Look, Just Tell Me What To Do.

How does one plan for retirement? Or sort through the tragedy of losing a loved one? Today, Jack Scaff discusses a range of issues related to his work as a wealth advisor. We also look at inflation, the economic havoc wrought by COVID as well as San Francisco's apparent struggle to make an economic comeback.  You can read more about Jack Here:  https://ceritypartners.com/team/jack-scaff/ Contact J...

A close look at the man who was my therapist for nearly thirty years.  My instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/benjaminrussack/ Subscribe to my patreon:   patreon.com/LookJustTellMeWhatToDo Archetype of the  Apocalypse: Divine Vengeance, Terrorism, and the End of the World . \ Melville's Moby-Dick (STUDIES IN JUNGIAN PSYCHOLOGY BY JUNGIAN ANALYSTS ) The Horse Boy: A Father's Miraculous Journey To...

Grossly misused therapy speak Access without education  The decline of critical thinking Bonus content: More ways the pandemic messed with our heads The limits of extroverted thinking The travesty that is the Myers-Briggs personality test.  Here is a link to MC's amazing book:  https://a.co/d/2umWUq9 And here is her instagram: https://instagram.com/mc.phd My instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/b...

  Getting in touch with your breath and body to reduce reactivity with your partner Negative projections Triangulation The negative blame cycle Ineffective behaviors that partners use to cope. When is anger actually useful? Finally Stephanie and I go toe to toe as we roll play an argument from one of my relationships from years past. Stephanie wins.    Stephanie Hanger LMFT can be reached at: step...

Meet Flint, career police officer and Brazilian  Jujitsu blackbelt. Today, Flint discusses the paradoxical and profound nature of his transformation--from the person he had been perceived to be, into the person he had always been. Flint also discusses the adversity he encountered while working on the police force, as well as a step by step accounting of his transformation, from a female body into...

Diagnosis! What it means, how it came to be, how it is used for good and for ill. Today I talk with trauma reseracher Mary Catherine McDonald, PHD, about the DSM—the veritable bible of mental health—and the sheer subjectivity with which it was conceived, written and wielded by doctors and insurance companies alike. We also discuss the wonderful madness of Robin Williams, how to rebuke terrible que...

What is the most common way someone will sabotage their own success? What makes for an ideal patient/therapist relationship? Are there any types of patients you refuse to work with? And more!   Email me your questions at  Benjaminrussack@gmail.com Subscribe and have your questions answered!  patreon.com/LookJustTellMeWhatToDo My instagram: https://www.instagram.com/benjaminrussack/

How important is the mental health of the therapist? Can your therapist be a wreck and still do great work? How has my work as a therapist changed my views on marriage? What prevents people from entering therapy?  If I am diagnosed with clinical depression will I be like that forever? How does dream work help with mental health? How does one safely explore the unconscious?  How does spiritualism r...

In a world lacking in role models and secure family structures, drugs and drug culture have become a dark rite of passage for our young men. Today we interview Chris Howard, Founder of Ethos Recovery and Roy DePerez Founder of Back2bascis Outdoor Adventures on the world of substance abuse and recovery. Chris and I also debate about the underlying reasons people use drugs in the first place--and is...

How does trauma affect memory? What biochemical changes occur in the brain following a traumatic event? Today we talk with MaryCatherine McDonald, PHD about her book “Unbroken: The Trauma Response is Never Wrong.” She also presents some tools for managing extreme stress and anxiety. We further discuss how the dogma around religion and psychology have become so intertwined  Even diagnosis and ident...

Today we speak with Jasmin Morgan interior designer of Adroit Interiors and Danielle Dixon, Account Luxury Manager / Resale Specialist at The RealReal and founder of Rhome Vintage Jewelry. We discuss the meaning that lays within the worlds of things and stuff, worlds I now begrudgingly acknowledge are  necesssary: how clothing relates to body dysmorphia and our sense of power when we enter a room,...

Stand up comedian and story teller Cuauhtemoc Silva recounts  his tough beginnings as an impoverished person of color growing up in San Francisco. We discuss how his background shapes shapes his onstage material, the daily grind of being a working comedian as well as how racism manifests in the San Francisco comedy circuit. You can check out Cuauhtemoc's material here:  @Silva_Cuauhtemoc    and he...

Today we define and discuss the Jungian process of Individuation—that ineffable drive towards wholeness and greater consciousness—with Ron Cecil and Daniel Penner Cline of the the podcast “Cutting for Sign”. Specifically, we talk about our struggles with food addiction and body dysmorphia as a vehicle for this process. You can listen to Daniel and Ron's podcast here:    https://podcasts.apple.com/...

We interview five amazing concept artists who work the Hollywood trenches and have lived to tell how the sausage is actually made. We discuss the insanity that permeates their industry and how they each thrive as independent, expressive artists while managing to make a living doing what they love. We also discuss the recent introduction of AI into the creative space and how it may affect the livel...

We speak again with Tracy Benjamin for our third (and final??) episode on Binge Eating. We discuss our passion for all things sweet and doughy and drippy and glazed and how the more you can't have something...THE MORE YOU MUST HAVE IT.  We discuss the rolls dessert played in our families of origin and how that formed our lasting connection to all things super high in calorie. We also take a look a...

What can money reveal about your personal relationships? Why is it taboo to openly discuss how much money we make? Today we speak with Claire Giovino, manager and host of the podcast "The Better Questions".  Claire will also discuss the scarcity vs abundance mindset, unhealthy thought constructs around money as well as financial mistakes that we should learn to avoid.   How you can reach Claire: C...

Join Tracy Benjamin for part two of our three part series on Binge Eating Disorder. We discuss the cycle of guilt and shame that comes with binge eating and Tracy's amazing revelation that specialized diets and dieting in general are a form of eating disorder. We also talk about craving and how our brains often find a way to convince us to eat more food than we probably need.  You can visit Tracy'...

Today we talk to Brad Waldo and Danny of bradwaldoconsulting.com , both sober coaches working the front lines of addiction. A sober coach might assist a prospective client struggling with addiction with everything from taking that initial step into in-patent treatment, getting to an AA meeting, basic self care and hygiene, meeting their fitness goals, as well as working as a liaison between the cl...

Before listening, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND checking out these links below so you can follow along with the interview. Today we interview two incredible artists from out of San Francisco: Levni Yimaz, a cartoonist and Felix Macnee, a painter. We discuss living and working as an artist in the big city. We discuss envy, arrogance, success, failure, and all the lovely ego battles that seem to accompany the...

Today is part one of a three part series on Binge Eating Disorder. Tracy Benjamin and I discuss the foods that seem to hold power over us, the origins of our cravings, as well as possible solutions to mitigate our issues with food. We also look at body dysmorphia, swap childhood stories about food and discuss Tracy's life as a mom, blogger and cook for her family.  You can visit Tracy's website at...

Today I interview Dr. Joshua Pepper, professor of astrophysics and recent employee of NASA. I ask him all the questions: how do we discover exoplanets, what is dark matter, does he think we're alone in the universe and what about that new toy taking all those neat pictures of really, really old galaxies? We also touch on what it takes to become an astrophysicist and what it's like to sit down with...

This is the first of a series that indicates that we are really serious. You can see because we use All Caps. Check this one out. Definitely the best one of these we've done so far.   Totally random and shameless plug for my father's book on Animal Dream Symbolism:  Animal Guides in Life, Myth and Dreams (Studies in Jungian Psychology by Jungian Analysts, 97) 

Today I get to know Reese, my other partner at Square One Studios . Reese is our tech sorcerer, our editing software whisperer and as he puts it "Professional Sam Wrangler".  Today we discuss everything from Reese's favorite apple, his love affair with broken watches, to his multilayered relationship with mushrooms. In the end, we both agree that authenticity and clear communication appear to be t...

Today I talk with Sam Lamott, the creator of the podcast, "How To Human" about...getting to know Sam Lamott. Really, this is an episode about friendship and what it takes to make friends: the defenses, expectations and projections--and all of that coming from two directions at once.   A few other topics we will cover: body dysmorphia, missing fathers, mentorship, addiction, and what it means to li...

Today we speak with Jonathan Parkhurst about his salvation from the clutches of addiction. John goes into detail about how his extreme internal strife led to a catastrophic relationship with crack cocaine. In addition, John will discuss his mission to help others struggling with chemical dependency through his revolutionary company and website GoSeekHaven.com , which offers a Craigslist-type struc...