Good decision making in mental health care
Bear Psychology Podcast
If you or someone you know receives mental health care do you feel confident in the services being provided? Or are you left with question or concerns? Mental health awareness and treatment has grown into a global priority. One in five experience mental illness in their lifetime, and those who suffer are coming forward in unprecedented numbers. As more people seek care, we must also reflect on whether providers are meeting demands through existing systems and mental health care approaches. In their book, Managing Uncertainty in Mental Health Care, Drs. Patricia Rockman and José...
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Internal Family Systems for Healing from Trauma
Bear Psychology Podcast
If you have experienced trauma or neglect as a child, you may struggle with depression, anxiety, loneliness, and low self-esteem in adulthood. You are not alone. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)—including early emotional neglect—affect millions of people and have led to many of the greatest unaddressed public health problems facing our world today. If you struggle with shame or lack of confidence, or if you have difficulty creating or sustaining healthy relationships with others, take heart. There are techniques you can learn to heal the pain of your past and take charge of...
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Using MDMA therapy to improve relationships and manage conflict
Bear Psychology Podcast
MDMA or 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine is a synthetic psychoactive medicine that alters mood and perception. It has been shown to be highly effective for treating trauma. Some studies have shown 71% to 86% of participants achieved clinically meaningful improvements, and about half no longer met the diagnostic criteria for PTSD. It is now being used to address relational conflict and improving relationships. The book Ecstasy for Couples was written to better understand this exploratory intervention and how couples are using MDMA to better understand each other and work on...
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Caring for patients with kindness and connection
Bear Psychology Podcast
This guide for mental health professionals offers an insightful, conversational approach to mastering empathic communication with clients. Dr. Douglas Flemons invites readers to join him in a dialogue that incorporates voices from clinical research and practice, philosophy (both Eastern and Western), neuroscience, and the arts. In his book, “Empathic Engagement in Clinical Practice,” Douglas explains the nuts and bolts of empathy and offers guidelines for how therapists can make sense of clients’ thoughts, feelings, and choices from inside their worldview. He also shows how the...
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The Strength to Serve: Mental Health for First Responders & Care Providers
Bear Psychology Podcast
First responders and healthcare professionals are trained to manage crisis — but repeated exposure to trauma, loss, and high-stakes decision-making can take a cumulative toll. Over time, this can lead to emotional exhaustion, sleep disruption, irritability, and disconnection — not because of weakness, but because the nervous system has been under sustained demand without adequate recovery. In this podcast, psychologist and author Tania Bielak, Ph.D. shares insights from her book The Strength to Serve, offering practical, evidence-based strategies to support mental health in...
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Addiction and the Journey to Enlightenment
Bear Psychology Podcast
Addiction isn’t just about pain—it can also be a call to something greater. The darkest paths can sometimes lead to the brightest truths by walking the path from suffering to self-discovery. In his book, “The Shadow of a Figure of Light: The Archetype of the Alcoholic and the Journey to Enlightenment” (2024) Cody Peterson explores the essence of Psycho-Spiritual transformation. Peterson looks at addiction as a pathway to wholeness. His book serves as both a guide and a mirror for those seeking to understand the hidden patterns behind self-destruction and the redemptive power...
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Using Polyvagal Theory for Healing
Bear Psychology Podcast
Listen to us as we discuss how you can rewire your nervous system for lasting calm, connection, and resilience with cutting-edge, polyvagal theory-based activities. Whether you have suffered a single traumatic experience or faced repeated difficult life events, you can be left feeling hypervigilant, irritable, and disconnected. Daily tasks like attending a work meeting or social gathering can feel overwhelming or even frightening. Most therapies for treating trauma require you to “revisit” your traumatic experience in potentially triggering ways. Best-selling author Dr. Arielle Schwartz...
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The Relationships Workbook for BPD
Bear Psychology Podcast
The Relationships Workbook for BPD - Bear Psychology Radio hosted by Dr. Anna Baranowsky with guest Dr. Daniel J. Fox. When intense emotions, fear of abandonment, or distorted expectations consume you, relationships can slowly erode, replaced by feelings of resentment and hostility. Unstable and high-conflict relationships are a hallmark of borderline personality disorder (BPD). In his book, “The Relationships Workbook for BPD”, Daniel J. Fox guides you step-by-step to help explore beliefs, behaviours and patterns that sabotage connection. Instead you learn how to repair relationships...
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Inner Growth for emotional healing
Bear Psychology Podcast
Many people associate the term "enlightenment" with images of a solitary figure sitting atop a distant mountain peak or a monk focused intently on meditation, but what does this concept look like when navigating our lives in today’s complex society? Enlightment, at its core, is about gaining awareness and awakening ourselves to the interconnected nature of existence. Dr. Steve Taylor, a renowned spiritual psychologist, has devoted his life to investigating spiritual awakening. His previous bestselling books provided case histories of dozens of people who experienced profound shifts in...
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The Power of Psychoanalysis
Bear Psychology Podcast
From alleviating recurring nightmares to finding oneself by discovering your family’s secret past, psychoanalysis is a turbulent but rewarding form of psychotherapy. Sigmund Freud was the founder of psychoanalysis establishing it in the 1890’s. The approach includes a focus on the unconscious mind, dream interpretation and talk therapy for addressing mental disturbances. Psychoanalysis continues to be a valuable path for gaining inner freedom from a host of mental struggles. In her book, “Untangling: A Memoir of Psychoanalysis” Joan Peters takes us through her journey of...
info_outlineIf you or someone you know receives mental health care do you feel confident in the services being provided? Or are you left with question or concerns? Mental health awareness and treatment has grown into a global priority. One in five experience mental illness in their lifetime, and those who suffer are coming forward in unprecedented numbers. As more people seek care, we must also reflect on whether providers are meeting demands through existing systems and mental health care approaches.
In their book, Managing Uncertainty in Mental Health Care, Drs. Patricia Rockman and José Silveira critically examine core assumptions informing the primary approaches currently used to assess mental illness in clinical settings, with an emphasis on clinician certainty. They illustrate how current diagnostic frameworks relate to clinician decision making and if overconfidence may lead to errors in judgment. Silveira and Rockman consider potential strategies for lessening the impact of possible errors.
This book reflects on the possibility of errors in clinical judgment, independent of competence and experience, and the need to apply mental health practices that address the needs of the client.
Rockman and Silveira address the issue of clinical error and provide a novel perspective in the application of reducing harm in practice.
DESCRIPTION OF THE AUTHORS -
Patricia Rockman Monday, CCFP, FCFP is a physician with a focused practice in mental health. She is also an associate professor at the University of Toronto, Department of Family and Community Medicine cross appointed to Psychiatry. Patricia Rockman is a co-author of a number of books on mindfulness-based programs. She is a trained Yoga teacher and has been teaching about stress, psychotherapy, mindfulness, change management and other mental health issues for over thirty-five years.
José Maria Alves da Silveira B.Sc., M.D., FRCPC, DABAM
Dr. José Silveira is currently an Associate Medical Director with the Ontario Medical Association Physician Health Program. He is certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in Psychiatry and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine.
Dr. Silveira is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto in Canada. His academic promotion recognized his Creative Professional Activity and its positive impact on aiding clinicians across multiple disciplines in managing complexity and uncertainty in mental health and addictions. José’s expertise has developed over the course of 28 years and a variety of roles.
Dr. Silveira has chaired committees reviewing adverse events in clinical practice; provided oversight as Chief and Medical Director of an inner-city hospital mental health and addiction program; and has been Co-Chair of the Medical Advisory Council of one of Canada’s largest academic health science centers. Throughout his roles he remained active in clinical practice. His attention to uncertainty and the impact on both clients and clinicians has also been informed by reviews of numerous client complaints relating to mental health and addiction clinician care; serving for both defense and complainants in civil and criminal cases, and review of cases for Coroner’s Inquests.
He is a coauthor of the book, Managing Uncertainty in Mental Health Care, published by Oxford University Press in November 2021.
What critics are saying about the book - “This book is about coming to grips with the uncertainty and complexity inherent to the assessment of people presenting with possible mental disorders. It is an exploration of the impact of objective uncertainty on clinical judgment and decision making and its relevance to mental health care.”
If you are interested in learning more about irreducible uncertainty and complexity on approaches to clinician training, then this podcast is for you.
Links & Resources:
- Link to purchase copy of the book: https://link.amazon/B05ETBUqJ
- Link to other books written by Patricia Rockman: https://www.amazon.ca/stores/author/B07QZX2RPG/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=d0088284-ae5a-4e1a-b346-e67bdfc573a0