Therapists In The Wild

In our last episode of the Therapists in the Wild podcast, we're coming full circle: dialectics was the topic of our first ever episode, and now we're wrapping it up two years later by letting our listeners in on how we have used a dialectical frame to face this ending head on. We review the DBT skills we used to lean into our discomfort, to have difficult conversations that have deepened our relationship, and ultimately, to radically accept this change in a way that felt true to ourselves, our friendship, and, we hope, to our listeners. We try, more so than ever, to practice radical genuineness and vulnerability in this emotion-filled episode. We are more grateful to you, our listeners, than we can possibly express. We hope that you will continue to share the podcast, stay subscribed, and follow us on social media to stay involved in our future projects.  Until we meet again: stay skillful, everyone.  *You can find us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild, and Twitter @TherapistsWild. If you'd like to support TITW, we would be very grateful for donations of any amount you feel comfortable via Venmo @MollyStDenis. If a donation is not possible at this time, you can still support our work by leaving a rating and review. Thank you!

This month's episode is a re-release of an episode introducing one of our favorite DBT skills: Radical Acceptance (Episode 23). We hope you enjoy and look forward to being back next month for the final episode of Season 2!  *You can find us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild, and Twitter @TherapistsWild. If you'd like to support TITW, we would be very grateful for donations of any amount you feel comfortable via Venmo @MollyStDenis. If a donation is not possible at this time, you can still support our work by leaving a rating and review. Thank you!

"Burnout" has become a buzzword since the start of the pandemic, for good reason. Many of us are feeling burnt out, in many areas of life, and could benefit from using DBT skills to cope.  In this episode, Molly and Liza start by defining burnout (i.e. chronic depletion, apathy, a feeling of ineffectiveness no matter how hard you work). We then identify factors that typically lead to burnout, like feeling that your day-to-day lacks meaning or that you lack control over your daily decisions. We explain how to tell the difference between burnout, depression, and stress, and why these distinctions matter.  We respond to an email from a listener who wants to know how seriously to take feelings of burnout, and when to consider making a change. Pulling from Emily and Amelia Nagoski's work, we describe the science behind what burnout does to our bodies and how we can effectively complete the body's stress response cycle. We outline various DBT skills to apply both during extreme moments of burnout (i.e. intense exercise, mindfulness, urge surfing, self-validation, vacation), and when making larger life decisions in response to burnout (i.e. taking an inventory using mindfulness skills, problem-solving, and focusing on values). We hope you enjoy!  We will be taking next month off and, in the meantime, will be re-releasing an old episode on March 1. We look forward to being back on April 1 for our final episode of the season!  *Check out our website at therapistsinthewild.com. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild, and Twitter @TherapistsWild. If you'd like to support TITW, we would be very grateful for donations of any amount you feel comfortable via Venmo @MollyStDenis. If a donation is not possible at this time, you can still support our work by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you!

Happy New Year, TITW listeners! As we head into the new year, we're reflecting on the values we want to prioritize and how we can commit to moving toward those values. Since deepening relationships and creating new ones has been on our minds lately, we decided to do an episode on vulnerability. Vulnerability can be defined as "the practice of taking emotional risks even when the outcome is uncertain." We start out by discussing certain forms of anxiety that interfere with opening up even to trusted people in our lives. We then explore what we miss out on when we act on this anxiety (i.e. missing opportunities for closer relationships, as well as feedback, support, and validation). We end by suggesting a few DBT and other skills to use in the moment when anxiety is holding you back from being vulnerable with someone you trust. In the spirit of vulnerability, we share some news about the future of the podcast. If you would like to send feedback/suggestions about what you'd like to see from us in the future, please email us at [email protected].  If you'd like to support TITW, we would be very grateful for donations of any amount you feel comfortable via Venmo @MollyStDenis. If a donation is not possible at this time, you can still support our work by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you! *Check out our website at therapistsinthewild.com. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild,  and Twitter @TherapistsWild.

This month on TITW, we're practicing self-compassion. Liza and Molly have been studying the work of Dr. Kristin Neff, a psychologist and researcher who breaks down the practice of self-compassion into concrete steps. We've noticed a lot of overlap between Dr. Neff's work and DBT skills, and we discuss the similarities in this episode.  We start by defining self-compassion and how it's all about being a friend to yourself. We then get into the barriers of practicing self-compassion (i.e. the erroneous belief that beating ourselves up is the only path toward self-improvement), and point out how taking a more dialectical approach while being kind to ourselves actually leads to more effective problem-solving and learning from mistakes. Molly and Liza each share personal examples of times they have both practiced self-compassion, and, more often, times they have beat themselves up to the point of blocking effective action. We discuss the benefits of practicing self-compassion, and provide a step-by-step approach to the practice, using DBT skills including Mindfulness of Current Emotion, Radical Acceptance, Nonjudgmental and Dialectical Thinking, and good old Opposite Action. We hope you enjoy!  If you'd like to support TITW, we would be very grateful for donations of any amount you feel comfortable via Venmo @MollyStDenis. If a donation is not possible at this time, you can still support our work by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you! *Check out our website at therapistsinthewild.com. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild,  and Twitter @TherapistsWild.

This month on TITW, Molly teaches Liza and our listeners concepts from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), another "third wave" cognitive behavioral treatment that both overlaps with and differs from DBT.  Molly has been practicing ACT at her therapy practice, and Liza... needs to brush up on her skills! First, Molly walks us through the six core processes of ACT, including "Cognitive Defusion," which is the process of watching thoughts come and go rather than getting caught up or buying into them. In some ways, this episode is a deep dive on the "Mindfulness of Current Thoughts" skill from the DBT Distress Tolerance module. We discuss how most humans experience unwanted automatic thoughts, and how we those of us with "stickier" brains can benefit from relating differently to such thoughts. We teach several defusion strategies, and also discuss how to use the DBT skill of "Check the Facts" to increase willingness to use these techniques. We wrap up with a coaching session!  Here are some books to help you learn more about ACT:  1) Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life  2) The Happiness Trap 3) ACT Made Simple: An Easy-to-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy If you'd like to support TITW, we would be very grateful for donations of any amount you feel comfortable via Venmo @MollyStDenis. If a donation is not possible at this time, you can still support our work by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you! *Check out our website at therapistsinthewild.com. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild,  and Twitter @TherapistsWild.

This month on TITW, Liza and Molly share their personal experiences with procrastination (Molly) and, on the other side of the dialectic, hyper-productivity (Liza). We believe that procrastination and hyper-productivity are opposite responses that function to avoid similar feelings of anxiety.  We define procrastination as knowing a task needs to get done and choosing to do something else instead. Hyper-productivity is a term we invented based off of Liza's experience of feeling the urge to constantly be productive and complete tasks immediately. Through an impromptu chain analysis Liza conducts on Molly's procrastination behavior, we learn about what drives this behavior and how to change it. We work together to identify factors that increase vulnerability to procrastination; thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that lead up to the procrastination behavior; as well as the short- and long-term consequences associated with procrastination.  Make sure to listen to our skills review at the end of the episode, where we give ourselves homework and offer concrete suggestions for how to overcome urges to procrastinate or engage in hyper-productive behavior.  We hope you enjoy!

This month on TITW, we are taking a break from discussions about skills to have an exploratory conversation about Buddhist philosophy, which inspired the practice of DBT. We speak with a special guest, Keerthi Reddy, a masters student at the Harvard Divinity School, who is focusing her studies on Zen Buddhism. First, Liza and Keerthi (old friends from college!) discuss the concept of suffering according to Buddhism, and how accepting reality as it is, and not the way we have been conditioned to interpret it, can reduce suffering. Liza and Keerthi talk about Buddhism as an ethical practice, and explore some critiques of "packaging" Buddhist principles and incorporating them into mental health treatments and in other settings. Through a personal example, Keerthi gives advice on how to separate our experience of reality from reality itself, in order to increase freedom and focus.  In the second half of the episode (starting at 41:00), Molly and Keerthi discuss trauma and spirituality, and specific Buddhist principles that may help with healing from suffering. Keerthi provides more practical advice on how to practice meditation and mindfulness while experiencing trauma-related symptoms. Finally, we discuss how religion and spirituality can help people make meaning from trauma. We hope you enjoy!  If you'd like to support TITW, we would be very grateful for donations of any amount you feel comfortable via Venmo @MollyStDenis. If a donation is not possible at this time, you can still support our work by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you! *Check out our website at therapistsinthewild.com. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild,  and Twitter @TherapistsWild.

In this month's episode of TITW, we address a therapy hot topic (and one that Liza and Molly discuss regularly with each other off-air): how to accept feedback in both personal and professional settings, especially when (you perceive) it is negative. We explain why feedback can feel so hurtful to receive, and, on the other side of the dialectic, why it is so often necessary for growth. We share examples from our own lives, particularly throughout our therapist training, of times when even the most upsetting comments have helped us evolve and move toward our values. Understandably, when Emotion Mind shows up, it can be easy to miss the "kernel of truth" in others' input on your behavior. Therefore, we discuss how to use DBT skills in the moment to stay mindful and effective rather than respond impulsively. We give tips on how to manage repetitive negative thoughts related to what was said, and how you might eventually respond once you are in Wise Mind. Finally, we address how to incorporate Self-Respect ("FAST") skills when responding to feedback, particularly if you disagree with the content or how it was delivered. We hope you enjoy and find this episode helpful!  ...And speaking of feedback, we welcome your feedback and would love to hear from you! Please email us at [email protected] and let us know how you've been enjoying Season 2 so far.  If you'd like to support TITW, we would be very grateful for donations of any amount you feel comfortable via Venmo @MollyStDenis. If a donation is not possible at this time, you can still support our work by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you!  *Check out our website at therapistsinthewild.com. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild,  and Twitter @TherapistsWild.

This month, Liza and Molly are thrilled to share one of our favorite episodes yet: our conversation with Chris Jones, a mental health advocate who was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) approximately two years ago. Chris has completed Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and discusses in a radically genuine way both the ups and downs of going through treatment, and how using DBT skills has become second-nature (after a lot of hard work). In the episode, we cover the dialectical nature of the BPD - or Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder - diagnosis, and how getting an accurate diagnosis can be life-changing. Chris also tells us what it is like for him to live with BPD, and how he works to reduce stigma and help others create a life-worth-living through his social media advocacy work. As relative newcomers to the social media mental health space, we ask Chris about its pros and cons. Finally, we discuss our go-to DBT skills in various situations. We can't wait to share this episode with you. We hope you will feel validated, learn as much as we did, and enjoy!  You can follow Chris Jones on Instagram @cjontheborderline.  Check out our website at therapistsinthewild.com! And follow us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild, and Twitter @TherapistsWild, and email us with questions/feedback at [email protected].