State Of Mind Mental Health Podcast

In this episode of the State of Mind Mental Health Podcast, I sit down with Sherry Shaban, osteopath, certified athletic therapist, and founder of Make Peace With Food, to get to the bottom of something a lot of us struggle with quietly: why we keep ending up back at the same late-night snacking, stress eating, or binge eating patterns no matter how many diets we try. Sherry's own story starts wit...

In this episode of the State of Mind Mental Health Podcast, I sit down with Eric Robinson — a man who spent 24 years in the FBI, 15 of them as a SWAT operator, after starting his career as a Baptist pastor. I ask him how a person makes that leap, and the answer surprised me: he left the pulpit because he couldn't stop carrying other people's pain. Two straight years of daily stress headaches that...

I sit down with Stefanos Koutsoumpis, a men's coach based in Athens, Greece, who holds a PhD in physics and a hard-won understanding of what it actually means to feel happy. Not perform happiness — actually experience it. He walks me through how chronic overthinking was actually a symptom of emotional suppression, how he discovered mindfulness through Sam Harris and eventually trained with the Oxf...

She tried to rob a bank at 21 to pay a cocaine dealer. Ended up committed to a psych hospital. Then — 10 years later — went back as a licensed psychologist with a PhD. Dr. Sarah Michaud has been sober 42 years. She's written a book on codependency, spent decades in private practice, and has a perspective on recovery that cuts through a lot of noise: getting clean is only the beginning. The real wo...

In this episode of the State of Mind Mental Health Podcast, I sit down with Bill Belanger — psychotherapist, 20+ year Buddhist meditation practitioner, and longtime student of Harvard psychologist and Tibetan Buddhist teacher Dr. Daniel Brown — to unpack what gets lost when Buddhist psychology is repackaged as Western wellness. Bill is writing a book on integrating Buddhism with Western psychology...

I sit down with Susan Snow — author, speaker, and trauma resiliency coach — who was just 17 years old when her father, an LAPD robbery homicide detective, was assassinated in a planned drive-by shooting on Halloween night, 1985. Susan walks me through the moment she learned her father was gone, the years of undiagnosed PTSD that followed, and the emotional mask she wore for over a decade while qui...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Danielle Griffin — somatic exercise therapist, certified hypnotherapist, and former higher education researcher — to talk about something most high achievers never want to admit: the body keeps score, and burnout doesn't just live in your mind. Danielle walks me through how years of unprocessed workplace stress, grief, and pressure physically manifested in her...

In this episode of the State of Mind Mental Health Podcast, I sit down with William Person — a 9-year member of Team USA's Olympic bobsled program and the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit fighting to protect athletes from CTE. William walks me through the cost of nine years and an estimated 22,000 bobsled rides on the human brain — and what happens when an entire roster of teammates starts...

I sit down with Zolal Habibi, a longtime member of the Iranian Resistance and the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), for a conversation that pulls back the curtain on a country most of us only see in headlines. In this episode she walks me through the parts of Iran's reality that rarely make it to North American media: tens of thousands of political prisoners executed in a single summe...

Sandy Cohen on Mindset, Belief, and Why Talent Is Overrated Sandy Cohen is a professional mindset development coach, author of three books, and a former hockey player turned speaker who works with elite athletes, CEOs, and high performers. In this conversation, Sandy breaks down why mindset is the foundation of everything — and why so many people are building on sand. We get into the difference be...

What if your children are absorbing everything — the tension, the conflict, the words you think they can't hear? In this episode, Mike sits down with Dr. David Marcus, a psychologist with 40 years of experience working with high-conflict families, custody disputes, and children under chronic stress. Dr. Marcus breaks down the tools that actually move the needle — why love and hate aren't opposites...

Can you rewire your brain just by thinking ? Hypnotherapist Craig Meriwether joins host Mike Stroh to break down how your subconscious mind is quietly running the show — your habits, beliefs, emotions, and even your healing. Craig shares how he overcame anxiety and depression before the age of the internet or SSRIs, what actually happens in your brain during hypnosis (hint: you do it every day wit...

What if everything you've been doing to heal is actually keeping you stuck? In this episode, I sit down with Manna Abraham — former CFO, founder of the Emotion Memory Pattern Release Method, and author of Finally Free — to explore why so many people spend years (or decades) in the healing loop without ever truly starting to live. Manna shares her journey from chartered accountant and CFO to trauma...

Will Steel flew fast jets for the Royal Air Force, walked away from a dream British Airways 747 posting, and spent 15 years leading transformational programs to 90,000 people worldwide. Now he's written the book he always believed was impossible to write — Free to Lead. In this episode, Will breaks down why your biggest obstacle isn't your circumstances — it's the decision a 3-year-old version of...

In this episode, I sit down with Dave Salmoni, zoologist, producer, Animal Planet large predator expert, and one of the most fascinating men I've had the chance to speak with. Dave has spent decades working with lions, tigers, bears, sharks, and other dangerous animals in extreme environments around the world. But this conversation is about much more than wildlife. It is about fear, calm, courage,...

What happens when someone you love is drinking (or using) and your life starts to fall apart? In this episode, I sit down with Jennifer for a brutally honest conversation about what it's like to live with addiction in the family — the fear, the anger, the shame, the hyper-vigilance, the "walking on broken glass"… and the moment you realize: I can't fix them. I'm the one who needs help too. Jennife...

In this episode, Emilio Parga, a pediatric thanatologist, shares his journey of helping individuals cope with grief and loss, particularly in the wake of significant events like 9/11. He discusses the importance of addressing unprocessed grief, especially among men, and emphasizes the need for open conversations about death. Emilio reflects on his personal experiences with loss and how they shaped...

In this episode, Christopher Carazas shares his profound journey through childhood challenges, mental health struggles, and the impact of divorce. He discusses his experiences with ADHD and autism, the importance of therapy, and the role of community in fostering resilience. Christopher emphasizes the significance of self-compassion and offers valuable insights for those facing similar challenges,...

What if power isn't something you're born with… but something you take back? In this conversation,  Lawyer & Professor Christine E. Ohenewah discusses her journey as a lawyer and educator, focusing on her mission to build the Elizabeth Chinabua Foundation and a new model of higher education. She emphasizes the importance of humanism, empowerment, and self-definition, while exploring the intersecti...

In this episode, we explore the intersection of compassion, honesty, and responsibility in the context of addiction and mental illness. Join us as we discuss personal insights on how to apply boundaries, ethics, and values to help guide us in supporting loved ones on their recovery journey while maintaining our own boundaries. This is an incredibly difficult situation for many people. We use recen...

Most people who say "I'm too self-aware" aren't self-aware at all — they're stuck in a loop. In this episode, Mike sits down with Arron Lin, a counseling psychology graduate student and tech-venture professional, to unpack one of the most misunderstood concepts in mental health. Arron moved from China to Canada at 17, alone, without speaking English — navigating culture shock, identity, microaggre...

In this conversation, Lauren Tetenbaum (therapist, author, former lawyer, and in my opinion creative genious) opens the discussion no one's ever really had. We discuss perimenopause, menopause, hormones, mental health, sex, aging, parenting, and why millennials are the generation to start the discussion. We get into all of it — the symptoms, the stigma, the mental load, the relationships, the work...

I recently returned from a trip to Rome, Italy, which reminded me of the illusion of the "geographical cure." This is the belief that changing my location will solve my problems, especially when it comes to addiction. During my nearly two decades of dealing with mental health and addiction issues, I found that I could abstain from getting high while on vacation or in a foreign country. However, th...

In this conversation, Lawrence C Harris shares his inspiring journey of overcoming childhood abuse, Autism, and C-PTSD. He discusses the importance of self-love, the role of therapy in his recovery, and how he transformed his experiences into a career helping others. Lawrence emphasizes the significance of building trust within family dynamics, the lessons learned from therapy, and the importance...

Can we truly heal without facing our shadows? In this episode, Dr. Shahrzad Jalali dives deep into trauma, Jungian psychology, emotional awareness, and the critical role of personal experience in therapy. Her book The Fire That Makes Us explores how trauma shapes identity, and how shadow work can lead to meaningful healing and growth. We also explore how language, mindfulness, and connection can t...