Today we are doing a deep dive episode all about ways that you can maximize your progress in therapy. Whether you are a seasoned therapy veteran or barely thinking about getting started, this will be good information for you to keep in the back of your mind.  Before I share the 10 tips for getting the most out of therapy, I wanted to let you know that I started a new closed facebook group for the Hardcore Self Help Community. You can find that at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/484559841901855/ Here are the tips: 1. You don't need to impress your therapist 2. Don't lie to your therapist 3. Don't be afraid to get emotional and let it out 4. Challenge your therapist and correct them 5. If it's not working, say something 6. Find someone you are comfortable with 7. Get therapy sooner 8. Take notes and journal 9. Do the homework and practice the skills 10. Talk about the relationship between you and your therapist during session Next week should be another Q&A episode, so keep sending me your awesome questions to [email protected]

Hello, everyone! Just off the top, given the BS going on in the world at the moment, I need to reaffirm that everyone is welcome here regardless of race, ethnicity, cultural background, gender identity, sexual orientation etc. Just needs to be said.  Today's episode is another Q&A with some really awesome questions including: How can I help my mom who has multiple personalities? Why do I procrastinate sleep and what can I do about it? What can I do when I am the codependent friend? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] and don't forget to follow me on social @duffthepsych for cute baby stuff!

This is a deep dive episode all about common thinking traps and pitfalls that we encounter as human beings. In the field, we refer to these as "cognitive distortions". In this episode, I break down ten of them for you and talk a bit about how to use your knowledge of them to your advantage. Here are the cognitive distortions that I cover in this episode: Mind Reading Personalizing Just World Fallacy Emotional Reasoning Shoulds and Musts Black and White Thinking Overgeneralization Filtering Catastrophizing Overestimating Power of Thoughts Next week should be another Q & A episode, so please keep sending me your questions to [email protected] 

Hello, friends! Just another awesome question and answer episode for you. Two short questions and one more complicated question: How can I overcome my self-criticism and low self-esteem? What does my family member mean when she says that she has "functional anxiety"? Do I need to forgive my abuser?  As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] and follow my on facebook at http://facebook.com/duffthepsych

Hey, friends! Before I get into the questions for this episode, I wanted to let you know that I recently posted a video and blogpost in which I share an entire chapter from my book about suicide. You can check that out and share it at http://duffthepsych.com/suicide. Here are this week's questions: How do I tell me mom that I don't need more therapy? Am I a fraud for improving my depression symptoms on my own? How can I talk about self-harm with my therapist without ruining things? That's it for this week! As always you can send me your questions to [email protected]

Wide variety of questions this time! I love it. Please continue sending me your questions and look forward to some "guest hosts" in the future! Also thanks so much for the reviews on iTunes. It's greatly appreciated! Here are the questions covered in this episode: What if I don't remember what I enjoyed before depression because it's been so many years? Can my dad recover from his aneurysm? How can I make my boyfriend stop masturbating when he knows that I don't want him to?  As always you can send me your questions to [email protected]! 

Packed episode this week! I didn't realize it when I constructed the episode, but I included two double questions for a total of 5 questions answered this episode, haha! Really interesting stuff though. If you have a minute, please head over to itunes and leave a review for this podcast and consider sharing with a friend. Thanks so much! Here are the questions covered: Why do I get panic attacks when I'm hot? What is EMDR and does it actually work? What should I do about my brother's worrying social media posts? Do therapists worry about their clients? How do you keep good boundaries as a therapist? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected]

Hello, friends! Sorry for the lapse in shows. I did that re-posting of my interview on the Cognitive Rampage podcast a couple weeks ago and this past week I got super sick and completely lost my voice! No bueno. I'm feeling a lot better now and I'm back with another great question and answer session for you. Here are the questions covered: Are anxiety and perfectionism related? How do you find passions and interests? Everything feels like a chore. What can I do about being in the same location as my abuser? Keep sending me in your questions. I will be back again next week as long as I don't get the plague again! Send them in to [email protected]

Hey, friends. This episode is a little different. I didn't have time to record a full Q & A episode this week due to life and work. However, I think I found a nice alternative here. Recently I was on Adam Lowery's podcast called Cognitive Rampage. He's a cool dude and has a book by the same name. This turned out to be a wide ranging conversation and I think probably one of the best interviews that I've ever given. So have a listen and head over to Adam's site to see more content. Next week will be back to the Q&A, so send me your questions to [email protected] Here's the full podcast on Adam's page: http://adamlowery.com/

Hello, friends! This is another question and answer episode for you. Hey, I'd appreciate it so much if you'd send me some honest open-ended feedback about the podcast to [email protected] with the subject line "podcast feedback". As long or short as you'd like. You can give me any feedback that you would like. Anyways, here are the three questions that are covered: What are some ways to avoid vicarious trauma or burnout when working in an intense job? If I have had panic attacks since I was 5 years old, will I always have them? Am I just wired this way? Do you think mental health disorders are actually on the rise or is it just more awareness and the influence of the internet? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] and you can also see a video bonus question on facebook or youtube. 

Hello again, friends. This is another Q&A episode with some really great questions. Wanted to let you know that I am now doing a bonus question each week on youtube and facebook. I also mention the video about finding a therapist online. You can find that at http://duffthepsych.com/findatherapist Here are the questions that I cover: Should I try therapy again after having a bad experience? How do I break up with someone whose mom is dying? How can I get over my social anxiety and blushing? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] 

Hello, my friends! Another awesome Q & A for you this week. Couple links that I mentioned in the show. Here's the cognitive rampage podcast: http://adamlowery.com/podcasts/ and here is that episode about TMS therapy that I mentioned: http://psychsessions.com/2017/01/01/ps-039-treating-depression-with-transcranial-magnetic-stimulation-tms/ Anyways, here are the questions I cover: What is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and is this something I should look into for depression? Should I get treatment when my depression isn't so bad that I have a formal diagnosis? What can I do to make my severe cancer diagnosis and treatment more bearable?  As always you can find my on social @duffthepsych and you can send me your questions to [email protected]

Hello, friends. We are back to the Q&A this week. Thanks so much for your super awesome feedback on the last episode with my wife. If you'd like to hear more from her, let me know! At the start I ramble a little bit about the importance of advertising and allowing me to make a living so that I can continue to put all this work in for free. Here are the amazing questions that we go through in this episode: Am I using my depression as an excuse? Should I be better by now? Is it normal to feel like my depression keeps recurring? What should I do about my self-harm when I feel like it's a normal coping mechanism? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] and hit me up on social @duffthepsych! 

Very special episode this week for you! I've been meaning to get my wife on the show for a good while now. This is the first time that I've ever interviewed her about her experiences with mental illness. I have talked about her in my TEDx talk and my books, so this was a really nice opportunity to sit down for a while and just chat about her life. We talk about what it's like being married to me, her earliest anxiety experiences, motherhood, her hospitalization, and things that have helped her progress in her mental health journey.  Next week should be a Q&A episode, so please keep sending me your questions to [email protected] and follow my wife on social @joellecharming

For this episode, I was feeling a little too overwhelmed by the week to do a Q&A so instead I decided to talk to you all about breathing. We talk about different breathing exercises and how to practice them so that they are useful to you in moments of stress or anxiety. We cover the physiological mechanism behind relaxation breathing. Finally, we briefly cover mindfulness and meditative breathing.  The tone of this whole episode is a bit more calm and subdued. I hope that it's relaxing as well as informative!  As always you can send me your questions for future Q&As to [email protected]

Hello, friends! Good news - your boy is official! I finally passed all of the hurdles and paid all of my money and got my license as a clinical psychologist in California. It's super meaningful for me and I appreciate you being a part of the journey. Anyway, this is another great question and answer episode. Here's what I cover: Should I play a show with my band in the city that my friend died?  How can I improve my relationship when I might be the toxic one and create conflict for attention? What can I do about my anxiety and agoraphobia if I haven't left the house in two months? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected]!

Hello, friends. Thanks for joining me again for another question and answer episode. Wanted to let you know that I've been doing instagram stories over at http://instagram.com/duffthepsych. Check them out if you would like a little snapshot into my day to day life as a psychologist/dad/entrepreneur etc.  Here are the questions covered in this episode: I have anxiety caused by Graves disease. I'd like to get anxiety medication to help, but I'm not sure how to talk to my doctor about it. How can I bring it up? My father killed himself and I want to get therapy, but I'm afraid that I'll be hospitalized. Should I bother? Robert, how do you get so much done when I can hardly find a single moment to myself? As always you can send me your anonymous questions to [email protected] and I'll see you next time! 

Hello, friends! Thanks for tuning in. In this episode, I take 3 more awesome question from you listeners. There are a couple questions from younger people, which I think is awesome. I decided to livestream this episode on my facebook page. I will try to do more of that in the future, so keep your eyes out for Tuesday night live video on the facebook page over at http://facebook.com/duffthepsych Here are the questions covered in this episode: Could my high IQ cause mental health issues? What can I do when I'm bad at hiding how I feel at school or work? Should I get help as a young person with depression? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] 

Hey, friends! In this episode, I do something a bit different. I guess you could say that this is a deep dive episode that was prompted by a listener question. Someone wrote in and wanted to know more about what got me into the field of psychology in the first place and what appeals to me about it. So I get a little personal and tell you about my early life, experiences, and journey through the field of psychology. I hope you enjoy! Next week will most likely be another question and answer episode, so please continue sending me your questions to [email protected]

Hello, friends! I just want to take a minute to thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to listen and for sending in questions to help me create this content. Also wanted to give you a heads up that I will be off of social media for next week. Anyways, here are the questions covered in this episode: Now that I am out of a cult, how can manage my anxiety and make sure I give my daughter opportunities to socialize? Would a polyphasic sleep schedule help me get enough rest for my shift work? I'm in a good place recently. What can I do to prepare for therapy between sessions? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] and if you are not yet following me on social, get on that. I'm @duffthepsych on everything. 

Hello, friends! Another Q & A episode for you today. If you are not yet, please follow me on facebook at http://facebook.com/duffthepsych I've been doing some cool content over there that I talk about at the top of the episode.  Here are the questions tackled in this episode: How can I address a lie that I told in my relationship? What does it mean when a therapist mentions their religion in online databases? How can I better prioritize topics for psychotherapy? As always, you can send me your questions to [email protected]

Hey, friends! Thanks for the patience during my week off. I talk about about that at the beginning of this episode. The remainder is dedicating to helping you understand the issue of confidentiality in psychotherapy. If you have ever wondered what information is kept private vs when a therapist can share your info, this episode is for you. This turned out to be a longer episode, because it's fairly comprehensive. I cover what you need to know about confidentiality and reporting in regards to: Danger to self Danger to others Child abuse Elder abuse Minors in therapy Crimes And more. Next week will be a Q&A episode, so shoot me your questions about mental health, psychology, and life to [email protected]  

Okay, my friends! I think this was a great episode. I got to cover some really interesting questions that I am sure apply to many of you out there. Don't forget to check out my TEDx talk at http://duffthepsych.com/tedx. Here are the questions that are covered in this episode: How can I get over feeling like I don't deserve to feel better? How do you know if you actually need psychological help or if you are just blowing things out of proportion? What can you do to overcome panic attacks on stage? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] 

Hello, friends! First off, please go check out my TEDx talk at http://duffthepsych.com/tedx it would mean the world to me. This episode is another question and answer session. I'm getting sick, so pardon any sniffles or brain farts. Here are the questions that I cover: Why do I still feel anxiety even though I know everything is fine in my brain? What can I do when I feel depression first coming on? How can I help my daughter with borderline personality disorder? As always you can email me your questions to [email protected] or hit my up on social media at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych  

Episode 50, guys! Woohooo!!! Man. Crazy stuff. Thank you SO FREAKIN MUCH for your continued collaboration on this podcast. Your questions and inspiration keep it going. In this episode, I reflect a bit on the journey so far and then share a few victory stories sent in by listeners. It is always important to give yourself credit for big and small moments of success when you are living with mental illness.  Thank you. Thank you thank you thank you! Let's keep this goin. Send me your questions to [email protected] and I'll see you next week. 

Hey, everyone! Please continue to send me in your mental health success stories both big and small. I have a few good ones, but I want more! I will be reading them on the next episode, which is freakin' episode 50!!! SO AWESOME WTFBBQ!!! Ahem. Here are today's questions.  Should I tell my friend's therapist about her suicidal behaviors?  How should I talk to my boss about my depression? Can you permanently get anxiety from smoking weed?   You can send me your questions and success stories to [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych  

Hello, friends! GASP! I forgot to record a podcast. I mean... I remembered, but I didn't remember in time for my usual midnight upload time. Oh well. You probably don't care. HEY! I would love to hear your personal mental health success stories big and small. Please send them over to me in the next couple weeks for episode 50! Here are this week's questions: How can I "get over" a sexual assault that happened a couple months ago? Why do I have a hard time sleeping with other people in the room? What is it like having a spouse with a mental illness?  As always you can send me your questions (and success stories) to [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych  

This episode is another deep dive episode. I decided at the last minute to go ahead and do a little rundown of my personal tips for public speaking. In particular these are tips that help me with memorization, managing stress, and knocking it out of the park when it comes to "performance" style speeches such as keynotes or TED style talks. I recently did a TEDx talk in my community, which is what prompted this entire topic. Stay tuned for that video once it's released.  Enjoy these tips and let me know if I should do anything special for Episode 50! Hit me up on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or at [email protected]  

Hello, my friends! Just wanted to say thanks again so much for always sending in such awesome, honest, and brave questions. You guys are amazing. In this episode I take a couple questions that are related to dealing with significant others who have mental illness.  Here are the questions covered: Is there a genetic link for mental illness? Is it inherited from your family? What can I do about my 27 year old daughter who lives at home and is abusive toward me? What can I do about my friend of 20 years who has abandonment issues and drains me emotionally? As always you can send your questions to [email protected] or hit me up on social media @duffthepsych. 

Hello, friends! In this episode I take three new awesome questions. We cover the whole board from going heavy into some complicated terminology about neurobiology and testing all the way to hitting you with some hard truths about "saving" a relationship. Please consider sharing the show with the people in your life and on social media. You never know who might need to hear the answers to these questions. Here are the specific questions covered this episode: Years ago, my IQ was estimated to be low. Can your IQ improve over time and should I be tested again? How can I save my marriage with my wife who has mental illness and drinking issues? What is a normal level of anxiety? When should you get help? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] or you can hit me up on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Alrighty, folks! Got another 3 questions to answer for you today. First off I wanted to say thanks for the recent influx of questions. I have many to choose from, which is awesome. Keep sending them in!  As a reminder, you can find info about my books at hardcoreselfhelp.com or by looking up hardcore self help on Amazon.  So here are the questions covered in this episode: Should I take my friend up on an offer of hypnotherapy/NLP? How can I manage my obsession over the news and fear of the current global climate? Should I be worried about medicating my 8 year old child for serious psychiatric issues? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] or @duffthepsych on all social media. 

Heavy hitting questions today. Love it! I'm a little sick in this episode, so please pardon any congestion etc. That said, there are some really good points in this episode, particularly in relation to the first question.  I dropped a couple links in the intro. Here they are: http://duffthepsych.com/dementia for my new book and http://duffthepsych.com/resources for all sorts of psych resources that I like. Here are the questions covered in this episode: How can I bring up suicidal thoughts to my doctor? What can I do about my agoraphobia? How can I stop being paranoid in my relationship? As always please send me your questions (and share the show). You can reach me via email at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych  

Hey everyone! Back with another question and answer episode after a nice little holiday. I am slightly scatter brained this episode because people kept ringing the door and interrupting me. Grrrrrrr! This episode has some great questions though, so I hope you find some useful bits of information here. This is what I cover: What should I expect from medication for depression? How can I address my anxiety about money? How can I motivate my depressed spouse to clean the house? If you have questions, please send them over to me at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych  

In this episode I do something pretty different. Rather than take mental health questions, I present three ideas that I "stole" from people in fields OTHER than psychology. However, these are ideas that I think have great applications to life, emotions, and mental health. Two ideas are stolen from Tim Ferriss, who is the author of the 4 Hour book series and has an amazing podcast called the Tim Ferriss Show. The other idea is stolen from Chris Hardwick, who is the creator of the Nerdist network and a television host.  Here are the ideas I would like you to ponder: Do I need to gain it the same way I lost it? What would this look like if it were easy? You can not reason someone out of a position that they did not reason themselves into. Next week will most likely be another Q&A, so send your questions over to [email protected] or hit me up on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych  

This episode has some tough questions! I'm glad you aren't going easy on me. Keep them coming, please! Here is what I cover: How can you tell the difference between self-care and just being lazy or avoiding? What can I do when I am jealous of my friend making close relationships with other people? What should I do, as a senior in high school, about my mental health issues?   Please continue to send me your awesome questions to [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

On this episode I do a deep dive into physical symptoms and cues that are related to anxiety. Often people feel a physical sensation and their brain misinterprets it for anxiety, which prompts those familiar feelings of panic. We talk all about that.  As a reminder, you can get a free audiobook on me by checking out http://audibletrial.com/duff and you can check out MY books over at http://hardcoreselfhelp.com Next week is a Q and A episode, so please send me your questions at [email protected] or http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Great variety of questions this week. I start the episode off by sharing some of my personal strategies for coping with stress and anxiety. Then it's straight into the questions. In one of the questions, I mention an earlier episode focusing on internet therapy, so here's the link for that: http://duffthepsych.com/episode10. Here are the questions I take: How can I tell me Mom that I need help without her being disappointed in me? What should I do now that my therapist abandoned me? How do I get back to my old self when chronic illness has me depressed? Please send me more questions! You can reach me via email at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych      

Thanks for your patience with my little break last week. I needed to allow myself to be human for a bit. Hopefully you enjoyed and made good use of the guided relaxation. This week it's back to the questions. I take some tough but important questions in this episode. Here's what we cover: Is it possible for a relationship to survive emotional abuse? Should I be worried about my word finding difficulties? How do I feel better about cutting ties with my family? As always you can send me your questions at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych  

Things have been weird over here in the states. I need a break from podcasting this week and I think we could all use a little relaxation. Whether this relaxation is to help you cope or to rejuvenate you to get back out there and keep at it... you deserve a few deep breaths. What I uploaded for you this week is a guided muscle relaxation. There is no intro or anything like that. I just dive straight into a walkthrough of how you can use your breath and muscle tension to put yourself into a deep state of relaxation. Enjoy and take good care of yourselves.

Thanks so much to those of you who recently left iTunes reviews. I really appreciate it. These are the three episodes that I took on this episode: What can I do to help my brother with OCD? What if social anxiety gets in the way of therapy? How can I cope with my extremely stressful job? I also mentioned some links in this episode... Sorting Therapy: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sorting-therapy-sort-colors/id1123877452?mt=8 Teen Vogue Article: http://www.teenvogue.com/story/what-to-expect-at-first-therapy-session-counseling Dissertation: http://duffthepsych.com/internettherapy TalkSpace Episode: http://duffthepsych.com/episode10   As always you can send me your questions at [email protected] or http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

Hello! A nice wide ranging set of questions this time. Don't be afraid to send in any questions that you have. There are no bad questions (within reason...)!  Here's what we cover in this episode: How do you find a therapist who meets certain demographic specifications? Is pain a necessary part of changing behavior? Should you have firm boundaries with a parent? As always you can send your questions to [email protected] or hit me up on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych  

Another great episode full of your questions. We start off pretty heavy and then move to some lighter questions. I did record this in the middle of the day and my son started having a meltdown upstairs, so if you listen close you can hear some of him crying toward the end of the episode. Oops!  I would really appreciate it if you shared the show with your friends and/or wrote a review of the show on iTunes. THANKS!! Here are the questions in this episode: How can I care for myself and start to feel alive again with an alcoholic partner and an overwhelming life? What should I do about a therapist that talks about himself too much? How can I focus on self-improvement when I'm overwhelmed with school and work? As always you can send me your questions big or small to [email protected] http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or http://facebook.com/duffthepsych 

You asked for it! Here's a deep dive episode all about Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. I briefly mention this, but I didn't give nearly enough emphasis to the fact that you can have the primarily inattentive type, the hyperactive/impulsive type, or the combined type. Oops! In the episode, I mention my interview on the MyCoda podcast, which you can find here: http://www.mycoda.net/session-020/ You should also be checking me out on facebook http://facebook.com/duffthepsych   Next week is a Q&A, so send me your questions!! [email protected]  

I'm back from a quick little vacation and ready to get back into the grind! This episode, I took three questions from the same person. Thought it would be an interesting thing to do and they sent in a nice variety of questions. Here's what is covered: -Would group therapy or individual therapy be better for me? -How can parents create an emotionally open environment for their kids? -What do I do if I feel comfortable in my depression?   As always you can reach me through email at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych  

I know I saw this every week, but we have some awesome questions today. I get the opportunity to give into some tough questions and hopefully provide a little insight into some of the more difficult mental health issues.  Don't forget to check out http://audibletrial.com/duff if you want a free audiobook.  Keep the awesome questions coming. Shoot me an email to [email protected] or find me at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych or http://facebook.com/duffthepsych   

In this episode, I do something a bit different. Earlier today (9/27/16) I gave a professional talk to a group of people about dementia. The point of my talk was to give them a thorough understanding of dementia in general and to describe some of the specific types that you might encounter. This episode is a little more straight forward and informational than my other shows, but if you are interested in sitting through a 1-hour crash course with me, I encourage you to have a listen!  If you have any additional questions, shoot me an email to [email protected]  

Hello, friends! As always thank you for continuing to supply me with a wealth of super awesome, honest, and candid questions. Today is no exception. I cover three really great listener questions in depth. I need your feedback! What topics would you like me to cover in my future "deep dive" episodes?  Here are the questions for this episode: Should I be worried about the critical voice in my head and what can I do about my crippling anxiety? How can I get over a break up when there is money involved? Does this count as emotional abuse? What should I do about it? As always you can send me your questions to [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych

I really enjoyed the variety of questions in this episode. Please keep sending me in such awesome questions because they keep the show fresh and interesting. This is your show too!  I share a little secret about the Audible Trial in this episode, so head by http://audibletrial.com/duff to put it to good use.  Here are the questions that I cover: As a man, what can I do to better deal with my anorexic tendencies? What should I do when I can't handle hearing the emotional burden from my friends because it drains me and gets me worked up? Should I be worried about my 4-year-old's imaginary friends when there is a family history of schizophrenia? As always you can reach me through email at [email protected] or on twitter at http://twitter.com/duffthepsych