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

Can a podcast have an identical twin separated at birth? If so, then "Inside Eyes" might possibly  be that long lost twin of BFTA. Laura Mae Northrup is the creator of Inside Eyes and a trauma therapist in the Oakland area. She put a ton of work into these moving stories of healing from childhood sexual trauma with entheogens and psychedelics. She is planning to soon feature a favorite B...

Self-described podcast junkie Dr. H reached out to Sarah Buino, host of the excellent podcast Conversations with a Wounded Healer, and they agreed to do this super nifty episode swap, in which Sarah will feature a favorite BFTA episode on her show, and Dr. H chose a favorite episode to feature here.  In this episode Sarah interviews one of the more thoughtful and compelling people in the podcast u...

BFTA's two co-conspirators sit down together for a look back at the first year-- the origin story, highlights, points of gratitude, mistakes made, Craig's most poignant/painful moment, the Enneagram, and Chris' desert island albums (no Meat Loaf!) Back from the Abyss https://www.craigheacockmd.com Support the show

In this second of a two part exploration of OCD, Dr. H and Dr. Amy Indermuehle, a Colorado-based OCD expert, deconstruct Erin's treatment. Dr. Amy is a big fan of in vivo exposures, whether that be watching stomach-churning Youtube videos, touching forbidden items at Target, or riding out the anxiety wave in a public bathroom. Dr. Amy highlights how OCD treatment is so different from typical...

The postpartum period is by far the most psychiatrically vulnerable time in a woman's life. Erin had always some some mildly annoying obsessive-compulsive tendencies, but they were never a major factor in her life, until just after her daughter was born. Almost immediately she was flooded with horrific violent images and urges, these then morphed into a paralyzing dread of viral contamination...

Listeners ask: "Can I tell my story on Back from the Abyss?" "Can you heal trauma that you cannot remember? Dr. H then looks back at 3 years of 800+ ketamine sessions and further explores the question of intramuscular (IM) vs intravenous (IV) treatment, as well as whether reaching full dissociation is necessary for optimal efficacy. Dissociation improves ketamine response https://ww...

If only swimming or meditation were as good as vodka. Unfortunately, the most powerful and rapid-acting coping strategies also tend to be the most damaging and addictive. Annie learned this the hard way. After her father's death when she just 9 years old, she eventually found two of the most alluring and effective coping strategies, and they made day to day life possible, even manageable. The...

After a nightmarish sexual assault at age 15, Mitch's life felt over. Wracked by daily dread, panic, and a desperate longing to die, he eventually found his way 22 years later to the MAPS trial of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for severe PTSD. In this astonishing account, Mitch describes how MDMA was able to reactivate his innate healing intelligence to allow him to go directly into the hottest...

The root system of a tree is its hidden protection against the harsh realities of wind and drought and disease.  For people, loving and healthy childhood  attachments are our central hidden protection against the inevitable losses and tragedies of life. But what happens when these early attachments aren't safe and secure? Jami's childhood emotional neglect and abuse and profound loneline...

Life is much better on Adderall, until it's not. In this episode, Dr. H and Dan Ronken, a Boulder-based psychotherapist and addiction specialist, explore the double edged sword of stimulants.  Using Dan's ADHD and addiction story as a launching point, they explore questions including:  Do stimulants make us smarter and more productive? What is the saliency circuit and why is it so releva...

In this mini-episode Dr. H explores the critical implications of thinking about Depression as a syndrome rather than as a meaningful clinical diagnosis.  The diagnosis of Depression is but the first tiny step in the journey of exploring biological, psychological, and interpersonal causes and factors which might then point toward effective treatment. Dr. H https://www.craigheacockmd.com Support the...

In this second installment of therapists in the abyss,  Dr. H sits down with Jungian analyst and master therapist Dr. Michael Daine to explore how facing death catalyzed an exploration of the unconscious and the eventual rebirth both of his career and sense of purpose in the world.  This then leads to a discussion of whether one can be a capable and resilient therapist without having successfully...

This is the first of an intermittent series of therapists sharing their abyss stories.  Samantha was a newly minted therapist just out of her MSW program, full of hope and excitement for her new career, when she met a client whose horrific trauma story and rapid disappearance from therapy haunted her for years.  Dr. H and Samantha explore how she was able to eventually move from the grief and regr...

In this mini-episode Dr. H opens himself up for major audiophile shaming as he (reluctantly) reveals his three desert island albums. With this revelation complete, he then moves on to the challenge at hand-- which three psychiatric medications are at the top of the heap, combining efficacy, safety, and breadth of symptom coverage? A hint-- they all start with the same letter.  And they are all gen...

In this second part of Saj's story, he continues to explore the transformative healing of his MDMA session. Initially believing his therapy journey to be complete,  his mother later develops terminal cancer and his attachment wounds reactivate. This impending loss leads him to seek even more advanced and difficult work with psilocybin and the support of two experienced guides in the Netherlan...

This is the first of a two part very special interview with Saj Razvi, the Director of Education at Innate Path in Denver, CO. Saj weaves together his three fascinating perspectives— that of a nationally recognized trauma expert, his own personal story of early childhood neglect and how this shaped everything else to come, and finally his long journey of healing the deepest wound a person can have...

Anxiety and pain are the primary drivers of medical visits, as well as two of the more complicated symptoms to break down in a meaningful way. In this mini-episode, Dr. H presents the metaphor of "below the neck" vs "above the neck" anxiety to help us think about anxiety in a way that might better guide diagnosis and treatment. "Above the neck" anxiety emanates from t...

In psychotherapy, it’s the relationship itself that heals.  In this episode of BFTA, Dr. H and his patient Jasmine explore their always complicated, often humorous, and at times very painful journey through the minefield of borderline personality disorder. A heads up on this episode— Jasmine and Dr. H discuss self-harm/cutting and suicidality in a very frank and perhaps unsettling manner. BPD over...

As her father descended into years of meth-induced rages and psychosis,  Kate and her family repeatedly tried to flee...but there was no place to hide. And when at last, after finishing college and starting a new life with her husband, she thought she had escaped the demons of her past, a phone call lit her world on fire. Kate eventually found a way to heal through a six year treatment journey wit...

Sometimes trauma settles deeply in the mind and body and wreaks a kind of clandestine subterranean warfare, turning the body against itself and manifesting strange, frightening, disabling, and even life-threatening symptoms. Sophie's trauma simmered for 16 years, making her life difficult but still mostly manageable. Suddenly, however, she was waylaid as her trauma metastasized into something...

Is cannabis a medicine or a coping strategy?  Is it safer than alcohol, or in some people, much more risky? Does it help anxiety or does it trigger panic symptoms? This mini-episode explores the complex landscape of "medical" marijuana and what this looks like in Colorado. Links Cannabis and psychosis https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4033190/ Cannabis as mania trigger https:/...

Sobriety can sometimes be a bridge too far. In a last ditch attempt to escape his methamphetamine-drenched life, Larry moved 1000 miles away to live with his father, he threw away his cell phone, gave up all drugs and alcohol, started running, got a good job...and found himself increasingly overwhelmed by the need to put a needle in his arm. His eventual solution wasn't perfect, but it may ha...

This mini-episode explores some of the most frequently asked questions about ketamine:   •What is ketamine? •How does it work? •Who responds best to ketamine? •What is the ketamine experience like? •What is the best way to do ketamine treatments? •What are the side effects/risks? •Who definitely shouldn't do ketamine? Interview with Dr. H about ketamine on Rural Emergency Medicine podcast htt...

Chris successfully hid his increasingly severe depression throughout middle and high school, but by his first year of college he could no longer ignore the horrifying signs that his brain was losing touch with reality. Inanimate objects began to radiate into his thoughts, and suicide seemed the only way to escape. Fortunately Chris took the scariest leap of all and began to open up to a therapist...

A wise psychotherapy supervisor once said:  "There are only two things a therapist can do...hold...or poke...lots of therapists are good at holding...not so many are confident enough to poke...the good therapist has mastered the art of both." Actually, there are at LEAST 4-5 other crucial mental processes that an effective therapist should be doing more or less simultaneously...and that&...