Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories | Psychotherapy, Trauma, and Psychedelics

Raised in an abusive misogynistic home amidst deep shame and the purity culture of her parents' faith,  Micah's journey carried her though Southern pageant culture, anorexia, estrangement, birth trauma, and, eventually, connection and acceptance and grace. Micah Stover http://www.micahstoverconsulting.com/ BFTA on Instagram. @backfromtheabysspodcast https://www.instagram.com/backfromthea...

Anne grew up always feeling on the outside-- outside her family, her peers, her species. She knew something was "wrong", but a diagnosis would not arrive until she was well into adulthood. Meanwhile she became an expert in studying the ways of people, of "operating in manual", consciously and methodically using the lessons she had learned to know what to do in social situations...

This is a talk that Dr. H gave in Denver at the Nowak Society in Aug. 2022. Medicalization and/or legalization of psilocybin is likely coming to Colorado soon, with other psychedelics soon to follow. This will foster both a new era of psychiatric treatments and psychospiritual exploration, as well as a significant increase in adverse psychiatric events, including psychotic breaks. Dr. H explores t...

Dr. H sits down with Dr. Jeremy Sharp, Director of the Colorado Center for Assessment and Counseling and host of The Testing Psychologist podcast,  for an exploration of  the psychological and psychiatric aspects of ADD/ADHD. Dr. Jeremy Sharp https://www.coloradocac.com/about/dr-jeremy-sharp/ The Testing Psychologist podcast https://www.thetestingpsychologist.com BFTA on Instagram. @backfromtheaby...

In this season 4 opener, we hear the unforgettable story of a mother and daughter torn apart by addiction, then slowly finding the path of compassion, acceptance, and grace. BFTA on Instagram. @backfromtheabysspodcast https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/ BFTA/ Dr. H https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/ Support the show

Craig sits down with Inside Eyes creator Laura Northrup for a wide-ranging discussion where they explore topics including: •Trauma as a spiritual wound •How psychedelics can help reach the realm of trauma •Why psychedelic trauma therapy can be so profoundly painful •The uniquely damaging sequelae of sexual trauma •What it means for a therapist to have adequate trauma training •How and why therapis...

Chris and Craig celebrate season 3,  discuss the results of the listeners poll (with a surprising reveal of their unconscious motivation for producing BFTA), offer their curated episode sampler plates, and then settle into a detailed deconstruction of the Psychedelic Somatic Therapy episode. BFTA on Instagram. @backfromtheabysspodcast https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/ BFTA/ Dr. H...

Saj Razvi returns to BFTA to share and discuss a mind-blowing audio recording of a ketamine-facilitated somatic therapy session. This session was from a recent training workshop with experienced trauma therapists, and Saj uses a somatic exercise-- staring into the client/participant's eyes- as a way to elicit a rapid and powerful transference reaction, with the psycholytic catalysts of ketami...

One of Craig's heroes is Dr.  Irvin Yalom, a psychiatrist and writer— Yalom's books inspired him in the early years of learning to become a psychiatrist. Today’s story concept was sparked by Yalom's book “Every day gets a little closer—A twice told therapy.” To create this book,  Yalom asked one of his long-term patients to keep a weekly diary of their therapy sessions, and he did t...

The podcast Cover Story just released a series called Power Trip, an expose of the dark side of the psychedelic treatment world. The series highlights the stories of a few women, including the co-host, who were sexually assaulted in psychedelic treatment spaces….mostly in the underground, but also one woman who was abused by her therapist both during and after her participation in the MAPS PTSD st...

Dr. H sits down with Dr. Usha Udupa, a Colorado-based child and adolescent psychiatrist, to explore the complexities of working with patients in the context of the family.  They discuss topics such as: How and when family members should be included in treatment What if the patient refuses family involvement When the identified patient isn't the problem How and when to break confidentiality, e...

This is the second in our two part series on adoption and attachment wounds.  Ridg and his girlfriend Rebecca got pregnant when he was 19, and they made the difficult decision to give their son up for adoption.  Fast forward 16 years, and  Ridg is 35, married to another woman,  with their own biological children…and he’s about to have his world torn apart by a stunning revelation. Six Word Adoptio...

This is the story of Shae, who was adopted as a baby from South Korea and raised in Wichita Kansas in a family of Swedish descent.  From her initial attachment wounds, subsequent heartbreak, and later a shocking revelation in late adolescence, Shae's inner light and resilience guided her to where she is today— a mother, a business owner, an adoptee voice of strength and compassion. To reach o...

Autumn was assigned male at birth, but she sensed from a very young age that something was not right.  This is her journey through denial, awakening, and then transitioning both hormonally and surgically. Autumn brings a fascinating and thoughtful perspective to this whole arena of gender and identity, and she and Dr. H explore the various ways we might think and talk about gender. BFTA on Instagr...

Dr. H distills down his 20 years of clinical experience into just under an hour of musings, lessons learned, and insights. "Sometimes the why really isn't crucial" (Essay from the NYT about addiction) https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/19/health/psychology/19essa.html BFTA on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/backfromtheabysspodcast/ BFTA/ Dr. H https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast...

Devin found out the hard way that psychedelics can have a very dark side. This is a story of discovery and of joy…of connection and dancing and jam bands….and it’s also a story of two psychotic breaks, sexual assault, and the eventual grinding realization that psychedelics demand respect. Devin speaks out  so that others might avoid her mistakes and take seriously the imperative of having a safe c...

ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) has long been the last stop for severe and treatment resistant depression, but now there are at least two other good options for those who don't respond to meds and therapy.  Dr. Dan Fisher, an ECT expert, founder of Colorado's Guerra Fisher Institute , and Craig's go-to psychiatrist for tough cases, joins BFTA to discuss how and when to think about E...

Expectation, set, setting, dosage, and route of administration provide the context and scaffolding for psychoactive drugs. An IV morphine drip can make unbearable pain completely manageable, while IV heroin , which is immediately converted to morphine once it crosses the blood brain barrier, destroys tens of thousands of lives a year.  A benzodiazepine such as lorazepam, when taken orally at sensi...

As we are now coming to realize the impressive potential of psychedelics to treat trauma and depression, we also have to face the fact that they are still illegal . This reality has led to an explosion of underground therapy, a Wild West where anyone can set up shop as a shaman or therapist or healer and the buyer must beware. Some people are finding healing in the underground psychedelic world, w...

Body dysmorphia is the disorder of imagined ugliness, a type of delusional OCD that can lead to severe depression, eating disorders, compulsive body alterations, and suicidality.  As a young child, Georgina was a "cute kid", not particularly self-conscious, and able to move through her world without undue pain. With the onset of adolescence, however, her self-image changed completely-- s...

Doug Friedman, the co-host and producer of the podcast Your Mental Breakdown, contacted Craig last spring and said that he was ready and wanting to tell his abyss story-- that of his wife’s death and his journey of recovery thereafter. Doug has mentioned a number of times on his podcast that his wife passed away the same week in 2018 that he was diagnosed with MS… but the details of his loss are a...

Here Craig sits down with Jeff Pincus, a nationally recognized couples therapist and trainer from Boulder, they explore why it’s so challenging to be an effective marriage therapist, why we are all destined to marry the wrong person (hint….our partners eventually become a mirror for us and our issues),  and how marriage can be the most nourishing yet also the most difficult and painful relationshi...

When psychiatric meds work well, it can be nothing short of miraculous. Yet so often, patients accumulate a long list of med failures, leading to a sense of deep frustration and even hopelessness. Here Dr. H explores five central reasons why psych meds fail: 1. Misdiagnosis, largely due to  overlapping and confusing diagnostic categories and the general lack of a coherent nosology in psychiatry 2....

An amazing healing journey deserves a detailed post-game analysis and deconstruction.   Here Elizabeth,  a participant in the MAPS MDMA study, sits down with Craig and co-therapist Karen Cooper to look back at what were the crux moves and essential ingredients that shifted Elizabeth's PTSD into remission. BFTA/Dr. H https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/ Support the show

Craig sits down with LA-based Cuban American storyteller, author, BFTA super-advisor, and longtime dear friend Antonio Sacre to explore the art and power of storytelling, their personal abyss moments, friendship and vulnerability, and their shared love of air conditioning. Antonio Sacre https://www.antoniosacre.com BFTA https://www.craigheacockmd.com/podcast-page/ Support the show