The Broken Brain

Social Media is a part of our life. We all life at least a little bit online these days.  Karly Beaumont and Cynthia Torres host the Podcast That Pop This Life , a look at Life, Pop Culture, and the Ridiculousness of it all. They talk weekly about internet crazes, modern cultural trends, and how to be a good internet citizen.  Make sure to be a good citizen yourself by listening and sharing this e...

Kathleen Brennan lives and practices psychotherapy in Chicago . She is an expert in trauma, a survivor of the nonprofit world, and an excellent podcaster, with her show On The Blue Couch.  Kathleen speaks with me today about the dynamic of Vicarious Trauma , the multiple ways that we can become traumatized through our own or other's exposure. The ACA has defined Vicarious Trauma as "compassion fat...

Non Wells is a writer, podcaster, and a confirmed Joymonger . He loves Joy, there are no two ways about it. He even does a podcast where he and his wife talk about Joy.  However, he is no stranger to all emotions, joyful or non-joyful. Non is a well known enthusiast of knowing & accepting yourself for who you are. that's why its no surprise that he is here today to join me in a discussion about Mi...

Mike Denniston returns to the show (from the podcast War Machine vs War Horse ) to watch and review a classic tale of family dysfunction, the funny and surprisingly touching Sundance Film Festival winner "Little Miss Sunshine." We use this as a backdrop to discuss triangulation, depression, hopes, fears, and insecurity, all within the family dynamic.   

Joel Manwill is a member of the Aspire Group of Mental Health Professionals , the Group Practice that I am also a part of.  He is also a highly experienced Pediatric Occupational Therapist, working with sensory processing disorder, autistic spectrum disorders, and other health concerns related to sensory processing.  This is a training Joel did for our team of therapists, in which he discusses ove...

What did you do this weekend? Laura Murthum fought against human trafficking...Yeah, I know. I cleaned out my garage. Laura works for the nonprofit group Trucker's Against Traficking (TAT) an organization dedicated to providing training to on-the-road Truckers to help them in the fight against human trafficking. CLICK HERE to check out their website and learn what red flags to look for when you ar...

Jeri Young Returns to tell us more about Imposter Syndrome!  Jeri talked about I mposter Phenomenon on a recent episode of The Broken Brain,  this is a recording of her providing more information to a team of therapists, in the Aspire Network. Although she touches on a lot of the same areas, she also goes into how to decrease the anxiety and depression associated with this dynamic, and tells us a...

Happy Father's Day from the Broken Brain!  Dave Hart from Pop Culture Case Study returns to talk with me about being a dude. We discuss the complex psychological issues inherent to being a man in our culture, and our impressions of the psychological impact of the documentary "The Mask You Live In."  by the Representation Project. Check out the documentary on Netflix or Amazon, and follow their Fac...

Bernadette & Andrew Peirce are a wonderful couple who do a movie podcast (the AB Film Review) , and are just fun and cool people. We got together to discuss the dynamic of psychological burnout, a condition that affects physical and mental health, as well as the economy. Andrew has worked in the Veterinary Nursing industry, and Bernie has provided addiction recovery and crisis stabilization servic...

Dave from Pop Culture Case Study rejoins the show to talk addiction recovery, a specialty of his.  We tackle the difficult but vital issue of building (or rebuilding) social support in sobriety maintenance. Addiction has many costs, but a big one is the damage it does to our family and friendship relations. And few things are as helpful to recovery from addiction than a healthy support system. We...

My friend Jeri joins the podcast to discuss Imposter Phenomenon, and the genesis of that term within psychotherapy. Imposter Phenomenon has been used since the 1970s and is a name for a specific type of anxiety and intellectual self-doubt. Jeri Young is a friend, a colleague, and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who specializes in Mind-Body Bridging, Chronic Pain management, and a bunch of other...

Arianna Jeret (author and relationship expert) & David Hart (Podcaster, Addiction Therapist, and Doctoral Candidate)  join me to answer some of the listener's questions. We talk about online articles that "diagnose" celebrities, watching out for online experts without training (and how to spot real professionals), and getting medical advice for psychological conditions. Specifically we are glad to...

Joe Capozzi is an actor , and is the writer & producer of the short film " Confession ," directed by his wife, Angelique Letizia-Capozzi.   Confession is a 15 minute film telling the story of Joe's experience beginning his recovery from persistent sexual molestation from a Catholic Priest. Joe shares his full story and the story of how he used his artistic skills as a therapeutic outlet and a meth...

Buck Black is the Trucker's Therapist , or at least that is one of his specialties. Buck is a LCSW who provides online and in-person therapy with on-the-road truckers who might otherwise never get to see their therapist . He is also a certified sex therapist and a general practitioner in the community of Lafayette, Indiana . Lucky for me, and you (the listeners), he is also a spirited, energetic,...

Raney Mills Keiley rejoins us after her long sabbatical to field your questions. Mike and I assist by making dumb jokes as she answers your questions about tricky family communication with a needy or controlling parent, and whether or not therapists are emotionally bulletproof enough that we are impervious to freaking out. Plus we fondly recall the time she made us make tinfoil statues of ourselve...

Dr. Calli Estes, the Addictions Coach, is the founder of the Addiction Academy and a friend of the show. She joined me today to talk about the news regarding the death of cultural icon and rock star Prince. We discuss addiction, the risk of overdose, and how shame, indulgence, and denial of the problem risk people's lives. 

Michael Denniston (of the War Machine vs War Horse Podcast) has joined us before and will join us again, but never before has he joined us to discuss M Night Shyamalan and how everyone pretends they didn't love all his movies once upon a time.  The emotion of Fear plays a large role in the lives of everyone. In the movie Signs, we are shown a story of an alien invasion, in which the real villain s...

Mike Fitch  & Lee Messersmith , the OG Broken Brain Gang join for an ask a therapist segment, with newcomer and therapist intern Chris Tittle! We talk about more than just Lee's new guitar, which is made out of an oilcan. We answer listener questions about relationships, incompatible sex drives, and some parenting stuff.  Get your questions to our AskATherapist segment through twitter @breakabrain...

Guy Macpherson is the founder of the Trauma Therapist Project a fellow podcaster , and an expert on early childhood mental illness, trauma, and somatic sensory psychotherapy. He joins me today to discuss pointers for therapists learning to deal with trauma, the prevalence of trauma within mental illness, and treatment techniques.  I can already tell Guy will be a good friend of the show, hear his...

It's our addiction look, at the top of this wonderful month of April. What better way to start it than by reading an article by author, psychologist, and relationship expert Jenev Caddell! In her article "Busting 5 Common Mythes About Addiction," Dr. Caddell captures some dangerous and important misnomers about substance use, abuse, and dependance. I review 3 out of the 5 myths ( go read the rest...

Clay Cockrell of the Online Counseling Podcast and Walk and Talk Therapy return to our show to discuss his new search database for online therapists. In creating this new service and hosting his own podcast Clay has done a TON of research into Online Psychotherapy, the newer type of telehealth in the mental health industry. Clay is the founder of Walk and Talk practice, a form of outdoor counselin...

Arianna Jeret, relationship expert, frequent guest and friend of the show, returns to discuss the idea of "rebuilding," a life following divorce. We discuss whether or not the concept of rebuilding is accurate or helpful, the components to emotional pain following a break up, flexibility vs rigidity in communication, and many other parts of relationships, marriage, and divorce.  Follow Ariana on Y...

We have been focusedon self confidence a LOT lately on the Broken Brain, and I found this recording of Mike Fitch and I discussing the clinical elements of confidence, what role it plays, and how mental illness can impact it.  We discuss the differences between self-esteem, self-worth, and other forms of self-lovin' (self-loving for oyu search engines out there).

Talking to Candice at Namaste Center for Healing , we were planning to do some nonsense throw away discussion about another topic, but we landed on talking about treatment for individuals with sexual offenses, pedophiliac desires, and compulsive sexual thoughts.  Candice operates a preventative treatment program for those with invasive, unwanted sexual desires towards children. This is a difficult...

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy addresses increasing emotional stability, and the PLEASE skill is a viable part of increasing yours! This podcast mini episode comes from the audio to the YouTube Video on The BrokenBrain Podcast channel on YouTube.