Beyond Well With Sheila Hamilton

Ivan Maisel is well-known as one of the country's experts on college football. But the terrain of grief was something he'd never explored in-depth until the suicide of his son, Max. Maisel's memoir, 'I Keep Trying to Catch His Eye', gives voice to the hundreds and thousands of families who have lost someone to suicide and explores in intimate detail the journey one takes in order to accept grieving as an act of love. 

Emotional Intelligence refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions. While emotional intelligence can be learned and strengthened, those who possess the inborn characteristics of EI have more meaningful relationships, excel in most work situations, and report easier times managing the complexities of work/life balance. How do you learn to understand, interpret and respond to the emotions of others if you lack emotional intelligence? Dr. Jim Polo weighs in.

Post-traumatic growth describes the positive psychological change experienced due to struggling with highly challenging, highly stressful life circumstances. Many people who have gone through traumatic experiences relate how the experience deepened their beliefs, relationships, or spiritual understanding. Dr. Jim Polo talks about whether post-traumatic growth is possible during the pandemic and what we can do to be open to the possibility.

During the course of researching, producing, and reporting on this series, Sheila Hamilton's nephew died, presumably of an overdose.  Dr. Jim Polo talks about the complicated grief created by the death of an addict.

How do you begin to get help for a person who is addicted to a substance? Where do you turn for evidence-based, trauma-informed care? Fora Health's Kevin Mahon and Nerissa Heller detail the steps involved in in-patient, outpatient, and remote treatment, along with the pathways to coverage. 

The pandemic has been difficult for people in recovery. There has been a thirty percent increase in deaths by opioids and a sharp uptick in the number of people who are using substances to cope with the isolation, pain, and loneliness of quarantine. Dr. Amit Shah talks about the public response to the epidemic and why one person who believes in the person's recovery can make a difference.

Dr. Eowyn Rieke is a primary care physician who saw how the opioid epidemic was overshadowing any kind of preventative care she could offer her patients. She specializes in the treatment of addiction and offers her patients medications to help treat the addictions. In this episode, Dr. Rieke breaks down addictions by substance and details the evidence for using medications to help treat various addictions.

Dr. Paul Conti is a board-certified Psychiatrist and the Author of Trauma: the Invisible Epidemic. Imagine, if you will, a disease―one that has only subtle outward symptoms but can hijack your entire body without notice, one that transfers easily between parent and child, one that can last a lifetime if untreated. According to Dr. Paul Conti, this is exactly how society should conceptualize trauma: as an out-of-control epidemic with a potentially fatal prognosis. Dr. Conti discusses the role of trauma in addiction and substance use.

Kelly Williams Brown is the NYTimes bestselling author of Adulting, a charismatic and charming redhead whose manners and signature dresses evoke another kinder century when people's manners were still intact. Kelly is also a person who attempted suicide after the worst 700 days of her life. We can be polar opposite things, whipsmart and suicidal, not doing well and extremely talented, hopeful, and perseverating around all of our failures. Kelly talks openly about how the wrong medicine and a string of failures led her to the very worst thing and how folding small stars into tiny shapes (and other crafts) saved her life. 

Actor, Director, and Author Rose McGowan is synonymous with the Me Too Movement and a global awakening regarding the insidious nature of sexual harassment in film, corporate America, and politics. She was awarded Time Magazine's Person of the Year for speaking out about sexual assault and the ways in which Harvey Weinstein intimidated, coerced, and tracked his victims.  McGowan is the NYTimes bestselling author of the memoir, Brave, and has turned her attention and energy toward cultural resets and personal well-being. 

The opioid crisis represents one of the greatest national public health emergencies of our time, ravaging communities throughout this country for decades. And unlike COVID, there is no vaccine on the way; there will never be a “silver bullet” for this intricate problem. But SafeRx has developed a solution to a previously unaddressed dimension of the crisis that is responsible for thousands of fatal prescription overdoses every year…the combination of opioids with alcohol. The opioid crisis is fueled by alcohol.  We talk with Neurologist Dr. Michael Presti about a breakthrough medicine designed to prevent the overdose epidemic.    

Part two of our conversation with Dr. Dre Irazarry Md, and Cristina Olivette Spencer, a trans family coach, author, and consultant. 

Simone Biles was expected to be the talk of the 2021 Olympics because of her history of dominance in women's gymnastics. Instead, she became the talk of the world by drawing a line when it came to her willingness to perform at less than peak mental capacity. Dr. Jim Polo, "It was a no heard around the world."

Think your child might be trans? Cristina Olivetti Spencer and Dr. Dre Irizarry, MD provide a compassionate, realistic view of what's ahead for parents of self-Identifying trans youth. The number of young people seeking clinical services appears to be growing as well. A major clinic in the United Kingdom saw a more than 300 percent increase in referrals over the past three years. In the U.S., where youth gender clinics are somewhat newer—40 or so are scattered across the country—solid numbers are harder to come by. Anecdotally, though, clinicians are reporting large upticks in new referrals, and waiting lists can stretch to five months or longer.

To millions of readers around the world, Dr. Wayne Dyer was the beloved “Father of Motivation”―but to Serena Dyer and her seven siblings, he was simply “Dad.” When he died suddenly in 2015, the family was blindsided by grief and felt unprepared to navigate life’s challenges and conflicts without his guidance. The experience launched Serena and her sister Saje on an adventure from loss to understanding as they came to realize and metabolize their father’s teachings with a new urgency, intimacy, and power as they applied them to their lives. As their journey unfolded, they realized their father’s wisdom―“The Knowing”―was embedded in their DNA … as it is for all of us.

Jodi wrote Beyond Well, describing her transition back to work as a missile re-entering the atmosphere too quickly. Many of us have the feeling that we are not quite ready to re-emerge after a year or more of quarantine. Dr. Jim Polo provides guidance and empathy for those who are not quite ready for the new normal.

In his thirty years as a special operations officer, Dan Schilling  learned multiple skills to keep himself and his crew alive in the most dangerous situations. Now, Schilling shares these secrets with  you and those you love. 

Dr. Jim Polo talks about the impulses and implications of jealousy, an emotion that is primarily driven by low self-esteem and a lack of self-worth. How do we work with this emotion if it is giving us vital information about our lives? Listen in.

Dr. Jim Polo takes us beyond the stereotypes of the sterile offices and fainting couches to what really goes on in therapy, from the client's perspective and the perspective of the psychiatrist.

Dr. Jim Polo talks about data regarding the thoughts and views of people who are vaccine resistant as well as effective ways that we can have the conversation about our own choice to vaccinate.