SuperPsyched with Dr. Adam Dorsay

This year marks the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001.  It is a date of heartbreak and tragedy and, if you’re of an age allowing you to remember it, it is a date that likely holds a specific spot in your memory.  We remember it because of deeds that are some of the worst of what humans can do.  In the days following, however, there were heroic deeds representing some of the best of what humans can do. It was an honor to speak with a psychologist who decided to use her skills to bring healing to people at the epicenter of the destruction in New York City. Dr. Francine Toder is a psychologist, author, and a professor of psychology who lives in the San Francisco Bay area and who originally hails from New York.  As you will hear, she felt compelled to volunteer to provide her therapy skills wherever they could be used in the aftermath of 9/11 in her hometown. Her days were surreal, long, and deeply meaningful. Also, like many 9/11 first responders, Francine’s health took a huge hit years after her service when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Fortunately, her health has been restored allowing her to share her gripping and important story. So, join Francine and me as we talk about the experiences of a psychologist who was a first responder after 9/11.

Imagine the people who have most influenced your life. I speculate that at least one teacher should be on that list. Teachers are so important in our lives and their teachings go beyond the subject of the class they teach. They can be role models. They can teach us how to think. They can bring out our best. And so much more. Yet, on average, we take classes from teachers, and we move on without really knowing who they are, or how hard they’ve worked. What compels a person to teach? What’s it like to be in front of the class? And what has it been like to teach during COVID? These, and many other questions, are answered by my guest, Fifth Grade Teacher, Mr. Zack Sleep. Mr. Sleep earned his master’s degree in education at the University of Pennsylvania, and he has brought his passion for teaching to Vietnam, Northern Philadelphia, and where he now teaches in Silicon Valley. He also created an after-school program called The Young Detectives, an immersive mystery-solving experience in which children employ the cognitive processes of learning to crack codes, assessing alibis, and synthesizing evidence. I have witnessed Mr. Sleep’s brilliance in real time. I am a fan of his work, and you will hear why I positively had to interview him. So, listen in as Mr. Sleep and I talk about the behind-the-scenes world of the modern teacher.

Chronic pain can seriously alter the quality of a person’s life. And, sadly, chronic pain is prevalent in the United States with more people suffering from it than the total diagnoses of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease combined. When the source of pain can be diagnosed and treated it is a relief. Yet, far too many people have pain without a diagnosable, treatable, physical root cause of their pain. Their experiences can be lonely, which can cause or exacerbate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Why are so many people suffering and what can be done? And how might psychologists be able to help? On this episode, you will hear answers to these questions from physician Dr. Howard Schubiner, Clinical Director and co-founder of the Freedom From Chronic Pain program (https://www.freedomfromchronicpain.com/).  Freedom From Chronic Pain is a structured, online pain management program that has been effective for people suffering from various types of pain, including: back pain, migraines, fibromyalgia, and many others. Howard is also the author of several books for both laypeople and professionals, including a very popular self-help book called Unlearn Your Pain. He has also authored over 60 publications in scientific journals and has been consistently named one of the best physicians in the United States. So, please join Howard and me as we discuss how to unlearn our pain. Book link: https://amzn.to/3p25DDx This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).

Among the needs all 7 billion of us on the planet have in common is our need to eat. Food allows us to survive, thrive, and it can bring immense pleasure.  However, how things taste and what we like is unique to us all. But despite our uniqueness, there are certain trends.  For example, we order tomato juice on airplanes at a far greater frequency than we do on land. Why is that?  And have you ever noticed you can have an entirely different experience of taste depending on how a food or drink is presented, where they're consumed, the type of music that’s playing in the background, and even based upon the color of the plate it’s served on? These will all be addressed on this episode. Dr. Rachel Herz (https://www.rachelherz.com) is a neuroscientist, a professor at Brown University, and a world-leading expert on the psychological science of smell. She is the author of several books including one on smell called, The Scent of Desire. Another book of hers called That’s Disgusting, and it takes a scientific look at repulsion.  Her most recent book explores the science behind our relationship with food and is called, Why You Eat What You Eat.  I loved the book and couldn’t stop smiling as I devoured the audio version.  And I am not alone—it was listed among the “Best Food Books of 2018” by The Smithsonian and The New Yorker and has been praised high and low by the press and thought leaders. Book link: https://amzn.to/3qKlTtr This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).

Last week, I watched as my beloved San Francisco Giants lost in the final game of the Division Series to their rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was heartbreaking. Afterward, I found myself thinking, “Why squander a heartbreak?”  So, I decided to make an episode dedicated to the psychological principles that outline what happens when a person is a sports fan and their team loses. And, while the content appears rather San Francisco-centric, the principles apply to any team you love! This 15-minute solo episode is about the following: looking at being a sports fan and loss, some of the problems with our   memory and biases as they pertain to being a fan, a plea to expand the definition of “winning,” and the types of thinking that can interfere with the enjoyment of watching and playing sports.  As bonus, I share an answer to this question: why don’t we like watching sports when they’ve been pre-recorded?  (The answer comes from Harvard professor, Dr. Daniel Gilbert, and I’m quite confident that it’s not the answer you expect!) It's my hope and belief that you will come to appreciate being a sports fan in a new way after hearing this!

This week, I thought I would share my own thoughts in a solo episode about psychology through my feelings about the Bee Gees and disco. As you will hear over the next 10 minutes, due to peer pressure and my low level of conviction at the age of 12, I repressed my love for this band and the genre of music. It turns out that many people experienced the same thing around this time concerning disco and the Bee Gees. So, I thought it was a good idea to share my own experience and how it relates to social psychology, conformity, and other psychological phenomena.

An artifact of our brains is a default mode that may nudge us toward being bystanders and toward conforming.  While that feature may have been important to our survival at one point, it inhibits us from standing up for justice. Social psychology experiments that look at conformity and the bystander effect provide stark reminders of these facts. To override our brain’s tendency to stay quiet in the face of injustice and,  instead, to choose to be an ally and an  upstander may require thought, preparation, and education.  Speaking to the importance of standing up for our fellow humans, Holocaust Survivor, Eli Wiesel once said, “The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.”  He also said, “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” And that is why I feel compelled to discuss this important topic to better understand the experiences of being Asian American, the subtle and covert racism they face, and how we can all be better allies.  This is a topic that understandably incurs anger, sadness, and urgency, and you can hear these throughout the interview. And, my guest, Dr. Sherry Wang is a great person to help us know what we need to know on this topic.  She is a licensed psychologist, researcher, an anti-racist educator, and a professor of psychology at Santa Clara University.  Since the start of COVID-19, she has been featured, cited, and interviewed in the media on the topic of anti-Asian racism, xenophobia, and cross-racial coalition-building. So, join Dr. Wang and me as we talk about being allies to our Asian American brothers and sisters.

Infidelity: Nearly Everything We Should Know About It Britney Blair, PsyD, CBSM, AASECT CST Our primary romantic relationships tend to occupy most sensitive places in our hearts. Because of this, the aftermath of an affair can be profoundly painful and even traumatizing. And yet, affairs are not uncommon as you will hear in this episode. What can be done to prevent an affair from happening? And how can a person—or the couple—recover afterward? The expert I chose to answer these and other important questions related to infidelity is Dr. Brittany Blair. Dr. Blair is a clinical psychologist and is board certified in both sleep and sexual medicine. She is a sought-after speaker at venues around the globe and well published in the areas of sleep and sexual medicine both for the academic and popular press. Dr. Blair on the faculty at The Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine and the Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer of Lover (https://www.lover.io/), a digital platform designed to resolve sexual problems and optimize sexual wellness. So, join Dr. Blair and me as we discuss infidelity prevention, recovery, and nearly everything else a person should know about it.

What is the biggest predictor of our happiness? According to a study conducted for over 80 years at Harvard, it is love. Full stop. But our brains can go to fear and other places that interfere with sustainable, loving relationships. While our brains have evolved to ensure we continue to multiply and increase the population of our species, those same brains haven’t simply evolved to improve long-term relationships without some assistance. Fortunately, my guest, Dr. Stan Tatkin (https://www.thepactinstitute.com/), has the assistance all of us need! Stan is a couple therapist, a neuroscientist, and a UCLA Medical School clinical professor who has studied how our brains function and malfunction when it comes to love. His latest book, We Do, is easily one of the finest books I have ever read on relationships. Stan brilliantly weaves neuroscience, Attachment Theory, and so many other research-driven findings into a user-friendly and comprehensive model of how we love. His model called PACT, which stands for “Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy,” can improve anyone's love life in dramatic and unforeseen ways. So, join Stan and me as we talk about how you can increase your happiness through improving your long-term love relationship. Book link: https://amzn.to/3NrhMLB This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).

On any given day, we’ve got tons of information coming at us—and much of it is negative—so we can easily feel overwhelmed. And when we are overwhelmed, we can become numb making it difficult to keep our hearts open to family, friends, and life in general. Some of us may even believe that keeping our hearts open is a bad idea. Yet, when our hearts are closed, we can lose so much of the richness of life. How can we keep our hearts open so that we can experience life fully while being mindful of how to protect ourselves? Here to answer that question is a person I have considered a teacher for many years. Dr. Leonard Felder is a psychologist in private practice in Los Angeles and the author of several excellent books including his most recent, Keeping Your Heart Open: How to Overcome the Things That Make Us Numb, Cynical, or Burned Out. Len is a great teacher and a very seasoned psychologist. His books have sold over 1,000,000 copies and he has been a frequent guest on major media outlets including the Oprah Winfrey show. So, listen in as Len and I have an openhearted and lively conversation about keeping our hearts open. Book link: https://amzn.to/43XcMUu This is an affiliate link. It will provide me with a small commission on purchases made through it and help the podcast (but it won’t affect the price you pay).