In This Family

Content Warning: This episode discusses bipolar disorder, suicidal thoughts and self harm. Actor and writer Joel Kim Booster (K-Pop Demon Hunters, Loot, Fire Island) had a difficult time with the parents that raised him. They were very religious, deeply conservative, didn’t believe in psychiatric medication or a secular approach to therapy, and they home-schooled Joel until he was 16. Joel, adopte...

Content Warning: This episode discusses sexual abuse, bipolar II disorder, hypomania, autism, and psychosis.  Frank is only 22 years old, still in college, but he has come a very long way in figuring out his mental health and has already done a lot of work in helping other people. A diagnosis of bipolar disorder, type II, and some intense education on the matter helped him understand why he had be...

Content Warning: This episode discusses sexual violence, racism, depression and anxiety. As a kid, it made sense to Kris that she was adopted. She was the only person of color in her immediate family and the people of color she encountered in her community and school were very few and far between. Facing racism and the n-word early on also let her know that she was very different. Finally, during...

Content Warning: This episode discusses violence, murder, rape and generational trauma.  Newspaper columnist and community business leader Ka Vang was born on a CIA base in Thailand 50 years ago. She remembers eating from the garbage when there was no food to be had, witnessing rape and murder, and fleeing with her family to the United States after the Vietnam War and the Secret War. Ka is Hmong-A...

Content Warning: This episode discusses grief, eating disorders, and self-harm. When author and artist Tracey Yokas lost her mother, which happened only a few months after her dad died, Tracey was devastated, as was Tracey’s eighth grade daughter, Faith. But things quickly got more complicated as Faith’s grief evolved into a severe eating disorder and acts of self-harm. Soon, Tracey was navigating...

Content Warning: This episode discusses anxiety and generational trauma.  New York based comedian, podcast host, and writer Ophira Eisenberg grew up in Calgary, the sixth child of parents who had survived traumatic experiences in World War 2 and wars in the Middle East. Their difficulty in addressing those traumas led to extreme anxiety, anger issues, and the creation of a family where trauma-rela...

Content Warning: This episode mentions domestic abuse, substance abuse and suicide.  Acclaimed writer and university professor Jason Tougaw has a very serene life now as an adult. He’s married, living in New York, and although he says he works too much, he finds time to reflect on a childhood that was much more chaotic. Jason’s family passed around a belief that something was wrong with their bloo...

Content Warning: This episode discusses anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia.   On the radio as the witty host of NPR’s Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me, Peter Sagal projects an upbeat and fun personality. But, as he shares with host Dr. Michelle K. Murray, it hasn’t always been that way. From being an anxious and depressed kid with undiagnosed ADHD to a downward spiral following the end of his first...

In This Family’s second season is just around the corner, coming to you on January 28th with a brand new set of moving and illuminating conversations about family and mental health. In the meantime, communities around the country are experiencing civil unrest in places like Minneapolis, where Nexus Family Healing is based, Portland, and many other cities. Host Dr. Michelle K. Murray offers some pr...

Content Warning: This episode discusses depression, anxiety, mood disorders, and suicide.  Long before she was an acclaimed rapper, singer, and author, Dessa was a scared adolescent, facing big feelings that she didn’t know what to do with and running away from home. She eventually found peace with her parents and returned to them and the younger brother who needed her and loved her very much. Des...

Content Warning: This episode discusses anxiety, addiction and suicide.  Fans of the beloved cult TV hit Mystery Science Theater 3000 have enjoyed many laughs from actor and writer Bill Corbett, who played the acerbic robot Crow on the show. Bill’s off-screen life hasn’t always been quite so hilarious. In this candid interview, he talks about growing up in an era where mental health was never disc...

Content Warning: This episode discusses suicide, depression and schizophrenia. Families can be loving, they can be problematic, and, above all, they can be complicated. Author and professor Clancy Martin’s family of origin was very complicated indeed, featuring a dashing, charismatic father who founded his own religion and also dealt with schizophrenia. The family was also faced with suicidality,...

Family gatherings during the holidays are a time of connection and joy. They can also be a cause of anxiety or lead to triggering situations.  In this special holiday episode of In This Family, Dr. Michelle K. Murray provides practical tips on thriving or maybe just surviving family events. She reminds us that we always have a choice on how we show up, if we show up, and when we leave. And how goa...

Content Warning: This episode discusses borderline personality disorder, delusions, psychosis and schizophrenia. Sarah was having an ordinary day in her life as a writer living in Los Angeles when her phone rang. Her grandmother explained that Sarah’s mom had been picked up ranting and raving on the side of the freeway in Houston, where Sarah grew up. It was a shock but not a surprise for Sarah, w...

Content Warning: This episode discusses suicide, anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and bipolar disorder.  Maria Bamford’s parents, Joel and Marilyn, were not part of a generation that knew all the terminology and awareness of mental health that we have today. They couldn’t even identify their own difficulties as being indicative of mental health conditions. But they did try...

Content Warning: This episode discusses Depression, Anxiety, Rape, Sexual Assault, and Suicidal Ideation.  Vivien Lee recalls the first inklings of an existential crisis when she was eight years old, a feeling she would eventually connect with depression. As she grew older, Vivien endured severe trauma, threatening her mental health even further. For Vivien, the oldest of several children in a fam...

Content Warning: This episode discusses depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and gender dysphoria. This week, our ongoing conversation about families and mental health turns to the family of our host, Dr. Michelle K. Murray, President and CEO of Nexus Family Healing. She welcomes her brother Aaron and nephew Asher for an enlightening talk about Asher’s journey. Having dealt wi...

Content Warning: This episode discusses substance abuse, addiction and suicide. Long before she became a successful journalist, political pundit, and podcaster, Ana Marie Cox was doing her best to navigate some tough times. The family was constantly moving, which, combined with being an only child, made it hard to make and keep friends and get the peer support kids need. Ana needed even more suppo...

Content Warning: this episode discusses self-harm, anxiety and grief. Author and artist Moon Zappa became famous at age 14, doing a guest vocal on the hit song “Valley Girl” by her dad, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame musician Frank Zappa. It’s a fun song, what isn’t so fun is that the song came about from Moon’s desperate attempt to get some kind of attention and approval from her dad in what she says...

Content Warning: This episode discusses addiction.  As a young resident at Duke University, Joseph Lee saw the profound change that people were capable of when dealing with addiction. He witnessed how people could become healthier than they had ever been with the benefit of skilled treatment, good support, and a lot of determination. Dr. Lee has been with Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation for 17 year...

Content Warning: This episode discusses depression, anxiety, hospitalization, and traumatic experiences. Gary Gulman has been making people laugh for many years as a top touring comedian and frequent guest on late night shows and star of multiple HBO specials. He’s a professional success by any measure. But that didn’t stop him from having a mental breakdown in his forties, where he gave up comedy...

Content Warning: This episode discusses substance use, depression, anxiety, and death by suicide.  Award-winning veteran journalist Meg Kissinger grew up as part of a close-knit family in a noisy and active house. That happens in a home with eight kids. Yet there was nothing but silence when it came to the pervasive bipolar disorder, substance use disorder, depression, and anxiety that heavily imp...

The podcast, In This Family, features honest and candid conversations with public figures and everyday people about mental health within families, highlighting the power of resilience and courage through those relationships. When one member of a family has a mental health issue, the whole family has a mental health issue; everybody is affected – children and adults. What happens in families can be...