The Psych Central Podcast: Psychology Made Simple

When did you last step out of your comfort zone? And why would you want to anyway? Listen in as psychologist Lucia Giovannini shares easy, practical tips to help you emerge from your ‘safe’ space and reach for the stars. Lucia Giovannini is a former Italian supermodel-turned-transformational speaker and author of 13 books. Her newest book, A Whole New Life, has been translated into 8 languages, and is available in English from Post Hill Press, a Simon & Schuster imprint.

What makes someone an introvert? Is it just shyness? What is the difference between extroverts and introverts? How is the workplace skewed to favor extroverts? What can introverts do to make up for that imbalance? Learn all this and more – Listen Now! Chelsey Brooke is a professional counselor, published writer, blogger, Pathfinder Coach and internationally known figure helping introverted women live passionate and purposeful lives. Learn more about her at https://www.thepathfinderforyou.com/

Do you enjoy watching YouTube videos about mental health and psychology? But are you tired of wading through all the mindless fluff, meaningless new-age jargon and overly pedantic lectures? There is a better option out there – The Psych Show, created by Dr. Ali Mattu. Dr. Mattu is a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. Watch him on The Psych Show at https://www.YouTube.com/thepsychshow.

Schizophrenia does not just affect the person with schizophrenia, but their families, also. This episode of Inside Schizophrenia explores the family relationships impacted by schizophrenia, both immediate and extended. Two guests join us, Chrisa Hickey, who is the mother of an adult son with schizophrenia and Janel Star Withers, mother of host Rachel Star Withers. Janel shares her experiences with raising a schizophrenic daughter.

When death is approaching, you don’t have to welcome it, but you also don’t have to fight it. Learn how planning for your own (or a loved one’s) death doesn’t have to be an existential crisis, but can instead provide a degree of safety and comfort. Listen in as Dr. John Grohol explains that there is a degree of wisdom in realizing that everything must pass, and your time will come. John M. Grohol, Psy.D. is the founder and editor in chief of Psychcentral.com.

Today’s guest is Okpara Rice, CEO of Tanager Place, a mental health facility for children. Unlike adults, children are not in control of their own environment, and anything that affects a child will affect their families, and vice versa. So, what is the best way to help these kids? Okpara joined Tanager Place of Cedar Rapids, Iowa in July 2013, and became CEO in July 2015. Okpara is the first African American to hold executive office at Tanager Place in its more than 140-year history.

Police officers are often the first responders when someone is having a mental illness crisis.  But are members of law enforcement properly equipped for this job?  There are plenty of horrifying stories that would indicate that the answer is “no.” Join us as Gabe speaks with Officer Rebecca Skillern from the Huston, Texas, Police Department about how Houston is training its officers to respond to these difficult calls.   Learn more by visiting www.citinternational.org.

Do you remember the disturbing images from the Sandy Hook school shooting in December 2012 after a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 first-grade children?  It was traumatic for all of us, but what was it like to live there?  Today’s guest worked for 20 months on the Newtown Recovery and Resiliency Team. Melissa Glaser is a licensed professional counselor and author of Healing a Community: Lessons for Recovery after a Large-Scale Trauma. You can visit her web site at MelissaGlaser.com.

Dr. Russell Morfitt explains the differences between stress, worry, and anxiety. He tells us how using the techniques of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be life changing. Listen to learn how you can free yourself from the burdens of anxiety. Dr. Morfitt is the co-founder of and the Chief Psychology Officer of LearntoLive.com. He has been helping people live better lives for more than 20 years and uses that experience to infuse each program with his natural compassion and CBT research

In this episode of Inside Schizophrenia our hosts tackle the topic of early onset – or childhood – schizophrenia. Host Rachel Star discusses her personal experiences with symptoms as an adolescent and Dr. Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich from Harvard Medical School discusses some of the latest research. Listen in now! Bonus Content - Visit Psychcentral.com/IS to learn more about the Inside Schizophrenia Podcast.

One of the most dangerous misconceptions about suicide is that asking a loved one if they are suicidal will increase the odds that they will attempt suicide. Today Dr. Nate Ivers of Wake Forest University discusses the importance of making “the covert overt” by asking blunt, straightforward questions of those you suspect may be thinking about suicide. Dr. Nathaniel Ivers is the department chairman and an associate professor in the Department of Counseling at Wake Forest University.

How does on-line counseling work for teens and adolescents?  Are there a lot of differences between the experiences of teens and adults?  How are parents involved?  What are the safeguards in place?  How does payment work?  Listen in to see what online therapy for teenagers is all about. Haesue Jo, MA, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with years of experience providing individual and family therapy. She is the community lead for our sponsor, betterhelp.com.

In 2011, Jennifer Marshall started chronicling her challenges of living with mental illness while raising two young children. This became the very beginning of ‘This Is My Brave’ – a nonprofit with the mission of bringing stories of mental illness and addiction out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Jennifer is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of This Is My Brave, a mental health storytelling nonprofit. You can find her online at BipolarMomLife.com and www.ThisismyBrave.org.

When Pauline Dakin was 10 years old, her mother took the family into hiding to escape imminent danger. At first accepting of this explanation, Pauline’s doubts increased as she grew older until she could no longer deny the truth: that there was no danger and the entire story was false. Listen now to hear this fascinating, true story.

Bonus Content from the Inside Schizophrenia podcast from the PsychCentral.com website. An in-depth look at violence and its relation to schizophrenia. Is violence a symptom of schizophrenia? Do mass attackers always have schizophrenia? Are schizophrenics dangerous?