Psych Talk

In today’s episode of Psych Talk I speak with Dr. Roseann Capanna-Hodge about teletherapy. Dr. Roseann is the found of The Global Institute of Children’s Mental Health and specializes working with children and teens with conditions such as ADHD, anxiety, Lyme disease, and PANS/PANDAS. During the pandemic teletherapy is something that mental health professionals and therapy clients have become very...

In today's episode of Psych Talk I talk all about sleep.  Sleep is extremely important to our overall physical and mental health. Good quality sleep impacts many aspects of our functioning, yet the CDC estimates that one in three adults in the United States does not get enough sleep. In this episode I discuss how much sleep we need, the differences between sleep deprivation and insomnia, and...

In today’s episode of Psych Talk I talk with Lauren Ruth Martin, LPC about Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT). Lauren explains the similarities and differences between standard DBT and RO-DBT and the type of presenting issues clients may have that would benefit from DBT and/or RO-DBT. Lauren discusses the core concepts of RO-DBT, as well as the RO skills including self-inquiry an...

In today's episode of Psych Talk I discuss perfectionism. Perfectionism is something that many of us high achievers experience. In some instances it can be helpful, if we are goal oriented, yet flexible in pursuit of those goals. But in many instances, it can be maladaptive, causing individuals to base their worth on their achievements, experience excessive concerns over mistakes, and set unr...

In today’s episode of Psych Talk I speak with Mira Bhattacharya about geriatric mental health and end of life care. Mira is a psychology undergraduate, with a concentration in bioethics and minor in disability studies, applying to physician assistant school who has a passion working with the geriatric population. We discuss the literature on geriatric mental health and how that relates to end of l...

One of my most frequently asked questions is "I want to become a psychologist, what do I need to do?" or some variation of that question. This episode is targeted specifically for individuals who are considering becoming a psychologist (or other mental health professional) and what to know what it takes or the process of applying to graduate school. Even if you aren't in that target...

In today’s episode of Psych Talk I speak with Danielle Ganchrow, an undergraduate student at Binghamton University about college student mental health. Danielle shares her own journey with mental health concerns, specifically the internalized stigma she held for so long about mental health concerns and therapy. Danielle and I speak about the stigma of reaching out and getting help for mental healt...

In today's episode of Psych Talk I talk about imposter syndrome - the belief that you are inadequate, a failure, or a fraud, despite evidence indicating otherwise. Imposter syndrome is a common experience, particularly among high achieving individuals, with about 70% of adults experiencing it at some point in their lifetime. In the episode I discuss causal and maintaining factors of imposter...

In today’s episode of Psych Talk I interview Samantha Comaty, a college undergrad studying psychology who hopes to go on to pursue her doctorate in psychology. During our discussion, Sam shares her story with mental health struggles, including her experience of being a patient in a psychiatric hospital. We then go on to discuss her growth from being a patient in a psychiatric hospital to becoming...

Season 2 is officially here! In this episode of Psych Talk I discuss my journey of being pregnant during a pandemic. I share my personal experiences with appointments, work, and delivery and how COVID impacted all of those areas. I also touch on social support, comments from others, and general mental health surrounding being pregnant during a pandemic. This episode is more personal than previous...

2020 is coming to a close and so is Season 1 of Psych Talk. Before jumping in to the details of today's episode, I wanted to thank all of my listeners for supporting the podcast over the past 7 months; Psych Talk would not be what it is today without you all. In today's episode, I discuss how to live a value-aligned 2021. If 2020 taught us anything, it taught us that life is unpredictabl...

In today's episode of Psych Talk I speak with Beverly Engel, LMFT about her upcoming book Escaping  Emotional Abuse : Healing from the Shame You Don't Deserve. Beverly has over 35 years of experience working with individuals who have experienced trauma , specifically those who have been victims of emotional abuse. During our discussion, Beverly focuses primarily on the role of shame in e...

Happy Holidays! No matter what you celebrate, or if you celebrate, this time of year is full of holiday cheer, parties, and celebration. With that comes the sense that we are supposed to be happy and joyous. However, the reality is, despite the holiday cheer and celebrations, this time is stressful and overwhelming for many of us, which takes a toll on our mental health.  In today's episode o...

In today's episode of Psych Talk, I speak with Kristen Gingrich, LSCW, CADC about societal body image. Body image is something that the vast majority of individuals will struggle with at some point in their life and the messages we receive from society about the way we "should" look like impact how we view ourselves and our bodies. Kristen discusses her own journey with body image a...

In today's episode of Psych Talk I discuss gratitude - the expression of appreciation for what one has. It is likely intuitive that individuals who are more grateful are happier; however, the benefits of gratitude go beyond that simple relation. In this episode I discuss the brain changes that occur when engaging in acts of gratitude, as well as many of the physical and mental benefits of pra...

In today's episode of Psych Talk, I chat with Kelsey Wonderlin, LPC-MHSP, a self-esteem and relationship therapist from Tennessee. Kelsey shares her expertise  on the intersection between self-esteem and relationships, discussing both how self-esteem impacts the type of partner one seeks out and how relationships can impact one's self-esteem. Kelsey describes aspects of unhealthy and tox...

In today's episode of Psych Talk I discuss cognitive biases, which are systematic errors in our thinking processes that impact our choices or judgment. Given the current socio-political climate, I thought this would be a good topic to touch on, as we see a lot of these biases come to play in politics. However, we all engage in this biases throughout our daily life. Cognitive biases are not ne...

In today’s episode of Psych Talk I speak with Emily-Christine Lowe, LPCA, NCC about addiction. Addiction is something that I am not very knowledgeable about given the population I work with, so I was excited to talk with Emily-Christine about her knowledge and expertise in the field. Emily-Christine discusses what addiction is, as well as some misconceptions about addiction. She discusses how addi...

In today's episode of Psych Talk I discuss the impact of chronic illness on mental health and the bidirectionality between mental health disorders and chronic illness. I start by defining what a chronic illness is and discuss the impact of chronic illness on mental health, specifically in the areas of depression and anxiety.  I also talk about medical trauma, what it is and how it manifests,...

In today’s episode of Psych Talk I speak with Eli Weinstein, LMSW (my first male guest!!) on men’s mental health. Eli has a special interest and expertise in men’s mental health and discusses why it is important to carve out a space specifically for men in the mental health realm. Eli speaks to the fact that men tend to not seek out therapy as frequently as women, as well as societal expectations...

In today's episode of Psych Talk I discuss different ways we reply to situations or comments, namely the differences between reacting, responding, and repressing. We all react, respond, or repress in different situations or contexts; however,  if we take time to acknowledge and evaluate how to reply to different situations we are better able to make changes, if we desire, to learn how to resp...

In today's episode of Psych Talk I speak with Kate Mumey about normalizing mental health treatments beyond the traditional outpatient therapy. Kate shares her story with mental health struggles, specifically obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), including her time in intensive outpatient (IOP). Kate discusses misconceptions about IOP, what she wish she knew before entering, and what she learne...

In today's episode of Psych Talk I discuss money and mental health care, specifically therapy. Discussing money and therapy can be a controversial topic, but the reality is that therapy costs money and can be a barrier to accessing therapy, whether you have insurance or paying out of pocket. Our mental health care system is broken, I think we can all agree on that; however, my hope for this e...

In today’s episode of Psych Talk I talked to Natalie Ribble, ACSM, CPT, EIM Level 2, a certified personal trainer, about the integration between mental and physical health. Natalie shares her story of getting into fitness, as well as her experiences with mental health, and how she has integrated the two in her personal training career instilling confidence in women through strength training. We di...

September means we are over 6 months into the pandemic. Although we have gained a little sense of normalcy back, there is still a lot of disruption in our daily lives. At the beginning, and throughout most of the pandemic, the news and talk was (and still is) focused on physical health - wash your hands, wear your mask, keep yourself healthy, protect those who are immunocompromised. But what about...