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The Dear Family, Wellness Graduate School- 100 Podcasts Later- 40 Wellness Universal Truths

Release Date: 07/12/2022

The Rachels- Why Friendship is the New Marriage and Golden for Mental Health

Dear Family,

Rachel Winter and Rachel Steinman are best friends, co-authors, and co-hosts of this special collab between the with . Rachel Winter is a writer, director, and an Academy Award®-nominated producer for Dallas Buyers Club. She produced LeBron James’ biopic, Shooting Stars, and produced and directed the audio drama, Supreme: The Battle for Roe starring Maya Hawke and William H. Macy. It’s a nine-part series weaving together the incredible story of the young female lawyer who argued Roe V. Wade in front of the Supreme Court and the Justice who wrote the opinion. She made her...

My So-Called High School Rank- Documenting Teenage Loneliness and College Admission Pressures through a Musical

Dear Family,

My So-Called High School Rank, premiering on HBO and HBO MAX, is a special documentary that gives an unfiltered view into the private loneliness and pressures of teenage life. This was especially true in March 2020 when students were forced to settle into new realities, feeling isolated and frustrated with so much out of their control. This timely documentary chronicles the creation of a musical theater production at Granite Bay High School in Sacramento, California, and is inspired by students’ stories of the constant pressures to achieve a top rank in every part of their lives to get ahead...

Kevin Hines- Golden Gate Bridge Suicide Jumper Saved by a Sea Lion Becomes Inspirational Storyteller and Filmmaker with Message of Hope and Resilience

Dear Family,

Kevin Hines is a storyteller, best-selling author, global public speaker, and award-winning documentary filmmaker. In the Year 2000, Kevin threw himself off the Golden Gate Bridge in an attempt to end his life. He needed his immense mental pain to end but regretted his decision the moment he jumped. Many factors contributed to his miraculous survival including a sea lion who kept him afloat until the Coast Guard arrived and an amazing team of doctors. Kevin now travels the world sharing his story of hope, healing, and recovery while teaching people of all ages the art of wellness and the...

Dr. Ran Anbar- Pediatric Pulmonologist Addresses Health Challenges with Hypnosis

Dear Family,

Dr. Ran Anbar is a pediatrician board certified in pulmonology who offers hypnosis and counseling services in La Jolla, California, and Syracuse, New York. He’s past president, fellow, and approved consultant of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. He’s here today to discuss the power of hypnosis, which has long been looked upon with confusion and skepticism. He shines a light on this underutilized field of medicine and why it should be the first line of defense before medication for mental health symptoms. With 25 years of experience, Dr. Anbar is a leader in clinical hypnosis who...

The Dear Family, Wellness Graduate School- 100 Podcasts Later- 40 Wellness Universal Truths

Dear Family,

Three years ago, I was nervous to put myself out so publicly with a brand new mental health podcast about family and secrets. I didn’t know where it would take me or if anyone would listen or even care. All I knew was I wanted to cut generational trauma from family mental illness, I had a story to tell, and I wanted to hear others’ stories. I never predicted a disruptive worldwide pandemic would shine a blinding spotlight on the priority of taking care of our families' wellness. 100 episodes later, I learned more than I ever could imagine in what I’m calling the Dear Family Wellness...

Chris and Erik Ewers- Brothers/Co-Directors on Ken Burns Documentary about the Youth Public Mental Health Crisis

Dear Family,

Erik and Chris Ewers are brothers and co-directors on a new Ken Burns PBS documentary, “Hiding in Plain Sight.” The two-part, four-hour film is about the mental health crisis our youth are facing. It follows the journeys of more than 20 young Americans from all over the country and all walks of life. The first-person accounts show the seemingly insurmountable obstacles faced by those who live with mental disorders. Erik Ewers, an Emmy Award-winning editor has worked with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns for more than 30 years, including nearly all of his single and...

Julian Sarafian- Harvard Law-Educated TikToker Redefines Success After his Mental and Physical Breakdowns

Dear Family,

Julian Sarafian was valedictorian and attended UC Berkeley at 17. He got an internship at The White House at 19 and at 20, was accepted at NYU Law before transferring to Harvard Law School. His high achievements and California license allowed him to practice law at what he thought was his dream job, something he’d worked his entire life for. But his mental health had other plans. His social anxiety and the intense stress from a high pressure work environment led to panic attacks and hyperventilating. His mental health also manifested into physical ailments, specifically...

Tembi Locke- Food, Family, and Cooking From Scratch after Loss and Grief

Dear Family,

Tembi Locke is an actor, an author, a screenwriter, and a producer who really knows how to connect with her audience. Her New York Times bestselling book, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home was Reese Witherspoon’s 2019 Book Club pick. Reese loved it so much, she’s executive producing the adaptation for a Netflix series where Zoe Saldana will star as Tembi. Tembi’s memoir, From Scratch, is a sweeping, autobiographical romance that follows an American woman as she falls in love with a Sicilian man while studying abroad in Italy and then builds a life with him in...

Dr. Jonathan Goldfinger- Nationally Recognized Pediatrician on the Need For and Right To Mental Health Care

Dear Family,

Dr. Jonathan Goldfinger is a nationally recognized pediatrician and an advocate for mental health services for children and families, including in minority and low-income communities. His inclusive approach to health equity and policy has transformed countless lives. He joined Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, an 80-year organization, as the CEO just months after the pandemic began in June 2020. Didi Hirsch is a national leader offering free mental health, substance use disorder, and suicide prevention services. They’re pioneers in specialized therapy and support groups for children,...

Jeanette Yoffe- From Foster Care to Adoption to Trauma-Informed Therapist Jeanette-ically Speaking

Dear Family,

Jeanette Yoffe believes family is so much more than our blood relations. Her strong desire to become a trauma-informed psychotherapist with a special focus on adopted and foster care issues began with her own experiences of moving through the foster care system and being adopted. Jeanette lived with her birth family for the first year of her life until she was put into foster care due to her mother’s schizophrenia. Her father was not willing to take care of his two young children and when he later had a new family, he never told them about his previous children, continuing the cycle of...

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100 episodes later, I learned more than I ever could imagine in what I’m calling the Dear Family Wellness Graduate School. The teacher and mental health advocate in me wants to share the knowledge with you. As the Beatles say, “I got by with a little help from my friends,” some old, some new, all amazing guests. Every Generation- from Alpha to Z to Millenials to X to Boomers- shared with generosity. Our enlightened dialogue was sometimes one-on-one like a dear friend, others like our dear family between a parent and child, siblings, or with three generations of one family.

Every time I stopped recording, I was more confident than ever that my guests’ undeniable truths and their awesome vulnerability were healing not to just themselves but to countless others. There was no denying every family had a story involving mental illness and that it was shame and stigma standing in the way of achieving wellness. Dialogue was key.

What an absolute privilege it was to speak to so many inspirational guests- (in alphabetical order) actors, art archivists, best-selling authors and memoirists, brain scientists, comedians, cookbook authors and Food Network stars, COVID patient zeros, creatives, dancers, disability advocates, documentary filmmakers, egg donors, fine artists, first-generation college students, fitness experts, former Stanford deans, hair stylists, homeless shelter organizers, homesteaders, hospice nurses, lawyers, men’s circle facilitators, musicians, neuroscientists, parent coaches, party planners, pediatricians, performing artists, presidential speechwriters, professional organizers, professors, psychiatrists, reporters, researchers, sex coaches, success coaches, teachers, therapists, TV and movie producers and writers, yogis, to youth mental health pioneers.

What an absolute gift it was to delve deep into so many fascinating topics- (in alphabetical order) ableism, addiction inoculation, ADHD, adoption, anxiety, bipolar, burnout, ceremony, collective memory, consent, creativity, Crohn’s Disease and IBD, culturally sensitive care, depression, diet culture, disastrous police response to mental health crisis, discrimination, disordered eating, divorce, Eastern and Western medicine, electroconvulsive therapy, empowerment, epigenetics, family secrets, forgiveness, foster care, friendship, genealogy, healing, healthy sexuality, herbalism, hoarding and decluttering, homelessness, homeschooling, hope, how to stay close as a family, incarceration, inheritance, intentional bravery, intergenerational trauma, laughter as medicine, LGBTQ mental health, marriage, meaningful failure, mental and emotional toolboxes, microdosing, mood-boosters, natural stress relief, needs and rights for mental health care, nutrition, OCD, pain and humor, pain into power, pandemic lessons, panic attacks, parenting topics (like newborn adults leaving the nest, how to stay close as a family, sharenting, and how to be an adult), pediatric cancer, physical conditions causing mental conditions, porn addiction, power of storytelling, psychosis, PTSD, schizophrenia, screen time, self-care, self-love, silver linings and new perspectives, single parenting, sleep paralysis, sobriety, special education system, spouse relationships, stigma, suicide in families, suicide survivors, toxic masculinity on men’s mental health, trauma, underserved communities, the value of expression, war trauma, and youth mental health.