The Broken Brain

Welcome to Thursday Thistory, the weekly dive into psychological history. Today's episode focuses on Sophie Freud, granddaughter of Sigmund, probably the Freud you think of when we say Freud. She was a remarkable social worker, advocate, author, and sociologist, and unfortunately most of us don't hear about her. Let's change that!  This monthly special episode is released in full to the regular po...

Ray Daugherty is the Primary Developer of the Prime For Life Curriculum, a program for people engaged in high-risk behavior with alcohol or drugs. Developed in the Seventies, and updated regularly, Prime For Life is an approved curriculum for court-ordered intervention for individuals with DUI/DWI charges. The program takes a nonjudgemental and research-based approach to help people identify low o...

Every New Year people feel pressure to set annual resolutions, goals tied to the arbitrary day chosen to mark the beginning of the calendar year. Do you like this? Hate it?  Here are a couple ideas about goal-setting that may give a new angle on this tradition.

Dr Eli Camp is a natural health specialist. She uses a Harm Reduction approach to help individuals with smoking cessation. This involves helping people form their own plan for nicotine use, whether they have a goal of quitting, lessening their use, or increasing their health as much as possible while still smoking. She is the author of "Smoke Rings," for smokers and their family. Follow her work a...

Another tip in the vein of disentangling information to choose what source to trust about what answers in areas like medical care, mental health, and self-growth.

New Christmas Episode! Isabel Teran, host of "That's Bodacious Dude," and "Hearsing Around," joins to discuss the Wizard-Of-Oz adjacent Christmas special: The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus."

A replay of one of my favorite Christmas Episodes, becaus eI got to record with my wonderful siblings! Amber Lopez and Christian Hurst join me to talk about the widely popular topic of the VHS tapes we used in our home to record and watch Christmas specials every year. We were streaming before streaming ever was! Visit www.peitn.com to view and help the highlighted charity this month: The Prince E...

Replay of the 2021 Christmas episode where Chris Revill and I discuss Muppet's Christmas Carol, possibly the best of the iterations of this classic. 

A replay of the 2015 Christmas Episode of the podcast. Michael Denniston, creator of great film podcasts like "War Machine Vs War Horse" and "99 from 99," joined me to record about the classic holiday movie "It's A Wonderful Life." Be kind folks, 2015 was a long-ah time ago, my microphone wasn't as good.

Replay of the episode where Sharon Blady and I discuss the roots of the Santa Claus Legend, and how Santa looks in Marvel Comics. Is he a powerful mutant? He sure is! (New Christmas Episode coming Tuesday, Christmas Eve) Check out www. PEITN.com for the monthly highlighted charity, the Prince Edward Island Transgender Network

Replay of the very popular Christmas Episode of 2020, a discussion about "The Snowy Day," holiday special, based on the book of the same name by Ezra Jack Keates. This year's New Christmas Episode will air on Christmas Eve! Stay tuned, Dear Listener!

Amity Cooper is an expert in mental health therapy & entrepreneurialism. She joins the show today to talk about how therapist's run private practices and how this affects access to care. Follow her work at www.amitycooper.com   This month we are highlighting the Prince Edward Island Transgender Network, found at www.peitn.com , a nonprofit focused on advocacy and support for the Trans community.

Do we remember the trauma that those around us feel? Do we check in enough to even know about it? 

Remember that episode of Seinfeld with the Soup Nazi? That character was based on a real guy! Al Yeganeh operated a soup restaurant frequented by one of the Seinfeld writers, and had the strange experience of becoming a template for a cultural icon. This is the first 8 minutes of the weekly dive into the history of culture & psychology. If you would like to hear these weekly full episodes please c...

Matt Moyer is a photographer, producer, and filmmaker. He is the Co-Director and Cinematographer of the Indie Documentary "Inheritance," which follows five generations of a family in Rural Ohio. 11 years in the making, the film focuses on Curtis, a young member of this family, from age 12-18, and allows us to observe the patterns and events in his family, and how they experience love, addiction, t...

Online self-assessment tests are huge online. They can be a great tool in our own health management and improvement, but we have to use them the correct way. 

A dive into a few psychological elements of the story "A Christmas Carol." a story that has been popular for 181 years, probably for a reason. To hear history episodes like this every week, along with other bonus materials, consider donating to the Broken Brain Patreon, at www.patreon.com/brokenbrain The charity-of-focus for this month is Prince Edward Island Transgender Network, a nonprofit provi...

Mark Sullivan MD is an Internal Medical Physician providing individual and family care at the North Virginia Family Practice. He believes in individual empowerment through relationship building and listening to patients. Like me he is dedicated to putting the patient in the driver's seat of their own healthcare. Follow his practice at www.nvafamilypractice.com Our charity-of-focus for December is...

Dr Sui Wong is Neurological Ophthalmologist, direct care specialist in Migraine treatment, and Author. She was kind enough to join me to discuss proactive healthy behavior for the health of the brain, finding hope with neurological disorders, and the use of mindfulness.  Go to www.peitn.com to visit our highlighted charity for December. The PEI Transgender Network provides education, fundraising,...

What is sobriety? For those working with Compulsion or Addiction, one of the most important elements of health is finding your own goals and measures of success. Developing an individual definition of sobriety is an often overlooked but useful tool in this process. 

Marion Stokes was a political & civil rights activist, television professional, librarian, and someone who absolutely followed her passions. From 1976 to 2012 she recorded TV for every waking hour of the day, ending up with 74,000 VHS tapes loaded with history of the evolution of news, entertainment, talk shows, and US culture. Why would she do this, and what has it contributed? To hear full episo...

As the former Director of Content for Sesame Street, Anna Housley Juster knows the psychoeducation and mental health needs of children. As a child & adolescent therapist and author, she has continued to teach children and parents the skills of emotional regulation. She discusses these needs and her new children's book, "How To Train Your Amygdala."   Follow her work at www.annahousleyjuster.com Fo...

The holidays are upon us! Look out! Traditions & holidays can be a joy, a burden, or even kinda meh. Forging personal traditions can help to deepen joy, reduce burden, or make it less meh and a bit more yeah.  Please check out the charity-of-focus for November while there is still some November left. The Because Organization helps people in the Philadelphia area who have survived and emerged from...

Samantha Skelly is an Master Breathwork Facilitator, Author, and the Founder & CEO of Pause Breathwork. She teaches others how to use breath as a powerful tool for stress management, emotional processing, and trauma recovery. Follow her work at www.pausebreathwork.com   Remember to follow and support The Because Organization, this month's highlighted charity, a Philadelphia based nonprofit helping...

This week's mental health tip is about Positive Deviancy: an interesting concept and a way to find a solution that already exists, but is flying under the radar.  Go to www.becauseorganization.org to support this month's charity-of-focus, helping survivors of human trafficking.