CIIS Public Programs

Experienced mindfulness teacher Kaira Jewel Lingo provides accessible advice on navigating difficult times of transition by drawing on Buddhist teachings on impermanence to help us establish equanimity and resilience. In this episode, CIIS Integrative Health Studies professor Megan Lipsett talks with Kaira Jewel about her teaching and her latest book, We Were Made for These Times, which offers teaching on meditation and a step-by-step process to nurture deeper freedom and stability in daily life. This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 28th, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing: suicidepreventionlifeline.org sfsuicide.org ciis.edu/counseling-and-acupuncture-clinics

As one of the country’s leading organizers, Principal at Black Futures Lab, and a co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter, Alicia Garza's work has helped shape the discourse on movements and empowerment for more than a decade. In this episode, performer, social worker, and activist Honey Mahogany talks with Alicia about her life, her work, and her latest book, The Purpose of Power. This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 20th, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing: suicidepreventionlifeline.org sfsuicide.org ciis.edu/counseling-and-acupuncture-clinics

Family Constellations begins with this premise—it did not start with me. Many of us become entangled with the unhappiness of those who came before us, unconsciously adopting destructive familial patterns of anxiety, depression, failure, and even illness and addiction. Family Constellations therapist Marine Sélénée uses her unique approach to this philosophy to help her clients get to the root of their pain. In this episode, CIIS faculty in Expressive Arts Therapy Mimi Savage joins Marine for a conversational introduction to Family Constellations and how we can all harness this philosophy to take ownership of our lives. This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on October 14th, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing: suicidepreventionlifeline.org sfsuicide.org ciis.edu/counseling-and-acupuncture-clinics

In a society where unconscious bias, microaggressions, institutionalized racism, and systemic injustices are deeply ingrained, healing is an ongoing process. Author, meditation teacher, and law professor Rhonda Magee teaches that in order to have the difficult conversations required for working toward racial justice, inner work is essential. In this episode, CIIS Assistant Director of Diversity and Inclusion Damali Robertson has a conversation with Rhonda about her life and work, as well as her latest book, The Inner Work of Racial Justice, in which Rhonda shares ways mindfulness can heal ourselves, and transform our communities. This episode was recorded during a live online event on September 22nd, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing: suicidepreventionlifeline.org sfsuicide.org ciis.edu/counseling-and-acupuncture-clinics

The divides we experience within us and between us are not only a threat to our physical and emotional health—they are also the weapons and the outcomes of structural oppression. Meditation teacher and author Kate Johnson believes that through wise relationships it is possible to transform the barriers created by societal injustice. In this episode, licensed psychologist and CIIS faculty Elizabeth Markle has a conversation with Kate about her latest book, Radical Friendship, in which she illuminates seven strategies to help us embody our deepest values in our relationships and how to show up for each other’s liberation. This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on September 15th, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing: suicidepreventionlifeline.org sfsuicide.org ciis.edu/counseling-and-acupuncture-clinics

With the second renaissance and re-emergence of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, the general public and therapists alike are confronted with new areas of exploration, but with few systematic frameworks available. With questions surrounding legal access to care, ongoing criminalization, and medical restrictions to care limiting the therapies available, the immediate future of psychedelic-assisted therapy remains shrouded in uncertainty, even in the face of expanding interest. On the cusp of this new era—one of excitement but also uncertainty—one of many ways to explore this emerging landscape is through the lens of the psychospiritual and the therapeutic uses of psychedelics. In this episode, clinical psychologist, founder of the Center for Existential Exploration, and author Kile Ortigo is joined by licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist, and social justice advocate Mary Sanders for a conversation on Dr. Ortigo's latest book, Beyond the Narrow Life, an exploration of the psychospiritual and therapeutic use of psychedelics, which includes the process of psychedelic integration. This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 26th, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing: suicidepreventionlifeline.org sfsuicide.org ciis.edu/counseling-and-acupuncture-clinics

Fat Black people in the United States are subject to socio-politically sanctioned discrimination, abuse, condescension, and trauma. In their writing and work, Da’Shaun Harrison—a fat, Black, disabled, trans writer and community organizer—offers an incisive, fresh, and precise exploration of anti-fatness as anti-Blackness. In this episode, Afro-Caribbean photographer, herbalist, and multidisciplinary artist KaliMa Amilak joins Da’Shaun for a conversation about their latest book, Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness, their life and work, and how we can all work to dismantle our cultural programming to create real change. This episode contains explicit language. It was recorded during a live online event on August 19th, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing: suicidepreventionlifeline.org sfsuicide.org ciis.edu/counseling-and-acupuncture-clinics

In her latest book, Losing Eden, acclaimed journalist Lucy Jones interweaves her deeply personal story of recovery from addiction and depression aided by the support of the natural world with an exploration of the intersection of science, wellness, and the environment. In this episode, scholar and CIIS staff member Laura Pustarfi joins Lucy for a conversation about the importance of maintaining our bond with nature and why we need communion with the wild to feel well. This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 14th, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing: suicidepreventionlifeline.org sfsuicide.org ciis.edu/counseling-and-acupuncture-clinics

In his latest book, The Web of Meaning, author and integrator Jeremy Lent investigates the ways in which seemingly disparate streams of thought are compatible, and when taken together, they are key to facing the existential problems of the 21st century. In this episode, CIIS Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Professor Matthew Segall joins Jeremy for an inspiring conversation exploring a new worldview based on a deep recognition of connectedness within ourselves, between each other, and with the entire natural world. This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 11th, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing: suicidepreventionlifeline.org sfsuicide.org ciis.edu/counseling-and-acupuncture-clinics

In unsettling and uncertain times, the individual and collective heartbreak that lives in both our bodies and our communities can feel insurmountable. Many of us have been conditioned by the dominant culture to not name, focus on, or wade through the difficulties in our lives. But in order to heal, we must make space for grief, prioritizing our wholeness and humanity. Social justice activist, social worker, and yoga teacher Michelle Cassandra Johnson offers the tools people need to be present and open hearted with their grief. In this episode, program innovation leader in mindfulness, trauma, and racial healing Jenée Johnson talks with Michelle about her latest book, Finding Refuge, as well as her life and work helping people to process family, community, and global grief. This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 4th, 2021. A transcript is available at ciispod.com. Many of the topics discussed on our podcast have the potential to bring up feelings and emotional responses. We hope that each episode provides opportunities for growth, and that our listeners will use them as a starting point for further introspection and growth. If you or someone you know is in need of mental health care and support, here are some resources to find immediate help and future healing: suicidepreventionlifeline.org sfsuicide.org ciis.edu/counseling-and-acupuncture-clinics