

You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist
Stephanie Winn
A podcast at the intersection of psychology and culture that intimately explores the human experience and critiques the counseling profession. Your host, Stephanie Winn, distills wisdom gained from her practice as a family therapist and coach while pivoting towards questions of how to apply a practical understanding of psychology to the novel dilemmas of the 21st century, from political polarization to medical malpractice.
What does ethical mental health care look like in a normless age, as our moral compasses spin in search of true north? How can therapists treat patients under pressure to affirm everything from the notion of "gender identity" to assisted suicide?
Primarily a long-form interview podcast, Stephanie invites unorthodox, free-thinking guests from many walks of life, including counselors, social workers, medical professionals, writers, researchers, and people with unique lived experience, such as detransitioners.
Curious about many things, Stephanie’s interdisciplinary psychological lens investigates challenging social issues and inspires transformation in the self, relationships, and society. She is known for bringing calm warmth to painful subjects, and astute perceptiveness to ethically complex issues. Pick up a torch to illuminate the dark night and join us on this journey through the inner wilderness.
You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist ranks in the top 1% globally according to ListenNotes. New episodes are released every Monday. Three and a half years after the show's inception in May of 2022, Stephanie became a Christian, representing the crystallization of moral, spiritual, and existential views she had been openly grappling with along with her audience and guests. Newer episodes (#188 forward) may sometimes reflect a Christian understanding, interwoven with and applied to the same issues the podcast has always addressed. The podcast remains diverse and continues to feature guests from all viewpoints.
What does ethical mental health care look like in a normless age, as our moral compasses spin in search of true north? How can therapists treat patients under pressure to affirm everything from the notion of "gender identity" to assisted suicide?
Primarily a long-form interview podcast, Stephanie invites unorthodox, free-thinking guests from many walks of life, including counselors, social workers, medical professionals, writers, researchers, and people with unique lived experience, such as detransitioners.
Curious about many things, Stephanie’s interdisciplinary psychological lens investigates challenging social issues and inspires transformation in the self, relationships, and society. She is known for bringing calm warmth to painful subjects, and astute perceptiveness to ethically complex issues. Pick up a torch to illuminate the dark night and join us on this journey through the inner wilderness.
You Must Be Some Kind of Therapist ranks in the top 1% globally according to ListenNotes. New episodes are released every Monday. Three and a half years after the show's inception in May of 2022, Stephanie became a Christian, representing the crystallization of moral, spiritual, and existential views she had been openly grappling with along with her audience and guests. Newer episodes (#188 forward) may sometimes reflect a Christian understanding, interwoven with and applied to the same issues the podcast has always addressed. The podcast remains diverse and continues to feature guests from all viewpoints.
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 22, 2023 • 2h
58. Remembering Death with Josh Slocum
What happens when we die? Do we go to a great beyond somewhere? Are we punished for what we’ve done wrong? Many religions have tried to tackle this problem for as long as humans have recognized the significance of death. What we know for sure is that someone will have to take care of our remains. This week, Josh Slocum provides a realist vision of what happens when we die, flowers are purchased, caskets are bought and loved ones are faced with the tough task of how to say goodbye. Join us as we discuss perhaps one of the toughest topics with smiles and laughter as a calling to remember death, but maybe not to take it too seriously. Josh Slocum is the host of the weekly show Disaffected, available on YouTube and all usual podcast platforms. Disaffected examines politics and culture through a psychological point of view. Josh's experience coming from an abusive childhood informs the show's working premise that the psychological narcissistic abuse found in families now structures our public life. You can access Josh’s work through his Substack, YouTube channel, or Twitter.In this episode I mention a recent interview with Christin Sefein: 51. Wokeness Versus the Counseling Profession with Christine Sefein
To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD.
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May 15, 2023 • 1h 31min
57. The Antidote to Critical Therapy with Dr. Carole Sherwood
Has Critical Social Justice completely captured clinical psychology? So many people seek out therapy in hopes of improving their lives and the lives of those around them through traditional therapeutic practice. What happens when those practices are no longer taught and therapists are instead activists seeking to derail the normative behavior of others? In this week’s episode, I am joined by British psychotherapist Dr. Carole Sherwood to get her perspective on how critical therapy has captured psychology by overhauling psychology training courses worldwide. Dr. Sherwood offers her advice to see through the fallacies of Critical Social Justice in hopes that therapists can return to their traditional roles of helping patients cope with mental illness. Dr. Carole Sherwood is a psychologist. She worked for the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK, specializing in sexual health, chronic pain, cancer, palliative care, and trauma. Dr. Sherwood has grown increasingly concerned about the incursion of Critical Social Justice into clinical psychology. In 2022 she co-authored an independent report, The Politicization of Clinical Psychology Training Courses in the UK, with Dr. Kirsty Miller. She also contributed to the book Cynical Therapies: Perspectives on the Antitherapeutic Nature of Critical Social Justice, edited by Dr. Val Thomas. Dr. Sherwood is on the steering committee of Critical Therapy Antidote, an organization that is committed to preserving the healing ethos of therapy. She is also on the Advisory Council of Don’t Divide Us, the UK’s common-sense voice on race. In this episode I mention a recent episode: 51. Wokeness Versus the Counseling Profession with Christine Sefine
To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD.
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May 8, 2023 • 1h 41min
56. Meghan Murphy on A New Way of Being
How does life transform after questioning everything you thought you knew about the world? As we grow into adulthood and consider the axioms we live by, we are sometimes left to adjust to a world we see radically differently than before, and must find new ways of being. In this week’s episode, Meghan Murphy discusses how she came to view the world after confronting her biases, and what she has discovered since launching her podcast, The Same Drugs, in March 2020. Life after Covid is decidedly different for Meghan as she is finding happiness in a foreign country while still dealing with the backlash of her heterodox views online. Join us in this week’s episode as Meghan and I explore a new way of being.Meghan Murphy is a Canadian writer now based in Mexico. She founded Feminist Current, Canada's leading feminist website, in 2012. Meghan testified against Canada's gender identity legislation in 2017, and was one of the first and only women to articulate a feminist challenge to gender identity legislation in Canada. She is the host of the Feminist Current podcast and of The Same Drugs, on YouTube or Rumble and everywhere you listen to podcasts. Meghan was famously banned from Twitter in 2018 for referring to a man as "he" and for saying that "men aren't women." Her Twitter account was restored four years later, in November of 2022. You can follow her @meghanemurphy. Find more of her work at https://meghanmurphy.substack.com.In this episode I mentioned Jonathan Haidt’s Book, The Righteous Mind available in my bookshop.
To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD.
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May 1, 2023 • 1h 18min
55. Modern Culture Discounts the Therapeutic Process with Tessa Jacques, LMFT
How does discomfort drive the therapeutic process? Is it required to successfully navigate our uniquely difficult stations of life? This week, I am joined by Tessa Jacques, LMFT to discuss how therapeutic solutions are being harshly impacted by the instant gratification of the modern era. Join me as Tessa and I discuss the nuances of how modern culture creates a weakness in patients by discounting the need to face yourself on the quest to heal. Tessa pursued her undergraduate education in child development and spent several years serving underprivileged families and children in the Head Start program. She later decided to obtain her MA in Clinical Psychology specializing in Maternal Mental Health. Tessa has been working in private practice since 2016 helping new moms adjust to motherhood. Recently Tessa has noticed the mental health industry has been progressively leaning left, watching most clinicians follow suit. Tessa founded Motherlode Counseling in Auburn, CA in 2019 where she currently works with individuals and couples as well as supervising pre-licensed therapists and training them to build their own practices. Recently, Tessa has shifted her focus to advocating for clients and clinicians who do not feel served by this new trend on her Instagram @theuncensoredtherapist.
To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Apr 24, 2023 • 1h 38min
54. Simon Esler on Cut: Daughters of the West
I’ve spoken with many guests about the harms of marketing invasive, experimental, life-altering procedures to children in the name of so-called “gender affirmation.” But the cosmetic surgery market’s thirst for young blood doesn’t begin and end with its exploitation of gender dysphoria. Simon Esler exposed the connections between adolescent angst, self-harm, body image, and this sociopathic industry in his new film, “Cut: Daughters of the West,” which examines the rapidly growing manufactured demand for labiaplasties and other surgeries based on the lie that female bodies should be altered in pursuit of the latest trends.Simon Esler is a seasoned actor, writer, filmmaker, unschooling father and longtime truth teller on a mission to win the ongoing war against free thought & human liberty. With over 15 years of experience as a theater maker, 5 years as a professional content creator and a background as a former minister, I uplift hidden truths using deep insight and laughter as weapons. You can follow Simon’s work on Twitter, YouTube, and his website. His podcast, Finding Free Thought, is available anywhere podcasts are found. You can now watch his latest film, Cut: Daughters of the West.In this episode, I mentioned some books available in our bookshop:“The Master and His Emissary” by Iain McGilchrist“This Is Your Brain on Birth Control: The Surprising Science of Women, Hormones, and the Law of Unintended Consequences” by Sarah HillWe also mentioned the Badlands Media Substack and my appearance on the “Dangerous Rhetoric” podcast, which you can find here.
To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD.
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Apr 17, 2023 • 1h 26min
53. Awakening Beyond Transition with Laura Becker
What is the overarching perspective of a detransitioner as they move through their awakening journey? This week I am joined by Laura Becker, a detransitioner turned influencer who is featured on the recent documentary Affirmation Generation to talk about her journey through the detransition process and her recent experiences providing a safe space for others to do the same. Laura Becker is an artist and writer known for her funkedelic artist persona, "Funk God,” and her essays and speaking appearances describing her experiences as a detransitioned woman. She has been a notable voice of insight within the detransition movement, exploring ideas of gender, existentialism, spirituality, and psychoeducational concepts based in her personal journey healing from C-PTSD, identity, and mental health struggles. As a self-described "archetype of the eccentric artist", Laura promotes the values of her creative Funk God philosophy across all domains of her life and work: awareness, acceptance, balance, unity, love, and being groovy.You can follow Laura @funkgodartist on Twitter and Instagram. You can find her art on her website and her writing is featured on substack. You can also support her on YouTube or Etsy, and she accepts donations for her work.
To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Apr 10, 2023 • 1h 27min
52. Surrogacy: Liberation or Exploitation? with Jennifer Lahl
In recent years, surrogacy has become a staple in the medical field with little regard or thought of the impact surrogacy has on the human reproductive and evolutionary process. This week, I am joined by Registered Nurse Jennifer Lahl in a conversation about the lesser known tribulations that surrogate mothers face in contemporary society including health risks, contractual exploitation, and family breakage. Jennifer Lahl has been studying surrogacy for over 15 years and has assisted in the production of nearly as many films surrounding this highly contentious topic. Join us in our exploration of what surrogacy’s greater impacts are on the human race’s reproductive and evolutionary process.Jennifer Lahl, MA, BSN, RN is founder and president of The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network. Lahl couples her 25 years of experience as a pediatric critical care nurse, a hospital administrator, and a senior-level nursing manager with a deep passion to speak for those who have no voice. Lahl’s writings have appeared in various publications including Cambridge University Press, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Dallas Morning News, and the American Journal of Bioethics. As a field expert, she is routinely interviewed on radio and television including ABC, CBS, PBS, and NPR. She is also called upon to speak alongside lawmakers and members of the scientific community, even being invited to speak to members of the European Parliament in Brussels to address issues of egg trafficking; she has three times addressed the United Nations during the Commission on the Status of Women on egg and womb trafficking.In 2009, Lahl was associate producer of the documentary film Lines That Divide: The Great Stem Cell Debate, which was an official selection of the 2010 California Independent Film Festival. In 2010, she made her writing and directing debut producing the documentary film Eggsploitation, which has been awarded Best Documentary by the California Independent Film Festival and has sold in more than 30 countries. An updated and expanded version of Eggsploitation was released in the fall of 2013. She is also Director, Executive Producer, and co-writer of Anonymous Father’s Day (2011), a documentary film exploring the stories of women and men who were created by anonymous sperm donation. In 2014 she completed what is now a trilogy of films on the ethics of third-party reproduction with Breeders: A Subclass of Women?, which focuses on surrogacy. In July 2015, she released a documentary short Maggie's Story, which follows one woman’s egg donation journey. Compassion and Choice: Denied (2016) is a short documentary on physician assisted suicide. Lahl’s next feature film, #BigFertility was released in the fall of 2018. Her most recent film, Trans Mission: What’s the Rush to Reassign Gender? was just released in June of 2021. Always using film as a way to communicate and educate, her forthcoming film, The Detransition Diaries: Saving Our Sisters, is set to release Fall 2022. All of her films are available for FREE streaming on The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network's YouTube channel. You can follow Jennifer and her work on Twitter @jenniferlahl or on the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network website, here.In this episode, I mentioned previously aired episodes with Amy Sousa:9. Amy Sousa Emotional Empowerment Through Embodied Awareness I also mentioned Jonathan Haidt’s Book, The Righteous Mind and Jennifer Lahl’s recent book, Broken Bonds: Surrogate Mothers Speak Out,which you can find by following these Amazon affiliate links or in my bookshop. Either way, your purchase supports the show. Thank you!Join Jennifer and I in person for a showing of both Affirmation Generation and The Detransition Diaries in Austin Texas on April 21, following a conference hosted by Partners for Ethical Care April 20! Please visit the Partners for Ethical Care event page here for more information. To register for the free film showing on April 21, register to affirmationdocumentary@gmail.com.
To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Apr 3, 2023 • 1h 38min
51. Wokeness Versus the Counseling Profession with Christine Sefein
Does woke ideology in psychotherapy education damage the field of professional counseling? Therapists are being evaluated more and more on the fundamental axioms that underlay critical social justice theory instead of the traditional principles that empower counselors to effectively and respectfully treat their patients. In this week's episode, I am joined by Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Christine Sefein to discuss her experiences in higher education that led her to a deep questioning of critical social justice and its anti-human sentiment.Christine is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in grief and trauma work. She has worked most extensively with grieving adults and children in a variety of communities and settings including dual-diagnosis residential facilities, intensive outpatient treatment, homeless shelters and in private practice. Christine has held positions such as Clinical Director of OUR HOUSE Grief Support Center, Clinical Supervisor of the Interpersonal Violence programs at California Lutheran University, and grief specialist. Christine Sefein is also Professor of Clinical Psychology, and most recently taught at Antioch University Los Angeles, in the Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology Program. Christine is currently co-hosting a podcast for Critical Therapy Antidote which will premiere soon, coinciding with the release of the book, Cynical Therapies: Perspectives on the AntiTherapeutic Nature of Critical Social Justice, which features an essay she authored. You can find this book in my bookshop or via this Amazon affiliate link; either way, your purchase supports the show. Thank you!As a public speaker and formal educator, Christine dedicates her time to educating others on the harms of Critical Social Justice in the field of Psychology. You can contact Christine at csefein@christinesefeinmft.com.In this episode, I mentioned previously aired episodes with Amy Gallagher, Leslie Elliot, James Esses, and Andrew Hartz. Those can be found below: 50. The Battle Against Discrimination in Psychotherapy with Amy Gallagher33. Therapists or Activists? The Ideological Capture of Counseling Education, with Leslie Elliott 23. Gender Updates Across the Pond with James Esses24. Counseling in a Cluster B Culture with Andrew Hartz, PhD
To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Mar 27, 2023 • 1h 44min
50. The Battle Against Discrimination in Psychotherapy with Amy Gallagher
Is Christianity responsible for racism? According to Amy Gallagher in her fight against the UK’s NHS, the answer is no. Two years ago, Amy Gallagher was told she was unfit to engage with her patients since she disagrees with Orwellian principles foundational to woke ideology that view white people as the “problem of our time.” Today, I am joined by Amy Gallagher to discuss the shortcomings of this subtly vicious ideology with inherently detrimental impacts on psychotherapy as a profession along with the unparalleled negative outcomes for patients who are subjected to it. Amy Gallagher is a Mental Health Nurse who has been working in the UK National Health Service (NHS) for seven years. She has worked with adolescents and adults with a range of issues such as eating disorders, personality disorders, anxiety, depression, and psychosis. Amy has a postgraduate diploma in psychodynamic psychotherapy and is currently suing the NHS for suspending the final part of her training to become a psychotherapist because she disagreed with Critical Race Theory. You can follow Amy Gallagher’s work on Twitter @standuptowoke and can donate to fund her legal fees and application for judicial review in her Travistock discrimination lawsuit on GoFundMe, here.In this episode we discuss how the death of religion on a social scale has created an environment rife with discrimination against thought diversity in therapeutic treatment. Amy argues that psychotherapy as a profession has been hijacked by an ideologically-driven oppression of viewpoint divergence, threatening the professional development of therapists, and as in Amy’s case, open discrimination against Christian counselors and their patients. Amy sheds light on how the profession of psychotherapy suffers as a result of ideological principles lacking in an evidence base being taught as fact, and we discuss the negative effects and experiences patients endure as a result. Amy’s case presents a unique point in time where people of certain demographics are discriminated against by progressive puritanicals who believe that simplistic and divisive narratives are the only answer to the complexities of the human condition. In this episode, I mentioned previously aired episodes with Leslie Elliot, James Esses, and Andrew Hartz. Those can be found below: 33. Therapists or Activists? The Ideological Capture of Counseling Education, with Leslie Elliott 23. Gender Updates Across the Pond with James Esses 24. Counseling in a Cluster B Culture with Andrew Hartz, PhD
To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Mar 20, 2023 • 2h 3min
49. Medically Necessary Suicide? Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) with Darshan Maharaja
Canada is front and center of the growing controversy around its expansion of the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) policy as heated debates on the euthanization of children, trans identifying people and the mentally ill have swept its legislative bodies. I am joined by writer and host of the podcast Our Canadian Journey Darshan Maharaja, who is sounding the alarm on the increasingly contentious nature of Canada’s MAiD program. In this episode, we discuss Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) policy expansion efforts and how they impact those seeking state-sanctioned suicide in Canada. Darshan explains how expansion of this program is creating controversy in the otherwise supported position that terminally ill patients suffering from excessive pain deserve dignity in death. Mr. Maharaja is seeking to call attention to the harm that expansion of this policy is creating for all Canadians from mothers, to disaffected youth, and even infants. As of the enactment of this law in 2016, the rate of those seeking assistance in death has skyrocketed from 1,000 patients to 10,000 annually. This astonishing increase brings up the utility of medical assistance in dying, government responses to such policies, and the larger societal harms associated with it. Growing up in India, Darshan witnessed the transitioning of that country’s economy from an avowedly socialist one, with the government owning outright certain sectors of the economy and excessively regulating what private enterprise existed, to a significantly much freer market economy. This experience has given Darshan some unusual insights into the role of the government in an economy, as also the consequences of government policy on the populace. On the political front, Darshan saw the evolution of Indian politics from the overwhelming dominance of one party to a splintering among many regional and ideological parties. The authoritarianism of the earlier decades was replaced by deal-making and compromises. This transition has had a profound impact on the exercise of political power. Darshan is of the opinion that his experiences on these two fronts are very relevant to the Canadian landscape of the 21st century. After becoming a Chartered Accountant, Darshan worked in India, Africa and the Middle East, with some exposure to Central Asia as well, before moving to Canada. The years of living in many different societies and cultures were of invaluable educational value that helped Darshan understand the nuances of integration as well as the points of divergence between diverse cultures. These two aspects are of immediate – and increasingly urgent – importance in today’s Canada. Darshan is not a member of any political party or any other social or ideological organization. You can follow Darshan Maharaja’s work on twitter @TheophanesRex, on his website, http://darshanmaharaja.ca or follow his podcast, “Our Canadian Journey,” here. In this episode, I mentioned a previously aired episode with Robin Atkins: 27. Robin Atkins, LMHC: Two Therapists Debate Abortion.
To support this show, please leave a rating & review on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, like, comment & share via my YouTube channel. Or recommend this to a friend!Learn more about Do No Harm.Take $200 off your EightSleep Pod Pro Cover with code SOMETHERAPIST at EightSleep.com.Take 20% off all superfood beverages with code SOMETHERAPIST at Organifi.Check out my shop for book recommendations + wellness products.Show notes & transcript provided with the help of SwellAI.Special thanks to Joey Pecoraro for our theme song, “Half Awake,” used with gratitude and permission.Watch NO WAY BACK: The Reality of Gender-Affirming Care (our medical ethics documentary, formerly known as Affirmation Generation). Stream the film or purchase a DVD. Use code SOMETHERAPIST to take 20% off your order. Follow us on X @2022affirmation or Instagram at @affirmationgeneration.Have a question for me? Looking to go deeper and discuss these ideas with other listeners? Join my Locals community! Members get to ask questions I will respond to in exclusive, members-only livestreams, post questions for upcoming guests to answer, plus other perks TBD.
★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★


