The Dr Christian Heim Podcast

First part in a new series on overcoming negative and useless thoughts. What we think and feel determine much of our quality of life. Here we look at what are thoughts, some scientific and philosophical ideas about thoughts and some models of the brain: it’s more like a vibrant city than a computer. The two basic thought skills are introduced.

This episode is the recording of a live talk we did in 2019 entitled ‘Are you listening?’ In this talk you’ll hear about What listening is and isn’t , the Science of listening and get some really practical skills for active listening.

Grab a cuppa, pop on your slippers, and enjoy. This fund-raising webinar is part of Zonta’s efforts to help prevent domestic violence. We look at mental health impacts of Covid-19, an outreach to university students, female psychiatric issues, and mental health “boosts” peppered with theatrical entertainment.

In this recording of a webinar hosted by Queensland University of Technology, Senior Lecturer Dr Caroline Heim and Dr Christian Heim respond to questions from a Wellbeing Mental Health wall about concerns with isolation and addictions, relationships and motivation for students during online learning in the Covid-19 age. A Q&A at the end gives some practical tips about how to control anxiety, parti...

This is Step 4 in Dr Heim's men's mental health book to help prevent depression, anxiety, addiction or suicide. Take your place in society: "I contribute, and respect can be mine." We all contribute somewhere in some way. Here, we explore just how important contributing and respect is for men. Order the whole audio book here: https://www.amazon.com/Steps-Mens-Mental-Health-Better/dp/B099681DQ4/ref...

Getting down to the part 2 practicalities of this gratitude lecture, Dr Heim takes you on a thought experiment to experience and feel the benefits of gratitude first hand. He looks at what’s going on in your frontal lobe, limbic system and with your brain chemicals. Then it’s another acronym for 8 ways to say THANKS, morning and night everyday.

Thankfully, scientific studies tell us that gratitude is really good for your physical and mental health. But what is the science? How does gratitude work? Who gets to achieve gratitude? And why is it so damn hard to be grateful in this world? Dr Heim lays it out in Part One of this lecture and gives you five ideas to help cultivate the attitude of gratitude.

Many people close to someone with BPD walk on eggshells, afraid to get it wrong, yet they want to genuinely help. Here are seven techniques to help you be a “PAL who is ABLE” to help someone close to you who is battling borderline personality disorder.

As a psychiatrist sub-specializing in trauma, I have worked with many people battling borderline personality disorder. This clip looks at SIX INSIGHTS to help you manage and work through BPD to boost you on your journey through this illness. It’s worth knowing all you can to get on top of it, because you, as a person, are worth it.

As a psychiatrist sub-specializing in trauma, I have worked with many people battling borderline personality disorder. This podcast looks at FIVE INSIGHTS to help you manage and work through BPD to boost you on your journey through this illness. It’s worth knowing all you can to get on top of it, because you’re worth it.

Listen in to learn some really practical tips to action to bring more happiness into your life. Find out what some great thinkers through the ages had to say about happiness. The episode finishes off with 8 things that really make us happy.

This is part 1 of a live talk we gave earlier this year. In this episode we bust some myths about happiness and play a bit of piano music.

Do you wish you could stop self-harm? “Just Don’t Do It!” is a good start, but it usually takes a whole lot more. These Five Steps out of self-harm could be just what you need. They take you from your decision to stop, through alternatives and techniques, to coping with waves of negative emotions almost as easily as catching waves at the beach (almost).

Do your emotions ever get the better of you? Knowing about your emotions – emotional self-awareness – can help you get out of self-harm, addictions, and anger outbursts. Once you NOTICE your emotions, LABEL your emotions with choice words and SAFELY EXPRESS them using those words, you will have the background skills to help you get out of self-harm and enjoy life more.

This podcast looks at some facts about self-harm and the reasons people feel the need to harm themselves. Often done secretly, it expresses and relieves emotional distress rather than seek attention. For most, it goes away, but others need to battle against it, often with a therapist. Dr Heim uses his clinical experience to prepare you for stopping it: being emotionally self-aware and finding bett...

We may not have the answers yet, but the mind is amazing to ponder. Dr Heim searches through his grandpa’s garage in search of an answer to one of our biggest mysteries and stumbles across something scientifically magic. Along the way he tips his hat to Pinker, Fodor, Descartes, the placebo effect and psychoneuroimmunology.

What makes your brain feel really good? The right DOSE of Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin and Endorphin. It’s more complex but, evidence shows that dopamine pleasure, oxytocin love, serotonin calm & endorphin analgesia in your brain can be optimized when you relate well to people.

Ever wondered what goes on in your brain? Here we spend just a little time gasping in awe at the wonder of the universe contained inside your skull; some of what your brain can do, the numbers associated with the brain, the amazing things we don't understand.

OK. So how do you actually do it? maximize pleasure and prevent addiction? Here’s some techniques to understand, practice and do to connect pleasure and purpose to have more pleasure all your life, survive well, and be a decent horse-rider. After considering Golden Greeks, Great Gratitude and a Pleasure Plan, being Boss of your Brain may be as easy as ABCD.

Here we’ll connect your brain’s pleasure with your mind’s purpose by looking at how we experience pleasure in the brain. We’ll look at the brain chemical dopamine and the fun-loving limbic system. Why does nature give us pleasure at all? Food, drink, sex, shopping, it all feels good. Dr Heim takes us for a ride in the desert.

We look at some ins & outs of addictions and we also look at pleasure. Why do people who go for pleasure often find pain? We connect pleasure with your future self for more pleasure all life long and delay some gratification along the way. Dr Heim considers the question of an “addictive personality” and the risk factors for addiction before eating a marshmallow.

What does it mean to change your personality? Just like your body, there’s much you can’t change but you can keep it trim and healthy. Dr Heim considers ways we try to change the body and apply them to the personality. Can you change your personality with drugs? With therapy? With meditation and contemplation? With diet and exercise?

From Hippocrates through Jung & beyond we’ve come up with many personality classification systems: Four Fluids, Big Five Factors, 16 Types, but none can contain your unique personality, dynamic and changeable (if you choose). We look at immaturity and personality disorders in cheeky , wise and aggressive Australian birds. (What?)

Looking at meanings and derivations, Dr Heim shows “personality” is more musical than we may realize. We’re each born with music in us: temperament, and we learn to develop character. The personality is like a body, an enduring pattern, a structure, a vehicle to use while you drive through life, relating to others along the way.

The big challenges: winning and losing, failure and judgment, snakes and ladders. To decrease anxiety, Dr Heim encourages you to Be and Express yourself, Appreciate people, and Try. Try and learn: failure is only a slippery snake on the ladder of success. Trying, as Aladdin found, takes courage heartily linked to love.