Practical for Your Practice

In this episode, hosts Drs. Jenna Ermold and Carin Lefkowitz sit down with clinical psychologist and national pain management expert Dr. Jennifer Murphy to dismantle the traditional, "find it, fix it" biomedical approach to chronic pain. Drawing from her extensive background, including five years as the National Director of Pain Management for the VA, Dr. Murphy highlights why addressing persisten...

In this episode of Practical for your Practice , hosts Dr. Kevin Holloway and Dr. Jenna Ermold dive into the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence in mental healthcare. They are joined by 1LT John Ray Roberts and 1LT Annie McConnon, rising graduate students in the clinical psychology program at the Uniformed Services University (USU). Together, they explore how clients and clinicia...

“What signs did I miss?” “Are people judging me?” “Should I even be in this field?” The suicide of a loved one triggers many thoughts and emotions in survivors. When the survivor is a mental health professional, those thoughts and emotions can be even more complicated, leading them to question their own skills and capabilities. On this episode we are joined by Dr. Andrew Devendorf, a psychologist...

In this episode, hosts Dr. Jenna Ermold and Dr. Kevin Holloway tackle a critical "blind spot" in military mental health with Dr. Shane Kraus, Director of the Behavioral Addictions Lab at UNLV. While we often screen for alcohol and PTSD, there is a "hidden" addiction quietly devastating the lives and careers of Service members and Veterans. From the high-tech lure of AI-driven sports betting apps t...

Your hosts are back for season 8 of P4P! This season we’ll have more conversations with experts in the field of evidence-based practice. But we want to get back to the personal stories behind their professional accomplishments. This season we’ll highlight the “impactful moments” that shaped them and keep them engaged in this difficult work. We’re kicking off the season by sharing our own impactful...

After 11 episodes of talking about the “sins” of evidence-based practice, we’re wrapping up season 7 by finding out “what’s in the box?” Our guests this season have covered a wide range of topics related to EBPs, including reducing suicide risk, and working with maternal mental health, OCD, and nightmare disorders. While the individual topics may have spanned the broad field of clinical practice,...

The world feels a bit cray-cray right now and your hosts are feeling fatigued, on edge, and crispy. We took a moment to ask, “how are you really doing?”, and didn’t allow each other to answer “fine.” It’s a challenge for many of us in the helping professions to acknowledge our own distress, make time for self-care, and accept help from others. On this episode, we practice what we preach by acknowl...

In this episode of Practical for Your Practice , hosts Jenna Ermold and Carin Lefkowitz sit down with Dr. Randy Martin, Clinical Director of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for the New York Presbyterian Hospital System. Despite being a fixture in most large organizations, EAPs often remain "under the radar" for many behavioral health providers. Dr. Martin demystifies the "ABC of EAPs," expla...

In this episode, hosts Jenna Ermold and Carin Lefkowitz welcome Adrienne Griffen, an "accidental advocate" and Executive Director of the Maternal Mental Health Leadership Alliance (MMHLA). A Naval Academy graduate and former intelligence officer, Adrienne shares her powerful personal journey of navigating postpartum depression while holding high-level security clearances – and why it took six mont...

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is common, disabling and frequently misunderstood in clinical practice. In this episode of Practical for Your Practice , hosts Dr. Jenna Ermold and Kevin Holloway are joined by Dr. Elizabeth McIngvale and Dr. Lauren Wadsworth, two nationally recognized leaders in OCD treatment and training, for a deep dive into Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), the gold-st...

Terminations in therapy should be expected, but they often catch us – patients and providers – off-guard. What is the best way to talk about termination? What if it’s unexpected? Is “termination” even the right word? This episode finds your hosts inspired by two listeners, one of whom asked us to muse on the topic of ending the therapy relationship. And what better way to terminate 2025 than by ex...

Stop dodging those complex questions about AI and mental health! Join Drs. Kevin Holloway and Jenna Ermold as they engage with the brilliant Dr. April Foreman, Director of Technology and Innovation at the Veterans Crisis Line, for a conversation that proves tech is no longer optional—it's essential . Dr. Foreman pulls back the curtain on the sobering reality: the demand for evidence-based suicide...

Dr. Robin Brody is back to tackle a critical gap in clinical training: narcissism and its devastating impact. We cut straight to the core, defining narcissism by its signature trait, entitlement, and exploring the clinical distinctions between grandiose, vulnerable, and malignant subtypes. The episode then dives into the flip side: narcissistic abuse. Learn to spot the confusing dynamics clients f...

Feeling stressed? You’re not alone! And that’s exactly the point of this lively episode of Practical for Your Practice! Hosts Jenna Ermold and Carin Lefkowitz welcome back the always-animated (and self-proclaimed “gesturing Italian”) Dr. Gabriel Paoletti for a refreshingly human take on stress. From cheesesteaks to “mamma mia” stress cues, this conversation dives into how we can rethink stress, no...

Suicide prevention isn’t only about assessing current risk for self-harm. It’s also about recognizing that we can’t predict if and when that risk will increase. Patients spend most of their lives outside of our office, and an unexpected crisis can increase their risk of self-directed violence exponentially. The risk may be especially heightened for firearm owners, who have immediate access to a hi...

We often think of nightmares as a symptom that occurs as part of another condition, like PTSD or depression. But nightmares can be frequent and disruptive enough that they require their own clinical focus. We currently have 3 gold standard options for treatment: Imagery Rehearsal Therapy; Exposure, Relaxation, and Rescription Therapy; and Lucid Dreaming. Our guest today, Dr. Courtney Worley, intro...

Welcome back to Practical for Your Practice ! In our Season 7 kickoff, hosts Drs. Jenna Ermold, Kevin Holloway, and Carin Lefkowitz set the stage for a new theme: The Seven Sins of Evidence-Based Practice. Inspired by Carin’s favorite film Seven , this season dives into the common pitfalls clinicians face when delivering EBPs and how we can learn, grow, and support each other through them. In this...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is an increasingly common diagnosis. Yet most behavioral health providers are unaware that they can play a role in both the assessment and treatment of OSA in their patients. Today we’re joined by an expert in the subfield of sleep psychology, Dr. Phil Gehrman. He shares basic information about what OSA is, how providers can effectively screen for it, and how they can...

Evidence-based psychotherapies for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as Prolonged Exposure and Cognitive Processing Therapy, are the best tools we have to treat PTSD for most people–at least as long as those in need are able to access these therapies. A number of barriers may exist, such as availability of trained therapists, insurance coverage (or lack thereof), or even life stressors s...

Suicide is currently the second leading cause of death for youth aged 10 through 14. It’s a horrifying fact that has spurred providers into action. One of those providers is our guest on today’s episode. Allison Hannah, MSW, LCSW, has delivered evidence-based suicide prevention interventions to youth, from elementary school-aged children to teens. Listen in as she provides us with the basics of CB...

Most digital media is designed to be addictive, and young brains are especially susceptible. Successful digital media content is stimulating, engaging, and targets the brain’s natural reward centers. This creates an unfair advantage over young brains, which have not yet fully developed their executive functioning. In today’s episode, Dr. Amanda Giordano introduces us to the “Four C’s” model of add...

If you’ve been side-eyeing the rise of AI in mental health, this episode of Practical for Your Practice is one you don’t want to miss. Dr. David Cooper, Executive Director of Therapists in Tech and member of the APA's Mobile Health Tech Advisory Committee (AND one of our EBP Conference 2025 PMI workshop presenters), joins us for a down-to-earth and engaging deep dive into what AI actually means fo...

Complex cases… The rule? Or the exception? In this episode of Practical for Your Practice , we sit down with Dr. Aaron Brinen, who argues that complexity is often the norm when it comes to client cases. Dr. Brinen shares valuable insights on how to effectively serve clients with complex issues, emphasizing the importance of a thorough case formulation. We dive deep into how this process can lead t...

Traumatic invalidation, a powerful and often misunderstood concept, occurs when a person’s emotions, behaviors, or identity are repeatedly dismissed, belittled, or rejected by important people in their lives. It can manifest as emotional neglect, severe criticism, unequal treatment, or outright denial of one’s reality. In this P4P episode, we sit down with Dr. Robin Brody who shares her insights o...

No one knows better than our clients what is going on in their world - their stressors, symptoms, triumphs, values, goals… but sometimes it can also be helpful to hear additional perspectives from others in our client’s world. In this episode the P4P hosts discuss the potential relevance of collateral information in assessment, case conceptualization and treatment planning. We talk about how colla...