Myndtalk With Dr. Pamela Brewer

Join Dr.Brewer and her guest, author, Misti B. Most people in the throes of codependency's problematic behaviors typically don't see their plight as a laughing matter. And yet, judging by the peals of laughter often heard coming out of Twelve Step meeting rooms, many eventually do find the humor in their self-defeating thoughts and actions. If You Leave Me, Can I Come with You? is full of refreshingly original meditations for each day of the year.Infusing her wisdom with self-revealing honesty and humor, Misti B. provides healin insight with a lighthearted touch into the common struggles that codependents and those in Al-Anon frequently face. Issues such as people pleasing, lack of boundaries, and perfectionism don't have to overwhelm us if we work a solid Twelve Step program and learn not to take ourselves so seriously. Misti B. shows how to do both, delivering the right mix of support, inspiration, and healthy irreverence.

Navigating Grace Transitions Tuesday brings you a visit from Jeff Jay author of Navigating Grace. "Jeff Jay's life was full of tragedy: his Marriage had ended, his father had passed away, his brother had committed suicide, and Jeff's own alcoholism had taken him to the edge of death. In his desire for a fresh start, Jeff set out on a solo adventure by sea on an old sloop named Lifeboat. It ultimately became a journey of personal transformation. He cast off in Annapolis, Maryland with an eye toward the Caribbean. Finally able to breathe, Jeff relaxed into his first day sailing the Atlantic when a dark winter storm descended, tossing him into a week-long fight for survival on the open sea. As he faced the realization that only divine intervention could deliver him from certain death, Jeff desperately called on the deity that had intervened in the darkest hours of his addiction years earlier. An intensely personal testimony to calling on the power of grace in our darkest hours, Jeff's tells a powerful story of

Cedric Hendricks - A Social Justice Advocate. Meet a man who wears many hats - all with a passion and determination that has spanned his years as an advocate for social justice via the media, the penal system, the political arena and more.  

Healthy Weight, Healthy You! Achieving your ideal weight by exploring the mind body connection to weight loss provides a well-rounded, holistic approach to achieving your weight loss goals. Dr. Brewer talks with traditional healing practitioner, Charlene Marie Muhammad, who has been embracing the spirit of natural living for over 25 years.  Her book explores how your feelings, thoughts, actions and environmental factors influence eating behaviors and how you can develop strategies to break old habits.

The Family Approach to Addiction Recovery While most alcoholics and addicts coming out of treatment have a recovery plan, families are often left to figure things out for themselves. In It Takes a Family, Debra Jay takes a fresh approach to the recovery process by making family members and friends part of the recovery team, beginning in the early stages of sobriety.??In straightforward, compassionate language, she outlines a structured model that shows family members both how to take personal responsibility and to build a circle of support to meet the obstacles common to the first year of recovery. Together, family members address the challenges of enabling, denial, and pain while developing their communication skills through practical, easy-to-follow strategies and exercises designed to create transparency and accountability. With this invaluable guide, family members work together as they reinvent their relationships without the all-consuming dysfunction of active addiction

Women After All by Dr. Melvin Konner ...has been described as "what future historians will surely recognize as one of the momentous transformations in the human saga: the decline of men’s political dominance, and with it many deplorable practices and belief systems. Engagingly written and persuasively argued, it shows how an acknowledgment of human nature combined with a long view of history can advance the human condition. (Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University) 

HIGH! Jodie Gould talks about safe and sober ways to reduce stress. A must listen for anyone who has struggled with negative excesses as a way to manage life and wants to walk a healthier path.   

Living In His Truth Anas "Andy" Shallal is an entrepreneur, an artist, a social activist, a husband, a father but perhaps most of all, a man who lives true to himself.  Learn from the creator of the renowned 'Busboys & Poets' about his beginnings and the man he is today.    

Conflict expert, Dana Caspersen, author of  Changing the Conversation discusses real-life examples, spot-on advice, and easy-to-grasp exercises that demonstrate transformative ways to break out of destructive patterns, to create useful dialogue in difficult situations, and to find long-lasting solutions for conflicts. You will find yourself wanting to listen to this conversation over and over again!

  Good Is Not Enough Dr. Brewer talks with Keith R. Wyche, author of Good Is NOT Enough - And Other Unwritten Rules For Minority Professionals. In recent decades, corporate America has gotten better at recruiting minority talent. But despite their education and hard work, too many African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans still find unique obstacles on the path to senior management. And there are too few minority mentors available to help them understand and overcome these challenges. Keith R. Wyche, a division president at a Fortune 500 company, is the perfect mentor for ambitious minority businesspeople at all levels. His book is filled with thought-provoking insights and practical advice based on his own experiences and those of the many people he has counseled.  Keith R. Wyche, a division president at a Fortune 500 company, is the perfect mentor for ambitious minority businesspeople at all levels. His book is filled with thought-provoking insights and practical advice based on his own experienc

Choosing to Live When Jerry D. Campbell met his co-worker Veta, there was a policy that forbade employees from dating each other. Of course, they broke it - and ended up being sweethearts for forty-seven years. But when Veta died, she left behind a husband devastated by grief. By forcing himself to work through it, he was able to deal with his loss while still enjoying life. Jerry talks about his development of a grief calendar, how to maintain a positive attitude as you work through new challenges and much more.  

Beale Street   Following the Civil War, Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, thrived as a cauldron of sex and song, violence and passion. But out of this turmoil emerged a center of black progress, optimism, and cultural ferment. Preston Lauterbach tells this vivid, fascinating story through the multigenerational saga of a family whose ambition, race pride, and moral complexity indelibly shaped the city that would loom so large in American life. Robert Church, who would become “the South’s first black millionaire,” was a mulatto slave owned by his white father. Having survived a deadly race riot in 1866, Church constructed an empire of vice in the booming river town. He made a fortune with saloons, gambling, and shockingly white prostitution. But he also nurtured the militant journalism of Ida B. Wells and helped revolutionize American music through the work of composer W.C. Handy, the man who claimed to have invented the blues. In the face of Jim Crow, the Church fortune helped fashion the most powerful

Rock The Boat  Conflict is a natural part of any intimate relationship. Yet most couples either avoid it or try to smooth over their differences. This results in at least one partner compromising their integrity—and stunting their own growth. Gritty, often irreverent, and always practical, author Resmaa Manakem of Rock the Boat challenges couples not to flee from conflicts, because the emotional stalemate that conflicts produce creates an opportunity for profound transformation. This transformation affirms each partner’s individuality while forging a more mature intimacy, a greater trust, and a deeper bond. Rock the Boat challenges the idea that conflict between partners is unhealthy or something to avoid. Instead, it encourages both people to stand by what they need and who they are—but to do so with compassion rather than competitiveness or vengefulness. This is the purpose of an intimate relationship: to create an atmosphere where both people learn to grow up and mature in their relationship by appreciat

Smoking Cigarettes and Eating Glass Annita Sawyer joins Dr. Brewer to tell her memoir - a harrowing, heroic, and redeeming story of her battle with mental illness, and her triumph in overcoming it. In 1960, as a suicidal teenager, Sawyer was institutionalized, misdiagnosed, and suffered through 89 electroshock treatments before being transfered, labeled as “unimproved.” The damage done has haunted her life. Discharged in 1966, after finally receiving proper psychiatric care, Sawyer kept her past secret and moved on to graduate from Yale University, raise two children, and become a respected psychotherapist. ... It is an informative story about understanding PTSD and making emotional sense of events that can lead a soul to darkness. Most of all, it’s a story of perseverance: pain, acceptance, healing, hope, and success. Hers is a unique voice for this generation, shedding light on an often misunderstood illness."

"Wornell, a geriatric neuropsychiatrist who has treated over 20,000 elders in the past ten years, estimates that 75 percent of people with dementia and their care partners are affected by challenges related to sexual needs and behavior. Problems range from loss of intimacy and emotional connection to hyper-sexuality and inappropriate behaviors. Care partners often hesitate to share their concerns with their loved one’s doctor or with a caregiver support group. Family members caring for a person with dementia at home often put up with disturbing behavior for a long time because they don’t know that anything can be done about it. By sharing the personal stories of real families, Wornell shows how a wide range of challenging behaviors can be addressed successfully. As Wornell points out, popular books about dementia usually “leap past” the sensitive subject of sexuality “as though it doesn’t exist.” Rarely is sex acknowledged as a natural part of a person’s sense of self, or is physical intimacy discussed as a

Warrior: The Bipolar Battle Join Dr. Brewer for a look, with author K.S. Ram, at his life and his triumph..."All my life I had been known for my mind, and now the only thing I trusted was going out of control." 'That was the situation that confronted me when I was initially diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. Seven years of medication, rehab and therapy had got me stable and functioning again. And then ... the illness came back.

Alzheimer's Jody Gastfriend, VP of Senior Care Services for Care.com - http://care.com/, with more than 25 years of experience in the industry and the personal experience of caring for a family member with dementia discusses the signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, steps to take if you suspect a loved one is showing symptoms and the intricacies of caring for someone with the condition and ways to create a healthy environment for all involved--including the caregiver.

Learn to Love In The Grown Zone!   "No one is required to accept mistreatment as the price of a loving, safe, and sustainable relationship of honor, esteem, and respect. Furthermore, establishing such healthy, resilient, and fulfilling relationships are not a matter of luck or chance, but of intention, learnable skills and practices, and commitment to personal growth. Loving in the Grown Zone urges you to learn those skills and commit to those practices, including recognizing the difference between the attractors that motivate us to initiate romantic relationships and the sustainers required to ensure that such relationships are healthy, safe, and affirming for both partners." Alfred A Edmond Jr. stands in for his colleague Zara D. Green as he discusses their book and shares their guidance

Is This Seat Taken ...there is not a single person who at least once in his or her life has not faced an unexpected situation, a newfound reality, a daunting challenge, or veiled opportunity and not wondered what to do. You may feel that you have made poor choices, that your opportunities have passed you by, or that you’re playing musical chairs, the music has stopped, and all the seats are taken. This conversation is for those individuals  who have come to a fork in the road, chosen a path, and found themselves twenty to thirty (or more) years later in a destination they didn’t quite recognize." Kristin Kaufman is the guest for this hour. 

Academia Meets Activism  Dr. Brewer is joined by Prof. Kalfani Ture, an archeologist and criminologist who shares his research, his wisdom and his passion about the history and the state of African-American's in  America.  Prof. Ture asks and answers a critical question:" ... How do we reverse our splintered nation - one black, one white, separate, hostile and unequal? How might the government intervene to make our society more inclusive?"