The Managing Mental Health Podcast

🚂 Ever felt like your relationships were just a train wreck and worried you’d never find a partner who truly accepts you? In this episode of The Managing Mental Health Podcast, Jamie sits down with certified relationship coach Ana Ruiz to tackle the raw reality of dating someone with bipolar disorder and navigating the modern dating world. Ana opens up about her own bipolar disorder and relations...

🍟 Are you eating your way into anxiety, or could your "healthy" diet be missing the vital building blocks your brain needs to stay stable? In this episode of the Managing Mental Health Podcast , social psychologist Jamie sits down with public health nutrition expert Dr. Leanne Skehan and forensic behavioral specialist Dr. Jared Brown to bridge the gap between metabolic health and psycho...

🔎What if the world saw autism not as a neurological disorder in need of fixing, but as a brilliant, "outside the box" way of thinking? In this episode, Sam Mitchell, creator of the Autism Rocks and Rolls podcast, joins the show to share his first-person perspective on living on the spectrum. Sam breaks down the creative strengths of the autistic mind, such as unique problem-solving skil...

😓Are you feeling like you're grieving "wrong" because you keep cycling between anger, sadness, and fleeting moments of acceptance? Stop comparing your journey to a checklist. Social psychologist Jamie welcomes Lisa Rites, a certified grief educator and former respiratory therapist with 40 years of experience, for a deeply honest conversation that dismantles the biggest myths about g...

🧠Are you feeling scatterbrained, forgetful, or struggling to follow through on your goals? Your lifestyle might be to blame! In the final episode of our six-part series on Executive Functioning , host Jamie welcomes back special guest Dr. Jared Brown to dive deep into Lifestyle Medicine and its direct impact on brain health and mental well-being. Discover why our modern way of living - marked by...

☕From struggling to make coffee to almost giving up entirely, Rob Baugh learned the hard way how to survive a new reality. 🧠This episode dives deep into the invisible struggle of living with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) through the powerful and candid story of guest Rob Baugh. After a seemingly minor head injury forced him to step away from his dream of opening a bakery, Rob endured five years...

🔥Ever wonder why some people just "fly off the handle" or can't stick to a healthy habit? Welcome to Part 5 of the Managing Mental Health Podcast's series on Executive Functioning, where social psychologist Jamie and Dr. Jerrod Brown dive into the crucial, yet often underrated, area of Self-Regulation . This episode unpacks self-regulation as your brain's internal parking br...

🔥 Are you ready to break free from generational trauma and find your purpose? 🔥 In this powerful episode of the Managing Mental Health podcast, host Jamie welcomes Earnest James - father, podcast mentor, and speaker. Earnest shares his dedication to helping families "deal, heal, and fulfill," specifically focusing on healing fatherless mothers and daughters from the impact of father wo...

💥Are you ready to discover your brain's secret weapon for healing and change? In part four of our six-part series on executive functioning, social psychologist Jamie and returning guest Dr. Jared Brown, an expert in the field, dive deep into the underlying neuroscience - specifically, the profound concept of neuroplasticity . This episode offers powerful hope for mental health interventions b...

☠️What happens when the system designed to heal you nearly kills you? In this powerful episode of the Managing Mental Health Podcast, host Jamie welcomes mental health advocate Maddie Andrews to share her deeply personal and inspiring story. Maddie discusses the roots of her struggles, beginning with a childhood trauma that led to a painful pattern of "living in silence.” She walks us through...

🏋️In this essential episode of the Managing Mental Health Podcast, host Jamie welcomes back Dr. Jerrod Brown to explore the deep, reciprocal link between executive functions (the brain's self-regulation skills) and physical health . They explain that strong cognitive control (which includes skills like inhibition, planning, and abstract reasoning) is key to making beneficial lifestyle choices,...

⚡Dive into a raw and critical conversation with Lisa Conway, author of “ Shocked” and a long-time medical social worker, as she exposes the hidden impact of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT). For years, Lisa endured over 100 shock treatments for her bipolar depression, believing it was her only option, only to discover the severe truth: the procedure caused brain damage and significant cognitive si...

🤓Is it possible for a person to have a high IQ but still struggle profoundly with basic life organization, leading to a "scattered brain" and even getting caught in the criminal justice system? On this episode of the Managing Mental Health Podcast, Jamie and Dr. Jared Brown delve into the complex world of Executive Functioning Part 2: Clinical and Forensic Considerations . They define t...

Autism: Just Bee the Change 🧠Autism affects around 1 in 31 children (or 3.2%) in the United States. This episode of the Managing Mental Health Podcast introduces Layla Luna, a mother whose personal journey of heartbreak and resilience ignited a nationwide movement. Her story began after her son, Rio, was diagnosed with non-verbal autism, thrusting her into a world that often chose dismissal over...

🧠 What is Executive Function? How does it affect us? What happens if you have a dysfunction? On this episode of the Managing Mental Health Podcast, Jamie welcomes Dr. Jerrod Brown to begin a six-part series on executive function. Dr. Brown, an expert in forensic psychology, describes executive function as "the boss of the brain" - the system that guides our day-to-day behaviors, includi...

🎶 What is music therapy? How does it help with mental and physical health problems?  This episode of The Managing Mental Health Podcast features guest Allison Hughey, a board-certified music therapist and founder of Carolina Music Therapy. She discusses the power of music therapy, defining it as the clinical use of music-based approaches to achieve individualized goals within a therapeutic relati...

What do heart disease, diabetes, prison, mental illness, obesity, cancer, and failed relationships all have in common? The answer may surprise you. During the 1990's a study of over 17,000 people was done to determine if childhood trauma had a direct effect on chronic sickness and disease into adulthood. The Adverse Childhood Experience study (ACE) led to groundbreaking studies and application...