Anxiety Book Club

01/06/2023

In this episode, I chat with Amy Edelstein, author and creator of the Inner Strength System -- a program for teaching mindfulness to high school aged students. We discuss her book, The Conscious Classroom, and about the impact of her program (over 20,000 students in Philadelphia), the intricacies of...

01/05/2023

In this episode, me and John Astin discover what everything is made of; or we give it a real college try! John works in the field of effortless mindfulness, an approach to present moment awareness that is truly amazing. Enjoy! John's Website: https://www.johnastin.com/ The book: https://a.co/d/i0jJ7...

01/04/2023

In this episode of the podcast, guest Dr. Sally Winston and I discuss a component of anxiety she has identified as "Anticipatory Anxiety" -- which can be a bear to root out. Enjoy! https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Anticipatory-Anxiety-Indecisiveness-Catastrophic/dp/1684039223

01/03/2023

In this episode, I interview stand up comedian, dad, and psychonaut Stuart Preston about his one man show -- The Stoned Ape Show -- and his booklet, The Grief Trip, about the death of his son and how psychedelics have helped him to heal with loss. We have a frank discussion covering psychedelics --....

01/02/2023

In this episode, I speak with Chief Clinical Officer Athena Robinson at Woebot Health. Woebot is a therapist in your pocket; a conversational agent; someone to tell your woes to! I've been using Woebot for the last few months, and it honestly has helped me -- to reframe unrealistic thoughts, get gro...

01/01/2023

In Episode 40 of the podcast, I speak with author and therapist Natasha Senra-Pereira about her riveting memoir, Talk Therapy is Not Enough. We chat about her journey of healing, including her work with alternative therapy approaches, including somatic healing, Internal Family Systems, (Eye movement...

01/12/2022

In this episode, me and the amazing Sacha Mardou (known as Mardou in her comic books), discuss her contribution to art and mental health via her ifscomics.com, her previous books (here and here), and her forthcoming memoir. We discuss her personal path to healing (which also comes by way of anxiety)...

01/11/2022

In this episode, I talk with philosopher Kieran Setiya about his very new book, Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way. We discuss hope, pain, illness, moral philosophy, stoicism, grief, FOMO, and much more. Enjoy! Kieran’s Podcast: https://anchor.fm/kieran-setiya Kieran’s Website...

01/10/2022

In a bit of a departure for the podcast, this episode goes local, and explores how community mental health operates at a single organization, San Mar Family and Community Services in Boonsboro, Maryland. San Mar provides a diverse collection of services, including foster care support and outpatient....

01/09/2022

In this episode, I discuss a variety of practice that seeks to take the "meditator" out of meditation. Loch Kelly, author and meditation teacher, introduces us to a kind of meditation that helps us awaken immediately and without strenuous effort. Enjoy our conversation, and find out more about Loch....

01/08/2022

In this episode, I speak with author and science journalist James Kingsland about his newest book, "Am I Dreaming?: The Science of Altered States, from Psychedelics to Virtual Reality, and Beyond". We discuss how our brains behave under the influences of these alternative realities, and what the sci...

01/07/2022

In Episode 34, we welcome Dr. Judson Brewer back to the podcast to understand anxiety and worry as a habit, and how to unravel them. Dr. Jud uses neuroscience to identify the ways that mindfulness can help us unlearn unskillful behaviors like worrying, and let curiosity disenchant our minds with the...

01/06/2022

Join me in conversation with Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor, associate professor of psychology at University of Arizona, and expert in the neuroscience of grief and loss. We discuss what happens to our brains when we lose those close to us, and how to explain grieving behavior, including what makes it so...

01/05/2022

Join me for another fun and informative conversation with Dr. Patricia Zurita Ona to talk about her latest book, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for High Achieving Behaviors. We talk about ACT, mentorship, anger, shame, when emotions fuse with identity, fear of failure, the scope of perfectionism,...

01/04/2022

Buckle your seatbelts! In this incredible interview with Dr. Richard Schwartz, creator of the now popular therapeutic method Internal Family Systems (IFS), we talk about the world he has discovered inside his and his patients' minds, whether to understand these descriptions as useful metaphors for deep work or as bona fide depictions of the characters that live in our minds! To boot, Dr. Schwartz helps me find an exile of my own. This episode is unlike anyone ever recorded on the podcast before -- I hope you enjoy!

Buckle your seatbelts! In this incredible interview with Dr. Richard Schwartz, creator of the now popular therapeutic method Internal Family Systems (IFS), we talk about the world he has discovered inside his and his patients' minds, whether to understand these descriptions as useful metaphors for d...

03/03/2022

Episode 30 is about how to cultivate compassion -- for yourself, your loved ones, even your enemies. It's easy to have the intention to be more compassionate, more mindful, etc ... but I have found that if you don't have a plan to get there, it's just wishful thinking. Enjoy!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5iGKo4lyKv6GzWzgZS6gU6?si=eb496ee59fe444ab
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-30-how-to-cultivate-compassion/id1485660621?i=1000552539098

‎Show Anxiety Book Club, Ep Episode 30 - How to Cultivate Compassion - Feb 28, 2022

01/03/2022

People talk a lot about compassion these days. But how do you cultivate it? And why would you want to? On this episode, I sit down with Sara Owens Woodard, PhD, psychologist, consultant and teacher of Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT). CCT is a Stanford developed, 8 week course on how to cultiva...

01/02/2022

Please enjoy my conversation with best selling author and memoirist Christie Tate as we discuss her book, Group: How One Therapist and Circle of Strangers Saved My Life. We discuss shame, secrecy, therapy, s*x, and more. Books and other links from our conversation: Christie's Book Her reccomendation...

01/12/2021

In Episode 28, me and Dr. Z (aka Patricia Zurita Ona) discuss all things anxiety, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the limits of positive psychology, how to get unstuck with a nifty grounding exercise, and her own origins and relationship to anxious thoughts. Also, we recorded a vi...

01/11/2021

In Episode 27 of the Anxiety Book Club, we chat once again with the very wise, and very fun to talk to -- Eowyn Ahlstrom -- mindfulness instructor and author of a recently published book of poetry, Mindscapes: Practice Poems. We discuss her poetry, the histrionics of the mind, the mental peace that....

01/10/2021

In episode 25, I talk with Adam Chekroud about the mental health tech company he co-founded in 2016, Spring Health. They offer behavioral health treatment to clients through their employers. Spring Health is harnessing the power of data science and statistics to give mental health providers more inf...

01/09/2021

Is managing our anxiety all about meditating on a cushion? Exercising? Sleeping well? Having our needs met? Hanging out with loved ones? Being supported by our community? Living a life of purpose and meaning? According to this month's author, Hala Khouri, it involves bits and pieces of all those thi...

10/08/2021

In Episode 23, we explore the practice of non violent communication -- a way of speaking that can help foster understanding, reduce confusion and help us get our needs met. Plus, mindfulness. Our guest, Oren Jay Sofer, is a veteran meditator and instructor, author and creator of mindfulness content....

30/06/2021

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Dennis Tirch, a compassion focused clinical therapist and all around mensch, who has managed to bring an enormous amount of kindness and caring attention to the world of anxiety treatment and exposure and response prevention. Through years of clinical practice, he m...

26/05/2021

Welcome to Episode 21! In this episode, we explore three different acronyms and practices, DARE, DEAF, and RAIN, which can really help upset minds during a difficult experience. Warning: this is a very practical episode! RAIN PDF RAIN meditations and resources DARE Book Sally Winston's book, include...

24/04/2021

In this episode, my guest Dr. John Shook helps us get acquainted with one of the leading figures in psychology and philosophy in the 20th century, William James. We talk about emotions, the brain and pragmatism. You can find Dr. Shook on Youtube by searching for "John Shook Humanism" or contact him....

26/03/2021

Apparently, compassion and self-compassion are important parts of a mindful way of living. It's not just your attention that counts, but the quality of that attention. Is your focus like a deadly sniper? Or a loving teddy bear? Some strange combination of both? In this episode, Shauna Shapiro, PhD h...

21/02/2021

Do you have a sticky mind? Like the floor of a movie theatre? Like your sourdough ball before it has time to rise? In this episode of the Anxiety Book Club, we have a conversation with Dr. Sally Winston, where we dive deeply into issues of reassurance seeking and compulsive checking, both difficult....

01/02/2021

Are our feelings true? Are they reliable? Does honoring them lead us to pleasure or pain? Or is it more complicated than that? In this episode of the Anxiety Book Club, I am joined by fan of the podcast and longtime friend Nigel Tu, to discuss Robert Wright's incredible Why Buddhism is True, a candi...

17/12/2020

Subscribe with iTunes Subscribe with RSS Are your standards “high beyond reach or reason”? Well, you may be suffering from perfectionism. In some areas of my life, I have paid an enormous cost because of my inability to see what is plainly good enough. I hope that in today’s conversation with ...