Shrinks Rap

Dr Jim & Rafael are back!  The band is back. Dr. Jim & Rafael are back together agin exploring healing on a global level. Rafael shares his thoughtful impressions of Georgia (not the peach state, but the country) where he did a recent training on Compassion, Addiction, and Trauma. Rafael also has gone to where the action is - - doing (virtual) trainings for professionals in the Ukraine and...

Chris Huitfeldt (pronounced Wheatfelt) owns a company called, Terra Firma , which means solid ground.  It provides intervention services for celebrities, professional athletes, and common folks. He even does pro bono work to help the economically disadvantaged. His philosophy is that “every good foundation starts on solid ground.”  Terra Firma usually provides interventions for individuals with ad...

Dr. James Bramson interviews Dr. Ray Horwitz  Drs. Jim and Ray were undergraduate classmates and roommates. As college kids, they bonded over music, psychology, humor, and working out. And now, as seasoned professionals, they both subscribe to the philosophy that good self-care is good client-care.  Dr. Ray is a an accomplished psychiatrist and a man of many talents. He is a skilled musician, a tr...

Dr. John Schinnerer brings heart, intellect, and compassion to his craft. He coaches men to greater success and happiness at work and at home.  Dr. John graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a Ph. D. in psychology.  He was an expert consultant for Pixar’s Inside Out .  Dr. John recently received the award for Excellence in Healthcare Leadership in 2022, and Best Executive Coach in Danville for 2020. H...

Vann Duke is a celebrated fitness trainer, life coach, and commercial actor (check out his latest Jeep commercial).  He trains and coaches people in the "Second Half of Life." Once voted “top trainer in the Bay Area” by the Guardian, Vann’s committed to his clients looking and feeling their best —whether that’s Oscar-winning superstars, like Viola Davis, or the less famous but equally ha...

Dr. James H. Bramson Interviews Psychologist, Family Therapist, and Parenting Educator, Lyn Benson    Lyn Benson has sold out seminars on the subject of Mindful Parenting in Australia. She has also trained internationally in the area of mindfulness. Lyn Benson and Dr. Bramson met back in 2006 and have taught workshops together around the world - including Turkey, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, and...

Dr. Gerald Smith has led workshops at the storied Esalen Institute for over 50 years. He is friends with one of its originals co-founders, Michael Murphy, whom he interviewed on an earlier podcast. Jerry attended the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University, earning an M.B.A and Doctoral degree in Educational Psychology. Jerry is still a practicing clinical psychologist at the age of 92....

Rafael Cortina & Felicia Carroll Break New Ground Felicia Carroll, is a Licensed Marriage, Family Therapist and Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor in private practice in Solvang, California. She is a natural story teller, child advocate, celebrated Gestalt trainer, and consummate gardener. One could argue that Felicia is the Shel Silverstein of Gestalt Therapy. Her work is the metaphoric “Gi...

Dr. James H. Bramson interviews Dr. Josh Wilson and Eti Valdez-Kaminsky  What do Naomi Judd, Anthony Bourdain, Robin Williams, Cleopatra, Mark Rothko, and David Foster Wallace have in common? They have all suicided. Suicide is an epidemic during these times of tumult. Obviously, suicide and depression impacts more than celebrities. Depression and suicide impact every, age, race, and gender. Depres...

Rafael Cortina interviews another Gestalt icon - Morgan Goodlander  Morgan Goodlander is a public speaker, president of the San Francisco Gestalt Institute, and leadership counselor. He has worked in 17 countries and has managed educational programs for the Esalen Institute. Rafael Cortina continues his mission to introduce us to extraordinary thought leaders and influencers throughout the Gestalt...

Rafael Cortina interviews John Hovell  John Hovell is the Co-Founder of Stratactical and is a self-described Relational-Organizational-Gestalt expert. John opines that you “cannot take a group (or organization) where you have not gone yourself.” John learned through his organizational development (OD) practice that you don’t want to make the client wrong but, rather, meet the client halfway. He is...

Demystifying and Overcoming Fear and Shame: The Odyssey of (Gestalt Luminary) Richard Dennison Rafael Cortina interviews Richard Dennison  Rafael is going global again. He is making his virtual way through Europe, and has landed another humble luminary in the Gestalt World, Richard Dennison. Richard hails from the southwest corner of England. Richard Dennison first worked in a psychiatric hospital...

Live from San Diego,  It’s Jim & Rafael (together again)  People in every generation think they are the ones facing the greatest challenges of all time. Was the Holocaust, Civil War, Armenian Holocaust, Black Plague, Nagasaki and Hiroshima more traumatic than any of our current events? American sociologist Kai Erickson, author of “Everything in Its Path” and international teacher and scholar,...

Rafael Cortina interviews the Gestalt Legend Jean-Marie Robine  Jean-Marie Robine is a legend in the world of Gestalt Therapy. He asks important philosophical questions. Does the now have a future? Is contact the source of all experience? What is the impact of conscious and non-conscious intentionality? What does Gestalt therapy teach us about the importance of “contact” and the “unfolding self?”...

Dr. Jim Bramson interviews Dr. Eric Raimo Dr. Eric Raimo is an accomplished psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of bipolar disorder. I refer to him as the “Bipolar Whisperer.” Dr. Raimo went to two Ivy’s (the University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth College, Medical school) and went on to do his residency at the University of California - San Diego (UCSD) Medical School. He has an outsta...

Dr. Jim Bramson interviews the self-described “Resolutionary” Stewart Levine, Esq. Stewart Levine is an attorney, poet, artist, concerned citizen, and thought leader in the field of conflict resolution. His earliest books, “Getting to Resolution” and “The Book of Agreement,” shaped the field of conflict resolution and collaborative law. Stewart’s model has been utilized by shrinks, mediators, corp...

Dr. Jim Bramson Interviews Dr. Marty Klein  Dr. Marty Klein has appeared on Oprah and Dr. Phil sharing his expertise on sex. He covers many topics in this podcast, including pornography (His Porn, Her Pain), the U.S’s war on sex, cultural differences in sexual expression and repression, how men and women are more alike than different, parenting non-binary or LBGTQIA children. Going beyond knowing...

Rafael Cortina, MFT, interviews the consummate over-achiever Kristine Jackson, LCSW, CEDS, CETII, CP, PAT Kristine Jackson is our official record-setter for the most credentials following her name. Ready for it: Kristine Jackson, LCSW, CEDS, CETII, CP, PAT. In this podcast, Rafael and Kristine discuss her current role as an Associate Clinical Director for Onsite. In her position, she provides over...

Jim & Rafael Rap about Football & Mastering the Inner Game.  In this podcast, Rafael and Jim tackle football, male depression, fanaticism, fatherhood, and evolutionary consciousness. Rafael and Jim explore why football fans feel so downtrodden when their team loses. They ponder why we even watch football in the first place. After all, football is a violent game that can result in concussio...

This podcast chronicles psychiatrist Dr. David Hartman’s “Journey from Darkness.” Dr. Hartman teaches us that, when the mind clears, the eyes can see — and dreams can be fully realized.  In this podcast, Dr. Hartman, with his sharp wit and folksy charm, shares his extraordinary story about becoming the first blind person to graduate from medical school. In the movie that chronicles his life, “Jour...

Josh Kornbluth is a mono-linguist, film maker, humorist, theatre performer, and activist who was raised by Stalinist parents Bunny and Paul in NYC. Josh admits that his oboe- playing likely helped more than his athletic prowess in landing him a scholarship at Princeton.   A self-described “Red Diaper Baby,” his indoctrination into communism by left-leaning Jewish parents inspired a one-man show an...

Andre DeCary will challenge listeners to draw on their authenticity and curiosity to lovingly embrace their inner critic. He discusses his breakdown and breakthrough. Andre shares how he transcended his own ego state and inner critic . . . by dropping into his body and heart, and summoning courage. Andre discusses how his experiences as a monk in India led him to seek the “untruth” — that is, to c...

In this episode, Dr. Jim discusses the topic of elite achievement with his old friend and esteemed colleague, Dr. Susan Bernstein. Dr. Bernstein uses her wit and personal stories to illustrate how Anxious Achievers can optimize their experience and contribution. On the one hand, they are conscientious, needing to prove themselves, perfectionistic, and aiming to please others. This mix of qualities...

 Rafael swings by Jim’s backyard studio to review the incredible shrinks they got to rap with during 2021. The two reflect on memorable conversations and the moments that made them think, laugh, and cry. Your intrepid Podcasters have come to see themselves, the world, and their craft differently as a result of the awe-inspiring guests that have shared their stories and wisdom. They hope these conv...

Dr. Jim interviews  Dr. Susan Campbell — an extraordinary psychologist, coach, trainer, author, and sage. She has appeared on CNN and Good Morning America and has lectured at the Harvard, Stanford, and UCLA business schools. Her work has been featured in Psychology Today, Harvard Business Review, Men’s Health.  In this podcast, Dr. Campbell shares insights and tips from her recent, highly acclaime...