Therapy on the Cutting Edge

In this podcast, Patricia Papernow discusses her experience as both a stepparent and a parent in a stepfamily, and how this led to first a dissertation on stages of development in becoming a stepfamily, and then a life-long interest in studying and working with stepfamilies. She discusses how stepfamilies are different from first time families, particularly regarding the time and space for the couple to develop their attachment and build some common ground and the challenges children face in stepfamilies. She describes the 5 major challenges for stepfamilies: 1) insider/outsider positions, 2) children’s needs, 3) stepparents and biological parents polarizing around parenting tasks, 4) the other biological parents/ex-partner being part of the family system, and 5) navigating creating new shared rituals. She offers concrete, evidence-based guidance about what works (and what doesn’t) to meet these challenges.​ Patricia Papernow, EdD is well known for her books Surviving and Thriving in Stepfamily Relationships, Becoming a Stepfamily, and, with Karen Bonnell, The Stepfamily Handbook From Dating, to Getting Serious to Forming a “Blended Family,” ​as well as the author of dozens of articles and book chapters about “blended families.” Dr. Papernow is a systems and trauma-trained clinician with a special focus on working with families through the divorce and recoupling process. She is a renowned educator teaching about stepfamilies all over the U.S. and the world. She is also the recipient of the 2017 award for Distinguished Contribution to Family Psychology from APA (American Psychological Association).

In this episode, Phil discusses his career and his early experience with EMDR and how this became a focus of his work as he went on to become an EMDR trainer. He discusses the controversy around EMDR, and its mechanisms of action, and issues related to research and funding. He discusses his theory on how EMDR works, and talks about the technique he has developed called the Flash Technique. He discusses how he has found this technique to be extremely effective in helping clients to effectively process trauma, even faster than traditional EMDR. Phil Manfield, Ph.D has been licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist since 1975. He has authored or edited five books about psychotherapy and the use of EMDR, including: EMDR Up Close: Subtleties of Trauma Processing, EMDR Casebook, and Extending EMDR: A Casebook of Innovative Applications. He has taught in the US, Canada, Australia, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Currently, he is the Northern California Regional Coordinator for the EMDR International Association.

In this episode, Dr. Palfy discusses how her work in law enforcement, specifically investigating and arresting child sexual abusers, led her into a career of psychology. She discusses how when we think of childhood sexual trauma, we often think of women, although 1 in 6 men were sexually abused prior to age 16. She explains that of those that were abused, only 5 in 1,000 go on to disclose their abuse, thus giving a sense that this doesn’t happen to boys and may be missed when working with men. She discusses some of the differences between abuse of boys and women including societal norms of men being protectors (the man of the family) so not telling, fear of being seen as gay or as someone who will inevitably be a child abuser, worrying that they somehow wanted the abuse as males anatomy responses physiologically different during abuse, and ultimately society not making a place for males to be vulnerable, and instead dismissing or shaming them for being too sensitive. We discuss her work in helping others to understand male experiences of abuse, so that clinicians can be more aware of seeing that this may be part of the reason men are struggling and help them to address their trauma. Kelli Palfy, Ph.D. is a psychologist and author, who first started her career as an RCMP officer that specialized in sex crimes. Today, Dr. Palfy works with first responders, male survivors of sexual abuse, and people who are bullied in the workplace. Dr. Palfy authored the book Men Too: Unspoken Truths About Male Sexual Abuse which is based off of her own research and experience in the field.

In this episode, Joel discusses his work as a police officer, and his decision to become trained as a psychologist, in hopes of making an even greater impact on the people he arrested. Joel discussed his work in Crisis Intervention, working with homeless populations and the training of police officers to work more effectively with mentally ill citizens. He discusses his work with the West Coast Post-trauma Retreat where he works with first responders in an effort to prevent suicide. Suicide is the leading cause of death for first responders and more officers die from suicide than all other factors combined. He explains the reticence of first responders to engage in mental health treatment, and the challenges police officers have in finding a supportive clinician. He and I discussed the murder of George Floyd, the effect on the relationship between police officers and the community, and the subsequent impact on police officers. He discusses the psychological impact of the riots that followed Floyd’s death. We also discussed the dynamics that may have played into the lack of action of the other officers at the Floyd incident. We discuss the research of The Milgram Shock Experiment and the Stanford Prison Study where “normal” individuals acted in ways that most would have said they would not have acted but did so in relation to context and authority. Joel discussed his most recent focus on building resiliency in police officers, and training them as part of the Police Academy, as well as training seasoned officers in connecting to their meaning, influenced by Victor Frankel’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning. He explained that they also teach the difference between compartmentalization, which is necessary and adaptable on the job, as opposed to suppression, which could lead to bottling up and later spilling over of emotions which could affect a responder’s personal and professional life. Joel Fay, Ph.D. is a retired police officer who proudly served the force for over 30 years and made a career change, obtaining his Doctorate in Psychology. He now has his own private practice, is the lead clinician for West Coast Post-Trauma Retreat (WCPR), and is the co-founder of the First Responder Support Network, where he is currently the Clinical Director. He also teaches Crisis Intervention Training across California, is the co-author of Counseling Cops, and the author of many articles about emergency service stress. In his private practice, he specializes in working with emergency responders from many different organizations. Dr. Fay has received many awards for his amazing work, including the California Psychological Association 2007 Humanitarian Award and the American Psychological Association 2012 award for Outstanding Contributions to the Practice of Policy and Public Safety Psychology.

In this episode, Eli discusses how his background in working in one clinic treating children with anxiety, and another clinic treating significant childhood behavioral problems, lead him to develop his program SPACE. Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) has been found to reduce childhood anxiety at the same levels as a course of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for children by working directly with the parents. He discusses how the previous thinking was that children who are not willing to do CBT were not going to be able to benefit from therapy, and yet for behavioral problems there were treatments that were effective by working only with the parents. He found that treatment for childhood anxiety was based on methods for adults, but was leaving out the important distinction that children look to their parents for help in coping with anxiety provoking situations. This lead him to develop a treatment that focused on parents changing behaviors in order to not accommodate anxiety, using support as well as communication, and disengaging from the anxiety process in a loving way. Eli Lebowitz, Ph.D. is the Director of the Program for Anxiety Disorders at the Yale Child Study Center, creator of SPACE (a parent-based treatment program for child and adolescent anxiety and related disorders), as well the author of Treating Childhood and Adolescent Anxiety: A Guide for Caregivers with Haim Omer and Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD: A Scientifically Proven Program for Parents, his most recent published work. Dr. Lebowitz's research focuses on the development, neurobiology, and treatment of anxiety with a focus on cross-generational and family influences.

In this episode, Kaethe discusses the history of developing her conceptualization of four witness positions, and how witnessing effects people differently depending on their sense of empowerment/disempowerment and awareness. She discusses how she submitted her book, Common Shock: Witnessing Violence Every Day, two days before 9-11 and editors had difficulty understanding the ideas. By September 13, they deeply understood the experience of witnessing. She discusses the development of her Witness-To-Witness (W2W) Program, and how it has supported professionals working with adults and children in various stages of the immigration process who suffered as a result of many policies. Her social justice and larger systemic work helps lawyers, clinicians, childcare workers, and a multitude of other service providers working with people made vulnerable by national, state and local policies. Her work creates Reasonable Hope. Kaethe Weingarten, Ph.D., is the director of the Witness to Witness (W2W) Program for Migrant Clinicians Network. Dr. Weingarten’s work focuses on the development and dissemination of a witnessing model. One prong of the work is about the effects of witnessing violence and trauma in the context of domestic, inter-ethnic, racial, political and other forms of conflict. She has published numerous articles, chapters, essays, and books, including her book, Common Shock: Witnessing Violence Every Day, and serves on the editorial boards of five professional journals. She has taught and spoken in numerous contexts in the United States and internationally, as well as founded and directed the Program in Families, Trauma and Resilience at the Family Institute of Cambridge.

In this episode, Russell talks about his career in the field of ADHD, and his involvement in a task force seeking to address ADHD, Inattentive Subtype, a separate disorder other than ADHD itself. He discusses Sluggish Cognitive Tempo, and the hypoactive nature, which is very different from the hyperactive and impairment in impulsivity. Russell explains that rather than being overly engaged with the environment, children, adolescents, and adults with SCT are disengaged from the environment, and often find themselves preoccupied with internal thought and experience. He discusses his experience helping families and children with ADHD, and his new book, 12 Principals for Raising a Child with ADHD. Russell Barkley, Ph.D. is the author of 12 Principals for Raising a Child with ADHD among several other works about ADHD and defiance in children and adolescents, and ADHD adults. Dr. Barkley retired as a Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology from the University of Massachusetts Medical Center and subsequently worked as a Professor of Psychiatry and Health Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is currently a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. Dr. Barkley continues to lecture widely and develop continuing education courses for professionals on ADHD and related disorders, as well as consult on research projects, edit The ADHD Report, and write books, reviews, and research articles.

In this episode, Laura discusses her career path and her own struggles with bipolar disorder and addiction, and her integration of the 12 Steps and evidence-based therapy such as CBT & DBT. She explains how the Big Book of AA was written many years ago, and that Bill W.'s original intent was that individuals would be getting therapy alongside doing the twelve steps. She explained how she is currently writing a book that goes through each step of the 12 steps, and DBT skills to enhance the step work to help those in recovery gain the benefits of evidence-based tools. Laura Petracek, Ph.D. is a clinician psychologist, speaker, and the author of the Anger Workbook for Women: How to Keep Your Anger from Undermining Your Self-Esteem, Your Emotional Balance, and Your Relationships. Dr. Petracek has over 30 years of experience, specializing in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and other evidence-based therapies for alcohol/substance use, mood disorders, and anger dyscontrol issues. Her other areas of expertise are working with children and adolescents with ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and other learning disabilities. She is also a past clinician at San Quentin Federal Prison, and currently in the process of writing the book Pain is Inevitable; Suffering is Optional: Dialectical Behavioral Skills for Alcoholics & Addicts.

In this episode, Veronique discusses her career path and her experiences as an African-American woman and how it has influenced her career as a clinical psychologist. She discusses the innovative work being done at the Carl B. Metoyer Center for Family Counseling to help previously incarcerated parents transition through the re-entry process, and to rebuild relationships within the faily system. She highlights the importance of working with the whole family unity through this process, including the parents, children, and caregivers. Veronique and I also discuss training issues such as multicultural awareness, and the importance of validation, non-defensiveness, and being open to feedback. Veronique Thompson, Ph.D. is a tenured faculty at the Wright Institute in Berkeley and the Clinical Director at the Carl B. Metoyer Center for Family Counseling, East Oakland. There she and her colleagues are piloting a program, the Umoja Reentry Family Unity Project, to support families with formerly incarcerated parents. She has experience working with adults and families, as well as adolescent status offenders, and her theoretical orientation combines developmental, systems, social justice therapy, and narrative therapy perspectives. Dr. Thompson is a past teaching associate for the University of California, Berkeley in general psychology and minority mental health, as well as a fellow in the Berkeley Teacher Training Program. In addition to her work mentioned above, she also maintains a private practice.

In this episode, Shawn discusses his work with families with transgender/non-binary/gender diverse youth. In discussing his career, he talks about the process of coming out as a transgender man, and his personal experience in the professional community of clinicians. He explains how the bulk of his work in training clinicians and assisting families is helping them examine how they think about their own gender, and becoming aware of how one knows what his, her or their gender is. He also discusses his work with families and transgender youth, and the issues that lead him to create the Gender Health Institute in order to provide training to clinicians who were seeking more competency in working with trans clients. Shawn Giammattei, PhD is the founder and director of the Gender Health Training Institute and the TransFamily Alliance, and contributor to the edited book, The Gender Affirmative Model: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Supporting Transgender and Gender Expansive Children. Shawn also has a clinical practice specializing in trans young people and their families, and couples therapy. Shawn teaches at Alliant International University in California, School of Professional Psychology and helped develop the Rockway Institute's LGBTQ Human Services Certificate, as well as being the first to teach a semester long Transgender Mental Health course for Psychology graduate students. Shawn does ongoing research in collaboration with Kaiser Permanente and Emery University, doing consultation on issues in trans health.