Therapist Uncensored Podcast

  IN THIS EPISODE: The Neuroscience Of Psychotherapy: An Interview With Louis Cozolino You may also be interest to hear an updated interview with Lou Cozolino Neurofluency    Show Notes Patty Olwell and Louis Cozolino have a wide-ranging discussion of interpersonal neurobiology and how it explains why good therapy works. They also use this lens to talk about why good teachers are effective. Finally, they touch on Cozolino’s current work around executive function and it’s importance in being a good manager. Why Psychotherapy Works Cozolino discusses how he views psychotherapy as a learning context where the therapist is trying to stimulate learning and change in the client. Neuroscience focuses on brain plasticity and what stimulates learning and change in the brain. As he studied both these interests he was struck by the realization that “psychotherapy had been guided by the invisible hand of neroplastic principles from the beginning”.These are just two different lenses to look at the same process. Common Factors He outlined four common factors that are necessary to foster neuroplasticity and effective therapy. * Establishing a safe relationship – learning and change can only take place in safety. * Mild to moderate stress – some stress fosters plasticity but beyond a certain threshold the brain systems that control change and learning shut down. * Activation of thinking and feeling – you can’t think your way through therapy nor can you feel your way through therapy. He posits that integrating neural systems that are dedicated to the left side (biased toward cognition) and right side (biased toward emotion) of the brain is underlying the effectiveness of psychotherapy. * Creating a new adaptive personal story – effective therapy creates a story that includes an explaination of what went wrong and an explanation of what you have to do to correct it and move toward health. Cozolino says the stories contain a memory for the future.   RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Louis Cozolino:The Neuroscience of Psychotherapy: Healing the Social Brain (Third Edition) (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) 2017 Louis Cozolino: The Neuroscience of Human Relationships: Attachment and the Developing Social Brain (Second Edition) (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) 2014 Louis Cozolino: Attachment-Based Teaching: Creating a Tribal Classroom (The Norton Series on the Social Neuroscience of Education) 2014 Louis Cozolino: Why Therapy Works: Using Our Minds to Change Our Brains (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology) 2015 Louis Cozolino: The Social Neuroscience of Education: Optimizing Attachment and Learning in the Classroom (The Norton Series on the Social Neuroscience of Education) 2013 These and other resources have been collected for you on our Resources page!   Tweet

IN THIS EPISODE: Show Notes Sexuality From A Neurobiological Perspective In this episode, our guest is Dr. Alexandra Katehakis, Ph.D., LMFT, who is the Founder and Clinical Director of the Center for Healthy Sex in Los Angeles, California and author of Sex Addiction As Affect Dysregulation: A Neurobiologically Informed Holistic Treatment, co-author of the multiple award-winning Mirror of Intimacy: Daily Reflections on Emotional and Erotic Intelligence, contributing author to Making Advances: A Comprehensive Guide for Treating Female Sex and Love Addicts, and author of Erotic Intelligence: Igniting Hot Healthy Sex While in Recovery From Sex Addiction. Dr. Katehakis’ and Dr. Kelley engage in a sex-positive discussion on how neurobiology, affect regulation and sexuality intersect and impact our ability to express ourselves fully throughout our lives. This podcast answers such questions as: * How do we engage our kids in a positive, non-shaming way about their developing sexuality? * How can the experience of shame around sexual experiences at an early age lead to sexual compulsivity? * How do you talk with our sexual partner/s about needs, desires, fears and wants in order to have sexual lives rich with vitality and excitement? * How do psychoneurobiology, sex and trauma relate to one another? * How can people restore their sexuality to something that’s true and beautiful for them? * How has the availability of internet pornography shaped our culture, our brains and our sexual expression? * How does one recognize and treat the signs of sexual compulsivity and sex addiction? Sexual addiction is addressed as a non-shaming and hopeful conceptualization that promotes successful treatment and secure relating.   RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Affect Dysregulation and Disorders of the Self Alan Schore * Facing Recovery, Starting Relational and Sexual Recovery Patrick Carnes * Brainstorm the Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain Dan Siegel * Center for Healthy Sex Dr. Alexandra Katehakis * Excellent PDF by Dr. Alexandra Katehakis shared with permission. *  These and other resources have been collected for you on our Resources page!   Tweet

Guest Dr. David Elliott presents the Three Pillars of treatment for attachment disruptions.   Besides background on why attachment matters and the prevalence of insecurity, we focus mostly on how to apply the science in trying to heal relational attachment injuries for our clients, or ourselves.

IN THIS EPISODE: Adverse Childhood Experiences: A Roadmap To Understanding And Treatment Show Notes Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES) ACES was a ground breaking study where over 17,000 members of a Kaiser Permanente HMO were surveyed about childhood exposure to trauma. They were asked about ten areas: * Physical abuse * Sexual abuse * Emotional abuse * Physical neglect * Emotional neglect * Mother treated violently * Household substance abuse * Household mental illness * Parental separation or divorce * Incarcerated household member Findings The study found that Adverse Childhood Experiences were common. They tended to occur together.  And finally the higher the number of them an individual was exposed to the more predictive they were of future health, social and behavioral problems. Subsequent studies have confirmed these findings and continue to expand our understanding of the prevalence of exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences across different populations and geography. Intervention The strong links to future health, social and behavioral problems has called attention to the need for interventions to prevent Adverse Childhood Experiences and to treat individuals that already have an exposure to them. Interventions are being implemented in education, criminal justice, social services and many other areas. Some pediatricians are screening mothers and kids to identify risks and vulnerabilities or to understand behavior problems. Many schools focus on creating trauma-focused classrooms that help kids calm their nervous systems in order to allow them to focus on learning. Conclusion These exposures can become signposts or “witness marks” to point us toward where attention and treatment are needed to reduce future risks     RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * ACES: Adverse Childhood Experiences Study * Once you have your ACES Score, go here to understand what it means. * Now that you’ve taken the ACE Survey, take the resilience survey here! * Childhood Disrupted – How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology and How You Can Heal * Check out this interactive graphic, Consequences of Lifetime Exposure to Violence COLEVA — Consequences of lifetime exposure to violence and abuse. Go there to learn more and see more references to the detailed original research. * These and other resources have been collected for you on our Resources page!   Tweet

IN THIS EPISODE: Mentalizing: Breaking Down a Critical Component for Secure Relating with Tina Adkins, Phd Show Notes Mentalizing seems easy – but actually is quite complex. Thinking accurately about our own and others minds is such a core skill that many consider it a pre-condition for self-soothing, empathy and other facets of emotional intelligence and social-emotional maturity. It is also something that one can learn at any time in life, so it’s never too late to improve in this capacity for yourself or your children! Mentalizing and Attachment Of course this is directly related to attachment styles, which is part of our interest. The coolest thing is that you don’t have to have even earned security to learn to do it and interrupt the unintended transmission of insecure relating! We used to think you had to have years of intensive psychotherapy or a long-term secure relationship to convert to earned secure in order to naturally parent in a way that doesn’t transmit the insecure internal working models to our kids. Now we know that with short-term cognitive interventions we can teach this particular skill and that alone improves the attachment security outcome for children of high risk parents. This is exciting! When early caregivers are unable to reflect on their children’s state of mind, these kids do not receive the active and ongoing feedback they require to develop this important capacity. This is big, because without this skill they do not learn how to understand their own thoughts, feelings, and motivations; nor the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of others. Mentalization is what enables us to develop a sense of identity and the capacity to understand both our own feelings and motivations; and those of others. Keeping Your Own and Others’ Minds in Mind Dan Siegel calls it Mindsight, it’s also been called Reflective Function and Metacognition, but it all basically refers to being able to accurately see your own mind as it works – body, feelings, thoughts, and other people’s minds as they are whirling away, to infer the attitudes, motivations, affect and feeling behind the thinking. The better we are at mentalizing the more securely we relate. Dr. Adkins breaks down the concept and skills required, it’s simple but not as easy as it seems. Her work in the foster care system is truly revolutionary, but these skills can be applied to adoption, children in general, and adults wanting to improve on their feelings of insecurity in the world. Biography Tina Adkins, PhD, is a Research Associate at the University of Texas at Austin, School of Social Work. She completed her PhD in Theoretical Psychoanalysis under the direction of Peter Fonagy and Patrick Luyten at University College London and the Anna Freud Center, specializing in attachment based interventions for foster/adopted children and their families. Her work in London resulted in a promising psychoeducational intervention for foster/adoptive parents designed to increase their mentalizing skills. Her research and clinical work continue to focus on the development and assessment of mentalization in parents and families.   RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Tina Adkins: : Family Minds An Attachment-based Mentalizing Psycho-Educational Intervention for Foster and Adoptive Parents * Tina Adkins: Why being reflective is so important for foster and adopted children * Peter Fonagy (2015):  Affect Regulation Mentalization ...

IN THIS EPISODE: Attachment on a Spectrum: Navigating Adult Insecurity and Security It’s been awhile since we’ve talked specifically about attachment.  In this episode we are going to discuss it again more from a clinical perspective rather than from a research perspective. We are focusing on research updated within the past decade including Patricia Crittendon (see graph). We are examining attachment on a spectrum rather than fixed styles. It may not sound a whole lot different on the surface; however, this is an real update from Bowlby, Main and Ainsworth.  This conversation sets us up to do more clinical intervention that we will discuss in later episodes. Attachment is a biologically based drive that helps mammals survive by gaining safety, comfort and pleasure from their caregivers. Cultures can greatly impact the type of attachment that is normalized. No matter where you start, you can grow towards attachment security, what we call “earned security.” We may anchor more in one area, but move in the continuum depending on situation/relationship. Previous assessment measures such as the AAI scored speakers that switched styles as disorganized, but the newer clinical research such as the DMM allows speakers to switch styles due to having different attachments to different caregivers, to use different working models based on different stressors (low stress low preoccupation, high stress, high dismissiveness for example), or be specifically driven. In other words, they aren’t necessarily disorganized at all. Regardless of where you begin, the work is to move more and more toward the middle toward secure relating. Rather than utility…let me fix your emotions…it is better to help the individual feel it, express it and utilize relationships to help regulate themselves. We outline the continuum… From Dismissive (blue) to Secure (green) to Preoccupied (red) (See graph above). The more in the middle, the healthier use of the relationships, at either end of continuum, we get further and further away from what is going to help us, especially relationships. Attachment On A Spectrum Blue-this side emphasizes thinking/uses emotional shut down Green – balances between cognition and affect Red…this side emphasizes emotions! Lots of words! When we lean too far right on the preoccupied side, we get caught in the feeling! Get flooded, and lose our listener, not enough internal resources to soothe self AND reach for the other.. As we are reaching, we are panicked because we don’t believe they will be there AND we don’t believe we can survive if they aren’t! It’s an emotional conundrum. Then we engage in behaviors that end up overwhelming those in relationship with us. Thus they pull away and confirm the reality that no one will be there. When we lean too far left, on the avoidant/dismissive side, we get too rational and sort of cold, and our task is to get our hearts back on-line, and to feel our needs again. When we lean too far on the right side, we get consumed with our own feelings and become blamey, clingy and underestimate our contribution to the problem. It’s best to take ourselves most seriously by reconnecting to the person we are interested in being comforted by, try on their perspective, and cool our jets a bit so we can be more effective in communicating. We can unintentionally scare the one’s we love the most away. There is a lot more to it but this is a good start, stay tuned for more. RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Patricia Crittendon and Andrea Landini: Assessing Adult Attachment A Dynamic-Maturational Approach to Discourse Analysis (2011) Book that updates the previous attachment literature specific to clinical populations.

IN THIS EPISODE: The Stages of Change: A Roadmap to Readiness Show Notes Figure out where you are in the change cycle to be more efficient at stopping your drinking, weed smoking or over-eating. Be more effective with others by identifying where they are in the change cycle. In this episode we talk about an old addictions concept, the Stages of Change by DiClemente and Prochaska, and apply it to many trouble spots in life. Stages of change model starts with Precontemplation and moves to Contemplation, Preparation, Action, Maintenance, Relapse….The idea here is recognize that a whole lot happens in the noggin well before you see any action to fix the problem behavior. We also discuss it from a 4-part perspective, which we call Process of Change Unconscious dysfunctional behavior – help the person have a reason to change, encourage exploration, leave door open for future conversations, don’t be controlling or aggressive here, talk about your needs not theirs Conscious dysfunctional behavior – ambivalent feelings usually present, help sort out pros and cons but don’t take just one side, encourage further exploration Conscious functional behavior – lot’s of support, no shame with failure, identify and assist problem solving of obstacles, small steps good, link with social support Unconscious functional behavior – keep practicing and it’ll move here, continue to get support and connect to values, cope w/ relapse, move from external motivation to internal   RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Process of Change: PDF visual representation of Process of Change * Prochaska JO, DiClemente CC, Norcross JC: In search of how people change. Am Psychol 1992;47:1102–4, * Miller WR, Rollnick S: Motivational interviewing: preparing people to change addictive behavior. New York: Guilford, 1991:191–202. * Gabor Mate: In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts nothing glib or self-helpish about this book, thorough and compelling look at addiction throughout our society. Recommended by TU. * Maia Szalavitz: Unbroken Brain, A Revolutionary New Way of Understanding Addiction New York Times best-seller, paradigm-shifting * These and other resources have been collected for you on our Resources page!   Tweet

IN THIS EPISODE: Understanding Adolescent Self-Consciousness From A Brain-Wise Perspective Show Notes Listening to a teenager obsess about the pimple on their cheek or other body part that doesn’t look right and that in their mind is glowing neon can be hard to empathize with. The extreme level of adolescent self-consciousness seems oddly self-absorbed from an adult vantage point. In this episode, we discuss the science behind what makes this experience so universal for this developmental age period. We will also help distinguish between what types of adolescent self-consciousness to expect and which types to keep an eye on if a bit too excessive. Finally, we give the listeners concrete recommendations on how to help parents and adolescents cope with this period in their lives, especially when you become the subject of their embarrassment. RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Leah H. Somerville, Rebecca M. Jones, Erika J. Ruberry, Jonathan P. Dyke, Gary Glover, and BJ Casey: Medial prefrontal cortex and the emergence of self-conscious emotion in adolescence. Sage Journals, Vol. 24 Issue 8 2013 * Julie C. Bowker and Kenneth H. Rubin:Self-consciousness, friendship quality, and adolescent internalizing problems. Br J Dev Psychol. 2009 Jun; 27(0 2): 249–267. * Dan Siegel: Brainstorm:Brainstorm: The Power and Purpose of the Teenage Brain * These and other resources have been collected for you on our Resources page!   Tweet

  IN THIS EPISODE: Minding Anxiety: How To Reduce Noise In The System Our Survival Brain Our brains evolved to be alert for threats. It was valuable to be scanning our environment for predators, planning escape routes and rehearsing contingencies when we were living on the savannah. Today rather than facing being eaten by a predator, our stressors are more likely to be a conflict with our spouse, a difficult boss, financial worries. But our brain reacts the same way it did when faced with a saber toothed tiger. Our emotions and nervous system are hijacked by our brain into survival mode. But because there isn’t a discrete threat, we can be caught in a continuous cycle of  anxiety and worry. Relief From Anxiety and Worry When we are worrying or anxious we are not present in our own lives. This can affect our health, our relationships and diminish our sense of wellbeing and ability to enjoy life. We outline a three part exercise to find relief from anxiety and worry. The first part of that exercise is to pause and identify what is the worry. Ask yourself what is the story you are telling yourself. When you are clear on the worry, move down into your body and try and feel what the emotions are connected to that story. Try to stay in your body and really feel those difficult feelings. Don’t go back into the story. When you are ready comfort yourself. Extend compassion to yourself. Co-hosts Sue and Patty offer personal examples of how to move through the process with stories from their experience.     RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Tara Brock – Finding True Refuge: Meditations for Difficult Times * Tara Brock– Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha * Kristen Neff– The Mindful Path to Self-Compassion: Freeing Yourself from Destructive Thoughts and Emotions * Jon Kabat-Zinn– Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness * These and other resources have been collected for you on our Resources page!   Tweet

IN THIS EPISODE: Raising Secure Children with Guest Tina Payne Bryson In this episode co-host Sue Marriott interviews attachment expert Tina Payne Bryson about the real challenges of staying attuned and connected while raising children. It’s a no-nonsense conversation that offers parents practical steps to increase the odds of raising secure kids. For child-free individuals it’s also a great conversation about what we needed but may not have gotten, so it’s a good listen for those needing to develop more self-empathy. We discuss how to stay curious, peel back the layers and recognize the behavior as communication.Tina Payne Bryson explains the problem with Time Out, and what to do instead. Then we discuss how to move out of reactive states of mind in order to be ready to teach (discipline) your child, and how to help your child be ready to receive (learn from) our highly valuable feedback.

IN THIS EPISODE: Live Conversation With Austin In Connection About Interpersonal Neurobiology Show Notes In this special episode, we take you deep in the heart of Austin TX where therapists gather to learn, study and practice the relational sciences and interpersonal neurobiology. Austin IN Connection is the largest organized gathering of local therapists studying and applying this research in the world. In today’s episode, co-hosts Patty Olwell Ann Kelley and Sue Marriott turn the mics around and let the world hear from these experienced clinicians and students, and share with them and all of you the most important and useful applied concepts of interpersonal neurobiology (IPNB). Personally we can say it was the most ambitious episode we’ve recorded to date, we are therapists first and podcasters second, and we are still within our first year of podcasting so we are still figuring things out. To record live, unscripted and to a highly respected and well-trained audience of friends and peers was… well, nerve-wracking to say the least. The first half we intentionally did not record, and shared conversation and sanctuary with this diverse community of therapists. We also shared some of the history of AINC in it’s 10th year of existence now and even how Year of Conversations came to have its name (Sue Marriott was co-founder of AINC and Patty Olwell former President, so it was nice to be back continuing the journey of getting the word out to the world about the importance and relevance of the relational sciences). Once we began recording we managed to cover our favorite useful concepts such as the window of tolerance, the triangle of well-being, neural integration, neural wi-fi, co-regulation, FACES flow, pre-frontal cortex functions and we even slipped in a mention of the 9 domains of integration. This was all explored in the context of cultural and familial strain post-election. We want to send a very special and specific thank you to everyone who attended the event, and a huge shout out to all those brave enough to speak up, you were speaking for the group and your words were inspirational. Thank you! This podcast was recorded live at Austin In Connection’s Friday February 3, 2017 Year of Conversation   RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Steven Vasquez (Austin therapist and participant in podcast): Spiritually Transformative Therapy: Repairing Spiritual Damage and Facilitating Extreme Well-being * Dan Siegel and Marion Solomon: Healing Trauma: Attachment Mind Body and Brain * Dan Siegel: The Developing Mind Dr. Dan Siegel’s core textbook on IPNB * Get Dan Siegel’s introduction chapter PDF from the Developing Mind by visiting our podcast Episode 16 * Austin In Connection an Austin, Tx professional organization that brings information about relationships, parenting, and psychological well being to our professional community and to the public *  These and other resources have been collected for you on our Resources page!   Tweet

IN THIS EPISODE: Ping-pong vs Catch: Turning Communication from Competition to Connection Show Notes Enhancing Communication Learn how playing a good game of emotional pitch and catch can immediately improve your communications.   Sometimes hearing the words “Can we talk?!?” can fill you with anticipation and dread. And once we feel a bit of threat, it does not bode well for how that “talk” could end up despite our best intentions. Strategy To Improve Communication In today’s episode, we explore why and how this response happens and share strategies to help make these interactions more fulfilling. By visualizing the difference in two sports, Ping Pong and Catch, we help listeners conceptualize the body’s response to different listening states and “feel” their way to more open and engaging interactions.   RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Krista Tippett – On Being, audio of tables turned and Krista being interviewed for a change. * Krista Tippett – Becoming Wise, An Inquiry Into the Mystery and Art of Living * Steven Bergman – Men’s Psychological Development, A Relational Perspective * Stephen Mitchell – Hope and Dread in Psychoanalysis * It’s Not About the Nail – Humorous free short communication video training for couples * These and other resources have been collected for you on our Resources page!   Tweet

Grief: a natural process to heal the violation of loss.  Candyce Ossefort-Russell and co-hosts Ann Kelley and Patty Olwell discuss what grief is, how our culture views it and how to understand and help ourselves and others navigate the healing journey through mourning and loss.  What Is Grief? Grief is the natural healing process that we experience when our emotions and bodies are confronted with loss of an important person, relationship or role. Loss disregulates our nervous system and our self organization. The podcast describes how destabilizing this can be and how different the process can look from individual to individual. Our Cultures View Of Grief Our culture looks at grief as something to be cured rather than a natural healing process that needs to occur. And our discomfort with grief can often leave the person suffering the loss feeling isolated and cut off from relationships that could help them recover from their loss. How Can We Help Someone Suffering From Loss? Candyce discusses how unwavering fearless support from at least one important person while journeying through the grief process can be invaluable. The acceptance of the individuals process rather than trying to fix them or pathologize the way they are grieving should be the priority. Thanks to our interviewee Candyce Ossefort-Russell! www.candycecounseling.com   To get Your Grief is Your Own, a free e-book by Candyce that follows up on this podcast, go to: bit.ly/griefdownload   RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Ossefort-Russell, C. (December, 2013). Grief Calls for Presence, Not Treatment: Using Attachment and IPNB to Shift Grief’s Context From Pathology to Acceptance. Journal ofInterpersonal Neurobiology Studies. Vol II, 2013. Journal of IPNB Studies, Vol II 2013 – Grief Article * Ossefort-Russell, C. (March, 2011). Individuals Grieve: AEDP as an Effective Approach for Grief as a Personal Process. In Transformance: The AEDP Journal, Issue 1(2). Transformance Article, Pub 03 2011 * Ossefort-Russell, C. (Spring, 2009). Working With Affect: Love (Mixed With Intuition) Is All You Need. In The Voice: Newsletter of the Austin Group Psychotherapy Society. Working With Affect 2009 * Ossefort, C. (Spring, 2003). On the Nature of Difficulty. In The Voice: Newsletter of the Austin Group Psychotherapy Society. Nature_of_Difficulty * Ossefort, C. (Spring, 2001). Bearing Witness to Inconsolable Suffering. In The Voice: Newsletter of the Austin Group Psychotherapy Society. Bearing_Witness *  These and other resources have been collected for you on our Resources page!  

IN THIS EPISODE: Building Grit Through Self Compassion with Dr Kristin Neff Show Notes Co-host Dr. Ann Kelley interviews Dr. Kristen Neff, an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a foremost author and expert in Self Compassion. Self compassion is fierce accountability that is core to psychological health… who knew?   Most of us think of it as being soft on yourself, but our guest will reveal the surprising power and science of self-compassion in this episode. Self Esteem vs Self Compassion This is not feel-good, la-la, therapy-talk, it’s real science. Learn the important distinction between these two concepts and how one can lead to psychological instability, self-criticism, stress, competition and difficulty within ourselves, our relationships and our culture. You really want to get this right and may be surprised! Treating yourself as your own best friend. Misperceptions of Self Compassion * It’s NOT a free pass, or being easy on yourself. * It can be “fierce” and “protective” and “motivating.” Science shows that the warmth and support of self-compassion promotes health and increases the chances of success in accomplishing goals, whereas negative self talk and kicking one’s own butt doesn’t work because it creates a system of threat and self-sabotage. Steps to Self Compassion  Dr. Neff outlines the three elements of self-compassion: * Mindfulness vs. Over identification:The first step is to be mindfully aware of ourselves and our emotions, but from a place of non-judgement. * Common Humanity vs Isolation: The second step is to recognize the common humanity in our feelings and behaviors rather than seeing ourselves as the “best” or the “worst.” Recognizing that pain is a normal part of human existence, as is suffering and personal inadequacy. * Self-kindness vs. Self-Judgment: Being kind to oneself rather than self-condemning, is at the core Self Compassion as an antidote to shame, the underpinning of narcissism Dr. Neff discusses research which highlights the increase in narcissism in our current culture. She highlights our culture’s tendency to be competitive and to place individual value as contingent on how we compare to those around us. This leaves us extremely vulnerability to the development of narcissism and other psychological difficulties. We discuss the importance of teaching self-compassion to our children and to maintaining an active, loving presence with oneself in order to build self-value without a need to downgrade or succeed over others. Self Compassion in our political climate Dr. Neff speaks frankly about her perceptions of the current political climate. She sees self and other compassion as essential to help our country deal with the discord and disharmony around us.   RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Kristen Neff: Self Compassion Step by Step, The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself (Audio CD) * Brene Brown: The Gifts of Imperfection * Karen Bluth, forward by Kristin Neff: The Self-Compassion Workbook for Teens * Jean M Twenge and W. Keith Campbell: The Narcissism Epidemic Living in the Age of Entitlement * Kristen Neff:  (visit this it has tons of great resources including free mp3’s) * Self Compassion Test  * Brene Brown “courageously present” r...

IN THIS EPISODE: Love Letter To Group Psychotherapy Show Notes Co-hosts Sue Marriott and Patty Olwell interview colleagues at the American Group Psychotherapy 2016 Association Annual Meeting in New York. They talk about why they love group therapy and why it is so valuable to their clients. We want to thank our interviewees for their help and insights. Interviewees for Love Letter To Group Psychotherapy * Tammy Brown – Austin TX tammybrowntherapy.com * Jamie Moran – San Francisco CA jamiemoran.com * Rita Drapkin – Indiana University of Pennsylvania (724)357-2621 * Pierre Choucroun – Austin TX Pierre M Choucroun on Psychology Today * Kelly Inselmann – Austin TX kellyinselmann.com * Liz Rosenblatt – Los Angeles CA Dr Elizabeth Rosenblatt on LAGPA   RESOURCES: Additional resources for this episode: * Austin Group Psychotherapy Society: Organization that promotes group therapy and provides training for clinicians * American Group Psychotherapy Association:  National organization that promotes group therapy as a cost effective and clinical valuable treatment. * Psychodynamic Group Psychotherapy Scott Rutan Walter Stone and Joseph Shay. These are masters of group. Excellent text for therapists and others eager to learn about group. You can trust these authors. * These and other resources have been collected for you on our Resources page!   Tweet