Beyond Well with Sheila Hamilton

Oregon has approved the use of psyilocybin in a clinical setting. Within the year, some practitioners will be licensed to guide people through a pcilosybin experience. Dr. Brian Pilecki is one of the psychologists who has studied the efficacy of psychedelics and studying harm reduction for people who want to use psychedelics to help with trauma, ptsd, anxiety disorders, and depression. In recent y...

Recorded Pre-Covid Lockdown in January of 2020. First released on Mar 23, 2020 Shame is the most painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. But, as Dr. Goff and Dr. LeJeune discuss, shame roots at the very being of what we care about most. With an increase in public shaming, the potential of depression, isolation, and self-harm increases. T...

Michelle DeCourcy is one of tens of thousands of women who are choosing to have their breast implants removed. After battling leukemia in her thirties, and learning about a type of cancer that is related to breast implants, the designer and performer investigated the pros and cons of replacement. BII (breast implant illness) is not well understood, but the impacts can be debilitating. Women suffer...

Dr. Jenna LeJeune and Dr. Brian Goff talk about navigating the holiday season, and dealing with internal and external stress.

Farzana Nayani (she/hers), is a recognized DEI specialist, international keynote speaker, and business coach. Of multiethnic Filipina-Pakistani background, Farzana is a passionate advocate for the multiracial community, and through her coaching practice, she supports individuals to move towards healing, transformation and achieving their full potential in a culturally sensitive and grounded way. ...

Jennifer Cassetta witnessed the attack on the twin towers and, months later, endured a personal attack. Jennifer turned to the wisdom of the dojo and the training and discipline of martial arts to strengthen her body, steel her mind, and expand her compassion for herself and others. The Art of Badassery is Jennifer's program for helping women feel safe and powerful from the streets to the boardroo...

Dr. Pritham Raj joins Sheila to discuss the newest FDA-approved treatments for depression, including Spravato, ketamine, and a fast-acting anti-depressant. For many people suffering from treatment-resistant depression, these new modalities combined with transcranial magnetic resolution may offer the best hope yet for remission.

Domi Shoemaker identifies most strongly as a "Superfat gender flexing kinky queer writer and seeker of justice." Domi has always known they are different and did not try to "fit in" with the conservative, rigid norms of Idaho. Instead, Domi played little league with the boys, came out to their mother, and moved to Portland, Oregon, to find community and purpose. Domi explored their gender fluidity...

Carolyn Donohoe Marieb already had a busy career and one child when she learned she was pregnant with triplets. The overwhelm she felt led Marieb to lean on alcohol to cope, a familiar crutch for many overstressed mothers. Carolyn finally realized that she could no longer lead a life controlled by alcohol, and when she sought help, she discovered a community of smart, capable women who had also pu...

Julia Stoops is an accomplished visual artist who took an extended break to write and publish her first novel.  While the writing fulfilled her, the marketing and publicity experience was not what she imagined, and the pressure left her feeling empty and alienated. "We don't talk enough about what happens when the dream doesn't work out," Julia observes.  Through a deliberate process of evaluation...

One of the main components of mental strength is living in congruity with your values and your desires. We are focusing on stories of women who made complex and sometimes controversial decisions in mid-life to turn toward the version of their lives that they'd always imagined for themselves.  Karen Karbo uprooted her life and career as a bestselling author to live in Couillure, France, and make he...

Dr. Norman E. Rosenthal is a world-renowned psychiatrist, public speakinger, and best selling author who is known for his innovative research and inspirational writing. In this interview, Dr. Rosenthal talks about poetry as medicine for the soul. In a world that is maared by loss and deprived of pleasure, Rosenthal believes poetry can help fill in the gaps, offering a retreat from a troubled world...

No two people will experience the same range of emotions during grief. The experience of loss is as unique as our DNA, and any attempt to define its duration, intensity or lasting impact falls short. Dr. Jim Polo discusses the intimacy of grief.

Ivan Maisel is Vice President/Editorial and Senior Writer at on3.com. He has covered college football for nearly four decades, at ESPN, where he served as Editor-at-Large for ESPN College Football 150, Sports Illustrated, Newsday, and The Dallas Morning News. His conversation on navigating a year of grief after the suicide of his only son is one of our favorite interviews of the year.   

Cheryl Strayed is a New York Times bestselling author, playwright, and screenwriter. This interview is a must listen for anyone who is also navigating grief and encountering people who cannot hold another person's suffering.

Dr. Brian Goff and Dr. Jenna LeJeuene join us to talk about the myth of the "five stages of grief." 

Kimi Culp is a multi-talented producer, writer, and person living with bipolar disorder. As a creative working in the demanding field of journalism, Culp relied on her hypomania to help her succeed--until she suffered her first devastating depression and could no longer function. Kimi kept the secret about her diagnosis for decades. In this interview, Culp describes the impact of coming out regard...

Dave Dahl is the face of a multi-billion dollar bread-making company and the marketing genius behind the name, 'Dave's Killer Breads.' Dave isn't a killer, but he has made some pretty bad mistakes that landed him in prison, where he began to recognize that his early drug and alcohol use was an attempt to self-medicate his bipolar disorder.  In this interview, Dave talks about the necessity of dual...

Willa Goodfellow's extraordinary run through bipolar disorder may be familiar to others whose diagnosis was missed for many years: incredible highs, devastating lows, a difficulty maintaining relationships, a mercurial run through life. When Goodfellow finally sought help through medication, she thought her challenges might be over. For many people with psychiatric problems, medicine does not work...

Dr. James Polo talks about the psychiatric complications of Bipolar Disorder and why it can be so difficult to diagnose and treat. People with bipolar disorder often wait to seek help until they have experienced a devastating depression following a manic or hypomanic episode.  Polo brings hope to anyone who is living with bipolar disorder, as well as those who love someone suffering from this type...

Andrew Solomon is a NYTimes bestselling author, and a thought leader on mental health and well-being. In his widely viewed Ted Speech, Solomon says, "The opposite of depression is not happiness, but vitality, and it was vitality that seemed to seep away from me in that moment." This is an interview that is so important for anyone you know who battles depression.  Solomon has taken an eye-opening j...

Lidia Yuknavitch is the author of several bestselling books, including her latest 'Thrust' which the Los Angeles Times calls the "Best Book of the Summer."  Yuknavitch talks about the power of storytelling to make sense of the world we are living in and the one we might just be barreling toward. She describes how, after the death of her infant daughter, Yuknavitch pieced her life back together wit...

This was one of the first episodes we recorded. Performance artist Scott Erickson describes in intimate detail how mid-life, young children, little sleep, and a desire to feel again led to his creation of the one-man show, 'Say Yes, A Liturgy of Not Giving Up On Yourself.' Erickson's exploration of the spiritual journey of depression is one of the most fascinating conversations we've had regarding...

Kelly Williams Brown wrote a bestselling book about adulting and then her life fell apart. In the book, "Easy Crafts for the Insane" Brown talks about how mental illness snuck up on her after divorce, friendship difficulties, and unexpected trauma, including breaking three limbs over the course of seven hundred days.  Warning: This episode deals with the impulse of attempted suicide and how common...

The Anxiety Sisters (Abs and Mags) bonded in college over their shared difficulty with just about everything that seemed to come easy for other students. Decades later, the two have built a substantial community of people who share their experiences of living with anxiety while continuing to find joy, purpose, and happiness despite the ebbs and flows of their ongoing symptoms. (Part two)