Inside Mental Health

When did you last step out of your comfort zone? And why would you want to anyway? Listen in as psychologist Lucia Giovannini shares easy, practical tips to help you emerge from your ‘safe’ space and reach for the stars. Lucia Giovannini is a former Italian supermodel-turned-transformational speaker and author of 13 books. Her newest book, A Whole New Life, has been translated into 8 languages, an...

What makes someone an introvert? Is it just shyness? What is the difference between extroverts and introverts? How is the workplace skewed to favor extroverts? What can introverts do to make up for that imbalance? Learn all this and more – Listen Now! Chelsey Brooke is a professional counselor, published writer, blogger, Pathfinder Coach and internationally known figure helping introverted women l...

Do you enjoy watching YouTube videos about mental health and psychology? But are you tired of wading through all the mindless fluff, meaningless new-age jargon and overly pedantic lectures? There is a better option out there – The Psych Show, created by Dr. Ali Mattu. Dr. Mattu is a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York...

Schizophrenia does not just affect the person with schizophrenia, but their families, also. This episode of Inside Schizophrenia explores the family relationships impacted by schizophrenia, both immediate and extended. Two guests join us, Chrisa Hickey, who is the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia and Janel Star Withers, mother of host Rachel Star Withers. Janel shares her experiences with...

When death is approaching, you don’t have to welcome it, but you also don’t have to fight it. Learn how planning for your own (or a loved one’s) death doesn’t have to be an existential crisis, but can instead provide a degree of safety and comfort. Listen in as Dr. John Grohol explains that there is a degree of wisdom in realizing that everything must pass, and your time will come. John M. Grohol,...

Today’s guest is Okpara Rice, CEO of Tanager Place, a mental health facility for children. Unlike adults, children are not in control of their own environment, and anything that affects a child will affect their families, and vice versa. So, what is the best way to help these kids? Okpara joined Tanager Place of Cedar Rapids, Iowa in July 2013, and became CEO in July 2015. Okpara is the first Afri...

Police officers are often the first responders when someone is having a mental illness crisis.  But are members of law enforcement properly equipped for this job?  There are plenty of horrifying stories that would indicate that the answer is “no.” Join us as Gabe speaks with Officer Rebecca Skillern from the Huston, Texas, Police Department about how Houston is training its officers to respond to...

Do you remember the disturbing images from the Sandy Hook school shooting in December 2012 after a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 first-grade children?  It was traumatic for all of us, but what was it like to live there?  Today’s guest worked for 20 months on the Newtown Recovery and Resiliency Team. Melissa Glaser is a licensed professional counselor and author of Healing a Community: Less...

Dr. Russell Morfitt explains the differences between stress, worry, and anxiety. He tells us how using the techniques of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be life changing. Listen to learn how you can free yourself from the burdens of anxiety. Dr. Morfitt is the co-founder of and the Chief Psychology Officer of LearntoLive.com. He has been helping people live better lives for more than 20 yea...

In this episode of Inside Schizophrenia our hosts tackle the topic of early onset – or childhood – schizophrenia. Host Rachel Star discusses her personal experiences with symptoms as an adolescent and Dr. Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich from Harvard Medical School discusses some of the latest research. Listen in now! Bonus Content - Visit Psychcentral.com/IS to learn more about the Inside Schizophrenia P...

One of the most dangerous misconceptions about suicide is that asking a loved one if they are suicidal will increase the odds that they will attempt suicide. Today Dr. Nate Ivers of Wake Forest University discusses the importance of making “the covert overt” by asking blunt, straightforward questions of those you suspect may be thinking about suicide. Dr. Nathaniel Ivers is the department chairman...

How does on-line counseling work for teens and adolescents?  Are there a lot of differences between the experiences of teens and adults?  How are parents involved?  What are the safeguards in place?  How does payment work?  Listen in to see what online therapy for teenagers is all about. Haesue Jo, MA, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with years of experience providing individual and fa...

In 2011, Jennifer Marshall started chronicling her challenges of living with mental illness while raising two young children. This became the very beginning of ‘This Is My Brave’ – a nonprofit with the mission of bringing stories of mental illness and addiction out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Jennifer is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of This Is My Brave, a mental health storytel...

When Pauline Dakin was 10 years old, her mother took the family into hiding to escape imminent danger. At first accepting of this explanation, Pauline’s doubts increased as she grew older until she could no longer deny the truth: that there was no danger and the entire story was false. Listen now to hear this fascinating, true story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonus Content from the Inside Schizophrenia podcast from the PsychCentral.com website. An in-depth look at violence and its relation to schizophrenia. Is violence a symptom of schizophrenia? Do mass attackers always have schizophrenia? Are schizophrenics dangerous?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

While searching for a way past her own childhood sexual abuse, Rachel Grant learned that many people don’t understand what, exactly, sexual abuse is and how to recover. Using her counseling background, Rachel was able to research and learn valuable coping skills to improve her own life. Rachel Grant is the owner and founder of Rachel Grant Coaching and is a Sexual Abuse Recovery Coach. She is also...

Rachel Star Withers tells us about her history with schizophrenia and details how she first started in activism. Originally started to let other people know that they were not alone, her YouTube channel has become the longest existing chronicle of a personal experience with schizophrenia. Rachel creates videos that document her schizophrenia, share ways to manage mental illness, and let others lik...

In this episode, a professional cellist shares her story of being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the steps she took to ensure that she would have a successful, fulfilling career, despite her illness. Hosted by Gabe Howard (www.gabehoward.com) and Vincent M. Wales (www.vincentmwales.com). Previous episodes can be found at psychcentral.com/show or on your favorite podcast player. Learn more abo...

What is schizophrenia? What are the symptoms? What’s it like to experience it? How is it managed? The answers depend on who you ask. Pop culture has one view. Doctors have another. And Rachel Star Withers has a first-person experienced view. In this episode of Inside Schizophrenia, Dr. Ali Mattu joins Rachel and co-host Gabe Howard to explore this often misrepresented illness and how social media...

Living in the “information age” that’s filled with “fake news,” how do we know what to believe when it comes to information about mental health or mental illness? This episode explains how you can determine whether the information is fact or fiction. Listen and learn how. Hosted by Gabe Howard (www.gabehoward.com) and Vincent M. Wales (www.vincentmwales.com). Previous episodes can be found at psyc...

There is often a disconnect when it comes to caring for the psychiatric patient, who is already in a crisis even before entering the overwhelming hospital atmosphere. Today’s guest shares some insights on her work to improve this relationship. Hosted by Gabe Howard (www.gabehoward.com) and Vincent M. Wales (www.vincentmwales.com). Previous episodes can be found at psychcentral.com/show or on your...

Pulling from his years as a psychologist and hundreds of personal interviews, this week’s guest discusses the different forms of trauma, the correlations between trauma and psychosis, and much more. Hosted by Gabe Howard (www.gabehoward.com) and Vincent M. Wales (www.vincentmwales.com). Previous episodes can be found at psychcentral.com/show or on your favorite podcast player. Learn more about you...

Modern psychiatric care is thankfully nothing like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. This week’s guest worked for years in a psychiatric emergency facility and joins us to share his thoughts about the experiences he had while employed there. Hosted by Gabe Howard (www.gabehoward.com) and Vincent M. Wales (www.vincentmwales.com). Previous episodes can be found at psychcentral.com/show or on your fav...

We all know what a first aid kit is. We pull them out and grab the bandages or whatever we need. But what about first aid for the mind? It’s not a kit you can pick up at the pharmacy, but there is mental health first aid that you can learn. Find out more about it in this episode. Hosted by Gabe Howard (www.gabehoward.com) and Vincent M. Wales (www.vincentmwales.com). Previous episodes can be found...

Most of us are familiar with PTSD largely due to soldiers returning from service. But most people have experienced trauma in one form or another. Learn about the differences between PTSD and other forms of trauma, how to identify it, and what can be done about it. Hosted by Gabe Howard (www.gabehoward.com) and Vincent M. Wales (www.vincentmwales.com). Previous episodes can be found at psychcentral...