Thoughts on Record: Podcast of the Ottawa Institute of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Comments or feedback? Send us a text! At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of psychotherapists were forced to migrate their practice to teletherapy or secure video.  While many have embraced this new mode of practice and have even found enhancements to their delivery of therapy, others are eager to return to the office or adopt a hybrid model.  Dr. Hannah Zeavin, author of the The Distance Cure: A History Teletherapy, joins us for a conversation around the history of teletherapy as well as systems-level implications for the wide adoption of teletherapy. In this conversation we cover:     the biggest misconceptions that psychotherapists are likely to labouring under with respect to the history and deployment of teletherapya discussion of the reality of every therapeutic exchange - whether virtual, in the office or otherwise - being mediated in some respect and existing within a "frame"the evidence-base around teletherapy3rd party payers stance towards teletherapy and whether a distinction between in-office therapy and teletherapy remains relevantthe dysfunctional focus on "activities" vs "outcomes" in an insurance-driven mental health system and how teletherapy could unwittingly accentuate this dynamicconsideration of therapy-process related factors in the context of teletherapy (e.g., client seeing the clinician within their home environment & vice versa)implications of the the appification/commodification of mental health services via digital platformsthe dangers of "batch processing" and "gamification" in the provision of therapy within a commodified mental health systemthe potential for the digital distribution of services to create “winner takes all” outcomes and the danger of a cost leader further commodifying mental health via call-center models or similarPotential unintended consequences of national licensure around the commodification of mental health services Dr. Zeavin's thoughts on the questions clinicians and practices should be grappling with right now in the context of tele therapyHannah Zeavin is a Lecturer in the Departments of English and History at the University of California, Berkeley and is on the Executive Committee of the University of California at Berkeley Center for Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society and on the Executive Committee of the Berkeley Center for New Media. Additionally, she is a visiting fellow at the Columbia University Center for the Study of Social Difference. Dr. Zeavin’s first book, The Distance Cure: A History of Teletherapy is now out from MIT Press, with a Foreword by John Durham Peters. She is at work on her second book, Mother’s Little Helpers: Technology in the American Family (MIT Press, 2023).  Dr. Zeavin serves as an Editorial Associate for The Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association and is a co-founder of The STS Futures Initiative. Other work has appeared in or is forthcoming from American Imago, differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Real Life Magazine, Slate, The Washington Post, Logic Magazine, and beyond. Dr. Zeavin received her B.A. from Yale University in 2012 and her Ph.D. from the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication

Comments or feedback? Send us a text! While trauma perpetuated by traumatic loss or imminent threat to one’s life is familiar and salient to most psychotherapists, the pervasiveness & severity of trauma precipitated by "moral injury" experienced during and/or after a trauma is frequently underestimated and overlooked as a factor that can exacerbate and/or maintain PTSD.  Internationally recognized expert in PTSD, psychologist, researcher & author, Dr. Brett Litz, joins us for an interview around the Adaptive Disclosure (AD) psychotherapy protocol.  In this episode we cover:  the nuances involved with conceptualizing and treating operational stress injuries among military personnel, including a review of the biggest misconceptions that clinicians unfamiliar with this population might harbour and how this could impact treatmentthe definition of a moral injury and an overview of the two major types of moral injury (i.e., moral injury "self" & moral injury "other")consideration of the "moral" emotions of shame & anger in the context of moral injurychallenges of treating moral injury as well as subtle or overt signs that a client might be affected by a moral injurythe origin of Adaptive Disclosure (AD) and where it departs from other CBT-based trauma therapies such as Prolonged Exposure Therapy or Cognitive Processing Therapythe basic theoretical framework/some of the core assumptions of Adaptive Disclosuredescriptions of some of the core therapeutic interventions in Adaptive Disclosurethe unique challenges of delivering any psychotherapy - including Adaptive Disclosure - within the context of a military population (e.g., over control, overregulation)  a brief outline of the next iteration of Adaptive Disclosure - Adaptive Disclosure Enhanced (ADE), which emphasizes to an even great extent increased flexibility in provision of therapy, an emphasis on functioning (as opposed to symptoms) and integration of compassion trainingDr. Litz is a clinical psychologist and Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychological and Brain Sciences and is also the Director of the Mental Health Core of the Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiological Research and Information Center at the VA Boston Healthcare System. Dr. Litz is internationally recognized as an expert on PTSD, military trauma, and the early intervention and treatment of trauma, traumatic loss, and moral injury.  Dr. Litz recent work entails the development and validation of a new measure of moral injury as a multidimensional outcome (the Moral Injury Outcome Scale; a public domain scale available by emailing Dr. Litz) and conducting a VA funded multi site clinical trial testing an expanded version of Adaptive Disclosure on Veterans with PTSD. Adaptive Disclosure is a flexible multidimensional psychotherapy that employs different strategies to target threat-based, loss-related, and moral injury-related trauma. Dr. Litz has over 370 peer reviewed publications and is a fellow of the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, the American Psychopathological Association, and the Association for Psychological Science.https://www.bu.edu/psych/people/litzb/http://www.guilford.com/books/Adaptive-Disclosure/Litz-Lebowitz-Gray-Nash/9781462523290

Comments or feedback? Send us a text! While self-care is widely acknowledged as being critical to effective and sustainable engagement in the provision of mental health services, it is an area of focus that is frequently neglected by mental health professionals for a variety of complex reasons.  Co-founders of the website Intentional Therapist, Drs. Karen Dyck & Melissa Tieseen, return to Thoughts on Record to discuss workplace hazards that mental health professionals must navigate.  We also review fundamental aspects of self-care necessary to effectively navigate these hazards.  In this discussion we cover:    General 'workplace hazards' that must be navigated by mental health professionals including:Patient behavioursWorking conditionsEmotional depletionPsychic/interpersonal isolationComplexity of therapeutic relationshipsPersonal disruptionsImpact of the pandemic on therapists and their practice:The need for continuous adjustments/managing uncertainty over the past 1.5 yearsTeletherapy-specific impacts on clinician well-being (but also considering emergent opportunties)Overall impact on therapists' well-beingCombatting the hazards (especially within the context of the current pandemic) - The 4 C’s of Self-Care:Community/ConnectionCompassionCourageCreativityDr. Karen Dyck completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the University of South Dakota and currently works in private practice in Oakbank, Manitoba.  She is also presently the Executive Director of the Manitoba Psychological Society.  Before shifting to private practice, Karen spent the bulk of her career working within the Rural and Northern Psychology Program at the University of Manitoba’s Department of Clinical Health Psychology, and is a former chair of the Rural and Northern Psychology Section of the Canadian Psychological Association.  Dr. Melissa Tiessen completed her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at McGill University and currently works in private practice in Ottawa, Ontario.  Melissa also previously worked in the Rural and Northern Psychology Program at the University of Manitoba, as well as has served as the Education Director for the CPA, overseeing the organization’s accreditation and continuing education activities.  Karen and Melissa both have a longstanding interest in self-care and workplace wellness initiatives.  Recognizing that there are so many female mental health professionals, like themselves, who are trying to balance careers with additional caregiving roles, in 2019 Karen and Melissa co-founded Intentional Therapist.  Their mission is to help female mental health professionals stay healthy and happy through intentional, creative, and playful self-care.  https://www.intentionaltherapist.ca

Comments or feedback? Send us a text! In many contexts - both in-person and online - it can often feel like reasonable behaviour, the ability to constructively disagree, and basic kindness are in short supply.  Award-winning science journalist and author, Melissa Wenner Moyer, joins us to discuss some of the themes in her new book How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Assholes.  In this discussion we cover:a consideration of the evidence that parenting is failing children and creating an increase in bad behaviour  features of the current environment that could be selecting for/promoting bad behaviour among childrenMelinda's reflection on what has changed the most for children growing up in the 70s or 80s vs those who have been raised in the last 10 to 15 years  the critical link between generosity and successimpulse control & emotion vs. self-esteem as the primary driver of a child's sense of self-worth and contentednessthe key role of bearing responsibility and managing adversity (in reasonable doses) in creating tolerable adultsthe value of providing children with frank, direct feedback while remaining attuned to the overall attachment with your childhow to talk about lying with children and to work through contradictions that children may notice in their parent's behaviour around lying on a near-daily basis Melinda's thoughts and words of encouragement for parents who are worried that they are not living up to their ideal as parentsMelinda Wenner Moyer is a contributing editor at Scientific Americanmagazine and a regular contributor to The New York Times, Washington Post, and other national magazines and newspapers. She is a faculty member in the Science, Health & Environmental Reporting program at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Her first book, How To Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes, was published in July 2021 by J.P. Putnam’s Sons. Melinda was the recipient of the 2019 Bricker Award for Science Writing in Medicine, and her work was featured in the 2020 Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology. She was also awarded a 2018 Alicia Patterson Foundation fellowship. Moyer’s work has won first place prizes in the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, the Folio Eddie Awards and the Annual Writing Awards of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. It has also been shortlisted for a James Beard Journalism Award, a National Academy of Sciences Communication Award and a National Magazine Award. She has a master’s in Science, Health & Environmental Reporting from NYU and a background in cell and molecular biology. She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband, two children, and her dog.https://www.melindawennermoyer.comMelindawmoyer.substack.com

Comments or feedback? Send us a text! Hello everyone - hope you are well!  We just wanted to quickly let you know that we’ll be taking a scheduled break for the rest of the summer and will be back with new episodes in the fall - we’ve got lots of great guests lined up and we’re really looking forward to those conversations!  Just as a quick reflection, it’s been such a joy recording and putting out the podcast - we’re so grateful to each and every guest for their contribution to the journey that we’ve been on with the podcast which is basically trying to get just a little bit closer to understanding the unbelievably complex phenomenon that is human psyche.  Hopefully we've been making a little bit of headway there.  At last count there were over 2.5 million active podcasts on the Apple podcast platform - that is an absolutely huge amount of content to choose from.  We are so delighted & humbled by the number of listeners who have chosen to devote a little bit of their bandwidth to the content that we have been producing.  Thank you so much for listening.  We really hope you enjoy the rest of season 2!If you’ve been enjoying the content, leaving a review on Apple podcasts would be tremendously helpful - it’s a major benchmark that helps potential guests gauge the podcast.  It’s also a great way for us to get feedback and to get a feel for how the content is resonating.  Passing the podcast along to a friend or colleague is also always appreciated.   Well, that’s it for now - looking forward to picking up the conversation in September!Take good care,Dr. Pete Kelly & the team at OICBThttps://www.ottawacbt.ca/https://twitter.com/ottawacbt

Comments or feedback? Send us a text! Finland is consistently ranked as one of the happiest countries in the world by the United Nations.  Author & journalist, Katja Pantzar, who has written extensively about the potential wellness promoting aspects of the Finnish ethos in The Finnish Way: Finding Courage, Wellness and Happiness Through the Power of Sisu (as well as her upcoming book Everyday Sisu: Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life) joins us for a discussion of: a brief overview of some of the features of the Finnish lifestyle that contribute to wellnessreflections on Katja's journey back to her ancestral FinlandKatja's lifelong struggle with depression & anxiety and how she has found healing in the Finnish lifestylethe definition, origin and day-to-day application of the concept of Sisu and why it is so central to the Finnish mindset finding strength in vulnerability and realistic expectationsFinnish society's stance towards mental healththe therapeutic benefits of cold (ice bath) and hot treatments (sauna) for psychological well-being and the cultural and psychosocial significance of the sauna to the Finnsthe generally active lifestyle enjoyed by many Finns and the potential implications for wellnessthe role that exposure to nature can play in the maintenance of wellness how alternating exposure to prolonged periods of light and darkness influences the rhythm of Finnish life and how it may affect the national mindsetHost note: this episode is dedicated to all the wonderful Finns who have shown me so much kindness and hospitality over the years, especially the Häkli and Bensky families. Katja Pantzar is a Helsinki-based writer, editor and broadcast journalist. Raised in Canada, with stints in New Zealand and the UK, Katja writes on a variety of topics ranging from wellbeing and mental health to sustainability, social issues, inclusivity, design, travel and business. She is currently working on her second book about sisu, a unique Finnish form of grit in the face of challenges, big and small. Everyday Sisu: Tapping into Finnish Fortitude for a Happier, More Resilient Life will be published by Penguin Random House US in February 2022. It’s a follow-up to her first sisu book, The Finnish Way: Finding Courage, Wellness and Happiness Through the Power of Sisu which was published in 22 territories around the world during 2018 and 2019 and translated into 20 different languages. She has been a regular contributor to Blue Wings, the inflight magazine of Finnair, and worked as a freelance broadcast journalist (TV, radio and web) with Yle News at the Finnish public broadcasting corporation, and as an occasional Helsinki correspondent for Monocle 24. Her articles have appeared in  newspapers ranging from the Globe and Mail (Canada) to magazines such as Elle (Denmark). Katja is also the author of two guidebooks to the Finnish capital, Helsinki by Light (Siltala/2015) and 100 things to do in Helsinki (Siltala/2017). Katja holds a master’s degree in International Journalism from the City University of London (England) and a bachelor’s degree in Communication from Simon Fraser University (Canada).https://twitter.com/KatjaPantzarhttps://www.instagram.com/katjapantzar/

Comments or feedback? Send us a text! While we typically take constructing and making sense of our internal and external world for granted, the brain employs a sophisticated mapping system to help construct, organize & navigate a functional and workable reality.  Author and neuroscientist, Dr. Rebecca Schwarzlose, joins host Dr. Pete Kelly, C.Psych for an in-depth discussion of some of the core themes in her new book Brainscapes: The Warped, Wondrous Maps Written in Your Brain - And How They Guide You.  In this discussion they cover:what a brain map is and why our brain (or brains in general) are organized in this fashion why spatial representation of the world is generally conserved in a brain map how and why adverse early life events can influence or modify the development of brain mapsimplications of brain maps for artificial intelligence as well as virtual reality and other immersive  experiences (e.g., watching a movie)how brain maps across various sensory modalities are combinedhow external factors such as environment, culture etc. can influence brain mapping the importance of neuroplasticity in brain mappingthe role brain maps could play in the formation of consciousnessthe role and activation of brain mapping in body memories reported by clients who have experienced trauma   a number of fun and speculative questions with respect to implications of brain maps related to extrasensory perception, meaning, morality etc.   some of the potential implications of brain maps for cliniciansRebecca Schwarzlose is a neuroscientist at Washington University in St. Louis. Schwarzlose is the recipient of many accolades including the Ruth Kirschstein National Research Service Award. Among her notable scientific accomplishments is the discovery and naming of an entire new brain region (the fusiform body area). She holds a PhD in neuroscience from MIT and has served as chief editor of the scholarly journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences. She lives in St. Louis.  Brainscapes was supported by a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology.https://gardenofthemind.com/https://sites.wustl.edu/children/people/rebecca-schwarzlose/https://www.amazon.ca/Brainscapes-Warped-Wondrous-Written-Brain/dp/1328949966

Comments or feedback? Send us a text! Once considered a fringe topic, aliens and the possibility of alien encounters are now the subject of considerable mainstream media attention.  Pulitzer Prize winning journalist & author, Ralph Blumenthal, joins host Dr. Pete Kelly, C.Psych for a discussion of his new book The Believer:  Alien Encounters, Hard Science, and the Passion of John Mack.  In this discussion they cover:   how Ralph became interested in the area of UAPs/UFOs, alien abductions & Dr. John Mack’s investigation of these phenomena  a brief outline of the news coverage Ralph has done in this area including recent groundbreaking articles that he has written for the New York Times a brief portrait of Mack and his journey into investigating alien abductionconsideration of alien abductions from a psychological/psychiatric lens (i.e., possible differential diagnoses such as parasomnia, psychosis, delusional disorder & substance use)Mack's investigation into whether experiencers had a psychological/personality profile more predisposed to fantasies, suggestibility & beliefs in the paranormal   Mack's conceptualization of the abduction phenomenon with respect to a physical vs. psychological experienceelements common to reported alien abductions, reported prevalence rate, possible culturally bound-features of reported experiences & universal features of reported abduction experiencesRalph's impression if whether in isolation or in aggregate Mack had anything in his personal context that dovetails with or explains his interest in these encountersRalph's reflection on whether there were any major mistakes that Mack made that set his investigations backthe hypothetical link between the UAP/UFO phenomenon and consciousness with a consideration of ongoing psychedelic research societal psychological reaction to increased reporting of UAP/UFO phenomenon in the mainstream media Host note: a big thank you to my very good friend, Michael Leblanc, for his excellent thoughts, suggestions & insights around questions and areas of focus for this episode.Ralph Blumenthal, a Distinguished Lecturer at Baruch College of the City University of New York, was an award-winning reporter for The New York Times from 1964 to 2009, and has written seven books on organized crime and cultural history. He led the Times metro team that won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage of the 1993 truck-bombing of the World Trade Center. In 2001, Blumenthal was named a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to research the progressive career and penal reforms of Warden Lewis E. Lawes, “the man who made Sing Sing sing.” The book on Warden Lawes, Miracle at Sing Sing, was published by St. Martin’s in June, 2004. During the coronavirus pandemic he has contributed articles to The Times and other publications, worked from home on his Baruch Archives blog, “An Adventure in Democracy”, and given virtual talks on his new book, “The Believer: Alien Encounters, Hard Science, and the Passion of John Mack.”  Blumenthal earned a Guggenheim Fellowship (2001), a Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Alumni Award (2001), and the Nieman Foundation’s Worth Bingham Prize for distinguished investigative reporting on USAir crashes. (1994.) He was inducted into the C.C.N.Y. Communications Alumni Hall of Fame in May 2010. Since 2010 he has taught journalism in the summer program of Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H., and in 2010 was named a Distinguished Lecturer at Baruch College where he taught journalism and currently oversees historic collections in the Newman Library Archives.https://www.ralphblumenthal.com/

Comments or feedback? Send us a text! Accurately mapping the "truth" of one's life is essential to crafting effective coping from a variety of perspectives.  Renowned psychotherapist & author,  Jon Frederickson, MSW, joins us for an in-depth discussion around some of the core themes of his book The Lies We Tell Ourselves, as well as a broader discussion of the therapy process in general.  In this discussion we cover:  Jon's theoretical orientation/basic framework for understanding clientshow the pursuit of the truth became so central to his view of the function of psychotherapy and his book “The Lies We Tell Ourselves”defining "truth" in psychotherapythe common ways in which people lie to themselves via defences, denial & projectionhow defences are established common signs & clinical presentations aligned with a lack of truth in a client's day-to-day lifethe mystery inherent in each human being and what this means for both empathy and boundariesthe unique challenges of mid-life from a psychological perspectivehow to promote truth and change in a client's life while remaining aligned with the clientassessing when and how it is time to terminate therapysigns that clinicians should be seeking assistance from a psychotherapist to address personal/relational/developmental issues that could be impacting upon clinical effectivenesshow intolerance of anxiety can prevent clients from benefiting from psychotherapy and how to address thishow resistance in one’s life can function as a compass to find meaningJon Frederickson, MSW, is on the faculty of the Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) Training Program at the Washington School of Psychiatry. Jon has provided ISTDP training in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Italy, Switzerland, India, Iran, Australia, Canada, the U.S., and the Netherlands.  He is the author of over fifty published papers and four books, Co-Creating Change: Effective Dynamic Therapy Techniques, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Learning to Listen from Multiple Perspectives, The Lies We Tell Ourselves, and Co-Creating Safety: healing the fragile patient. His book, Co-Creating Change, won the first prize in psychiatry in 2014 at the British Medical Association Book Awards, and it has been published in Farsi, Polish, and Slovak, and is currently being translated into Hebrew and Spanish. His book The Lies We Tell Ourselves has been published in Polish, Farsi, Norwegian, and Danish, and is currently being translated into German. He has DVDs of actual sessions with patients who previously failed in therapy at his websites www.istdpinstitute.com and www.deliberatepracticeinpsychotherapy.com  There you will also find skill-building exercises designed for therapists. He writes posts on ISTDP at www.facebook.com/DynamicPsychotherapy . His forthcoming skill-building book for therapists, Healing Through Relating, will come out in 2021.

Comments or feedback? Send us a text! Anxiety is a normal and necessary component of the human experience; however, under some circumstances normal psychological processes related to anxiety can unwittingly become entrenched in "habit loops" that can keep an individual stuck.  New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, addiction psychiatrist, and thought leader in the field of habit change, Dr. Jud Brewer, joins us for a fascinating discussion of his novel model of anxiety as described in his new book  "Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind”.  This discussion includes a consideration of:  the evolutionary value of emotions and Dr. Brewer's perspective on when and how normally adaptive anxiety can evolve into a self-defeating habit  the mechanism by which anxiety and associated cognitive processes & behaviours can unwittingly turn into bad habitsa consideration of whether rates of anxiety are actually rising and features of our modern lifestyle that could be contributing to such a trendthe value and utility in tolerating uncertaintyan in-depth review of Dr. Brewer's model for understanding and treating anxiety including conceptualizing anxiety as a habit loop as well as leveraging awareness to allow individuals to become attuned to the actual vs. predicted awards of engaging in anxiety habit loopsthe addiction-like dynamics surrounding the cognitive & behavioural experience of anxiety (e.g.,  “wanting” vs. “liking”)why willpower, substitution, stimulus control & environmental manipulation are strategies that are oversold with respect to their ability to affect changethe importance of finding the "bigger, better offer" to derail anxious habit loops & why Dr. Brewer feels mindfulness, curiosity & kindness are critical in this respecta brief consideration of how his model dovetails with traditional CBT Dr. Jud Brewer is a New York Times best-selling author, neuroscientist, addiction psychiatrist, and thought leader in the field of habit change. He is the Director of Research and Innovation at Brown University’s Mindfulness Center, where he also serves as an associate professor. He is the executive medical director at Sharecare Inc. and a research affiliate at MIT. Dr. Brewer has developed and tested novel mindfulness programs for habit change, including treatments for smoking, emotional eating, and anxiety. His new book is called “Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind”https://drjud.com/Follow Dr. Jud Brewer on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter