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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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...
info_outline
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_outline
Divorce and New Beginnings
Bear Psychology Podcast
Using Self-Compassion practices after divorce can help both parents and children. Divorce and/or separation is a stressful but quite common experience for both parents and children. Children often carry guilt, shame, and anger along with many other big feelings that parents often feel ill-equipped to address. In her book, “Two Times as Much Love” Eileen Beltzner tells the story of Alexander, a third-grader struggling with the emotional aftermath of his parents’ divorce, and his journey toward self-understanding and personal growth. Beltzner uses engaging storytelling and...
info_outline
Schizoid Personality Disorder and a life of challenge
Bear Psychology Podcast
Blair Sorrel shares her journey of living with Schizoid Personality Disorder and learning to accept and love herself. She undercovers further elements of her life growing up in a family of origin where she experienced ridicule leading to low self-worth, social anxiety and a debilitating fear of authority figures. She explores a home life with “poor parenting” which undermined her academic and career disappointments. She reflects on the importance of nurturing caregivers to allow the flourishing of Intelligence and genetics toward success. In her book, “A Schizoid at Smith: How...
info_outlineMost of us are stressed these days and don’t know how to manage it. While stress is an inevitable part of life, it doesn’t have to take over our lives. Dr. Doni Wilson’s book “Master Your Stress, Reset Your Health” walks us through identifying our unique type of stress and the best ways to manage it to make stress actually work for us.
Listen to our conversation with naturopath & author Dr. Doni Wilson as we learn how to support our body’s needs and chart a path to become resistant to the negative effects of stress.
Dr. Doni Wilson is a naturopathic doctor, certified professional midwife, and certified nutrition specialist. After suffering from migraines herself for over 20 years, she has developed a stress recovery protocol that has helped thousands of patients to overcome their health challenges and achieve wellness.
Dr. Wilson’s book details five unique types of stress. She shares with us: how to identify them and create a personalized stress management plan; what happens in our bodies when we're stressed; her trademark three-part stress recovery protocol; how to truly disconnect and take care of yourself; and how to give your body the support it needs to heal from a number of different stress induced ailments (i.e., anxiety, depression, fatigue, insomnia, brain fog, headaches, chronic pain, weight gain, and digestive issues).
Dr. Doni Wilson explores her customizable C.A.R.E. program including Clean eating, Adequate sleep, Recovery, and Exercise and how they can help you resolve underlying causes of stress and free the body from its harmful effects.
Dr. Wilson shares with us lessons and strategies from her own personal journey of recovering from the effects of stress and effective ways she has found to get more energy, feel refreshed, recover from over-indulging during the holidays and generally feel better and more balanced.
If you are interested in Dr. Wilson’s tips and tricks on overcoming stress, beating burnout, and getting back to a healthier you, this is for you.
Links & Resources:
- Dr. Doni Wilson’s – 7 Day STRESS RESET (For free with this link!) doctordoni.com/ddpp/stress-reset/
- Dr. Don’s - Stress Type Quiz doctordoni.com/quiz/stress-quiz/
- For more information about the book visit: doctordoni.com/master-your-stress/
- To purchase the book visit: https://amzn.to/408t4K6
- For more about Dr. Wilson: doctordoni.com/
- How Humans Heal (Dr. Wilson’s Podcast): doctordoni.com/blog/podcasts/
Materials to Reference:
- More of Dr. Wilson’s books: https://amzn.to/3Oaznu8
- Dr. Wilson’s Blog: doctordoni.com/blog/
- Stress Management Tools: hr.umich.edu/benefits-wellness/health-well-being/mental-emotional-health/learn-more-about-mental-emotional-health/thrive-stress-management-program/stress-management-tools-resources