Wise Counsel Podcasts

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Patt Denning, Ph.D. on Harm Reduction Psychotherapy for Substance Abuse and Addictions". In this edition of the Wise Counsel Podcast, Dr. Van Nuys interviews Patt Denning, Ph.D. on the topic of Harm Reduction, a relatively new approach to substance abuse treatment which, proponents claim, is both more effective and humane than current mainstream substance abuse treatment approaches. In the interview, Dr. Denning compares harm reduction, her synthesis of public health safety promotion philosophy and cognitive behavioral therapy techniques such as motivational interviewing, relapse prevention and the stages of change model with the traditional Minnesota Model substance abuse treatment which, she believes, contains within itself a counter-productive and judgmental values system which works against successful treatment outcomes. She discusses how her early work as a psychothera

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Otto Kernberg, MD on Transference Focused Therapy". In this edition of the Wise Counsel Podcast, Dr. Van Nuys interviews Otto Kernberg, MD on the topic of Transference Focused Therapy. Dr. Kernberg is one of the best known living psychodynamic (e.g., Freudian) theorists, famous for his work in object relations theory, and on the nature of personality disorders and their remediation. In the course of this interview, Dr. Kernberg defines the underlying problems common to severe personality disorders, highlighting the role of identity diffusion and the borderline personality organization, providing both an explaination of what these things are, and how they form developmentally. He discusses how the various severe personality disorders, including Borderline personality disorder and Narcissistic personality disorder, are attempts to compensate for these core problems. He then

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Frank Ochberg, MD on treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)" In this edition of the Wise Counsel Podcast, Dr. Van Nuys interviews Frank Ochberg, MD on the topic of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Topics touched up on in this interview include the nature of PTSD, best practices for treating PTSD at present (which include antidepressant medications and exposure psychotherapy), the Counting Method (Dr. Ochberg's own exposure therapy method), and Dr. Ochberg's history of involvement with multiple populations affected by violence and cruelty throughout a long and productive career in Psychiatry.

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "James Gordon, MD on Mind-Body Medicine and his book Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression" In this edition of the Wise Counsel Podcast, Dr. Van Nuys interviews James Gordon, MD, a psychiatrist, advocate for mind-body medicine and the responsible use of complementary and alternative medicine, and author of the book, Unstuck:Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression. The approach to care fostered by Dr Gordon's Center for Mind Body Medicine stresses the importance of non-medical interventions including techniques that foster self-awareness (such as meditation, guided imagery, and promotion of self-expression through art, words, drawings and movement), self-care (such as exercise and diet) and social supportive care (including educational and meditative groups) in healing. The interview covers Dr. Gordon's work as an educator of mind-bo

In this Wise Counsel Podcast interview, Dr. Van Nuys interviews author and physician Ronald Dworkin, MD, Ph.D. about the ideas he expressed in his 2006 book Artificial Happiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class. Dr. Dworkin's argument, at least as articulated in this interview, can be easily boiled down to a single premise: Non specialist physicians (primary care doctors mostly) have implicitly entered into an unspoken agreement with patients to medicate ordinary unhappiness, an inevitable and existential aspect of life which is not a medical condition. In Dr. Dworkin's view, ordinary unhappiness is an important and helpful feedback mechanism serving to cause people to pay attention to problems they are experiencing in their environment or relationships which are not working. The use of medication to provide relief from the discomfort of unhappiness (or any other intervention which serves to reduce pain or distract people from non-illness forms of emotional pain) is not in the best long term interests

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Fern Cohen, Ph.D. on whether Psychoanalysis is Dead" In this episode of the Wise Counsel Podcast, Dr. Van Nuys speaks with Psychologist and Psychoanalyst Fern Cohen, Ph.D. on the provocative theme, "Is Psychoanalysis Dead?". In this context, Psychoanalysis refers to the version of psychoanalysis developed by Dr. Freud (e.g., the one with the couch) and not to modern psychodynamic versions related to that original therapy. Not surprisingly, Dr. Cohen doesn't think that psychoanalysis is dead at all. While acknowledging that this form of therapy is on the decline in terms of practitioners, she points out various ways that it continues to be vital and important.

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Edna Foa, Ph.D. on the Nature and Treatment of PTSD" In this episode of the Wise Counsel Podcast, Dr. Van Nuys speaks with Psychologist Edna Foa, Ph.D. a world-famous Anxiety researcher on the topic of treating Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, better known as PTSD. Dr. Foa describes the nature of PTSD, including the three major classes of symptoms that are associated with the diagnosis: re-experiencing, avoidance and emotional numbing, and arousal. She also describes the best scientifically validated treatment for PTSD currently known, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, which involves a systematic detailed and repetitious retelling of the trauma story by the trauma victim so as to help them integrate their trauma memories, place them firmly in the past, and habituate them to the story so that they feel less arousal and anxiety when they think about it.

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Judith Beck, Ph.D. on Cognitive Therapy applied to Weight Loss" In this episode of the Wise Counsel Podcast, Dr. Van Nuys speaks with Psychologist Judith Beck, Ph.D. on the topics of Cognitive Therapy and the application of Cognitive Therapy to the problem of weight loss. Cognitive Therapy is a time-limited psychotherapy based on the cognitive model - a set of assumptions based around the notion that emotional problems are largely caused by faulty thinking habits. If you can learn to identify and correct problems in your thinking, you can substantially reduce the amount of emotional pain you experience. Cognitive therapy has grown from a singular treatment for depression to a therapy for anxiety disorders, and more recently, a therapy for many different sorts of problems, including aspects of schizophrenia, addictions, personality disorders and eating disorders. Dr. Beck'

In this episode of the Wise Counsel Podcast, Dr. Van Nuys speaks with Psychologist Marc Kern, Ph.D. on the topic of addiction treatment with an emphasis on alternatives to Alcoholics Anonymous and twelve step programs. Dr. Kern became interested in treating addictions as a result of his own experience dealing with addictions that he had developed while in college living in a fraternity environment that encouraged substantial substance experimentation. Part of the treatment he was prescribed for his addiction involved referral to Alcoholics Anonymous. He did attend AA multiple times, but ultimately found that it was not a good fit for him. He objected to the religious nature of AA's philosophy of treatment, their promotion of a general view of the alcoholic self as essentially powerless, and their salvation oriented view promoting the idea that the only path available to the alcoholic through which he can become powerful again is through submission to a higher power. He also objected to the lack of logica

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Michelle Craske, Ph.D. on Anxiety Disorders Research and Treatment" In this episode of the Wise Counsel Podcast, Dr. Van Nuys interviews Michelle Craske, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, UCLA professor and anxiety disorders researcher. Many different anxiety related subjects are touched upon during the interview, including: the relationship between anxiety and fear, different types of panic attacks including nocturnal panic, her treatment workbook Mastery of Anxiety and Panic co-authored with anxiety research luminary Dr. David Barlow, relaxation-induced panic, the nature of agorophobia and what predicts its occurrence, the relationship between anxiety and depression, and computer assisted psychotherapy for anxiety disorders.

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Yulonda Brown on Surviving Abuse and Bipolar Disorder" Today's interview is with Yulonda Brown, an African-American woman who has successfully struggled with child abuse, depression, Bipolar Disorder, and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). She is an author, publisher, mentor to young women of color, and mental health activist. Ms. Brown relates her story, describing her early experience of physical and verbal abuse by her mother, the subsequent effect of this abuse on her relationships, her experience of postpartum depression and suicide attempt, and her hospitalization, diagnosis and successful treatment.

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Stefanie Goldstein, Ph.D. on Mindfulness-based Treatment for Addiction". Dr. Van Nuys interviews Stefanie Goldstein, Ph.D., a Los Angeles, CA based Clinical Psychologist specializing in providing mindfulness-based forms of psychotherapy to people dealing with substance abuse and addiction. Dr. Goldstein talks about her practical work helping addicted clients and the "broken pleasure system" that maintains their habits. In a simplified form, she reviews briefly the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine and its role in creating the experience of pleasure. Mindfulness and psychosynthesis techniques are helpful to addicted people becuase they help them to become more conscious and thus more capable of understanding when they are most vulnerable and of choosing to not continue drug use. Many actions in life are done on "autopilot"; in a semi- or unconscious state where people ac

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Natalie Rogers on Expressive Arts Therapy". In this episode of Wise Counsel, Dr. Van Nuys talks with psychologist and psychotherapist Natalie Rogers, Ph.D., a leader in the field of Expressive Arts Therapy which is a form of psychotherapy integrating a variety of artistic and creative modalities and techniques including movement, sound, drawing, drama and language so as to encourage client's self-expression, insight and personal growth. Though individual art therapies have been around for many years, including music, art (painting and drawing), dance, and psychodrama therapies, Expressive Arts Therapy represents a newer effort to coherently integrate these various techniques. Art therapies are particularly useful for people who are feeling stuck, overwhelmed or otherwise unable to express themselves or move forward in their lives. Expressive arts therapy offers such clien

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Laurence Westreich, MD. on Helping Families Help Addicted Members", posted July 1, 2007. The traditional advice offered to family members has been to use "tough love" with addicted members. However, Dr. Westreich fears that too many families emphasize being "tough" over providing "love". He recommends that families use a combination of creative engagement and constructive cohersion to repeatedly and lovingly push addicted members into treatment. Threats and ultimatums are less helpful, he suggests, than are multiple caring confrontations that continually push the addicted family member towards obtaining treatment. At the same time, boundaries must be set to keep the addict from harming family members (physically, emotionally, financially, etc.) Dr. Westreich's recent book offers various dialogs that work though typical ways that such confrontations can be offered, typica

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Myrna Weissman, Ph.D. on Interpersonal Psychotherapy", posted June 1, 2007. Dr. Weissman is one of the founders of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), one of only a few empirically validated (EV) and manualized forms of therapy existing today which has been designed for the treatment of depression. As the name suggests, IPT is based on the idea that depression symptoms exist as part of an interpersonal, relational context and cannot be understood independently of that context. In IPT, therapists help patients to talk about what was going on for them when their symptoms first appeared. They then assign the interpersonal context of the patients' depression to one of four categories: grief, conflicts and disagreements, life transitions or too-few attachments and help patients to identify ways to resolve those issues.

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Anita Remig, Ed.D. on Child Development", posted May 15, 2007. Dr. Remig describes the process of attachment and attachment disorders in biological, relational and maturational terms. Recent neuroscience findings have tended to confirm what 1950s child development theorists like John Bowlby suspected - that the quality of a baby's early relationships strongly influences the development of that baby's brain, and therefore, the quality of that baby's ability to regulate emotions, form a coherent sense of self and other and enter into and effectively manage social relationships. Modern imaging techniques have localized some of the brain areas damaged by inadequate, abusive or neglectful early caregiving. The midbrain and orbital prefrontal cortex are involved as are diverse right hemisphere circuits involved with emotional regulation and judgement. In short: Child abuse inte

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Jeffrey Young, Ph.D. on Schema Therapy", posted February 22, 2007. For years, psychotherapy has been split into various camps or schools, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy and person-centered or humanistic therapy. Each therapy school has different ideas for what therapy should accomplish, and how to go about doing therapy. Faced with this complexity, many working therapists have become eclectic, meaning they try to use techniques from multiple schools at once. Eclecticism can become very confusing and muddy for therapists and patients, however, when it is done inexpertly. Originally trained as a cognitive-behaviorist, Dr. Jeffrey Young is the founder of Schema Therapy, which represents an effort to systematically and coherently integrate techniques from the various therapy approaches. Though a general purpose therapy, Schema Therapy has been de

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Marsha Temlock on Adult Child Divorce", posted March 6, 2007. When a marriage ends, lots of folks are hurt. The divorcing couple, of course, and their children are usually the center of attention. Little attention gets paid to the parents of the divorcees, who may themselves be hurt by the divorce process. Temlock's examination of this sensitive topic offers parents of divorcing children a friendly guidebook packed with helpful information and suggestions from other parents who've "been there." She offers a five-stage model of the divorce process as experienced by parents of divorcing children will can help readers to stay grounded through the emotional upheavals they'll share with their children and grandchildren. This practical manual puts an arm around the shoulder of parents of divorcing adults and supports them through the difficult days of the divorce process and its a

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Timothy P. Kowalski, M.A.,C.C.C.-SLP on Asperger's Disorder", posted April 16, 2007. Mr. Kowalski discusses his work as a speech pathologist working with Asperger's Disordered patients. Asperger's Disorder is a pervasive developmental disorder of childhood characterized by communication and social deficits. It is often thought of as identical to high functioning Autism (another, more severe disorder), but Kowalski differentiates the two disorders on the basis of social desire (Autistic individuals lacking the desire and skills to socialize, vs. Asperger's individuals having the desire to socialize but lacking the skills). The pattern of social and emotional deficits characteristic of Asperger's is described, as are ways that these deficits are measured and assessed, and ways that compensatory coping stratagies can be taught.

Mental Help Net (www.mentalhelp.net) presents the Wise Counsel Podcast (wisecounsel.mentalhelp.net), hosted by David Van Nuys, Ph.D. "Jeff Bernstein, Ph.D. on defiant children", posted May 1, 2007. Dr. Bernstein talks about how parents can better understand and manage defiant children's behavior so as to bring all family members closer together. Defiant children are often angry, frustrated, looking to externalize blame and operating under the assumption that they are equal in authority and wisdom to adults. Parents of defiant children too often "take the bait", become emotional, angry and authoritarian themselves and end up trying to manage the resulting conflicts with demands and threats. Dr. Bernstein suggests a more detached, mindful and judo-like approach that is calm, firm and non-controling. Parents who are able to show their defiant children through their actions that they are understood and respected (as well as loved) and at the same time, who are able to firmly set expectations and limits can