The Thinking Mind Podcast: Psychiatry & Psychotherapy

Cathryn Lewis, a Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Statistics at King's College London, holds the position of Head of Department at the Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience. In this episode, we engage in an in-depth discussion on how our genetics influence the development of various mental health conditions, including s...

Dr Garr is a GP working in Nottingham and is one of the medical directors for NHS Practitioner Health. This is a free, confidential, NHS primary care mental health service with very specific expertise in treating health and care professionals.   Dr Garr is a leader in the field of healthcare professional wellbeing and burnout. For more information or to find out about referring yourself to NHS Pra...

Professor Robin Dunbar is a British anthropologist and evolutionary psychologist and a specialist in primate behaviour. He is currently head of the Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group in the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. He is best known for formulating Dunbar's number, a measurement of the "cognitive limit to the number of individuals...

Eli Zaretsky is Professor of History at The New School for Social Research. He has taught at Lang College since 1999. His interests are in twentieth century cultural history, the theory and history of capitalism (especially its social and cultural dimensions), and the history of the family. His most recent book is Political Freud, published in 2015 by Cambridge University Press. His earlier work i...

Dr. David Spiegel is an American psychiatrist and Associate Chair of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he is known for his research into psycho-oncology; the neurobiology of therapeutic hypnosis, and the role of the mind-brain-body connection in the management of various conditions.   He directs the Stanford Center on Stress and Health and is a recognized authority on hyp...

*Announcement! From April 14th 2023 the Maudsley Learning Podcast will be changing its name to The Thinking Mind Podcast and will have a completely new look! Make sure you follow or subscribe on your podcast player to avoid missing any new episodes!* Special Thanks to https://www.wearegoat.com for our new logo and art work!  Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com -  Follow us here: Twi...

As head of operations for the Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) Foundation in the UK, Kitty Wallace supports sufferers and their families, raises awareness of the condition and much more. But she’s also had her own experience of living with BDD.  Her story shows that recovery may not always be a straight line, but it’s always possible. Find out more on the BDD Foundation website https://bddfoundation...

This week Alex meets with Lisa, a CBT therapist at the Anxiety Disorders Residential Unit.  The ADRU specialises in severe cases of anxiety conditions such as social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). The patients at the ADRU undergo an intensive 12 to 16 week residential programme with the goal of helping them understand their condition and develop be...

This week Anya chats with Alex and Rebecca about what training in psychiatry is like: why it's a rewarding speciality to choose for your medical career, what makes it challenging, how to carve out your own unique career path and good mindsets to adopt around helping people with mental health difficulties.  Alex, Anya and Rebecca are all medical doctors and currently training psychiatrists wit...

In this week's episode Anya and Alex speak to Natalie Ertl (@NatalieErtl1) who is currently a research assistant at Invicro and PhD candidate at Imperial College London, specialising in functional MRI applications in psychopharmacology. With Natalie is Dr Matt Wall (@m_wall) who is a psychologist, cognitive neuroscientist and fMRI specialist at Invicro and Imperial College London researching...

On our fourth lived experience episode Alex sits down with Katie to talk about her experiences getting treatment from the mental health system, including Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy,  Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), crisis visits to A & E and medication.  They also discuss issues around diagnosis (including depression, anxiety, autism and emotionally unstable...

Rose Cartwright is an author and screenwriter. She is the author of the 2015 book Pure about her experiences with OCD which subsequently became a Channel 4 television show with the same name. She is also a screenwriter and executive story editor on the upcoming Netflix sci-fi series Three Body Problem .  In this episode Rose and Alex discuss her experiences including the pros and cons of the medic...

Kimberley Wilson is a psychologist, author and visiting lecturer working in private practice in central London. She's a Governor of the Tavistock & Portman NHS Mental Health Trust and the former Chair of the British Psychological Society's Training Committee in Counselling Psychology. Kimberley's first book How to Build a Healthy Brain   explored how to look after both physical...

In this episode we chose some of our favourite podcast moments from 2022. Happy New Year from the Thinking Mind Podcast team and we look forward to bringing you more content in 2023! 00:00 - Interview #37: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (With Prof. David Veale)  00:42 - Audio Essay #10: A New Years Resolution that Works (Long-term Behaviour Change) 01:28 - Interview #29: The Speakmans - Changing yo...

What is Imposter Syndrome? How does it come about? What are some strategies that can help people deal with it? Bonus Episode by Dr. Alex Curmi. Dr. Curmi is a specialist registrar in General Adult psychiatry in the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust with a special interest in psychotherapy and mindfulness meditation. Self-Compassion Exercise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_80y_CT32c...

Dr. Martha Stark is a graduate of Harvard Medical School and the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. She is an Adult and Child Psychiatrist and Integrative Psychoanalyst in private practice in Boston, Massachusetts.  Martha is an award-winning author of nine highly acclaimed books on psychoanalytic theory and technique – several of which have become required reading for students in various  psychothe...

This week, Anya and Alex speak to Professor Valerie Curran and Dr Will Lawn about their research into the effects of cannabis on adolescents.  We discuss some surprising results from their recently completed study, CannTeen, that are contributing to making our understanding of what happens when a developing brain is exposed to cannabis more nuanced. We talk about what happens when adolescents and...

How is Perfectionism best understood? Why does it actually hold you back? Bonus Episode by Dr. Alex Curmi. Dr. Curmi is a specialist registrar in General Adult psychiatry in the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust with a special interest in psychotherapy and mindfulness meditation. Further Reading: https://www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-therapy/issues/perfectionism#:~:text=Perfectionis...

Adam Lane Smith is a psychotherapist, coach and author. In this episode we discuss: dating, attachment, relationship problems, marriage, psychotherapy and much more.  You can find out more about Adam and his work here: Website: AdamLaneSmith.com Instagram: @AttachmentAdam TikTok: @AttachmentBro Youtube: @AdamLaneSmith    Twitter: @TheBrometheus Interviewed by Dr Alex Curmi Give feedback here - thi...

What is a Personality? How should we think about our Personalities? How can you expand your Personality? Audio-essay by Dr. Alex Curmi. Dr. Curmi is a specialist registrar in General Adult psychiatry in the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust with a special interest in psychotherapy and mindfulness meditation. Further Reading: https://www.simplypsychology.org/big-five-personality.html G...

This is an audio-essay about three unhelpful thinking habits, or cognitive distortions, where we think about some examples, why these ways of thinking are unhelpful and what we can do about them. There are many other unhelpful thinking habits or cognitive distortions that CBT guides us to think about - here are some links to some helpful websites to read: https://web.stanford.edu/~nanbhas/blog/und...

In our third lived experience episode Rebecca speaks with Ella about her experiences with Anorexia: how it started, the effects it had on her thinking, how it affected her family life and her process of recovery. Interviewed by Dr Rebecca Wilkinson Give feedback here - thinkingmindpodcast@gmail.com   Follow us here: Twitter @thinkingmindpod Instagram @thinkingmindpodcast Join Our Mailing List! - h...

Ad Gridley was 18 when he had his first cannabis joint while on a gap year in Canada. He had no idea his choices then would – most likely – be the trigger for a 15-year unremitting, downward spiral that would see him diagnosed with schizophrenia and make multiple suicide attempts. He now lectures about his experiences and is the author of the book "The Geographer: The Descent into Madness&quo...

Dr Pidkalyuk is a Ukrainian psychiatrist. Dr Pidkalyuk has worked as a psychiatrist since 2004, and with local government set up a centre for stress disorders in the local polyclinic. In 2021, Dr Pidkalyuk set up and with a team runs an NGO for stress disorders - ‘The Institute of Psychosomatics and Trauma-therapy’ in Khmelnytskyi in Ukraine. Since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, this ha...

How can we define Psychological Growth?  Which traits define a mature person? Why is it hard to grow Psychologically? Why Should you do it Anyway? Audio-essay by Dr. Alex Curmi. Dr. Curmi is a specialist registrar in General Adult psychiatry in the South London and Maudsley NHS foundation trust with a special interest in psychotherapy and mindfulness meditation. Give feedback here - thinkingmindpo...