Comments or feedback? Send us a text!Despite Canadian group insurance plans managing upwards of 35 billion dollars a year, mental health clinicians frequently experience significant frustration with respect to accessing the funds required to effectively treat their clients - especially those with more severe presentations.  Co-founder of Cubic Health Inc., Mr. Mike Sullivan RPh, BSP, MBA joins Dr. Pete Kelly, C.Psych for an in-depth discussion of how innovations in the management and allocation of funds held in large self-funded insurance plans could hold the key to revolutionizing the treatment of mental illness.  In this fascinating discussion, Mike and Pete discuss the market gaps that led to the development of Cubic Health, the basic organization and components of the insurance industry in Canada, Mike's observations around where the insurance industry has stagnated, especially around the provision of mental health services, the use of analytics in analyzing and optimizing the provision of insurance benefits, trends in psychotropic medication in Canada, innovations in large group plans that could free up millions in financial resources for the effective treatment of mental illness, the responsibilities of clinicians within the insurance system to foster innovation, and finally, consideration of dynamics around short and long-term disability with respect to mental illness.  Mike also shares personal reflections on the stressors (and opportunities) of running a growing business, observations on leadership and some of his favourite books related to leadership, interpersonal effectiveness and growth.  Mr. Mike Sullivan, co-founded Cubic Heath Inc. in 2003 in an era when start-ups venturing into the mix of technology and healthcare, especially in the world of employee benefits, had limited access to capital. Fast forward 17 years later, there still is not another company in Canada in Cubic’s space, which for those of us concerned with mental health is concerning because it underlines how slow to change the group insurance industry has been traditionally, although as we will discuss, things are really beginning to change.  Cubic has built a proprietary clinical and analytics infrastructure focused on making employee health benefit plans more efficient and sustainable. Cubic's focus as an independent benefit plan analytics and clinical solutions company is the intersection of Mike’s background as a Pharmacist and his post-graduate studies in Finance. Cubic has evolved into the largest clinical team in the employee benefits industry in Canada, supported by a team of talented Data Scientists, Business Intelligence experts, Developers and Information Systems professionals. Cubic’s clients are primarily large single- and multi-employer benefit plans ranging size from 500 to 650,000 employee lives.   A frequent speaker across North America on benefit plan design and management, Mike has also appeared on CBC, BNN, and in the Globe & Mail. He is a regular columnist for Benefits Canada magazine and serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto.www.cubichealth.ca

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!Sports psychology is strongly recognized as an indispensable tool to help athletes achieve maximum performance in high-stakes situations.  However, in addition to facilitating sport-based outcomes, psychotherapy can also help athletes manage the demands and rigours of sport from a mental health perspective.  Former Olympic coach (Canadian Women's Curling) and Clinical Psychologist (Supervised Practice), Dr. Adam Kingsbury outlines his journey into sports psychology, the definition of sports psychology and the kinds of activities undertaken under the rubric of sports psychology, the unique challenges (both ethical & technical) of delivering psychological services in the context of sport, the line between coaching vs. providing psychological services, the potential role for core-belief work/schema therapy in the context of sport psychology and an in-depth consideration of Dr. Kingsbury's Olympic Coaching experience at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.  Dr. Adam Kingsbury, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in supervised practice, is a graduate of the doctoral program in clinical psychology (Ph.D.) at the University of Ottawa.  He is a former Olympic coach (PyeongChang 2018), and a Chartered Professional Coach in the sport of curling. He provides assessment and psychotherapy services with a special interest in assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of ADHD, as well as providing services for high performance athletes, physicians, and those in the creative arts (musicians, actors, visual artists, etc.).https://twitter.com/adskahttp://ottawariverpsychology.com/team/adamdoctoral-associate/

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!While it is common to hear that we are in the midst of a mental health crisis, a closer examination of the available data strongly suggests that so-called diagnostic inflation may actually be a key contributor to the apparent increase in mental illness.  Dr. Allen Frances, MD, author of Saving Normal: An Insider's Revolt Against Out-of-Control Psychiatric Diagnosis, DSM-5, Big Pharma, and the Medicalization of Ordinary Life speaks with host Dr. Pete Kelly, C.Psych around why it's so hard to define "abnormal" in the context of mental health, a historical consideration of the origin and development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) (including human factors - politics, pharma etc. - that have permeated the development of the DSM), how DSM-5 has strongly contributed to diagnostic inflation, challenges and caveats associated with the treatment of mental illness with pharmaceuticals, the importance of psychotherapy in the treatment of mental illness and whether (and how) the DSM might be reformed.  Dr. Frances also provides a psychiatrist's perspective on Trump and the psychological and societal factors that have allowed Trump to ascend to power.  Allen Frances, MD, is professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Duke University School of Medicine. Dr. Frances was the chairman of the DSM-IV Task Force and a member of the leadership group for DSM-III and DSM-III-R. He is the author of the award-winning international bestseller Saving Normal, as well as Twilight of American Sanity: A Psychiatrist Analyzes the Age of Trump and the reference work Essentials of Psychiatric Diagnosis. He lives in San Diego, California.https://twitter.com/AllenFrancesMD 

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!While frequently unpleasant in the short-term, adversity often contains our best opportunities for personal growth.  Newfoundland adventurer, videographer, teacher and author Justin Barbour shares the perspectives he has gained from a number of month to nearly three-month solo expeditions by canoe, kayak, and/or on foot in the rugged wilderness of Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada. We discuss the balance between documenting his expeditions vs. remaining present in the moment, navigating uncertainty under high stakes situations, coming back from "unforced errors", the confidence that can be derived from navigating adversity, the impact of lack of sleep and fatigue on both psychological and physical resources, the gifts and drawbacks of isolation, potential lessons for overall wellness derived from his expeditions, his motivation for sharing his adventures, and the psychological impact of having his dog, Saku, along for the adventure.  Host note: Justin's spirit and resilience in the face of adversity makes me proud to be a Newfoundlander!  Justin Barbour, author of Man and Dog: Through The Newfoundland Wilderness (Flanker Press, 2019), was born in St. John’s, Newfoundland, and grew up in the rural community of Bauline until his early teens. His family then moved to St. John’s, where he went to school and played hockey competitively until moving away to Miramichi, New Brunswick, to suit up in the Maritime Junior A League for four years.  Upon returning to Newfoundland, Justin completed a Bachelor of Physical Education and Bachelor of Education at Memorial University. During that time he played in the Newfoundland Senior Hockey League for seven years before moving away to Cartwright, Labrador, to teach K-12 physical education and science for a year.  He is a provincial champion in high school hockey, AAA Midget Hockey, Men’s A Ball Hockey, and he has won a Herder Memorial championship with the Grand Falls–Windsor Cataracts in 2015.  Justin is an adventurer, teacher, writer, public speaker, and he runs a successful YouTube Channel that documents his expeditions. He credits growing up in the woods of Bauline for making him the independent and passionate outdoorsman he is today.  Since 2017, Justin has travelled over 2,000 kilometres in the wilderness of Newfoundland and Labrador, accompanied by his Cape Shore water dog, Saku. In 2018 he was sponsored by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society for an expedition in Labrador, and he wrote about it for Canadian Geographic upon his return. He has been asked to speak in places as far away as Ontario.  Justin Barbour lives in Grand Falls–Windsor with his fiancée, Heather, their malamute husky, Bear, and the famous Cape Shore water dog, Saku.https://newfoundlandexplorer.com/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5B2uAeVKGu0-68fsFPG5VQhttps://www.instagram.com/nlexplorer88https://twitter.com/NLExplorer88

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!Borrowing heavily from Eastern psychology, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) is currently among the most popular CBT approaches to a variety of human challenges.  Dr. Robyn Walser, Ph.D., a prominent Clinical Psychologist who has published extensively around ACT in a variety of clinical contexts joins host Dr. Pete Kelly, PhD. for a discussion of the origins of ACT, the six core components of ACT with a special focus on willingness, ACT in the context of culturally bound narratives related to psychological pain, ACT as framework for guiding the psychotherapeutic process itself as well as a brief consideration of ACT as a treatment for moral injury in the context of trauma.  Dr. Robyn Walser is a Clinical Psychologist and Director of TL Consultation Services and co-director of the Bay Area Trauma Recovery Center and staff at the National Center for PTSD, Dissemination and Training Division. As a licensed psychologist, she maintains an international training, consulting and therapy practice. She is an expert in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and has co-authored 4 books on ACT including the recently released The Heart of ACT: Developing a Flexible, Process-Based, and Client-Centered Practice Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy  as well as The Moral Injury Workbook: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills for Moving Beyond Shame, Anger, and Trauma to Reclaim Your Values.  She also has expertise in traumatic stress and substance abuse and has authored a number of articles, chapters and books on these topics. Dr. Walser has been described as a “passionate, creative, and bold ACT trainer and therapist” and she is best known for her dynamic, warm and challenging workshops. She is often referred to as a clinician’s clinician. http://www.tlconsultationservices.com/

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!It's hard these days to pick up a magazine, browse the internet or peruse the self-help section without coming across "mindfulness"; however, there are frequently deep misunderstandings with respect to the correct definition, framing, application and utility of mindfulness in addressing mental health concerns as well as overall wellness.  Co-director of the North American Chapter of the Mindfulness-Integrated CBT (MiCBT) Institute, Dr. Alia Offman, C. Psych, discusses the clinical path that led her to become interested in MiCBT, the operational definition of mindfulness, core-skills of mindfulness, the structured four-stage therapeutic approach employed by MiCBT including discussion of specific interventions where mindfulness and CBT skills are combined, reconceptualizing mindfulness as an exposure-based intervention, the evidence for MiCBT as well as the neurobiology of MiCBT.   Dr. Alia Offman is a registered psychologist in Ontario, Canada providing counselling and professional training services using MiCBT. She obtained her doctorate in research psychology at Carleton University, a Master's in Education at the University of Ottawa, and post-doctorate training as a counselling psychologist.  Alia is the Co-director of the North American Chapter of the MiCBT Institute. She has been a Contract Instructor at Carleton University for over ten years teaching in the psychology department. She has supervised their fourth year Honours Projects course, taught a fourth year seminar course in The Psychology of Human Sexuality and undergraduate courses in The Psychology of Women, Statistics and Social Psychology. She has also taught in the education department at the University of Ottawa as a sessional lecturer. She is currently teaching a fourth-year course in Mindfulness and Well-being. Alia is a published researcher with the majority of her work focused on adult populations, studying such diverse areas as workplace productivity, the impact of discrimination on health, communication in relationships and the effects of relationship violence on self-esteem. She was an Associate Researcher at Carleton University and a Research Associate with the Ottawa Health Research Institute.  For many years she volunteered with Planned Parenthood Ottawa and she was recognized for her work in the field of human sexuality and was awarded the Norman Barwin Scholarship from the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada.  https://self-balance.ca

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!Many clinicians are increasingly of the view that an evolutionary lens is essential for a true and deep understanding of the conceptualization and ultimately treatment of mental illness. Dr. Randolph Nesse, MD, one of the founders of evolutionary psychiatry and author of the book Good Reasons for Bad Feelings sits down with host Dr. Pete Kelly, C.Psych to discuss a wide range of topics including the principles of evolutionary medicine and psychiatry; the impact of an evolutionary lens on the conceptualization of mental illness; considerations of dynamics related to the genetics of mental illness; helpful as well as unhelpful aspects of unpleasant emotions, particularly with respect to depression; the impact of repeated exposure to stress on mental health; the impact of clinical content on mental health professionals; considerations around medication from the view of an evolutionary psychiatrist and finally, achieving a sense of meaning in modernity.  Randolph M. Nesse, MD, is a founder of the field of evolutionary medicine and co-author with George C. Williams of Why We Get Sick. He served for many years as Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychology and Research Professor at the University of Michigan. He was the Founding Director of the Center for Evolution & Medicine at Arizona State University and Foundation Professor in the School of Life Sciences from 2014 to 2019, where he is now a Research Professor.  He is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, a distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and an elected Fellow of the AAAS.https://www.randolphnesse.com

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!It is increasingly recognized that psychological factors play a paramount role in the development and expression of physical symptoms including chronic pain.  Mind-body Syndrome (MBS), a collection of commonly experienced physical symptoms caused by patterns of neurological response to stress and emotional reactions to stressful situations, provides an evidence-based framework for understanding the impact of psychological factors on physical symptoms.  Dr. Howard Schubiner, MD, a pioneer in the field of Mind-Body medicine discusses the characteristics, mechanism and risk-factors for MBS, personality features that may be linked to MBS, the process of acculturating clients to the MBS model, the impact of cultural narratives on the development and expression of MBS symptoms, the treatment of MBS, and finally, considerations around medication in the context of MBS.  Listeners of this episode will definitely want to check out our previous podcast with Dr. Allan Abbass, where we explore in-depth Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Therapy - a form of psychotherapy that has proven particularly effective with respect to treating MBS.  Dr. Howard Schubiner is board-certified in pediatrics, adolescent medicine, and internal medicine. He was a full Professor at Wayne State University for 18 years and now works at Providence Hospital in Southfield, MI. He is a fellow in the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Society for Adolescent Medicine. Dr. Schubiner is known as a national expert in ADHD in adolescents and adults as well as mindfulness meditation and stress reduction. He has authored over 60 publications in scientific journals and books and performed research in the fields of adolescent health, ADHD and stress reduction. Dr. Schubiner is on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Adolescent Health and the Journal of Attention Disorders. He has given over 250 lectures to scientific audiences regionally, nationally and internationally on topics related to adolescent medicine, ADHD, and stress reduction. He has been granted funds to conduct research studies of over several million dollars in total. Dr. Schubiner is the founder and director of the Mind Body Medicine Program at Providence Hospital. This program uses the most current research methodologies to treat individuals who suffer from the Mind Body Syndrome (MBS) or Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS) as described by Dr. John Sarno. Dr. Schubiner has created a program that uses both meditative and cutting edge psychological techniques to help individuals with chronic conditions, such as fibromyalgia, whiplash, back and neck pain, myofascial pain, TMJ syndrome, tension and migraine headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, irritable bladder syndrome, insomnia, anxiety, and other related conditions.https://www.unlearnyourpain.com/

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!Despite maternal mental health having potentially wide-ranging and deep impacts on individuals, families and society in general, constructive and supportive discussion of maternal mental health is often hampered by "myths of motherhood" and an atmosphere of judgment perpetuated on social and other media.  Drawing from her extensive clinical experience, OICBT Clinical and Health Psychologist Dr. Natasha Ballen provides a master class level overview of maternal mental health including i) the definition of maternal mental health ii) risk factors for challenges related to maternal mental health iii) common clinical manifestations of maternal mental health including postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder iv) tips for accessing social support v) challenges around infertility vi) the psychological impact around loss of a pregnancy vi) impact of postnatal period on the mental health of the partner both in heterosexual and same sex couples as well as vii) addressing issues related to use of psychotropic medication during pregnancy as well as breastfeeding.   Dr. Natasha Ballen is a Clinical and Health Psychologist at the Ottawa Institute of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy who provides individual, group, and couples therapy treatment to adults. She uses primarily a cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) approach, however she also has training and experience in other approaches including experiential, interpersonal, and dialectical behaviour therapy. She treats a wide variety of problems, including mood and anxiety disorders, personality-related problems, health issues (e.g., coping with acute and chronic medical problems, health-anxiety), and women’s health concerns. An area of special interest and experience is in the assessment and treatment of psychological issues related to pregnancy and postpartum adjustment (e.g., postpartum depression and anxiety, “baby blues”).

Comments or feedback? Send us a text!While many individuals are able to quickly lose weight through a variety of means, maintaining weight loss over time has proven to be elusive. Dr. Lesley Lutes, R. Psych joins host Dr. Pete Kelly, C. Psych to discuss Small Changes - an innovative evidence-based CBT approach to weight loss and lifestyle change that Dr. Lutes has developed and studied extensively.  In the course of this discussion Drs. Lutes and Kelly discuss why behavioural change is so hard, consider the factors that contribute to obesity from a biopsychosocial perspective, outline the Small Changes treatment approach including its underlying theory, core interventions, integration of values and evolutionary underpinnings, discuss the impact of trauma and other forms of psychological distress on eating, elucidate the link between mental health and obesity as well as consider how parents might discuss concerns around health and weight with young children and adolescents. Dr. Lesley Lutes is a Professor and Director of Clinical Training at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan. Dr. Lutes is a registered psychologist whose area of research is in developing innovative behavioral treatment interventions focused on lifestyle change. Much of her research has been in developing an evidence-based new treatment approach called Small Changes, which has resulted in international recognition, national awards, and policy changes. She has secured more than $5 million dollars of research funding to date, helping her publish over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and deliver over 100 community and conference presentations. Dr. Lutes is the supervisor of the healthy weight specialty service in the Interprofessional clinic at UBC Okanagan, working with graduate student clinicians to help individuals achieve positive behavior changes related to weight loss and long-term weight loss maintenance, binge eating treatment, and other factors impacting health and well-being through group or individual therapy. Dr. Lutes values student training, mentorship, caring for patients, developing evidence-based treatments to help improve individual’s health and well-being, and developing policy and systematic change for people to access mental health and health behavior change services. https://www.thecorelabubc.com/drlesleylutes