This week I have an incredible and inspiring interview with Tiffany Jenkins. Tiffany is a wife, mother, author, content creator and a recovering addict, she’s the face behind Juggling the Jenkins and author of “High Achiever: The Incredible True Story of One Addicts Double Life”. She described this episode as a free therapy session, which I take as a compliment. I think you will really enjoy this interview. Full show notes available at duffthepsych.com/episode173 If you'd like to learn more about me, check out duffthepsych.com/starthere Next week should be a Q&A, so please send your questions and topic suggestions to [email protected]

Hello, friends! This is an awesome Q&A episode where I take three great listener questions and try my best to offer some helpful advice. Here are the topics covered: Do you NEED to recall trauma in order to move past it? Why would my therapist want me to bring my mom into session? How can I move past the ghost of my past affair? As always, you can send me your questions or suggestions to [email protected] and full show notes are available at duffthepsych.com/episode172 This episode was brought to you by MycoMeditations Psilocybin-Assisted Retreats and BetterHelp!

This is a special episode. I was approached by a company called MycoMeditations that wanted to sponsor the podcast. They actually were very persistent and approached me a few times about it because they were really interested in the opportunity to speak with you all. MycoMeditations is a company that hosts retreats in Jamaica that use the psilocybin mushroom, also known as the magic mushroom. It's an often misunderstood substance that research has shown to be an effective way to reduce the impact of treatment resistant mental illness such as depression and anxiety.    Since this is a topic that is somewhat sensitive (psilocybin is not legal in the US), I wanted to do things a little differently. Rather than just running a short ad, I wanted to have the opportunity to dive deep and fully explore the issue. So this is a sponsored episode. MycoMeditations did pay for this interview spot, but I am approaching it just like all of the other interviews that I do on the show so that you can be appropriately informed and make your own decisions.    My guest for this episode is Eric Osborne, who is the founder and head facilitator of MycoMeditations. He has a very interesting background in that he is a wild mushroom expert and mycologist. This enables him to approach things from a very unique angle, which you will hear in the episode. Rather than administering the mushroom in it's raw form, he uses a process to make measured capsules of it to have better control of the dosage.    I really hope that you enjoy this episode. It was very interesting for me. Please have a look at the full show notes at duffthepsych.com/episode171 and reach out to Eric if you have any questions after listening!   Check out MycoMeditations at their website to learn more!

Hello, friends! In this Q&A episode, I take three awesome questions that listeners sent in and try my best to give some helpful advice. These cover a range of topics including health anxiety, PTSD in literature, and coping with a sexless marriage. As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] and full show notes are available at duffthepsych.com/episode170

This episode is a super interesting interview with psychiatrist Dr. Anna Yusim. She is a practicing psychiatrist from a family of hyper-rational mathematicians. She was never spiritual or religious. However, about 10 years ago, she started to experience things that she could not explain and began to develop an interest in the intersection between spirituality and psychiatry. If you know me, this is not in line with my view of things, so I thought it would be super interesting to have this interview with someone who sees things from a different perspective.  Full show notes are available at duffthepsych.com/episode169 and please continue sending your questions and topic suggestions to [email protected]

Hey, everyone! This episode is missing some of the normal bells and whistles that you are used to. No intro music. No disclaimers or fancy editing. I am currently out of town and my remote desktop failed me, so I don't have access to my normal episode template. In this episode, I take one really good listener question about whether it's strange to feel upset about their counselor dying and what they can do about comparing future counselors to their last one, since it was a good experience for them. As always, you can send your questions and topic suggestions to [email protected] and find the full show notes at http://duffthepsych.com/episode168  

This is a fantastic interview with Dr. Laura Copley, a trauma specialist, who focuses on posttraumatic growth and resilience. We go through many important facts and misconceptions about trauma. We talk about the difference between resilience and posttraumatic growth. We even dive into a couple exercises that people currently contenting with trauma reactions can use to start living life on their terms. If you have questions or topic suggestions, please send them over to me at [email protected]!

Hello, friends! This is a Q&A episode in which I tackle the following: When is it time to move on from my boyfriend that just recently broke up with me so that I can "find myself"? What advice do you have for someone that is pregnant with an eating disorder? How long will it take for therapy to help with my borderline personality disorder? As always, you can send me questions and topic suggestions to [email protected] Full show notes also available at duffthepsych.com/episode166  

This is a really nice interview with psychiatrist Suvrat Bhargave. We talk about lessons that he has learned in his practice including how to let go of shame and why you don't need to hit rock bottom to have important moments of insight. He is very personable and cares about meeting people where they are at rather than speaking in jargon and working hard to seem like the expert. He challenges the stereotype that psychiatrists are unapproachable and only want to focus on medication management. Full episode notes available at http://duffthepsych.com/episode165 Next week is another Q&A episode, so send your questions or topic suggestions to [email protected]

Hey, all! On the last episode, I had my wife on to answer your relationship communications. We got SO many awesome questions that I wanted to tackle some more on the podcast today. This is a solo Q&A episode and I take questions directly from the private Hardcore Self Help Facebook group. Here are the questions I address: What can I do about my family that doesn't understand my anxiety? How can I tell the difference between reinforcing boundaries and being manipulative in my relationship? I'm about to move and I'm freaking out. What can I do? Full show notes are available at http://duffthepsych.com/episode164 and if you'd like to send in a question, shoot me an email at [email protected]

In this episode, I have my beautiful wife Joelle back on the podcast. We take a few minutes to update you on our crazy life and then discuss some listener questions that mainly focus on communication in relationships. Enjoy! Next week will be another Q&A, so send me your questions to [email protected]. For full show notes, visit http://duffthepsych.com/episode163

Hello, friends! It's very very hot over here this week, but I still decided to lock myself in my office without a fan and record this Q&A episode! There are three really great (and different) questions that listeners sent in, and I try my best to give some helpful advice. The questions are: What can I do to make my family member understand my past alcoholism? How can I plan and execute my days better when I have ADHD? What can I do about my chronic depersonalization and dissociation? As always, full show notes are available at duffthepsych.com/episode162 and you can send me your questions to [email protected]

This week, I have the amazing Quinn Gee of Magnolia Mental Health back on the show again. She is a "unicorn" in the mental health field. As a black, gay, female therapist, there are many people out there who really benefit from her perspective. She's also really good at her job. As such, she is BUSY. No, I mean BUSY. She puts my work ethic to shame. Unfortunately that also comes at the cost of her own well-being, which she is working on. In this episode we talk about the realities of being a therapist. We also brainstorm ways that she can take better care of herself for the sake of her own health and for the sake of her clients. It's a really interesting insider peek at those of us that work in helping professions and I think you will enjoy it. Next week will be another Q&A episode, so send me your questions and topic suggestions to [email protected]

Hello, friends! In this episode, I answer some awesome listener questions about some very interesting topics including: How can I fix my stress-related erectile dysfunction? Is my desire to show off my body online bad? How can I better manage my strong emotional reactions? For full show notes, be sure to stop by http://duffthepsych.com/episode160 and check back next week for an interview episode! Please send any questions or topic suggestions to [email protected].

This episode is an awesome conversation that I had with educational neuroscientist Dr. Jaren Cooney Horvath. We talk about common misconceptions about the brain, how it actually works, and what that means for learning information or trying to teach other people information in effective ways. He has a new book called "Stop Talking, Start Influencing: 12 Insight from Brain Science to Make Your Message Stick", which I highly suggest checking out! Next episode will be a Q&A, so please continue sending me your questions and potential topics to [email protected]

Hello, friends! We have a nice question and answer session for you today. Please be forewarned that one of the questions mentions the topic of suicide, so if you are particularly vulnerable to that topic, feel free to skip question #2. Here are the questions covered: How can I go back to work after having panic attacks due to a medical procedure? How can I improve my self-concept? What can I do about my therapist moving offices? Next week should be another awesome interview. In the meantime, please keep sending me your questions and topics to [email protected]

Hello, friends! This episode features an interview with the author Gary John Bishop. He wrote the best seller Unfu*k Yourself and juuuust released a new book called Stop Doing That Shit.  We had a great conversation about what people can do to start moving forward with their lives and we even dive into the personal story behind why Gary started making this type of content. Please stop by and check out Gary's stuff at https://garyjohnbishop.com/

This episode is a straightforward question and answer episode. Not too much preamble in this episode, just straight to the nitty gritty. As always, if you'd like to learn more about me and what I do, check out http://duffthepsych.com/starthere And if you have questions or topics for a future episode, send them over to [email protected]

This is a super interesting interview with Jonah, who was kind enough to get very person in discussing his experiences with Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT). ECT is a safe, but sensationalized, treatment for depression that does not respond to typical treatments such as medication and therapy.  Jonah is also a transgender man who happens to be in a committed polyamorous relationship with two other men. All of these aspects are intertwined in Jonah's story.  Next week will be another Q&A, so be sure to send me your questions to [email protected] Full show-notes available at http://duffthepsych.com/episode155

This is a special Q&A episode in which I pull questions directly from the private Hardcore Self Help Facebook group. If you aren't yet a member, request access at http://facebook.com/groups/hardcoreselfhelp I took four questions from the group that cover a wide variety of topics. I think you'll really enjoy this one. As always, you can send me your questions and topics to [email protected]. See you next week for an awesome interview episode!

I think that a lot of you need to hear this episode. It's simply me talking with you a bit about the topic of letting go, especially of things that you don't have control over, and then guiding you through a forest visualization to help you relax. No ads or interruptions in this episode. Just sit back, pop in some headphones, and bliss out. Music in this episode is:  Rushing Stream.mp3 by acclivity 20071104.forest.04.binaural.mp3 by doboride

Today's episode is an interview that I did with Dr. Sherrie Campbell. Her specialty is helping people recognize toxic family members and work to productively cut ties with them and thrive in the aftermath. We get into some really interesting content including how to recognize when a family member is toxic and Dr. Campbell's deeply personal experiences that have driven her work.   I wanted to let you guys know that in addition to the audio, we also have full blog posts and show notes for each episode on my website. For instance, the episode last week about productivity tips is a full-fledged blog post in itself that you could easily read through if you forget some of the tips. This is something that I've been happy to hire an assistant to help out with. So make sure you stop by duffthepsych.com/episode152 to see the full notes for this episode.   As always, send me your questions and topics to [email protected] and don't forget to review for a chance to win free access to my online course!

We are doing a bit of a deep dive episode this week. I wanted to share with you my 10-11 best tips for staying productive even when you don't feel like it or may struggle with disorganization. We talk about many different personal tips that work well for me as well as universally good ideas when it comes to productivity and getting stuff done. Next week's episode will be an interview, but be sure to send your questions and topics for future episodes to [email protected]

This episode is a wide-ranging conversation with Abhishek Chandra, a co-founder and CTO of Spring Health, which is a comprehensive mental health benefit for employers that goes beyond the traditional employee assistance program. We talk about the role of tech in mental health including machine learning, genetic testing, and online therapy. It's really interesting stuff! Next week should be a normal Q&A, so send your questions and topics to [email protected]

This week's episode is a question and answer session. I cover three awesome questions that cover a variety of important topics. As always I'm impressed by the bravery in posing these difficult questions and I hope that I do a good job of being sensitive AND realistic in my responses. Here are the questions: How can I manage my anxiety after I had my first panic attack? How can I deal with my abuser, who is also my father, when he wants to stay at my home? Should I continue pushing or call of my problematic engagement? As always, I would greatly appreciate a share or review of the podcast and if you have questions or topics that you'd like me to cover on the show, please send them to [email protected].

Hello! In this episode, I interview a friend of mine, Dan Fields, from the Save it for the Show podcast. I thought this would be an interesting episode because it's essentially just me talking to a friend of mine about life on the internet, creating, modern mental health, families, working from home, and all sorts of other topics. I hope you enjoy! Next week will be a question and answer episode, so be sure to send me your questions to [email protected]

Welcome, everybody! Today's episode is going to focus on a single topic. I have gotten a lot of questions recently about nighttime anxiety and nocturnal panic, so today we are going to focus on things that you can do to help you get a little bit better sleep and some relief from that nasty anxiety that can pop up during the night. Thank you to our sponsors for this episode, Open Fit and Daily Harvest! Text the code DUFF to 303030 for a free 30-day open fit trial or use the code DUFF for 3 free cups in your first Daily Harvest Box! If you have questions or topics for a future episode, please send them to me at [email protected]

Hello, everyone! Super excited because this week I have my beautiful wife, Joelle Duff on the podcast again. You always have such great feedback when she's on the show and it's honestly just nice to have a good excuse to sit and talk with my favorite person. We talk about her getting back into her career after taking a mental health, baby, life-clarity break. We talk about communication in our relationship. We talk about harnessing the power of bipolar and planning for the inconsistencies. We talk about a lot of awesome stuff. You'll love it. Next week will be a normal Q&A or single topic episode, so shoot me your ideas to [email protected]

Hello, friends! This week, I have an interview with the wonderful Bipolar Barbie. She is a mental health advocate from Australia. In this interview, she describes her experiences with bipolar and talks about why she is passionate about being a mental health advocate. We cover topics from her first manic episode during law school to the importance of medication in her journey. I think you'll really enjoy this one. Congratulations to the winner of this week's free book, @kellydutrisac! If you'd like to win a free print copy of one of my books, just share your favorite quote from this episode on social media and tag me. I pick one winner each week.  If you have a question or topic for a future episode, send it to [email protected]

This week, I have a nice Q&A session for you. Three really great questions that cover a variety of topics. Some of the content in here is sexually related and there is also plenty of talk about trauma. Be advised. I forgot to announce it during the episode, but this week's free book winner is @inkblot_ace on twitter. Congrats! If you want to win a free print copy of one of my books, simply share your favorite quote from this episode on social media and tag me! Here are the questions I cover in this episode: What can I do when I feel myself slipping back into depression? Are my BDSM fantasies unhealthy given my trauma history? How can I support my partner with severe PTSD? As always if you have questions or topics that you'd like to submit, just send them over to [email protected]

On this episode, I have an interview with Larry Gifford from the When Life Gives You Parkinson's podcast. He was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease at age 45. This was a serious curve ball for someone with a spouse, a child, and a blossoming career in radio. We talk about his show, coping with a Parkinson's diagnosis, honest conversations with family, and misconceptions about Parkinson's disease. As a reminder, if you'd like to win a free print copy of one of my books, just like @passtlivess did this week, share your favorite quote from the episode on social media and tag me! I'll pick one each week. Next week should be another solo-show. If you have a question or topic that you'd like discussed on the show, send it to [email protected]

Hello, friends! I have a Q&A episode for you today. This is an extra special episode for a couple reasons. First off, I'm starting a new weekly tradition. If you share your favorite quote from the episode on social media and tag me, you might be selected to win a free copy of one of my books! Second, my nearly one-year-old kiddo, Leo was very present in this episode. I had to squeeze in the recording between other appointments, so you hear some babbling and such in the background. In terms of the questions, here what I covered: How can I move on from the guilt caused by ending family relationships due to an extreme fundamentalist upbringing? How can I balance significant psychological issues and still be a good parent? What can I do about my recurrent panic attacks? As always, if you have a question for the show, please send it to [email protected]. 

Hello, all!  This was an episode that was supposed to air a while back. I postponed it due to a shooting at my alma mater's college night at the Borderline night club in Thousand Oaks. I felt that the topic just wouldn't be appropriate for that day.  However, now that we are in a new year, it's the perfect time to think about your values, your goals, your aspirations, and how to live better in the now. That's exactly what we talk about in this interview. In this episode, I interview Kate Manser from You Might Die Tomorrow about the concept or mortality awareness and how that can be used to help you make decisions and appreciate the present. As always, you can send me questions to [email protected] and if you like what you've heard, please rate or share the show on social!

This is a short and sweet episode that I recorded before leaving for an end-of-year vacation with my family. We talk about making goals for the new year.  At the end of the year, many people start thinking about goals and resolutions. I see absolutely no problem with that. However, it's important to try to do them in a way that sets you up for success rather than failure. Here are a few quick tips: Establish goals as part of an overall year-end review. Keep your goals reasonable. You can also include larger overall aspirations, but use those as guiding lights rather than attainable goals. If you have too many goals, or goals that are too far from your starting point, you can set yourself up for success and continue the negative feedback loop. Subdivide your goals into small manageable steps. Even if you're not starting with your full capacity in any given goal, you are still doing more than you did before. Start small and build from there. 2018 was a great year and I'm so pumped to knock 2019 out of the water. Thank you so much for all of your support, and for contributing your questions to the podcast. This would not be possible without you. Please continue sending me your questions, feedback, and ideas to [email protected].

The last episode of 2018! Wowwwww. It's been an awesome year and I thank you so much for all of the support, attention, and of course questions. I thought that I would end things strong with a nice Q&A episode. Here are the topics covered: What is Neuroptimal (neurofeedback)? How can I help myself when depression steals my motivation? How do I know if therapy is working? I am so excited to get back into the swing of things in January. Please keep sending me your awesome questions and topic requests to [email protected]!

This is part 2/2 for my series of interviews about Ketamine treatments. In this episode, I interview Jamie AKA "The Gloomy Optimist" about her personal experiences with the treatments that she says saved her life. We go deep into her life-long struggles with anxiety and depression. Jamie is someone who has put in the work. She has tried numerous medications and therapy, but nothing seemed to stick until Ketamine. She describes going into the first infusion suicidal and coming out with hope for the future. Powerful stuff.  Please say hi to Jamie... On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thegloomyoptimist/ At her website: http://thegloomyoptimist.com   And as always, you can find the full show notes for this episode at http://duffthepsych.com/episode138

Friends. If there is one interview of mine that you listen to, let it be this one. In this interview, I talk to Dr. Steven Mandel, the founder of the Ketamine Clinics of Los Angeles. Ketamine is one of the most effective mental health treatments that very few people seem to talk about. To me this is a shame. It's amazingly effective treatment for depression, suicidality, PTSD, and bipolar.  In the interview, we talk about why Ketamine works, what an actual session looks like, and how it is a very low-risk procedure. We also address some common misconceptions and even get into the nitty gritty of cost/feasibility. Please share this episode with your friends, families, and networks. This is the first of a two-part series. Next week, I will be sharing an interview with an individual who describes their personal experience and amazing benefit from Ketamine treatments for depression. I should note that I have no personal stake in the Ketamine Clinics. I simply believe that it's a treatment that should gain more exposure.

Hello, everyone! Great to be back recording a normal Q&A episode this week. Between the unexpected non-episode a couple weeks back and the re-run episode last week, I haven't actually sat down and addressed your questions in a while. Here are the awesome questions that I cover on today's episode: How can I break the cycle of self-sabotage and self-doubt in my relationship? How can I overcome my fear of wrists? How can I better decide what activities to engage in at home and stop getting paralyzed? As always, you can send me questions to [email protected] and check out the full show-notes at http://duffthepsych.com/episode136

Hey, everyone! This is a re-release of an episode that I did last year. I am busy this week with holiday stuff, so I didn't want to record something new, but I thought it would be a good opportunity to repost episode 85, which originally aired on 11/21/17. It's all about tips that you can use to survive the holidays. The holidays are crazy for everyone, but it's stepped up a notch when you also struggle with mental health issues. Have a listen and take great care of yourselves. Much love! http://duffthepsych.com/episode85

Super excited to have the awesome Kati Morton on the show with me today. I'm sure you already know who she is, but if you need a refresher, she is most well known for her Youtube channel where she answers questions and gives mental health advice. Kati is a licensed therapist and brings a down-to-earth approach to the content that she puts out. In this interview, I learn a little more about Kati the person. We also talk about how her work as an influencer has affected her professional life. We discuss her new book, "Are You Okay?", and how you know that it's time to get some professional help. I really hope you enjoy this broad conversation. Be sure to show Kati some love on Youtube and pre-order her book, which will be released in December! 

The regularly scheduled podcast interview is postponed this week. There was a tragic shooting at my alma mater's college night at the Borderline bar in Thousand Oaks, CA. In this short message, I talk about what happened, how I'm feeling, and a few tips for coping.

I did an episode last year around Halloween time about spooky social psychology experiments and what they say about humanity. I figured I'd keep the trend going and do an episode all about creepy treatments from the origin of psychological health care. Before listening any further, just know that some of these are cruel and gross. We've come a long way since the different treatments that I will talk about, but they are important in that they are the predecessors to the treatments that we have now. In some cases they were mean and cruel. In others they were well intentioned, but limited by the lack of knowledge that we have today. Either way, if you are sensitive to topics like this, feel free to skip this one. Next week should be a more standard episode, so if you have a question or topic for me, send it to [email protected] and the full show notes for this episode are available at duffthepsych.com/episode133.

Fantastic episode for you today. We go deep into the different types of medication for anxiety, how to know when it's time to stop taking them, and ways to cope with anxiety that you can use with or without medication.   This is the third episode taking a slightly different approach with just one question per episode, with the intention of diving deeper into topics. Now it's time to give me some feedback. If you go to the episode notes at duffthepsych.com/episode132, there will be a short survey. If you could take it, it would help me out so much!   As always if you have a question or topic that you'd live covered on the show, email me at [email protected]

In this episode, I take a question from someone about how they can help their romantic partner who is great most of the time but gets suicidal or violent every so often. How can she get him to go to therapy or recognize the that there are actual issues going on? I give my perspective on this question and also spend some time defining bipolar disorder. Enjoy! For full episode notes, check out http://duffthepsych.com/episode131 and if you have a question or suggestion for the podcast, send it over to [email protected]

In this episode, I'm trying something slightly different. Rather than taking three questions, I'm taking one and using it as a jumping off point to go in-dept into topics related to the question. Sort of combining the deep-dive and Q&A formats. I'm going to try this for a few weeks and then ask for your opinions. Today's episode is all about C-PTSD or complex post-traumatic stress disorder. See full show notes at http://duffthepsych.com/episode130 If you have a question that you'd like me to answer on the show, send it over to [email protected]  

In this episode, I do a deep dive talking about a requested topic: dementia. It can be hard to find good information and advice about dementia online, so I hope that this episode can serve that function. I go in-depth and cover the following: Dementia terminology What kinds of dementia there are How to get a diagnosis Managing difficult behaviors Support available for caregivers If you have a suggestion for a future deep dive topic or have a question that you'd like me to answer, send it to [email protected]

Back to the Q&A this week. Before I answer the questions, I talk about a recent psychiatric hospitalization that I had to do with the hope of helping you understand that it's not a purely black and white situation. Here are the questions I cover: How can I make friends when my depression gets in the way? Should I be avoiding stress rather than exposing myself? What advice do you have for a future therapist? As always, you can send your questions for the show in to [email protected]

Hello! I thought it would be nice to have my wife, Joelle, back on the podcast today. She's usually a listener favorite guest and I always love talking with her, so I hope you enjoy our conversation! We talk about all kinds of stuff including: Our life and recent move Changing psychiatric meds Parenting with anxiety How I keep work at work As always, you can send me questions for a future episode to [email protected]