Sanity

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Jonathan Abramowitz continue their discussion on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or the DSM. Specifically, they take an in-depth look at anxiety and obsessive compulsive and related disorders. Dr. Abramowitz discusses the main differences between OCD and other disorders, such as hair-pulling (trichotillomania), and how...

On this episode of Sanity , join us for Part 1 of a 2-part discussion between Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. William Sanderson on how evolutionary psychology can be applied to current issues humans are facing. They briefly review mismatch theory, which is the concept that humans evolved with certain traits that were key to our survival; however, these same traits are not as functional in the modern worl...

On this episode of Sanity , join us for Part 2 of the 2-part discussion between Dr. Duncan and Dr. Sanderson on how evolutionary psychology can be applied to current issues humans are facing. Part 1 of this discussion primarily focused on political polarization in the United States. The focus of Part 2 is covering how evolved traits, such as ingroup and outgroup bias, aggression, selfishness, and...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan along with Dr.’s Rego, Stern, Szuhany, Pimentel, & von Stietz cover the immense topic of using metaphors, pop-culture, movie/TV show characters, and athletes/sports in therapy sessions. They provide rationale for making these references with therapy clients, and explain how this process has been around since the advent of psychology. These reference...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Jon Abramowitz discuss the treatment of exposure for anxiety disorders, including OCD. Dr. Abramowitz is an internationally recognized expert in anxiety and OCD, and he has published countless books and articles about the topic. Dr. Abramowitz differentiates between the traditional model of exposure therapy, habituation, and the new model, inhib...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Master CBT Clinician Dr. Robert Leahy discuss the powerful, and often painful, emotion of regret. Dr. Leahy describes regret as the result of decisions we make, and we can experience it regarding choices we either do, or do not, pursue. Regret is an important emotion because it forces us to review our choices and learn from our experiences. As Dr. L...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Lisa Pote discuss current happenings at the Beck Institute. They talk about the creation of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and how the Beck Institute is attempting to disseminate skills originally taught by Dr. Aaron Beck to a wide range of individuals, including clinicians, other professionals, and potential clients. Lisa Pote describes some of...

On this episode of “Sanity” Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Scott Waltman discuss some of the pitfalls mental health professionals make when implementing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). The most common pitfalls identified in research completed by Dr. Waltman included socratic questioning and guided discovery. Dr. Waltman and Dr. Duncan discuss socratic questioning, its origin with the Greek philosoph...

On this episode of Sanity, Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Drea Letamendi discuss how different sci-fi/comic/fantasy fandoms can be used to discuss psychological concepts. In fact, fandoms are great outlets to disseminate information about psychological science to the general public. Additionally, the possibilities are endless when it comes to fandoms, meaning any concept, from processing childhood traum...

Dr. Robert Hindman is a clinical psychologist at the Beck Institute. He conducts various trainings and provides consultation and supervision for therapists. He has written books on cognitive therapy, anxiety, and mindfulness, and studies how organizations and therapists can best implement cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). In this episode, Dr. Robert Hindman and Dr. Jason Duncan discuss the incre...

On this episode of “Sanity” Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. William Sanderson discuss the application of evolutionary psychology to physical and mental health problems most humans face. They define mismatch theory, which suggests we, as human beings, were built for something entirely different than how we are functioning in our current environment. The mismatch between our biology and environment is rela...

On this episode of Sanity, Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Jacqueline Persons discuss the importance of cognitive-behavioral case formulation and tracking progress. The case formulation approach includes hypothesis testing of maintaining factors. It allows the clinician to pivot in treatment, when necessary, if specific interventions designed to target a certain mechanism are not successful in symptom re...

On this episode of “Sanity” Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. William Sanderson discuss the application of evolutionary psychology to physical and mental health problems most humans face. Core principles of evolutionary theory are discussed, such as survival of the fittest, sexual selection, and inclusive fitness. Dr. William Sanderson explains how the environment we evolved in as hunter gatherers created...

On this episode of “Sanity” Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Sarah Becker discuss the dissemination and implementation of effective therapy for psychological disorders. Dr. Becker explains the pitfalls psychologists and psychology organizations have made in marketing specific treatments to consumers. She provides comparisons between the fields of psychology and pharmacotherapy, and she discusses lessons p...

On this episode of “Sanity” Dr. Jason Duncan, Dr. Scott Kellogg, and Amanda Garcia Torres discuss transformational chairwork. Transformational chairwork is a transtheoretical psychotherapy technique which involves utilizing physical chairs in a session to parse out various “parts” of ourselves, speak from these parts, and allow our inner leader to gain control. Chairwork can also be used to role-p...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Jared Cohen, M.A., M.B.A. dive into sport and performance psychology. Jared Cohen works as a mental performance coach for both individuals and teams, and he recently conducted a training with the Transportation Security Agency (TSA). He discusses the different components of performance psychology and provides information about how he intervenes to i...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Dennis Zgaljardic discuss different aspects of neuropsychological assessments. They cover various areas of the brain and their functions, and they discuss how assessment tools can be used to determine where there might be deficits. Specifically, a neuropsychological assessment combines a number of different aspects, from the clinical interview,...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Emily Owens discuss psychosis and the prodromal stages of psychosis. They cover risk factors for developing psychotic disorders and share information about therapeutic interventions for these individuals. Dr. Owens provides numerous examples differentiating symptoms of prodromal psychosis from normal behavior, and she explains how it is often di...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Jess Shatkin discuss mental illness prevention in children and adolescents. Dr. Shatkin shares his expertise on prevention practices, why they are important, and how we could improve them. He then specifies on specific practices for kids, which are especially salient due to the fact the majority of chronic mental health disorders develop in adol...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Michael Tompkins cover a transdiagnostic approach to treating emotional disorders, such as anxiety, depression, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Dr. Tompkins, who has authored several books on this topic and is board certified in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), shares these disorders have similar mechanisms of avoidance, either emotio...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Katherine Dondanville cover post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its various treatments. Dr. Dondanville is board-certified in cognitive and behavioral psychology, and she specializes in a specific treatment for PTSD called cognitive processing therapy (CPT). CPT is a time-limited (around 12 sessions) approach which provides clients with ba...

On this episode of Sanity, Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Jonathan Grayson dive into OCD, defining and differentiating it from other mental disorders and “normal” behavior. They discuss the core features of the disorder, which are obsessions and compulsions, and provide multiple examples of how obsessions and compulsions might look in a clinical setting. Dr. Grayson introduces the topic of uncertainty a...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Paul Grant dive into Recovery-Oriented Cognitive Therapy, a new approach to cognitive therapy specifically designed to increase outcomes for those with serious mental illnesses, such as psychotic disorders. Dr. Grant explains how the focus of recovery-oriented cognitive therapy is on addressing negative beliefs an individual might have about the...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Amanda Loerinc Guinyard discuss a new model of exposure treatment called the inhibitory learning model. Traditionally, exposure therapy was believed to work due to habituation, or the diminishing of a response to the feared or anxiety-provoking stimulus. Dr. Loerinc Guinyard describes how recent research suggests exposure therapy works because a...

On this episode of Sanity , Dr. Jason Duncan and Dr. Elizabeth Turk-Karan discuss how exposure therapy works, and how it is used to treat a number of different anxiety-related disorders. Dr. Turk-Karan shares how we all need some levels of anxiety to function properly, but sometimes, our anxiety can be triggered inappropriately. When this happens, exposure can be used to reduce the anxiety we feel...