The Shrink Is In- The Podcast Voice Of Psychology

Today’s podcast is a conversation between Dr. Gurr and Dr. Jed Diamond about male menopause. Most of us want to have good sex, love, and intimacy at any age, but when we get to be 40, it isn't always easy. One of the less talked about reasons why our "love" life goes south is that we do not understand how to survive male menopause. Today we learn the secrets. For more than 40 years, Dr. Jed Diamond has helped men and the women who love them. Dr. Diamond is Founder and Director of the MenAlive, a health program that helps men live long and well. Though focused on men’s health, MenAlive is also for women who care about the health of the men in their lives. Since its inception in 1992, Jed has been on the Board of Advisors of the Men’s Health Network. He is also a member of the International Society for the Study of the Aging Male and serves as a member of the International Scientific Board of the World Congress on Gender and Men’s Health. He is the only male columnist writing for the National Association o

Today's podcast is about suicide and suicide prevention. I know it is a topic that is not light and entertaining, but very serious and necessary. Let me fill you in on where the idea for this podcast came from.I have a friend who lost her son to suicide many years ago. As a psychologist, and one who knew the youngster who committed suicide, his act was sudden and unpredictable. In response to the loss, my friend and her husband decided to devote much of energy to make sure this did not happen to others. They became involved in volunteering for the American Foundation For Suicide Prevention(AFSP). In support of my friends, and in an effort to get the message out to the public about suicide and suicide prevention, I have annually participated in the Out of the Darkness community walks. By the way, these walks happen all over the country. You can find out more about them by going to http://www.outofthedarkness.org or http://www.afsp.org.As I was at the most recent walk and I heard Dale Camhi, who is also a fri

Today's podcast is a quick review of an article I found in Time Magazine- October 4, 2010. The article points out the findings of several studies that suggest the fetal environment has a strong impact on the babies health and future. Mothers get blamed again!

Today's podcast is about a series of small experiments which show that tactile information does affect our decisions. Useful information to help assist people in making decisions in everyday life.

Brain plasticity has been in the news the past few years. Years ago we thought the brain was hardwired and incurable. Now, we know that the brain can be malleable and new brain cells can be created. Books like, “The Brain that Changes Itself”, by Dr. Norman Doidge and “Save Your Brain:The 5 Things You Must Do to Keep Your Mind Young and Sharp” , by Dr. Paul Nussbaum, have presented evidence to show how the brain can change after damage and how to enhance thinking skills. There are also websites that have information or mind games that are purported to help increase or maintain cognitive functioning. Although I do not endorse any of these sites, or can prove without a shadow of a doubt that these mental games will help, they are interesting. For a good resource site go to www.sharpbrains.com. For computer internet brain training programs check out: www.lumosity.com, www.cognifit.com, and www.positscience.com

Did you make more money in 2009 than in any other year of your life? I doubt it! In these financial times, most American’s would have to say, "No." Most companies had problems in 2009, and some large corporations and banks even had to be bailed out by the government. Well, in today’s podcast I present information from an article that came across my computer that shows how 4 out of the 5 major health insurance companies made more money in 2009 than the year before. The one company that did not make more money still profited quite nicely. It seems clear to me that these companies are not out to protect the public’s needs. They sell themselves as being there to help the public, but, in reality they are like any other company that is oriented toward making a profit for their stock holders and CEO’s. Regardless of your position on the question of universal health insurance in America, this information should make you question if health insurance companies need to be better regulated and whether these companies n

Today's podcast is a review of two studies that suggest women may be more likely to have a long-term relationship with guys who they find funny. It appears women rate funny guys as more intelligent than guys who are not so funny. And being funny may be seen as an attribute that makes the male a better catch.

Today I am happy to have Dr. Charles and Elizabeth Schmitz return as guests to THE SHRINK IS IN. If you have been a long time listener to my podcast you may recall that I spoke to the Schmitz’ last year about their book, “Golden Anniversaries”. The Schmitz' are America’s #1 Love and Marriage Experts and multiple award-winning authors, they have helped audiences around the world answer questions about love, marriage, and relationships. Their distinguished careers include over 65 awards, 350 books, articles and manuscripts, 1000 speeches, and frequent media appearances. With 26 years of research on relationships and successful marriage on six continents of the world and their own 43–year marriage, the Doctors know what makes relationships work. Today we are going to talk about their new book, “Building a Love That Lasts”, which provides more surprising insights on creating successful relationships. The new book reveals how to sustain a long-term loving marriage. In addition to exploring the seven key ingredient

We now have data with rats that shows how exercise creates new, calmer brain cells. I talk about the research and the implications for humans.

Today’s show is a follow up to a previous show on Seasonal Affective Disorder-SAD. Today, I review what to look out for when purchasing light boxes and two other treatments found to have some positive effects for patients with Seasonal Affective Disorder

Today, I give the listeners some research from Dr. B.R. Forer which may explain why we believe the generalized statements from Fortune Tellers, Horoscopes, and Tarot Card Readers.

Today’s podcast is really a redirection of my listeners to a video I found on Youtube. This video was a conversation between Matt Lauer, from The Today Show, Beth and Sammy Maloney. Sammy was a healthy fifth grader who developed OCD out of the blue. A subsequent diagnosis of PANDAS saved him from a life of torture. I was able to put the audio track on the podcast. The website address of the video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50bQtkfiHvs . You can also get information about the book Mrs. Maloney wrote about her experiences with Sammy at their website: http://www.savingsammy.net/. Check this out.

In this podcast I talk to Dr. Mark Anshel about why we do things every single day that we know are bad for us but keep doing them. Why is it so hard to stop and do the "right" thing? In addition, we explore Dr. Anshel’s intervention program called the “Disconnected Values Model”. Dr. Mark Anshel is a professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance, with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology, at Middle Tennessee State University. Dr. Anshel has been a professor of performance psychology, with specializations in sport and exercise psychology, and wellness program development for 29 years.He has authored 120 research articles in scholarly journals, with five currently under journal review. He has also authored 11 book chapters and he is the author several books, including Applied Exercise Psychology: A Practitioner’s Guide to Improving Client Health and Fitness (2006), Sport Psychology: From Theory to Practice (fourth ed., 2003), Concepts in Fitness: A Balanced Approach to G

Today, I follow up on an earlier podcast about exercise and mental health. In this new podcast, I talk with an expert in the field, Dr. Jack Raglin, and we further explore the benefits of exercise adherence issues and ways to stick to an exercise program. Jack Raglin, Ph.D. is currently a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Kinesiology, Indiana University-Bloomington. Jack is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association, the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. His research involves integrating the use of psychological and physiological variables to examine various issues in sport and exercise, including overtraining, pre-competition anxiety, performance, exercise behavior and adherence, and the relationship between exercise and mental health.

Today I talk with Paul Brewer who is an author and illustrator of children’s books, with a particular interest in humorous stories. His specialty has become joke books, as he has written three of them so far. He wrote and illustrated You Must Be Joking! and You Must Be Joking, Two! These joke books include tips for remembering and telling jokes, plus how to perform them like a stand-up comedian. He also illustrated the popular “Robert” series of chapter books, written by Barbara Seuling, with titles like Oh No, Its Robert, Robert Takes a Stand and Robert and the Happy Endings. His wife, Kathleen Krull, wrote two light-hearted picture books, Clip Clip Clip: Three Stories About Hair and How to Trick or Treat in Outer Space, that Paul illustrated. They also co-wrote a book called Fartiste, illustrated by Boris Kulikov. Paul and Kathleen just finished a book they co-wrote called Lincoln Tells a Joke: How Laughter Saved the President (and the Country). It is about our famous president and his great sense of

In today’s podcast, I present a problem that many of my patients have been troubled with, which has been labeled “The Fraud Concept”. I am not 100% sure if I came up with this label, or I heard of it many years ago,in either case, I have been using this label and description to help patients cope with their problems of believing that were frauds and that others would imminently find out that they were inadequate or incompetent. These patients always believed that they were somehow faking out others and that any day they would be uncovered as being a phony. I discuss the source of these erroneous beliefs, and why these patients are usually worried for nothing.

Todays podcast is a conversation between two therapists. I was contacted by Kirk Honda a therapist from Seattle who also produces his own vidcast called “Psychology In Seattle”(http://www.psychologyinseattle.com). Kirk has been a licensed therapist therapist in Seattle since 1996. He taught graduate-level psychology courses at Antioch for nine years. He also supervises therapists-in-training. Today we talk about therapy on the two different coasts, our practices and some specific questions Kirk has from his audience. Listen in and see what you think.

Today I talk about a research study that was undertaken starting in 1961 by Dr. Stanley Milgram which was designed try to ascertain what kind of people were capable of carrying out the atrocities during the Nazi regime and the Holocaust. Surprisingly, the study showed regular people could be coerced into doing terrible things. The research showed one does not have to have a pathological personality disorder to be inhuman to others. Studies similar to Dr. Milgram’s have not been initiated for many years due to ethical concerns. However, I came across a more recent study that has revealed similar findings. The findings and the implications are discussed.

Today’s podcast is a conversation with Dr. Karen Sherman on mindfulness and making choices in ones life. We discuss the reasons she wrote her new book called Mindfulness and the Art of Choice: Transform your Life. Dr. Sherman’s book offers the reader the tools to stop living a life that is burdened by old, repetitive feelings and patterns that keep people stuck and unhappy.Dr. Karen Sherman, a NYS licensed psychologist, who has been in private practice for over 20 years on Long Island. In addition to her private practice, Dr. Sherman has been taking her skills to groups and organizations with her Art of choice workshops and seminars. In Art of Choice workshops and lectures, Dr. Sherman helps people examine how they make choices, what motivates those choices, and whether those motivating factors are really, what the people themselves want. She also examines the conditions under which people sometimes accidentally give up their ability or right to choose.Dr. Sherman is also an expert in relationship counseling

Parenting issues come up in my practice everyday. I have been giving advice to parents for over 25 years. I came across a great resource for parents and today I talk to the author of one of the best parenting books I have seen in years, The A to Z Guide to Raising Happy, Confident Kids, Dr. Jenn Berman. Dr. Jenn Berman is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice in Beverly Hills and has been working in the field of psychology for more than 15 years. She has made appearances as a psychological expert on more than one hundred television shows including: The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, Intervention, 48 Hours, and The Tyra Banks Show. She has been heard on various different radio stations including on her call in advice show "On the Couch”. Her “Dr. Jenn” column, which is printed in Los Angeles Family Magazine and four other magazines, won the 2005 Parenting Publication of America silver medal in the area of Child Development and Parenting. She has been quoted as an expert in such pub