Head Inside Mental Health

Send us Fan Mail A lot of families aren’t looking for more theories they’re looking for something that works on a Tuesday night when everyone is overstimulated. We sit down with Calial McCarty , a child and family therapist and board certified autism specialist, to talk about what neuroaffirming therapy looks like when parents feel like they’ve “tried everything” and still end up in crisis. We dig...

Send us Fan Mail Stress doesn’t always come from what’s happening today. Sometimes it’s the nervous system running an old program, one you learned as a child. We sit down with Lolita Guarin , stress management expert and creator of the Calm Process, to talk about the hidden roots of burnout, overwhelm, and chronic anxiety and what actually helps when “self-care” starts feeling like another task. L...

Send us Fan Mail A teen can be brilliant, funny, and “fine” on the surface while their nervous system is running on fumes underneath. That’s where we start with Dr. Rob Gent, Chief Clinical Officer at Pacific Quest and clinical psychologist with deep expertise in neurobiological development and family systems. We dig into why age and maturity don't line up with traditional expectations in ado...

Send us Fan Mail You can’t “therapy” your way out of a housing crisis, and you can’t build recovery on top of benefits rules that punish stability. Todd Weatherly sits down with returning guest Sarah Summy, CEO of Lakewood Center in Greater Orlando, to pull apart the real-world mechanics that keep people with chronic mental illness and substance use needs stuck in cycles of homelessness, hospitali...

Send us Fan Mail Care usually shows up when things are already on fire and then we act surprised when “stabilized” doesn’t mean “better.” We have a conversation with mental health pioneer and consultant Amanda Koplin to unpack a mental health treatment model that works in the messy middle of real life: jobs you can’t quit, families who are exhausted, and symptoms that don’t fit neatly into 50-minu...

Send us Fan Mail Perfection can look like excellence from a distance, yet up close it there's the potential for problems. We sit down with Dr. Greg Chasson —professor, board‑certified psychologist, and leading authority on OCD and related disorders—to separate what’s truly clinical from what’s simply crushing your workflow. Greg explains why OCD is defined by intrusive thoughts while perfecti...

Send us Fan Mail What if the missing link in recovery isn’t motivation, but a map? We sit down with recovery advocate and addictions counselor Mo Rhode , operations and outreach lead at Insight Recovery in Asheville , to trace the real paths people take from hospital stabilization to lasting change—and why too many fall through the cracks. Mo brings a rare blend of professional know‑how and lived...

Send us Fan Mail When treatment ends, real life begins—and that’s where so many families feel alone. We sit down with Dave Herz, co-founder of Wonder, to unpack a practical, hopeful approach to aftercare that meets teens and young adults where they live: at home, at school, in the community. Dave shares how Wonder’s dual-coaching model pairs a parent coach with an individual coach for the young pe...

Send us Fan Mail The finish line of treatment isn’t the finish line of recovery—it’s the starting gun for real life. We sit down with behavioral health leader Nico Doorn, Executive Director of Release Recovery Austin ,  to unpack how transitional living, coaching, and community convert clinical gains into durable daily habits that actually hold under stress. From morning routines and medication re...

Send us Fan Mail What if the most healing room in mental health is one where a team of doctors and professionals focus their full attention on a single person with warmth, precision, and zero pretense? We take you inside the Yellowbrick Treatment Program's “rounds,” an empathic approach to mental healthcare where hidden patterns surface, shame softens, and change becomes less about willpower...

Send us Fan Mail Change doesn’t fail because people are weak; it fails because we try to do it alone. We sat down with Dr. Amanda Falk , Partner and Chief Clinical Officer at The Dorm , to unpack how a true treatment community helps young adults move from symptom relief to purpose-driven lives. Amanda brings deep clinical expertise in DBT, CBT, EMDR, and family therapy, but her core message is sim...

Send us Fan Mail The question families often have to ask isn’t about diagnosis—it’s about dollars. We pull back the curtain on how mental health and substance use treatment actually gets paid for, from the moment you ask “do you take my insurance?” to the day a claim is approved, denied, or appealed. With Travis Herman, we map the terrain: building a real clinical profile, matching to the right le...

Send us Fan Mail Feeling overwhelmed, reactive, or stuck in cycles that don’t make sense? We sit down with Dr. Kerry Horrell , staff psychologist  of the Compass Program for Young Adults at the The Menninger Clinic to map a clearer path: learn how to “mentalize” in everyday life, reduce shame, and rebuild trust in your own mind. Carrie breaks down the neuroscience of big emotions—why your survival...

Send us Fan Mail What if the most powerful trauma intervention isn’t a technique, but the moment someone finally feels safe with you? We sit down with Momentum Recovery's Executive Clinical Director, Caitlin Rainwater, to unpack how healing from co-occurring substance use and trauma often begins long before anyone tells their story. Caitlin shares why she starts with safety cues and steady pr...

Send us Fan Mail What if the mental health system focused on continuity over fragmentation, dignity over coercion, and a practical blend of medicine, lifestyle, and belonging that actually changes outcomes. Our default model is more emergency care than health care: ten-minute psychiatrist visits, revolving-door hospitalizations, and poor aftercare often worsen psychiatric health. We talk about alt...

Send us Fan Mail Join us for our conversation with Dr. Andrew Rubin, licensed clinical psychologist and founder of the International Society for Autism and New Directions for Young Adults. We dig into Direction Therapy, a coordinated, multidisciplinary model that starts with strengths, maps real developmental capacity, and treats anxiety as the sneaky saboteur of progress. Instead of forcing neuro...

Send us Fan Mail In this story about alignments and synchronies, Todd Weatherly sits down with Marla Shaul, Clinical Lead at Guest House Ocala, to uncover a remarkable tale of transformation with an unexpected revelation. Through chance or fate or the conspiracy of the Universe to draw us together, we discover that Marla had been a client at Four Circles wilderness program at the time when Todd se...

Send us Fan Mail Join us for a fascinating conversation with Vince Benevento, founder of The Causeway Collaborative. Drawing from his personal journey through recovery as a young man, Vince created something different - a program specifically designed for young men who need more than just talk therapy. Through male mentorship, community engagement, career development, and practical life skills, Ca...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Mark Komrad , distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and author of "You Need Help!: A Step-by-Step Plan to Convince a Loved One to Get Counseling" returns to our show to walk us through the progression from acute mental health crisis to meaningful independence. He explains why residential treatment often works better than outpatient care during...

Send us Fan Mail What if we approached mental illness not with the question "what's wrong with you?" but with "what's happened to you?" instead? Dr. Weston Robinson challenges everything we think we know about psychiatric treatment in this paradigm-shifting conversation offering that people who may be sick are not broken. His work stands in stark contrast to tradition...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we interview Dr. Sarah Anderson , professor at Midwestern University and mental health occupational therapist, who unveils the powerful intersection of neurodiversity and recovery in this intriguing conversation. With neurodivergent individuals making up a significant portion of those struggling with addiction, Dr. Anderson's expertise couldn't be more ti...

Send us Fan Mail The fight for adequate mental health coverage can feel overwhelming, especially when insurance companies deny care that clinicians deem necessary. Joe Feldman turned his personal battle into a mission when his child's residential treatment was denied coverage through fabricated documentation. After winning a federal lawsuit, he created Cover My Mental Health to help others na...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when young people grow up deprived of essential experiences that previous generations took for granted? Dr. Danny Recio, TedX Pura Vida Speaker , Co-Founder of New Summit Academy , Program Director for The Bridge  Young Adult Gap Program, and Co-Founder of the Supportive Immersion Institute in Costa Rica, introduces us to the concept of "experiential deprivation&...

Send us Fan Mail The digital landscape has created an entirely new frontier for sexual violence, one that leaves lasting trauma without physical contact. In this eye-opening conversation with Dr. Kristen Zaleski, Chief Clinical Officer for the Mental Health Collective and recognized expert on sexual violence, we explore the disturbing world of technology-facilitated sexual violence and AI-generate...

Send us Fan Mail Trauma doesn't discriminate. Whether physical or psychological, it can disrupt lives and leave us feeling isolated in our suffering. But what if our darkest experiences could become a bridge to helping others? Seantae Jackson never expected to become an advocate for trauma survivors. Then came the day her family's vehicle was struck head-on at a combined vehicle speed of...