book, We Were Made for These Times, which offers tea...

As one of the country’s leading organizers, Principal at Black Futures Lab, and a co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter, Alicia Garza's work has helped shape the discourse on movements and empowerment for more than a decade. In this episode, performer, social worker, and activist Honey Mahogany talks with Alicia about her life, her work, and her latest book, The Purpose of Power. This episode was record...

Family Constellations begins with this premise—it did not start with me. Many of us become entangled with the unhappiness of those who came before us, unconsciously adopting destructive familial patterns of anxiety, depression, failure, and even illness and addiction. Family Constellations therapist Marine Sélénée uses her unique approach to this philosophy to help her clients get to the root of t...

In a society where unconscious bias, microaggressions, institutionalized racism, and systemic injustices are deeply ingrained, healing is an ongoing process. Author, meditation teacher, and law professor Rhonda Magee teaches that in order to have the difficult conversations required for working toward racial justice, inner work is essential. In this episode, CIIS Assistant Director of Diversity an...

The divides we experience within us and between us are not only a threat to our physical and emotional health—they are also the weapons and the outcomes of structural oppression. Meditation teacher and author Kate Johnson believes that through wise relationships it is possible to transform the barriers created by societal injustice. In this episode, licensed psychologist and CIIS faculty Elizabeth...

With the second renaissance and re-emergence of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, the general public and therapists alike are confronted with new areas of exploration, but with few systematic frameworks available. With questions surrounding legal access to care, ongoing criminalization, and medical restrictions to care limiting the therapies available, the immediate future of psychedelic-assiste...

Fat Black people in the United States are subject to socio-politically sanctioned discrimination, abuse, condescension, and trauma. In their writing and work, Da’Shaun Harrison—a fat, Black, disabled, trans writer and community organizer—offers an incisive, fresh, and precise exploration of anti-fatness as anti-Blackness. In this episode, Afro-Caribbean photographer, herbalist, and multidisciplina...

In her latest book, Losing Eden, acclaimed journalist Lucy Jones interweaves her deeply personal story of recovery from addiction and depression aided by the support of the natural world with an exploration of the intersection of science, wellness, and the environment. In this episode, scholar and CIIS staff member Laura Pustarfi joins Lucy for a conversation about the importance of maintaining ou...

In his latest book, The Web of Meaning, author and integrator Jeremy Lent investigates the ways in which seemingly disparate streams of thought are compatible, and when taken together, they are key to facing the existential problems of the 21st century. In this episode, CIIS Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Professor Matthew Segall joins Jeremy for an inspiring conversation exploring a new...

In unsettling and uncertain times, the individual and collective heartbreak that lives in both our bodies and our communities can feel insurmountable. Many of us have been conditioned by the dominant culture to not name, focus on, or wade through the difficulties in our lives. But in order to heal, we must make space for grief, prioritizing our wholeness and humanity. Social justice activist, soci...

Disability affects all of us, directly or indirectly, at one point or another. Examining the complexities of disability issues with wisdom, humor, and honesty, author and disability advocate Rebekah Taussig seeks to normalize the lived experience of disabled persons while also advocating for improvements and a paradigm shift—something that we all play a necessary part in. In this episode, self-pro...

What makes cults so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we’re looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join—and more importantly, stay in—extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Author and jo...

Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence and hailed as a scientist who conveys complex, technical ideas in ways that are dazzling and profound. In this episode, Suzanne is joined by scholar and CIIS staff member Laura Pustarfi for a conversation about her life, her work, and her recent book Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest. Th...

Astrologer and author Alice Sparkly Kat is ushering in a new wave of astrology that is intersectional, inclusive, and geared towards queer and POC communities. In this episode, educator, creator, and astrologer Kirah Tabourn talks with Alice Sparkly Kat about their work and their latest book, Postcolonial Astrology. Kirah and Sparkly Kat share insights into ways we can use astrology to challenge o...

Racism permeates every aspect of society. Environmental racism is a form of systemic racism in which people of color are disproportionately burdened with health hazards through policies and practices that force them to live in proximity to sources of toxic waste such as sewage works, mines, landfills, power stations, major roads, and emitters of airborne particulate matter. In this episode, co-fou...

Carol Queen has been on the frontlines of the sex-positivity movement since the 1970s. A cultural sexologist, author, and co-founder of San Francisco’s Center for Sex & Culture, Carol is a long-time advocate for sexual health and pleasure. In this episode, Sex Therapist and CIIS Sex Therapy Certificate Program Lead Zoe Sipe joins Carol for a lively conversation exploring the state of sex in 2021....