The Broken Brain

Sharon Blady is a Superhero, and so are You! Sharon is the former Minister of Health for the province of Manitoba and is a renowned speaker and trainer. She has a remarkable story of her own experiences with mental health, and takes a strengths-based approach to reframing our own characteristics and symptoms using Comics and Pop Culture. Learn more at her website http://www.speak-up.co/, and watch her presentations on YouTube (especially her talk on Hiding in Plain Sight).

Josh Wood, Business Manager for Improving Lives, returns to the show to talk about social distancing and managing healthcare needs during the pandemic. We talk about using technology to work with mental health needs, possible difficulties of isolation, and ways people cope. We are even able to have a chuckle here and there in the midst of all of this craziness. Josh is a wonderful person and a passionate advocate, glad to have him back. Hope that all of you listening are somewhere safe with those you love. Be careful.

Robert Melillo is an expert in childhood neurological disorders. He is the founder and director of the Brain Balance Centers. He joined me to discuss his background and the methods he uses to help children with ADHD, developmental delay, or who are on the Autism Spectrum. We discuss what parents can do to work with their children at home, especially at this time during the health crises when so many are stuck at home.

Josh Wood is the business manager for Improving Lives, a medical and mental health support service for patients in Nottinghamshire. Josh helps me understand the needs of the population they serve, obstacles to mental health recovery, and a little bit about the UK health system for good measure. Learn more about this important organization at: https://www.improvinglivesnotts.org.uk/

Chris Aiken MD of the Mood Treatment Center, and author of the book "Bipolar Not So Much," joins me today to discuss his research and practice in the area of dietary interventions to help with symptoms of Bipolar and Mood Disorder. This is the real deal, medically researched and balanced dietary tips to help reduce symptoms of depression and mania.

This is a Continuing Education Credit (CEU) training for the Aspire Network of Counselors. Feel free to listen in as well. Zach Butterfield is a Licensed Counselor and certified in the use of Neurofeedback for psychological therapy. He was kind enough to train the clinicians in our office on the ins and outs of Neurofeedback, and do a live demonstration (which is largely visual, we tried to edit that part down a bit).

Ketamine Infusion Treatment is an exciting new therapy for the treatment of mood disorders, anxiety, ADHD, and other psychological conditions. Dr. Stephen Mandel is a pioneer in the use of this treatment, and talked to me about the use and results from ketamine therapy in his practice. You can learn more about ketamine and his ongoing practice/research at www.ketamineclinics.com.

Electro Convulsive Therapy or ECT is an important last resort in the treatment of treatment resistant depression. Mike and Dwight had the chance to sit down with the head physician over the ECT department of the University of Utah Hospital. We discuss stigma, other treatment options, side effects, and the complicated nature of this major psychiatric intervention.